About Buy GB
BuyGB is a not-for-profit company whose aims are to promote and support local producers of food, crafts and hand-made items throughout Great Britain. We aim to return no less than 25% of our annual profits to charities and social enterprises related to the promotion of local producers and local community projects. The remainder of our profits are returned to the business to facilitate growth, market the site and its producers, and further develop our products and services.
We formed BuyGB because we couldn't find the site that we really wanted to find. Sure, there were sites out there that you can buy local produce from, and there are some clever sites out there that find locally relevant information, but none of them worked the way we wanted them to. We wanted to get involved, not just read an online directory! Sometimes the shopping experience wasn't what we hoped it would be, sometimes the sites just didn't have what we wanted. Sometimes they did, but it was at a premium that would deter both customers and producers. So we talked to a few producers and a few people who know about these things, and we identified a few problems. For a start, good websites can cost a lot of money, and when you combine that with the costs of running an organisation, that money has to come back from somewhere - so sometimes charges were high, or commissions were prohibitive. We wanted to avoid that problem, and we reckoned we could build a site ourselves that would help local producers as well as interest our members.
When we sat down and designed the site, we wanted it to work on a very local level - we wanted to connect our members with their nearest sources of all the things we think are important - food, drink, crafts and things to do! We really wanted something that could be owned and controlled by the people who used it - whether that means building extra tools to help our producers manage their business, or adding new content and functionality for our members to get the best out of the site. And we wanted to support all the guilds and membership organisations out there that really make a difference. That's why we are working with organisations to offer their members access to everything for free - we don't really want to make money by charging people to sell online, or charge membership fees, as we don't think that's how the internet should work these days. Other industries have free-to-use social networks that they can benefit from, and we thought it was time there was one that supported the local producers, venues, craftsmen and women and charities of Great Britain.
Come back and see us occasionally as the site grows - we have lots planned, from iPhone apps to national events, so get involved and tell us what's on your mind, as we can't make this work without hearing from you.
