FSB launches Keep Trade Local ?Parking? crowdmap

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has today launched a Parking ?Crowdmap? to promote this burning political issue affecting a significant amount of London businesses across London.

The ?Crowdmap? has been launched by the FSB to show how parking affects small businesses in each of the 33 London Boroughs ? good or bad ? and to highlight how councils can share best practice to use parking as a weapon to create growth in local shops.

The FSB encourages more Councils to adopt better parking policies. Wandsworth, for instance, has decided to slash the hourly parking tariff in Tooting to boost local business.

Many small businesses are adversely affected by the availability and the cost of parking for themselves or for their customers ? 64 per cent of small businesses in London say that the availability of parking has a negative impact on their business.

The continued decline of the high street is putting businesses at risk, with supermarkets and the internet getting stronger. Through its Keep Trade Local campaign, the FSB is encouraging businesses to work together to make their local high street the place to visit, and for people to understand they must use the high street or face losing it for good.

Steve Warwick, London Regional Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses, said:

?Parking continues to be one of the major policy concerns for our London members which is why we have devised a Parking Crowdmap that we are getting businesses to populate.  This will give the FSB greater power to persuade councils to think small first with their parking policies and ensure that more customers shop locally and are not forced to going to out of town supermarkets?.


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Notes to editors

1. The FSB is the UK's leading business organisation with around 200,000 members. It exists to protect and promote the interests of the UK?s Real-Life Entrepreneurs, and all those who run their own business. More information is available at www.fsb.org.uk/ktl

2. For more information on our Parking Crowdmap click here  -  This is a social media campaign, organised by the FSB in London, to map small firms that hold views on parking in their borough. Businesses can submit a report by filling it on the website or Sending a tweet using the hashtag #londonparking

3. Let us know if you would be interested in running a parking story with businesses on your news patch as we will gladly set that up.