The winners of €100 Mullingar Chamber Vouchers collected their prizes last week at the Westmeath Examiner office; Rachel Walshe; Aisling Coleman, office manager, Mullingar Chamber; Linda Cunningham; Jennifer Meehan, Westmeath Examiner; Brian Murtagh, Conor Eighan and Mary Lynch.

Mullingar Voucher sales increase by 25 per cent

Mullingar Voucher sales increase by 25 per cent

Almost €400,000 of Mullingar Vouchers were purchased last year, a 25 per cent increase on 2021.

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, Mullingar Chamber president John Geoghegan said that growth in voucher sales is a vote of confidence by people in the local economy and "marks a substantial moment where the volume of sales has almost doubled in three years and increased by 25% on the 2021 sales".

"This is a testament to the Mullingar Chamber strategy to re-brand this value proposition as the Mullingar Voucher two years ago and to promote it throughout the year during all the key calendar events.

"It is also testament to the hard work and brilliant marketing done by our office manager Aisling Coleman and delivery of this priority by Louise Kelly and Erica O’Meara. We estimate that these vouchers will be fully redeemed by February 1 and, as such, have a multiplier effect on our local economy of about €1.6m.

"Mullingar Chamber has also grown our membership for the third successive year and now stands at close to 240 members and we are always looking for new members to support our initiatives to promote Mullingar as a place to live and work."

The Mullingar Voucher can be used in 115 shops in the area to buy anything from clothing and homeware to petrol and electronics.

Chamber analysis shows that every €10 spent locally on Irish products generates more than €40 of benefit to the local community in terms of employment.

The advantage of Mullingar Gift Vouchers for businesses is that, under the Small Benefits Exemption Scheme, company directors and employees can receive non-cash bonuses of up to €1000 on a tax-free basis each year, and with that in mind, Mullingar Chamber encourage all employers to buy this voucher.

Christmas is a particularly popular period for the Mullingar Gift Voucher Scheme as vouchers are ideal gifts for friends and family and employees.

Retailers are charged as little as 1.5% redemption fee, much less than some larger voucher schemes, which can make up to 12% on purchases.

Mullingar Chamber would like to thank the sponsors of the vouchers – Flynn Fuels, North Midlands Credit Union, Millie Walsh’s Maxol, Buckley’s SuperValu and the Westmeath Examiner.

If you want to buy vouchers, you can purchase them online on mullingarchamber.ie by phone on 0449344044 or by email at marketing@mullingarchamber.ie.

Vouchers are also available, in small quantities, at Millie Walsh’s Maxol and Buckley’s SuperValu and are from North Midlands Credit Union and from Mullingar Chamber Office on Market Square.