Central Bedfordshire Council is encouraging local businesses to be more accessible to disabled people ahead a new awareness day, Purple Tuesday, to be held on 13 November.

The new ‘Purple Tuesday’ day is dedicated to inclusive shopping and addressing the needs of disabled consumers in the run-up to Christmas 2018. The aim is to enable and encourage retailers across the country (and online) to take steps to make their shopping experience more inclusive and accessible for disabled customers. The initiative also aims to inspire retailers to make long-term changes and improvements for disabled customers. The day is being co-ordinated by the disability charity Purple, hence the name.

 The charity says that the ‘Purple Pound’ spent by disabled customers is worth £249 billion a year, yet only 10% of businesses have a targeted strategy to access this market, despite research that found disabled customers have a higher level of brand loyalty than any other customer group. So Purple Tuesday provides a huge opportunity for businesses to boost their profits by meeting an important market need.

 Councillor Nigel Young, Executive Member for Regeneration and Business at Central Bedfordshire Council, said: “Purple Tuesday is an opportunity to  raise awareness amongst  businesses and retailers in the area that attracting more custom from disabled people and their friends and families makes good business sense. Disabled people are vital contributors to the economy and improving access doesn’t have to be complicated.

“We’ll be encouraging our local retailers and town centre managers to take up the Purple Tuesday challenge, and to help make Tuesday 13 November an accessible and inclusive success in this area.”

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