Elgin takes second place in UK-wide Christmas quiz run by town's gift card operators
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ELGIN has taken second place in a festive quiz to find the "brainiest place in Britain".
More than 400 towns and cities took part in the Great Town and City Christmas Quiz from around the UK in an initiative to support local shopping.
People were invited to compete on behalf of their town or city by answering Christmas and gift-themed questions in the contest devised by Scottish firm Miconex, which operates the Elgin Gift Card in association with Elgin Business Improvement District (BID) Embrace Elgin.
Surrey town Camberley took the top spot, with Edinburgh in third place. The contest received 500 Elgin entries.
The Elgin Gift Card can be spent with almost 100 businesses, including national brands like Boots, Starbucks, and Holland and Barrett, independent stores like Emporium Menswear and The Candy Shop, as well as leisure, beauty and hospitality.
Gemma Cruickshank, Elgin BID manager, 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 continue to be challenging times."
New data from Visa and the Centre for Economics and Business Research has shown that 81 per cent of people are supporting local businesses more this year.
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 for taking second place in the quiz."
Miconex developed the UK’s first city-wide gift card programme in Perth through its Town and City Gift Cards initiative in 2015. More than 50 cities and towns across the UK are now part of the Miconex Town and City Gift Card programme.
