The past four months have seen one of the most difficult trading periods for businesses ever. The UK - indeed the world - came to an abrupt halt.

In Peterborough alone more than 13,000 people have been furloughed, while businesses tried to establish how they will survive. The financial damage could last for months, perhaps years - some will never recover.

Many people will understandably be cautious. Numbers of visitors will be restricted physically, and some will not come back immediately. Anyone who has visited any of our shops in the past few weeks will have seen this already.

With this in mind, Peterborough Matters will be doing its bit to lend support, through a campaign starting with our Independents' Weekend.

Every day throughout July, from July 4 onwards, we will be promoting the 'indies' that make our city so vibrant.

From restaurants to opticians; cleaning companies to funeral directors; and pubs to fashion retailers, we'll be featuring many businesses that you'll only find in our city or the surrounding villages and towns. You'll see the branding at the top of this piece, and it will feature in all our relevant stories.

We'll be telling you what they sell; how they started; what they offer; how they're adjusting to the current economic conditions; and much more.

It all starts this Saturday and Sunday, when we'll also be out and about in the city centre capturing the mood, and placing numerous pieces on our pages and in social media

We won't be featuring all of the indies straight away, so if you would like your company featured, this is the time to do it. Our pages are being read hundreds of thousands of times a month, and our social media follower numbers are rocketing.

We're hoping that Peterborough will support the indies we feature, and all the other indies - in person, over the phone, or online.

Let us know if you've got a service or business you'd like promoting at info@peterboroughmatters.co.uk


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