Barking and Dagenham for Fairtrade

Fairtrade for local businesses

A message from Charles Fairbrass MBE, Leader of the Council:

"The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham has recently launched a campaign to make Barking and Dagenham a Fairtrade borough, aiming to bring the community, businesses and public services together to help us to do so.

A key part of becoming a Fairtrade borough is having local businesses - for example shops, cafés, and restaurants - offering Fairtrade products, so we need your help!

A lot of activity will be going on in relation to Fairtrade over the next few months, and we will supply free publicity for businesses who offer 2 or more Fairtrade products.

I would like to invite local businesses to find out more about our campaign and about Fairtrade opportunities in Barking and Dagenham. Please get in touch."

Fairtrade at a glance

Fairtrade guarantees a fair price for producers in the developing world

This allows them to invest in a stable future through things like better education, skills and healthcare.

Fairtrade is a fast-growing market

Fairtrade sales have been growing by an average of 50% per year since 2002. In the UK last year, sales grew to over £200 million.

Fairtrade is not always more expensive

It can even be the same price as, or even cheaper than regular goods, depending on brand.

Helping Barking and Dagenham become a Fairtrade borough could not be easier - all you need to do is offer 2 or more Fairtrade items to your customers. These can be small lines such as herbal teas or sugar, both of which are competitive on price with regular goods.

What's more, if you are one of the first 30 businesses to apply to us and agree to offer Fairtrade through your business, we will supply you with a free batch of Fairtrade herbal tea and sugar to sell.

We will also list you on our website and provide you with material from the Fairtrade Foundation to publicise what you sell. There will be a lot of promotional activity for Fairtrade in the borough during Fairtrade Fortnight in February 2007 - such as advertisements throughout the town centre - why not make sure your business can make best use of this?

Get in touch - we will send you your free batch of Fairtrade goods and we will put you in touch with organisations that can supply you with both small and large orders of a wide range of Fairtrade products.

Councillor Charles Fairbrass MBE

Contact

Daniel Pope

Group Manager - Spatial Planning

3rd Floor

Maritime House

1 Linton Road

Barking

IG11 8HG

Tel: 020 8227 3929

Fax: 020 8227 3916

Textphone: 020 8227 3404

Email: daniel.pope@lbbd.gov.uk|