July is Independent Retailer Month, and supporting your local indie businesses has never been so important. It really is a case of ‘use ‘em or lose ‘em’ unfortunately…

Independent retailers add colour and choice to our high streets. Without them we’d see more stark, empty units, and less of the unique and boutique. But being smaller comes at a cost. Without the group buying power of your Wall-Mart style organisations, these individual retailers can’t always compete with the big boys on price, meaning they are sometimes overlooked for the mass market retailers. Surely its worth paying that little bit extra for something special?

Here in Norwich, we’re lucky to have a vibrant indie culture, mostly centered around a group of streets in the city centre known as the Norwich Lanes, and also throughout the Royal Arcade. From the fabulous (and award-winning) independent bookshop, the Book Hive, to long-established family jewellers Aurum, these businesses add interest and appeal to Norwich – important for those of us who love to live here, and also for those who visit as tourists.

If you’ve never really explored the Norwich Lanes, or visited the shops mentioned above (and it doesn’t just stop at shops – Norwich also boasts a plethora of wonderful independent restaurants and bars – see the Raffles group of fantastic eateries for a case in point), then why not use this month-long celebration of Independent Retailers as an excuse to broaden your spending horizons. Once you’ve tried Indie, you won’t look back.

To mark Independent Retailer Month, Aurum Jewellers is offering 10% off everything in store from Sunday 1st to 8th July (last day of the offer is the Norwich Lanes Fayre). Please note this offer excludes Trollbeads. But what a fabulous time to get an engagement ring