BOLTON business leaders have backed a new town centre loyalty card designed to keep residents shopping locally. The borough-wide programme, called CentrePoint, is due to be launched in August. It will be one of the first such schemes in the UK and is sponsored by the Bolton Evening News. In the programme, users will accumulate points by having electronic cards swiped through special terminals. Their points can be converted into big savings on household gas, electricity and telephone bills or exchanged for leisure vouchers or other similar rewards.

Richard Lynch, Marketing Co-ordinator of the Bolton Strategic Partnership, said: "CentrePoint will be a brilliant addition to the town's marketing efforts. It will give us the opportunity to build closer links with customers and communicate with them regularly on a whole range of issues."

He added: "The card will reward shoppers for staying in the town and attract new customers as well. Potentially, it is very exciting.

"The Partnership is an alliance of private sector firms, the Chamber of Commerce, Bolton Council and the Training and Enterprise Council.

Mr Lynch said that CentrePoint would provide an opportunity for dialogue between the town's business community and their customers.

"Everything in business is about customer loyalty," he commented. "This loyalty programme will build bridges and promote special offers. It has every chance of success and will be excellent for Bolton's image."

Maria Appleton, Bolton Town Centre Manager, said CentrePoint would be useful for service providers as well as retailers.

She said a major advantage of the scheme would be to help fight off competition from out-of-town retail parks.

"When people get in their cars to go out and do their shopping, we want at least to raise a question in their minds as to whether they really want to go to an out-of-town centre. Do they want to drive for 45 minutes and end up in a queue, or do they want to stay in Bolton and stack up points on their loyalty card?"

Bolton offers excellent shopping facilities provided by top High Street names, excellent markets and a wide range of independent retailers, Ms Appleton added. These were complemented by good hotels, traditional and new restaurants and pubs, and many leisure attractions.

She said: "CentrePoint will give local people that little bit extra to keep them in Bolton. It will be particularly helpful for smaller traders who are not able to run their own loyalty scheme."

The scheme is run and controlled by Lancashire-based Hesketh Information Technology, one of the UK's leading UK loyalty card specialists. Hesketh operates similar programmes in Blackpool and East Lancashire. Its representatives recently began contacting Bolton businesses and have already signed up the programme's first participants. MARKET PLACE BACKS BEN'S REWARD CARD THE company which manages Bolton's Market Place shopping centre has thrown its weight behind the BEN's new customer loyalty programme.

Grosvenor Investments, a London-based organisation which is involved with five shopping centres as far apart as Perth and Basingstoke, is encouraging tenants at Market Place to join CentrePoint.

Shopping centre manager Rod Neasham commented: "We are recommending that our tenants within the centre take full advantage of the scheme.

"We believe that CentrePoint will be of great value to them. Anything that promotes and retains customer loyalty in the town centre is an

investment not only for the present but also for the future."

Mr Neasham said that the loyalty programme would play a key role in bringing in more business for the centre.

Management intended to play their part in boosting its success. The centre plans to hold a lucky draw, on a weekly or monthly basis, exclusively open to cardholders.

Mr Neasham said his company had been keeping a check on CentrePoint's success in these other areas and had seen how valuable it had proved to be for local businesses there.

He added: "These days, loyalty cards are an accepted part of life. At Market Place we would rather be in the game than looking in from outside. CentrePoint offers great potential for our shopping centre and we believe it will prove to be very successful."

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