Northern Ireland

High street voucher scheme will 'boost both retailers and hard-pressed families'

Shoppers in Belfast yesterday before the closure of non-essential retail on Friday. Picture by Hugh Russell
Shoppers in Belfast yesterday before the closure of non-essential retail on Friday. Picture by Hugh Russell Shoppers in Belfast yesterday before the closure of non-essential retail on Friday. Picture by Hugh Russell

A £95m scheme providing high street vouchers for every household will 'boost both retailers and hard-pressed families'.

As many as 740,000 households in the north could receive cards pre-paid to a value of at least £100 in the new year.

It is similar to a recent initiative in Jersey where every resident was given £100 to be spent on local retailers.

It is understood Stormont ministers were impressed by reports of its success at a meeting of the British-Irish Council.

The scheme is expected to take around six weeks to develop and run for two months in early 2021.

All households will benefit, regardless of income, with finance minister Conor Murphy saying it was intended as a stimulus for the high street.

Aodhán Connolly of the NI Retail Consortium welcomed the announcement, saying it would "create a virtuous circle of spending that will support retailers in the leaner months of January and February as well as being of huge benefit to those households whose budgets are already squeezed".

However, Roger Pollen of the Federation of Small Businesses also warned that more funding should be allocated to pre-Christmas support for traders struggling to stay afloat.

The vouchers were part of a £338m Covid package announced yesterday to support a range of sectors.

Tough new restrictions coming into force this Friday will see all non-essential retail, hospitality, close contact services, leisure and entertainment facilities and churches close for two weeks, although schools will remain open.

News of the support came as it emerged that a vaccine developed in Britain has been found to be up to 90 per cent effective in preventing Covid-19.

AstraZeneca and Oxford University said their jab is effective in stopping most people from contracting coronavirus and falling seriously ill, with some indications that it can also prevent people passing the virus to others.

It is likely to be rolled out in the UK from next month, with the bulk of vaccination in the new year.

Tom Keith-Roach, president of AstraZeneca UK, said the UK can expect to receive 19 million doses by the end of 2020.