Merchant City Tourism and Marketing Co-operative

The area

The Merchant City is one of the oldest quarters of Glasgow and the cultural heart of the city.

The co-operative represents around 230 local businesses including bars, restaurants, theatres, visitor attractions, shops and music venues.

Collaboration

By collaborating, the members have created a brand, a website, merchandise and a marketing plan that promotes the area's features and facilities across social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Youtube.

"What the businesses are telling us is that their footfall has increased and their take at the tills has gone up as a result of the activities that we have been promoting," said Chair Gordon Matheson.

CDS explained how a consortium might work for this group and guided members through the set up stage, providing memorandum and articles of association and developing a customised members’ agreement.

Six local business leaders sit on the board to represent members. Promotions and opportunities are developed through a quarterly open meeting, newsletter and online portal.

Collaborating allows the members to share the cost of joint promotions such as City Breaks advertising. Marketing the Merchant City and its attractions through a single brand and portal that uses 'rich content' such as professional photography and video is helping to increase footfall and enhance the area's image.

Visit Co-operative Development Scotland to see how we can help