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Topics: Bristol & West| Hargreaves Lansdown
A group of Bristolian traders have launched their own currency for the town, backed by the local council and a credit union.
The ‘Bristol Pound' will be available as paper, and can also be traded electronically.
Ciaran Mundy, the director of the Bristol Pound, said the currency would aim to stop local money flowing out of Bristol, and into London or offshore.
"Big companies just hoover up money from a local area," he told the BBC.
However, Ben Yearsley, investment manager at Bristol-based Hargreaves Lansdown, said the idea would fail to boost local spending.
"It will merely move money from one sector to another, from national firms to local ones," he said.
National firms may be put off: "A lot of people work for the national companies, and you may actually cause an increase in unemployment. Worse, there may be a brake on investment in the city."
Bristol Credit Union, which is administering the scheme, is FSA-registered, and so will be covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) should the idea fail.
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Bristol currency
Dear Editor I congratulate traders in Bristol for having the gumption to launch their own currency. Bristol’s economy has struggled for several years, tackling high unemployment and low retail occupancy levels. The new currency sees local businesses combining forces to boost their troubled economy, while protecting their future – which can only be a positive. At Bartercard, we know how cash-conscious SMEs are in the current challenging trading conditions which is why, in a similar vein, we set up our trade exchange in 1996 to allow members to do business without the need to part with valuable cash. Despite the critics of the Bristol pound, I’m a huge supporter of this initiative and hope it continues to go from strength to strength Simon Barker, CEO Bartercard UK
Posted by: Simon Barker