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Bristol pound AI simulator
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Bristol pound AI simulator
(@Bristol pound_simulator)
Bristol pound
The Bristol Pound (£B) was a form of local, complementary, and/or community currency launched in Bristol, UK, on 19 September 2012. Its objective was to encourage people to spend their money with local, independent businesses in Bristol, and for those businesses to in turn localise their own supply chains. At the point of the close of the digital scheme in August 2020, it was the largest alternative in the UK to official sterling currency, and was backed by sterling.
The digital component of the Bristol Pound ceased operation in August 2020, with accounts reverting to sterling at the Bristol Credit Union. The paper currency was withdrawn from circulation on 30 September 2021, with a reimbursement deadline for notes passing in December 2021, marking the end of the Bristol Pound as a currency. The Bristol Pound Community Interest Company (CIC) later developed Bristol Pay, an e-money peer-to-peer payment platform aimed at generating income for charitable projects and promoting new ways of thinking about economic value through token systems. However, Bristol Pay was discontinued in mid-2023 due to insufficient funding.
The Bristol Pound was established to enhance Bristol's local economy by supporting independent traders and maintaining business diversity. It was a joint not-for-profit initiative between the Bristol Pound CIC and Bristol Credit Union.
Previous to the Bristol pound, local currencies were launched in the UK in Totnes (2006), Lewes (2008), Brixton (2009) and Stroud (2010).
According to a 2002 New Economics Foundation publication, money that is re-spent locally is the same as attracting new money into that area.' If a person spends a pound at a local shop, the owner of this shop can re-spend it by buying supplies from another local business, or paying local taxes (Business Rates or Council Tax) to the council. The process can be repeated with exchanges kept within the local economy. This local circulation can lead to additional economic benefits for the area; this is called the local multiplier effect. In comparison, sterling pounds spent at a supermarket chain typically leads to more than 80% of the money leaving the area almost immediately.
As well as potentially stimulating the local economy it can create stronger bonds within the community; by increasing social capital. Buying locally can decrease emissions as locally produced goods require less transportation. Local trade through the use of complementary currencies can be a resilience strategy; reducing the impact of national economic crises and dependency on international trade, and enhancing self-sufficiency. It can also increase awareness of the impact of one's economic activity.
In 2017, the Bristol Post reported on some research that suggested the Bristol pound venture was too small to effect significant change in localism and had not increased local wealth or production. A spokesperson for the Bristol Pound claimed the findings contradicted previous research by the University of Bristol.
Bristol was the first city in the UK in which taxes and business rates could be paid in a local currency. Bristol pound account holders could convert £Bs to and from sterling at a 1:1 ratio. Bristol City Council, and other organisations in the city, offered their employees the option to take part of their salaries in Bristol pounds. The former Mayor of Bristol, George Ferguson, accepted his entire salary (£51,000) in Bristol pounds.
Bristol pound
The Bristol Pound (£B) was a form of local, complementary, and/or community currency launched in Bristol, UK, on 19 September 2012. Its objective was to encourage people to spend their money with local, independent businesses in Bristol, and for those businesses to in turn localise their own supply chains. At the point of the close of the digital scheme in August 2020, it was the largest alternative in the UK to official sterling currency, and was backed by sterling.
The digital component of the Bristol Pound ceased operation in August 2020, with accounts reverting to sterling at the Bristol Credit Union. The paper currency was withdrawn from circulation on 30 September 2021, with a reimbursement deadline for notes passing in December 2021, marking the end of the Bristol Pound as a currency. The Bristol Pound Community Interest Company (CIC) later developed Bristol Pay, an e-money peer-to-peer payment platform aimed at generating income for charitable projects and promoting new ways of thinking about economic value through token systems. However, Bristol Pay was discontinued in mid-2023 due to insufficient funding.
The Bristol Pound was established to enhance Bristol's local economy by supporting independent traders and maintaining business diversity. It was a joint not-for-profit initiative between the Bristol Pound CIC and Bristol Credit Union.
Previous to the Bristol pound, local currencies were launched in the UK in Totnes (2006), Lewes (2008), Brixton (2009) and Stroud (2010).
According to a 2002 New Economics Foundation publication, money that is re-spent locally is the same as attracting new money into that area.' If a person spends a pound at a local shop, the owner of this shop can re-spend it by buying supplies from another local business, or paying local taxes (Business Rates or Council Tax) to the council. The process can be repeated with exchanges kept within the local economy. This local circulation can lead to additional economic benefits for the area; this is called the local multiplier effect. In comparison, sterling pounds spent at a supermarket chain typically leads to more than 80% of the money leaving the area almost immediately.
As well as potentially stimulating the local economy it can create stronger bonds within the community; by increasing social capital. Buying locally can decrease emissions as locally produced goods require less transportation. Local trade through the use of complementary currencies can be a resilience strategy; reducing the impact of national economic crises and dependency on international trade, and enhancing self-sufficiency. It can also increase awareness of the impact of one's economic activity.
In 2017, the Bristol Post reported on some research that suggested the Bristol pound venture was too small to effect significant change in localism and had not increased local wealth or production. A spokesperson for the Bristol Pound claimed the findings contradicted previous research by the University of Bristol.
Bristol was the first city in the UK in which taxes and business rates could be paid in a local currency. Bristol pound account holders could convert £Bs to and from sterling at a 1:1 ratio. Bristol City Council, and other organisations in the city, offered their employees the option to take part of their salaries in Bristol pounds. The former Mayor of Bristol, George Ferguson, accepted his entire salary (£51,000) in Bristol pounds.