Engaging Merthyr Tydfil

Establishing better communication between businesses and realizing cost savings through collective purchasing

Merthyr Gift Card (ongoing)

This will enable local consumers to purchase a town centre Gift Card as a present for friends and family. The lucky recipients will be able to spend their gift card at participating BD businesses.

The programme utilises the existing Mastercard infrastructure making it easy to use and carries with it a very strong ‘shop local’ message.

To get involved, phone us on 07871 606966 or visit Homepage – The Merthyr Gift Card

We Love Merthyr Mobile App (ongoing)

The We Love Merthyr mobile phone app was launched late in 2016 in reponse to the increasing use of smartphone by visitors to the town.

The app provides information on town centre businesses and links to their websites, promotes upcoming events in the town, enables access to visitor information about, for example, parking or places to visit, and highlights current deals available via the We Love Merthyr Loyalty Card. It is free to download and available on both iphone and Android devices.

As of summer 2018, the app has been downloaded some 1700 times and feedback has been very positive.

Saving Your Business Money (ongoing)

The Big Heart of Merthyr Tydfil is working with procurement experts, Meercat Associates, to help member businesses save money on their operating costs. They seek to find savings across a range of core business costs including electricity and gas, telecoms and merchant fees. The good news is that they will undertake the whole process from start to finish and, because they are funded by the BID, they take no commission so all the savings found are yours.

To find out more, please contact Antonia on antonia@thebigheart.net or 01685 726272.

To date, they have enabled town centre businesses to make some £30,000 in savings as well as identifying some £40,000 more potential savings.

We Love Merthyr Loyalty Card (ongoing)

Merthyr’s loyalty card features up to businesses providing special offers and discounts to approximately 5000 cardholders.

Amongst the busonesses signed up to the scheme are nationals such as Bonmarche, Trespass and The Fragrance Shop, as well as a host of local independent shops, pubs, restaurants and businesses.

The scheme is free for Big Heart members to participate in and the loyalty cards are free for customers.

Merthyr Tydfil Town Centre Awards (November 2016)

Jointly funded by The Big Heart of Merthyr Tydfil, MerthyrTydfil Council and the Pontmorlais Townscape Heritage Initiative, the town centre awards aim to celebrate the many excellent businesses in the town.

Mystery shopper assessments of over 150 retail, health & beauty and hospitality businesses were undertaken in the summer with generally exellent results. All businesses received written feedback on their mystery visit with positive feedback as well as the identification of areas for improvement.

47 businesses subsequently attended the special awards event held in Redhouse in November with 14 businesses achieving the highest accolade of a Platinum Award.

Merthyr Tydfil Town Centre Retail and Hospitality Awards (October 2015)

Following on from our successful first Merthyr Tydfil Town Centre awards event in 2014, we worked once again with MerthyrTydfil Council to celebrate the many excellent businesses in the town. Mystery shopper assessments of over 130 businesses were undertaken in the summer with very pleasing results. 45 businesses attended the special awards event held in Redhouse in October with 12 businesses achieving the highest accolade of a Platinum Award.

Big Heart Grant (June 2015 – ongoing)

This small grant scheme offering grants of up to £600 is available to Big Heart businesses for a range of perojects. Particular emphasis is placed on shop front improvement schemes enhancing the visual appearance of the town centre and on energy efficiency projects targeting sustainable reductions in business costs.

Merthyr Business Club Retailer of the Year Award (September 2014)

The Big Heart of Merthyr Tydfil sponsored the Retailer of the Year Award as part of the annual awards organised by Merthyr Business Club.

Big Heart Business Development Grant (launched June 2014 – scheme now closed)

This scheme delivers grants of up to £960 to assist businesses to undertake small projects to develop and grow their business. Examples include interior refurbishment, new cash registers or shelving, support with ICT, setting up a website, funding to support staff training, provision of new uniforms, etc. As of the end of November 2014, a total of 19 grants have been approved with a value of approximately £13,750.

Merthyr Tydfil Town Centre Awards (July 2014)

The Big Heart of Merthry Tydfil, St Tydfil Shopping Centre and Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council undertook a mystery shopper exercise in spring 2014 through the National Skills Academy for Retail. The results were very encouraging for the town overall and to celebrate the achievements of the participating businesses, an award ceremony was held in Redhouse in July. 39 businesses attended to receive their Gold, Silver and Bronze certificates, whilst other businesses who could not attend received their awards and mystery shopper feedback in the following weeks.

Big Heart Energy Grants (launched September 2013 – scheme now closed)

This scheme supports grants for up to £960 for projects which will reduce energy consumption such as more energy efficient lights fittings, voltage optimisers, improved heating or ventilation, replacing out of date equipment, etc. As of the end of November 2014, 14 grants have been approved to a value of approximately £11,000.

Merthyr Tydfil Energy Action Group (launched June 2013 – project no longer in operation)

BID members can seek quotations for electricity and gas via our collective purchasing scheme. To date, some businesses have made savings of between 15 and 20% on their previous rates so why not contact our partners at Development Trust Association Wales for a free no obligation quotation? If you are interested please get in touch with Ken Shaw on kenshaw@dtawales.org.uk or phone 02920 190260. As of the end of November 2014, 9 businesses have taken advantage of this scheme to reduce their energy bills.

Retail Mentoring (June to August 2013)

Retailers within the BID area were offered free retail mentoring from an expert via the National Skills Academy for Retail.

The Big Heart Bulletin (May 2013 onwards)

Keep in touch with details about events, grants, environmental improvements and all our other projects via The Big Heart Bulletin, our quarterly newsletter. You can download a copy from this website, receive it my email (to be included on our email list, please contact Antonia at antonia@thebigheart.net) and we will also deliver a paper copy to shops and businesses.