Edinburgh gift box venture looks great from a distance

Independent retailers across the Capital have found a new way to stay open for business while their doors remain closed indefinitely.

Robbie Allen, founder of Keep Edinburgh Thriving

It follows the launch of “Keep Edinburgh Thriving”, a pioneering venture by local entrepreneur Robbie Allen who wants to support smaller shops being crippled by social distancing measures.

The service will see a selection of high-quality local products packaged up into gift boxes and delivered safely to households throughout the city. While allowing customers to continue to “shop local”, it aims to provides a vital lifeline to businesses during the pandemic and beyond.

“We are partnering with a bunch of amazing local businesses in Edinburgh, taking these high-quality products and handling all the logistics and e-commerce for them so that they can continue to grow and sustain their company and livelihood,” says Robbie.

“It is a really simple idea. Our aim is to Keep Edinburgh Thriving. This is a really tough time for our beloved high street and we want to help as many Edinburgh businesses as possible.

“Every order instantly benefits our local partners providing the products in the boxes.”

Small gift boxes (£39) contain four to five items, with a larger version (£55) offering a selection of six to seven items.

Customers receive a variety of products, including artisan food and snacks, local art, drinks, craft coffee, beer, spirits, lifestyle products (candles, coasters, mugs/tumblers) and skin care products. In a gesture of support to the wider community, a donation of £2 will also be made to the Edinburgh Food Project from the sale of each box.

Businesses signed up so far include Jump Ship 
Brewing, Absolute Dice, Bellfield Brewery,Brotique Collection, CannyMum, Coco Chocolatier, Eira Soaps, Hudson & Armitage, MaRobert’s, Mr Fossil, Rafiki Coffee, Sarah Kwan, The Wax Jungle and Tipico.

www.keepedinburghthriving.com