Why shopping local means helping yourself, especially at a time like this

I remember one customer from the period for two reasons. One was his pride in ignoring the news, declaring himself completely uninterested in the war as it didn’t affect him (I’ll come back to the other reason).

However, when he was told that the war would force up the price of beer he became politically animated to the point of threatening to vote.

He raged: “Ye dinnit mak beer out of oil!”

Flawlessly correct in itself, but he required further elaboration upon the oil-beer dynamic. It was a long afternoon.

Still, he was doing his best for the country by putting his money into a local business; although this was possibly not his main motivation.

Back in 2022, the Chancellor hasn’t yet managed to lower the price of petrol, although his fuel duty cut will keep it 5p cheaper than it would have been.

This affects everyone, but the current economic maelstrom is particularly grim news for small businesses. This is where you can help them, as well as your local area and, by extension, yourself. Shop local. It’s self-investment.

We don’t want any business to fail. However, most of the money going into a national or international chain will leave your area; and not return.

Coffee shops are a good example, although there are many others. You’re never far from an excellent independent coffee shop, in characterful premises whose owners are rather more enthusiastic about paying tax than certain of their colossal competitors.

Presumably everyone wants to avoid more shops closures, so shopping local is all the average person can do to save jobs and businesses. Multinationals will still survive. Easily.

The immediate price you pay at the till for coffee, clothes, books, whatever, is not the same as the ultimate cost.

Oh, the second reason I remember that bloke was that he had an enormous beer belly and always wore a white t-shirt; so at a certain angle he resembled the Taj Mahal.

Support your Echo and become a subscriber today.

Enjoy unlimited access to all of our news and sport, see fewer ads, experience faster load times, test your brain with daily puzzles and get access to exclusive newsletters.

Your support for our journalism means we can continue telling Sunderland’s stories for generations to come. Click here to subscribe – and click here to get a snapshot of the Echo’s news and sport to your inbox through our email newsletters.