Pull together for benefit of community - Ballinrobe businesss owner
A BALLINROBE business owner is encouraging organisations to support the area by using the Lakes Gift Card for their employee rewards and incentives.
The Lakes Gift Card launched in 2020 and can be spent with around 100 businesses in Ballinrobe, Cong and Clonbur.
Over €254,000 of the Lakes Gift Cards have been sold, with over €190,000 of that already redeemed with local businesses. One of the businesses which accepts the Lakes Gift Card as payment is Total Health Pharmacy in Ballinrobe.
Joanne Hynes is the owner of Joanne Hynes Total Health Pharmacy, and said we all have to pull together for the benefit of the community: “Total Health is a local pharmacy in Ballinrobe. I grew up in the town and my viewpoint is that if I don’t go into the local shops they might close, and how would I feel then.
“In Ireland, we can give staff up to €500 as a reward or benefit each year, tax free, as long as it’s not in cash, so the only option is a gift card.
“I give my staff the Lakes Gift Card and it is so flexible. If you give an employee a meal voucher, it’s a nice idea but it expects them to do something. With the Lakes Gift Card, staff are not obliged to spend it at a certain place, and they can use it on their regular groceries, day to day essentials like petrol or on a little treat for themselves.
“I strongly believe that we all need to take responsibility to support small businesses because if we don’t, they close their doors. We need to support each other. Talking to other business owners, and this is their feeling too. Rather than give an employee a voucher for a large multinational, they can show their support for the area instead. It gives you a good feeling and that sense of local pride.”
She continued: “We also accept the Lakes Gift Card as payment and allow it to be used on absolutely anything. We find that people redeeming their Lakes Gift Cards with us tend to use it in one of two ways, as a treat for themselves on something like perfume, on their day to day items like toiletries or even their prescription. We use the QR code on the back of the card to check how much people have on their Lakes Gift Card and put it through like a regular card payment. There is no cost for us as a business to receive the Lakes Gift Card.
“When you choose a local gift card, like the Lakes Gift Card, there is always something for your staff to spend their reward on. It’s easy to imagine that we know what staff want as a reward, but the reality is often different. They might end up just using their card on their groceries, and maybe that takes the burden off the finances for that month. The Lakes Gift Card covers lots of areas, which is ideal if you have staff that are all from different places.
“The thing to remember is that we’re all people and we have to pull together for the benefit of the community. I get the Lakes Gift Card redeemed at my business, but even if they were only ever redeemed at other businesses in the area, as long as someone is benefiting then we all benefit as a collective community.
“Maybe the Lakes Gift Cards are redeemed at a restaurant down the road, or at a boutique, those business owners are then able to employ people locally, who in turn spend with other merchants. It’s creating a circular economy.
“Everyone has suffered so much during the pandemic. If we don’t mind ourselves locally, who else is going to?”
Ballinrobe Community Development Council (CDC) and Ballinrobe Enterprise Organisation (BEO) are behind the Lakes Gift Card. Chairperson of Ballinrobe CDC, Pat Donnellan, said: “The Lakes card has been hugely popular for the region with gift cards bought for all occasions throughout the year, be it birthdays, weddings, leaving gifts, teachers’ gifts, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, even Valentine's!
“It received great backing by employers such as ECC Timber, McHales Engineering and so many more who have rewarded their staff and supported local business at the same time.
“With over 80% of the value from cards already spent locally, we can see it is working and the potential for keeping this going is massive for people to shop local and support local.”
The Lakes Gift Card is part of the award winning Town & City Gift Cards scheme from fintech Miconex. Managing director of Miconex Colin Munro said local gift cards are an easy way for employers to reward staff: “The Irish small benefit exemption scheme enables organisations to give staff a tax-free non cash reward of up to €500. Gift cards make sense for employers but local gift cards that support local businesses make even more sense.”