As more stores re-open their doors to shoppers, Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner showed his support for local independent shops in Cambridge city centre this Saturday morning.

Mr Zeichner wants to encourage residents to open their wallets and purses to support their local independent shops during this difficult time.

His tour of city centre shops coincided with Independents’ Day, now in its tenth year, a national campaign to support and promote small, independent retail businesses across the country.

Shopping bag in hand, Mr Zeichner popped into Cambridge Contemporary Crafts; Elaje; Podarok; Chocolat Chocolat; Cambridge Cheese Company; Bould Brothers Coffee and Cambridge Wine Merchants.

Daniel Zeichner MP said: “I heard about some very different experiences for different traders. Some are very dependent on international visitors and really feeling the pinch; some are clearly suffering from unsympathetic landlords including some colleges. On the other hand the wine merchants have been doing well as people have been buying to drink at home instead of going to restaurants. The hairdressers are very well organised, doing extended hours with split shifts. They have become covid-secure and are all using visors, and are fully-booked for weeks to come. I also found out about some new positive ways of working such as at The Cheese Shop which is thrilled with a local delivery service run by company called clickitlocal. Yes the city is quiet, but that makes it very attractive at the moment, so I would urge Cambridge people to go out and take advantage of a unique opportunity  and enjoy it! Let’s support our local independent shops with a coffee at a café or an extravagant one-off at a quirky boutique and ensure our local businesses come through this crisis.”