I WOULD like to thank the Ely Standard for its fantastic support of YourEly and the very generous coverage it gave this last week on its front page.

The speed at which YourEly is moving is amazing. I have hardly been able to walk down the street without people stopping me and saying how important it is for the city to retain its independent shops and businesses, how they appreciate what we have within our community, the value and the personal service they are given.

The Centre for Retail Research predicts that 2013 will be tougher than ever for stores nationally, even worse than 2012 which was the worst year since 2008 when the recession began.

Coupled with the growth of online shopping, which last year rose by 16 per cent, these are clearly very tough times for our traders.

YourEly can help local businesses adapt to meet modern consumer trends. We can help local traders overcome today’s challenges with our unique social media platform and mentoring.

I would like to invite our businesses and community to follow our regular updates on Twitter @Your_Ely and on Facebook at Your Ely and to share their views about this initiative.

I believe that if our shops and businesses flourish in Ely, not only is this great for consumers and traders, but it will be a tremendous boost for our local economy, provide jobs and make Ely a more desirable place to live.

CAROLINE BAILEY

YourEly

Via e-mail