Elgin and Edinburgh have been crowned the brainiest Scottish places, taking second and third place in the Great Town and City Christmas Quiz. Over 400 towns and cities took part in the festive quiz from the four nations of the UK.
After an early lead, Elgin were pipped to the first place post by Surrey town Camberley in the final hours of the competition. Edinburgh took third place, and were the highest ranked city in the competition. Newport on the Isle of Wight were in fourth and London fifth.
Perth, Glasgow, Kirkcaldy and Falkirk took sixth, eighth, twelfth and thirteenth positions.
The Christmas quiz invited people to compete on behalf of their town or city by answering Christmas and gift themed questions, and was developed by Scottish fintech Miconex to encourage people to shop locally and show support for where they live.
Over 5000 entries were also received for the prize draw to win a £1500 Town and City Gift Card for the winner’s choice of town or city. Miconex introduced 19 of its local economy boosting gift card programmes during the latter part of 2020. There are now 17 programmes in Scotland and 56 across the UK and Ireland
New data from Visa and the Centre for Economics and Business Research has shown that 81% of people are supporting local businesses more this year, and that shoppers can double the amount of money that stays in their local economy by shopping locally.
Fears around the purchases of single venue gift cards has also led to the rise in popularity of multi venue gift cards such as Town and City Gift Cards. Data from the Gift Card Voucher Association found that multi venue gift cards represented 37.7% of all gift cards purchased in October 2020.
Colin Munro, managing director for Miconex said: “One of the positives of 2020 is the support that has been shown for the places where we live. Shopping locally supports livelihoods, jobs and economies and that has really hit home for people this year.
“The Great Town and City Christmas Quiz is 2020 in a nutshell, people supporting where they live and I couldn’t be prouder of those that have taken the time to compete for their town or city, sharing the shop local message.
“Huge congratulations to Elgin and Edinburgh for taking second and third place in the quiz, and to the lucky winner of the £1500 Town and City Gift Card. I hope it brings a really positive end to their 2020.”
Roddy Smith, CEO of Essential Edinburgh said: “After a horrendous year, we hope The Great Town and City Quiz offered some light-hearted festive fun, and well done to our Edinburgh residents for coming in third and being the brainiest UK city!
“Supporting city centres and high streets is so important for communities of all sizes; protecting the shops and hospitality businesses for people that depend on them and the employees that work in them. Our identities as city residents rely so much on the beating heart of those cities – the city centres- much of the pride we feel to call our wonderful city home comes from the vistas, ambiance and services available, and protecting them and our communities must be top of the list for 2021.”
Gemma Cruickshank, BID Manager for Embrace Elgin said: “The Great Town and City Christmas Quiz really brought our community together with lots of interaction and entries from people all over Moray. It has been a great way to spread the word of the Elgin Gift Card, we have seen a huge increase in sales in the past month, which has tripled from 2019. That money will then remain in the local community and support local businesses in what continues to be challenging times.”
