Welsh pet food company calls on public to save their high streets

A Carmarthenshire pet food company is calling on members of the public to support their local high street to help businesses in the community survive the pandemic.

Burns Pet Nutrition, based in Kidwelly, is urging pet owners to buy their pet food from local stores as well as support high street hospitality and retail businesses to help them recover following a difficult year.

The company has launched a loyalty scheme for high street stockists to help incentivise customers to visit them. The scheme will see Burns offer discounts for loyal customers, providing them with a free bag of its food after multiple purchases at the same store.

Designed to encourage repeat custom at high street retailers, it will provide stockists with a way to reward their customers and keep them loyal to their stores.

The news comes as the UK continues to see a year on year decline in the high street with ongoing shop closures and significant drops in visitor numbers – trends which have been exacerbated over the last few months by the pandemic.

During August, footfall in high streets and other retail destinations in Wales was reported to be 31% lower compared to the same period in 2019.

John Burns, Founder of Burns Pet Nutrition, said: “Our Welsh high streets need our support more than ever. With companies having been forced to closed earlier in the year due to the pandemic, and with current localised lockdowns further limiting footfall, many businesses are on the brink.

“We are passionate about supporting the high street – it is where we started out and is the heart and soul of a community so it’s sad to see so many of them struggling to survive across the country. Our aim is to encourage more people to shop local, to show the businesses on their doorstep that they value them.

“Many companies worked hard to support their communities and service their needs during the lockdown so it’s now vital that consumers give that support back. Doing so will not only help these stores through a difficult period but is also crucial to boosting our economy and maintaining regional employment.

“We want to do our bit to help which is why we’ve launched a scheme designed to make savings for customers while helping retailers to entice repeat purchases. It is our way of saying thank you to the traditional bricks and mortar pet shops and stockists who have supported Burns since our early days.”

Burns pet Nutrition will be rolling out its new and improved Loyalty Scheme across all qualifying ‘bricks and mortar’ pet stores throughout the UK.