An Ilkley employer is backing a national campaign encouraging businesses to support their local communities when rewarding staff this Christmas.
Ideal Extraction is supporting the ‘Choose local. Make the switch’ campaign, which encourages organisations to use local gift cards for employee rewards and incentives. The dust and fume extraction engineering company has switched to the Ilkley Gift Card for its own staff rewards, allowing employees to choose where to spend their gift while keeping the money within the local economy. Research from gift card provider Miconex found 98% of organisations surveyed considered supporting local important, while 94% of employees said having a choice in their rewards and incentives was important. The research also found 88% of employees would like to receive a gift card from their employer at Christmas, rising to 98% when asked about one that could be spent with local and national businesses in their area. Ideal Extraction Director Helen Rhodes said: “In the past, we’ve given our staff something like flowers or chocolates as a thank you gift, but we moved to using the Ilkley Gift Card to give our staff more choice and show our support for local. “The Ilkley Gift Card is a treat for our employees as it feels like a special gift being branded to Ilkley but it’s also helping our town. "It’s a win-win. “At Christmas time in particular, you want to support your town and its businesses and a Town & City Gift Card makes a lovely present for your staff. “I don’t know anybody that has received an Ilkley Gift Card and not enjoyed it. If more organisations made the switch to local, the impact on our towns and cities would be enormous.” Ilkley BID launched the Ilkley Gift Card in 2022, with the card now accepted at around 80 businesses across the town. Participating businesses include shops, restaurants and other local services, with money loaded onto the cards ring-fenced for spending in Ilkley. Ilkley BID Manager Sarah Brookfield-Almond said: “The Ilkley Gift Card is the ultimate ‘shop local’ Gift Card, and can be spent with both big brands and independent businesses in the town, offering far more choice than a regular gift card. “Not only does the card offer outstanding choice for staff, it offers real support for Ilkley businesses as the cards have to be spent in our town, with participating businesses. “Making the switch to the Ilkley Gift Card this Christmas ensures your employee benefit also benefits your town.” Miconex CEO Colin Munro said its research found local gift cards can also encourage people to discover new businesses. He said: “In our 2026 research, 65% of respondents said they’d made a specific visit into the town or city to spend their Town & City Gift Card, and 69% used it to try a business they’d never visited before. “In addition, 80% say they spend over and above the gift card value on redemption. “Our cards drive footfall, spend and business discovery, which is invaluable to our business communities.”
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