WE BACK OUR LOCAL FIRMS IN NEW CAMPAIGN

MONDAY (June 15) was set to be the most important day of the year for our economy when thousands of businesses reopen.

That is why we declared it #IAmOpen day.

Now the Reach digital and newspaper network is making our heroic local businesses front page news.

We will tell millions of people through our websites, social media channels and newspapers that our favourite local shops and services are back in business and finding new ways to safely serve customers whilst abiding to social distancing rules.

And what’s more, it is free to be featured and get involved.

We appreciate that this is just the start of a long road to recovery for many, so our support does not end there. Alongside #IAmOpen Day, we launched the #IAmOpen community that day too.

By signing up your business you can have access to exclusive marketing advice, offers, networking and participation in future Reach #IAmOpen events.

So watch out for many more details about it over the next few days.

We love our local shops (and indeed, all our local businesses) so we are particularly excited to see our favourite independents trading again.

It was a dark day on March 23 when the Prime Minister said they must shut, as the nation prepared to enter lockdown and fight coronavirus.

But now, step by step, our cities, towns, villages and communities are gradually re-opening and figuring out what the new definition of ‘normal’ looks like.

From this week, shops in England classed as ‘non-essential’ can start trading again.

So today we are announcing a series of FREE ways for them to tell their customers they are back in business.

We want to help those of you who are throwing your doors open get back on track as quickly as possible.

That is why we have created #IAmOpen Day and we are using our massive shop window to show off yours.

Up and down the country, our trusted and industry-leading local and regional news websites and newspapers will deliver extensive coverage about businesses re-opening and high streets coming back to life on June 15.

Each news brand is committed to retweeting hundreds of local businesses throughout the day, to thousands of loyal followers.

They will also be running live blogs to tell minute-by-minute the story of our high streets waking up and encouring customers to flock back.

All you have to do to be part of that celebration is tweet us with the hashtag #IAmOpen to make sure we can tell as many people as possible that you are ready to welcome them back through the door.

We will also be telling many of your inspirational stories as we look to cover businesses re-opening across Reach titles by writing about how you are adapting and ensuring your customers are safe.

We know that without you and your hard-working teams, our much-loved city, village and town centres are nothing.

In our eyes, you are the heroes that are holding our economy together.

We have also created a brand new virtual networking hub and you can access that by signing up to the #IAmOpen newsletter.

It will be filled with the free tools we think you need to help stabilise and grow your business further and start to make up for lost time.

You will have access to the best discounts and offers available on Reach’s portfolio of marketing and advertising services on our sites and in our newspapers, as well as exclusive access to free business webinars and our creative design service.

By joining this online community we want to connect with likeminded businessmen and women, all of whom find themselves in a similar situation to you.

Go to www.mylondon.news and follow MyLondon on Facebook and Twitter to find out what’s happening with the #IAmOpen campaign.