For years, working alongside hundreds of independent business owners and start-ups, I watched the same pattern repeat itself. Brilliant people, with brilliant ideas, working incredibly hard — but finding it harder and harder to compete for attention in a world increasingly dominated by national brands and online platforms.
National chains have marketing budgets that most independent businesses could only dream of. Online platforms hoover up local spending and send the profits elsewhere. And meanwhile, the high streets, cafés, bookshops, and tradespeople that make our towns worth living in quietly disappear — one closure at a time.
The economic pressures of recent years made all of this harder still. But they also made something else clearer: that the choices we make as residents genuinely matter. Every pound we spend with a local business doesn’t just benefit that business. It pays a local wage. It funds a local supplier. It keeps a local premises open. It contributes to the fabric of a community in ways that no national chain ever could.
That’s the idea behind Think Local First.
70p in every £1
stays within the local economy when you spend with an independent business
Research shows that money spent with local independent businesses circulates within the community far more effectively than spending with national chains or online platforms. Independent businesses don’t just serve communities — they employ local people, use local suppliers, occupy local premises, and reinvest their profits locally. They are communities.
When residents choose local, that decision ripples outward in ways that are easy to underestimate. Think Local First exists to make that choice easier — and to remind everyone that it genuinely matters.
Think Local First is a community campaign connecting residents with the independent businesses that make their towns worth living in. We make it easier to find, support and recommend local businesses — and we give those businesses the visibility they deserve.
We’re not a national corporation. We’re not backed by venture capital. We’re a small team that believes local spending creates local prosperity — and that with a little help, residents and businesses can work together to keep their towns thriving.
Any independent local business can add a free listing. No catches, no obligations, nothing to pay.
Local Voices, resident recommendations and community champions give the platform its heart.
A sustainable model that grows with each town — covering costs through voluntary supporter and partner memberships.
Search for your town and discover the independent businesses that make it special
Find my town →Join Think Local First and get found by residents who are choosing to shop local
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