People in Teesside urged to spend locally as 'some shops are struggling'
It's hoped the good weather and events will help the economy
People in Teesside are being urged to spend their money locally so business owners 'can put food on their own table'.
It is believed many shops are struggling but it is hoped events and good weather this summer will help the economy.
Jason Maxwell, manager of Stockton BID, said: "We do alright in Stockton you know? People say there's nothing in Stockton, nothing to do and there are no shops anymore. We've probably got 500-600 businesses within the town centre. Are some of them struggling? Yeah they are. There's no doubt about it. But what we do have is a really good independent offering in Stockton and I think that makes the big difference.
"We do need to keep spending and every pound that's spent locally stays locally if you're spending them at independent businesses and that's the real key. What I would implore anybody to do is not go online shopping if you can help it, but go and actually spend in the businesses because actually it makes a real difference. If you go and spend in that shop, it means they can go and put food on their table.
"We've got real problems with anti-social behaviour which keeps people out of town, we've got problems with shoplifting and those types of thing but as a BID, we work in partnership with town centres to try and make sure that it's a safe environment to keep those people coming back into our town centres, to keep that spend local and keep those independent businesses going really.
"If we can keep getting that message that we want people to come in, they see the businesses that we've got and they'll keep that spend going, so from some of the conversations that we've had with businesses, they're doing alright at the moment and those extra events and those things we keep putting on as a town centre partnership, to bring people in, means we're doing alright."