Whether they are for staff incentives or for accommodation providers to use instead of welcome packs – the St Ives Gift Card has something for everyone.

Corporate Sales – Accommodation providers

We are pleased to say that we have had some fabulous responses from individual accommodation providers to some of our largest lettings companies who will be replacing Welcome Packs, subsidising parts of Welcome Packs and replacing general visitor gifts with the gift card.

The gift card program works the same way as a Mastercard if a physical card is purchased and if an electronic version is purchased then it will download to Applepay or Googlepay. This means that businesses do not need any special equipment to accept the gift card and we are currently onboarding lots of businesses across town.

This gift card scheme is extremely successful across the USA and the UK and tourist areas do especially well. After speaking to lots of other BIDs who run this scheme including Bath and Stratford they said that the key to its success for them has been getting all sectors to work together. Lots of their accommodation providers had spoken to BID about:

 

• Welcome packs being difficult – people don’t always drink alcohol or eat gluten or drink cow’s milk.
  • The gift card will mean that they can go to the butchers if they want, the local Co-op’s, bakeries etc. and get their own products that won’t be wasted.

 

• Welcome packs being wasted – often soaps, jams and local produce would be opened and discarded.
  • The gift card minimises waste which can only be a good thing and can be reflected in marketing material.

 

• Welcome packs are heavy and take up a lot of room in vans, they also need to be delivered to the properties.
  • The gift card will mean you no longer have to go down this route and you can purchase physical gift cards to be left in properties (cards come in a welcome pack envelope with handy information and can also be kept as a souvenir once used as it has a lovely image of the harbour on it). Digital gift cards can be scheduled to send out to visitors when they check in (corporate sales will talk you through this process but they have many ways to do it to suit different businesses).

 

• Staffing costs are high to put packs together or companies ask a premium to put packs and hampers together.
  • The gift card takes away the hassle and expense.

 

• Coming up with new ideas for hampers and welcome packs takes a lot of time and people often complain about waste or the products themselves.
  • The gift card gives the gift of choice to guests whilst supporting the local economy.

 

 There have been lots of suggestions of how accommodation providers will use it, some accommodation providers are even thinking of no longer providing in house breakfasts and pre-loading cards to give to guests so they can have breakfast at one of the many eateries in town that accept the gift card.

 

Anyone who visits St. Ives or wants to buy a gift for someone they know is visiting or visits often will be able to purchase via the link on the main St. Ives website (www.stives-cornwall.co.uk), via the Town and City Gift Card website or via www.stivesgiftcard.co.uk.

 

For those of you who are looking to use gift cards in accommodation or as staff incentives the UK Trivial Tax Benefits Scheme may apply. To order corporate gifts cards for your business please follow the link to the corporate ordering website: https://corporate.townandcitygiftcards.com/

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Staff Incentives

Whether reward, incentive or thank you, give them the only gift card that offers both high street brands and independent businesses. A gift card for shopping, eating out, pampering and leisure. For the things that they want and the things that they need. With Town & City Gift Cards, you can offer unbeatable local choice through one gift card.

With a Town & City Gift Card in their hand, a journey of local discovery awaits. With freedom to spend their gift card where they choose, in one go, or a little here and there, Town & City Gift Cards cater for a wide variety of ages and interests. So whether they’re 18 or 80, this is a reward that they’ll love spending.

Reasons to Make the Switch to Local
Would you like a more meaningful reward for your employees, customers and service users, one that blends ultimate choice with a tangible cash injection into the local
economy? Town & City Gift Cards gather the best of local in one gift card – helping support local businesses and keep communities thriving.

Use the trivial benefits scheme to help your team

The UK Government’s trivial benefits scheme allows an organisation to give their staff a non-cash reward, such as a Town & City Gift Card, of up to £50 with no tax or national insurance to pay. The £50 limit for each employee is per gift rather than per year, meaning firms could use the trivial benefits scheme more than once a year, as
long as it doesn’t become part of the employee’s regular salary or contract.
gov.uk/expenses-and-benefits-trivial-benefits