RGU makes £20,000 investment in city through Aberdeen Gift Card as other businesses urged to join ‘powerful vote of confidence’ in Granite City
Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University (RGU) is making a £20,000 investment in the city by choosing the Aberdeen Gift Card as a reward for staff in its newly introduced long service awards.
The move by RGU has been welcomed by Aberdeen Inspired – who launched the gift card scheme in 2020 – as a powerful vote of confidence in local businesses and a significant investment in the city by one of Scotland’s top universities.
Other major businesses and organisations are now invited to a special webinar hosted by the Business Improvement District on 20 September to learn about the Aberdeen Gift Card and what it can deliver for their employees, their businesses and the city.
The £20,000 gift card order by RGU will see cards spent locally in the Granite City with a range of businesses, keeping spend locked into Aberdeen and boosting the local economy.
Adrian Watson, Chief Executive of Aberdeen Inspired said: “As one of Scotland’s top universities, it’s fantastic to see RGU choosing the Aberdeen Gift Card for its rewards and incentives, complementing its diverse benefits package with a long service award that offers the recipient choice, and providing a significant boost to city centre businesses.
“We know many businesses are now looking at ways to reward and retain staff in ways that bring tangible and welcome benefits to their employees. The Aberdeen Gift Card – the best-selling Town & City Gift Cards in the UK - does that while offering a major boost to the Granite City’s local economy.
“Our webinar on September 20 is an ideal way for local businesses and firms from all different sectors to find out just what the Aberdeen Gift Card can do for their staff, for their businesses and for the city. We hope many more organisations will want to join RGU in being part of this exciting initiative that really is a win-win for everyone.”
Resourcing and Benefits Manager at RGU, Julie Skinner, said that a diverse range of benefits is useful to both attract and retain the right people and the Aberdeen Gift Card will be a key part of that in recognising long service.
“In 2023, we introduced long service awards for 10, 20, 30 and even 40 years. When we introduced the long service awards, we undertook research looking at whether it should have a financial element and what other organisations offered, such as gifts for employees to choose via a catalogue or a meal for two.
“It was important that the recognition was reflective of the diversity of our staff, and we opted for the Aberdeen Gift Card for that reason. People don’t want to be told what reward they’re having as a reward because it might not meet their needs. Societally, we’ve moved far beyond the carriage clock for the mantelpiece as a universal long service award gift.
“The Aberdeen Gift Card can be spent with around 300 businesses in the city, giving our staff the choice to spend at their discretion in many shops, restaurants, venues, hotels and more. In the current cost of living crisis, making the reward flexible and useful is even more important. We also appreciated the fact that the card has to be spent here in Aberdeen, putting the focus back on the community. Investing in our city is the right thing for us to do.
“The Aberdeen Gift Card is led by Aberdeen Inspired, and that provides reassurance that it is an initiative for the benefit of our city. Choosing the Aberdeen Gift Card as part of our benefits package represents a powerful message about the investment we’re making in the local community.”
The Aberdeen Gift Card is part of the award-winning Town & City Gift Cards initiative from fintech Miconex active across the UK. Managing director of Miconex, Colin Munro, adds:
“84% of organisations say that supporting local businesses is a factor when choosing rewards and incentives. Town & City Gift Cards blend national brands with local favourites, enabling organisations to cater for a broad spectrum of staff, client, customer and volunteer ages and interests within one gift card, making it an increasingly popular reward, incentive or thank you for organisations to use.”
Aberdeen Inspired’s 30-minute webinar about the gift card will be held on Wednesday, September 20 at noon. It will feature two trailblazing Aberdeen businesses who have made the move to the Aberdeen Gift Card who will discuss why this gift card meets the diverse needs of their teams, across all ages and interests.
You can register free here.