The late May bank holiday is one of the busiest weekends in the calendar for hospitality and high street spend. Pub gardens fill, garden centres do trade, and family days out get planned around the forecast.
But where does all the spend land?
A meaningful share of that money flows quickly out of the towns and cities it's spent in. Chain pubs, supermarket meal deals and branded restaurants take a substantial cut of bank holiday turnover. Much of it doesn't stay local.
However, vouchers and gift cards are part of this story too. The market is worth several billion pounds a year, and how they are designed (multi-retailer, local-only, single business, and so on) can help shape where the spend ends up.
A coffee at the indie on the corner. A long lunch at a local bistro. A Sunday roast at a family-run pub. These are examples of places where the bank holiday trade can really make a difference.
Steppr is built around that idea. Its vouchers, online and offline, are designed to be spent with UK independents.
The long weekend is an important economy of its own.
