An Aberdeen woman has been overwhelmed by the popularity of an online directory she created during lockdown to drive support for local businesses.
Launched in May, abz.life was established to encourage residents to support firms based on their doorsteps.
It has since welcomed a surge of regional firms – from hairdressers, jewellers, photographers and boutiques, to bars, cafes and restaurants – keen to get involved.
The directory is organised into a number of categories including food and drink, hair and beauty, sports and fitness, arts and crafts, home and garden, fashion and lifestyle, health and wellbeing, and occasions and gifts.
There are more than 480 Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire businesses listed, but the number continues to grow by the day.
On beginning abz.life, co-founder and digital marketing guru Steph Eady said: “We actually had the idea to start abz.life last year.
“But when lockdown began, we felt it was such an important time for us to develop and launch the hub as quickly as possible – as local companies required more support than ever before.
“Even though there are so many people who want to support local, we felt there wasn’t an easy place to find these companies – especially those who only use Instagram or don’t have a website.
“So that’s why we wanted to create a hub where people can discover the huge number of amazing local businesses our city has.”
The 27-year-old added: “We also feature the passionate people behind these businesses on our blog, so everyone can learn about them, be inspired by them, and support them.
“I’m definitely proud of abz.life. This was a passion project for our team, and the support we’ve received has been incredible.
“We get regular messages saying what a good idea this is, and we’ve also received many messages from our listed businesses saying they’ve had orders directly off the back of their listing or our social media posts – that makes it all worthwhile.
“It’s a project that will always remind us of lockdown and the challenging times we all faced, but this is a very positive thing to come out of that.”
Similarly to the abz.life initiative, North-East Now was also launched in order to promote local businesses battling through the Covid-19 pandemic.
The initiative – which is driven by Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce and supported by creative agency Hampton, Aberdeen Journals, Original 106 and VisitAberdeenshire – will share inspirational and positive stories, encouraging people to do what they can to support the local economy.
To find out more about North-East Now, visit northeastnow.scot or to share your positive business story, please email stories@northeastnow.scot