A new movement is launching in Liverpool to keep more money in the local economy

A new circular economy movement is launching in Liverpool which aims to keep more of the money that’s spent here actually in the city.

Peepl is a payment platform designed to benefit businesses and customers, creating a network which stops what we spend on things like food deliveries going to massive non-local companies while restaurants take a hit on high fees.

Co-founder and CEO Leon Rossiter decided to start it in Liverpool after his previous experience as an investor in Independent Liverpool showed the power of community support in helping businesses to thrive. Peepl has since attracted funding from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

Tolu, founder of Yourgaff with Leon & Zarino, co-founders of Peepl

The Guide will be working with Peepl to launch our own app very soon, looking to use Peepl rewards to inspire collaboration & benefit our local communities.So, before that, we sat down with Leon to ask what Peepl is all about and what it could mean for the city’s economy …

What made you decide to launch the Peepl network?

It was about understanding that things were a bit broken and wanting to do something different – the rise of companies like Amazon, Uber, Deliveroo over the last 10-15 years has meant economies and high streets are being left behind.

If you spend £1 in a local business, about 65p will stay in the local economy, if you spend it in a chain it’s around 25-30p. As soon as you understand that, you think – hang on, I live in this community, so why wouldn’t I want all of the money to be staying here?

So what do you do about it, and how can you make things better for more people?

I worked with Colu and brought the technology to Liverpool a few years ago, and we ran the largest local digital currencies in history. I learnt a lot about the product and the market, and that people do care about this.

Kim, Owner of Coffee & Fandisha and Peepl Shareholder

What does Peepl actually do?

Peepl is a mobile app-based payments and rewards platform for businesses and communities to use and transact, with the ultimate aim of keeping more money in local economies.

Independents and grass roots organisations get charged more by the likes of Uber and Deliveroo than any of the national chains do, and we want to change that. We want to help businesses and organisations increase loyalty and win new audiences. We want to create something sustainable and useful, that builds communities and trust in a network.

How exactly does it work?

BBC research showed consumers are paying on average 23% more for every food delivery they get through the big platforms like Deliveroo and Just Eat, compared to going to the restaurant and getting them to deliver it themselves.

We want to bring that excellent mobile app-based customer experience to projects and services that are locally-focused, that are better for restaurants and for riders, and link them all up. We’ve already brought together the technology with some really passionate members of different communities whether that’s the vegan community, landlords and letting agents, media organisations, and that’s just the start.

All of the customers in the Peepl network will be using our technology to purchase these goods and services and they’ll be rewarded by our partners. For example, if you spend £100 on food delivery, £5 of that will be converted to Peepl fixed value rewards and sent back to you immediately to use again within the Peepl network so it encourages repeat orders.

The Peepl rewardprovides local economy champions and Peepl business & customer pioneers with lower fees and ways to earn rewards for shopping locally and spending sustainably.

Delifonseca and Peepl are proud partners

What is the Peepl 100 campaign?

We’re looking for 100 people who really care about their community and want to be the early heroes of our technology, helping to promote our vision of a healthy & prosperous city region. They’ll each create their own Peepl logo, they’ll own that piece of artwork which we will rent from them. They will also receive ownership of the Peepl network, whilst enjoying lovely food from our local restaurant partners in the city. There are a few spots left for the Peepl 100, and you can sign up here.

Why launch in Liverpool?

There’s definitely a strong feeling of community here that I think you don’t get in other cities, that sense of place and connection people have to the city.

I was involved in Independent Liverpool before we launched the card as an investor and people reacted to that in a way that really gave the independent food and drink industry a platform to grow and it’s gone on to regenerate the Baltic Market area as well.

All that came from a sense of sticking it to the man, that attitude Liverpool has, so that’s why it’s the perfect place to launch something like this.