It's easy to spend your Bristol Pounds – mostly
IT sounds like such a simple assignment – go out and spend some cash.
But when the "cash" in question is Bristol Pounds – an entirely new currency, on its first day of trading – it is more of a challenge than you might think.
For a start I had to get some Bristol Pounds, and that meant a visit to the Bristol Credit Union in Stokes Croft, where chief executive James Berry set me up with a Bristol Pound account.
"The great thing about paying sterling into your Bristol Pound account at the moment," James says, "is that, as an introductory offer, we are adding five per cent – so you're better off already."
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I start by exchanging £10 into Bristol Pound notes and putting £10 Bristol Pounds into my new account – so I can also test the much-vaunted mobile texting payment method, which all the participating shops also offer.
"We have had lots of people in here today setting up accounts," James says.
"There is real interest in it, and it's not just from the people who normally use the Bristol Credit Union for their savings – we have had people in today from all over the city, keen to get their hands on some Bristol Pounds for themselves.
"There is a real sense of civic pride in knowing that you are spending, but the money is staying in the city and boosting Bristol's own economy in these tough times.
"We have now signed up around 200 individuals and 75 businesses, so it's really getting going, even on its launch day."
With my colourful Bristol Pounds in my hand, I head out to do a bit of shopping. Just around the corner, on Picton Street, I head into the Radford Mill Farm Shop – which, according to the Bristol Pound website I'm glancing through on my mobile phone, is already signed up to the scheme.
Sure enough, inside, the cheerful shop assistant James Phillips is more than happy to take my Bristol Pounds as I hand over my purchases – some West Country toffee and chocolate.
"This is quite exciting," he laughs. "You're the first person to pay with Bristol Pounds."
I head to south Bristol to buy some bread – perhaps not the most ecologically sound way of shopping, but I'm keen to see how well the Bristol Pound is working on the other side of the city.
Once again I'm met with a friendly smile by Sanjay Patel, baker at Mark's Bread in North Street, Bedminster.
"Lots of people have been asking us about how they sign up for the scheme today," Sanjay says. "But you are the first person to actually come in and buy bread using Bristol Pounds."
I've got my sweets, I've got my bread, all I need for a happy night in is some Bristol-brewed beer.
I head to the Better Food Company on Whiteladies Road, where manager Edward Temple greets me with a now familiar line.
"You're the first person to actually spend Bristol Pounds in the shop," he says.
But as this is the final tick on my shopping list, I decide to try to pay by the mobile SMS texting system.
It's actually simple enough – a newly erected sign behind the counter tells me exactly what to do – I text "Pay" then my Bristol Pound pin number, then the code for the shop, then the total for my purchase.
Within seconds, Edward's phone has pinged into life, with a message from Bristol Pound HQ to tell him I've paid my bill.
On the way home I call at the petrol station of one of the major supermarket chains, and ask the cashier if I can pay by Bristol Pounds.
"No you can't," is her abrupt reply. "Real money please."
Comments
by Tody123
Thursday, September 20 2012, 12:20PM
“So basically, retailers now have to stock up their tills with sterling coins as well as Bristol pound notes to give change?
The more I read about this scheme it just seems to be really impractical.
I see Goldbrick signed up, its the sort of nonsense that the owners like "lets spray the town with graffiti and print our own money, then we can take Mike to see the wizard and get him a new brain"”
by Lone_Ranger
Thursday, September 20 2012, 11:35AM
“As this whole scheme is, in effect, a gift voucher promotion, I'm pretty sure that no-one is legally bound to give any change at all for the Bristol Gift Voucher.”
by PJ1979
Thursday, September 20 2012, 11:23AM
“@Bristol1978
You get the change in sterling, so don't lose anything. I guess the no coins issue was one of the reasons they have a £1 Bristol pound note.
@Tody123
"I can see getting a bunch of Bristol notes and making a few small purchases would mean I ended up with a pocket of sterling coin."
What you mean the same as you normally does when you use a sterling notes to buy penny sweets! I'n fact I'd suggest your more likely to get less change in coinage and more £1 Bristol Pound notes.
The real problem with the Bristol pound is the fact that the Bristol Credit Union charge £1.30 a week to have an account. I oppose having to pay to have a bank account and therefore I'm unlikely to use Bristol pounds, even if they offer a 5% incentive to invest money in Bristol pounds. I like the concept in principle but as a consumer it not financially worth my while and this is actually a greater impedimet to its use than the constraint on where people can spend their money. Ultimately a lot of people could live with that to a certain degree, for the simple reason that you don't have to put all your money into Bristol pounds.”
by Bristol1978
Thursday, September 20 2012, 10:27AM
“"It's actually simple enough – a newly erected sign behind the counter tells me exactly what to do – I text "Pay" then my Bristol Pound pin number, then the code for the shop, then the total for my purchase."
This sounds anything but simple. I slide my card into a slot and key in four digits, thats simple.
by Tody123Thursday, September 20 2012, 9:41AM
"are there Bristol coins?"
No, apparently only the Bank Of England are allowed to issue coinage, the Bristol Pound is nothing more than a voucher scheme.
Which raises an interesting question, as the £B is only available in multiples of £B1, £B5, £B10 and £B20 what happens if your shopping comes to £B16.73?
Do you get your change in real money, in which case you've just defeated the purpose of the scheme. Do you lose out on 27p making the scheme more expensive to take part in or do you have to pay the 73p in real money making the scheme pointlessly overcomplicated.”
by GoveKnows
Thursday, September 20 2012, 9:47AM
“And that's why Mums go to Iceland, Tesco, Waitrose, Asda, Sainsburys or in fact anywhere that doesn't dispense hopeless monopoly money.”
by Tody123
Thursday, September 20 2012, 9:41AM
“are there Bristol coins?
if not, I can see getting a bunch of Bristol notes and making a few small purchases would mean I ended up with a pocket of sterling coin.”
by Lone_Ranger
Thursday, September 20 2012, 9:24AM
“"On the way home I call at the petrol station of one of the major supermarket chains, and ask the cashier if I can pay by Bristol Pounds.
"No you can't," is her abrupt reply. "Real money please.""
Of course they won't accept £BP. Would you expect Morrisons to accept Sainsburys gift vouchers or Burger King to honour money off coupons from McDonalds?”
by PJB_1972
Thursday, September 20 2012, 9:14AM
“Love the last line! Those nasty evil supermarkets...!”