Group could help get shopkeepers online

A local campaign group has moves to in mind to help shopkeepers in the town  make their presence felt on the internet.

The revelation comes from Mike Edwards, chair of Keep Llangollen Special, in response to a new report by Rotary International which says that small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) in the UK are missing a trick when it comes to supporting their local community.

Results reveal that almost half of SMEs do not support their local community, despite the fact that most recognise that community relations increases staff morale and makes their business more attractive to potential customers and employees.

Mike Edwards (pictured left) said: “Generally we have found when talking at a local level to businesses in Llangollen that they already fully support and many are involved with the community.  

“We do appreciate that small businesses have limited resources and their focus priority is naturally their business.  

“We do feel that Keep Llangollen Special can offer support to local shopkeepers and suppliers to help them exploit opportunities provided by the Internet and social media.” 

He added: “Social media such as Facebook and Twitter is a cost effective way of establishing and maintaining contact with customers and obtaining important feedback to understand those customers' needs.  

“We are currently investigating a number of initiatives to enable us to offer full business support to owners of local shops to enable them to compete on a level playing field with large Corporates who have greater resources available to them.  

“We have found that some local businesses do not have a Web presence and we would look to convince them that this is a cost effective way of boosting their turnover and attracting new custom both locally and further afield.”