Brixton Pound

Specialties

The Brixton Pound (B£) is money that sticks to Brixton. It’s designed to support Brixton businesses and encourage local trade and production. It’s a complementary currency, working alongside (not replacing) pounds sterling, for use by independent local shops and traders. The B£ gives local traders and customers the chance to get together to support each other and maintain the diversity of the high street and strengthen pride in Brixton.

In the shop, we’re providing information about Brixton and the Brixton Pound, as well as exchanging pounds sterling into Brixton Pounds, selling Brixton Bonus tickets, mint condition Brixton Pound notes and Brixton Pound t-​shirts.

We are still selling A&C Continental deli’s famous pasteis de nata — a Portuguese delicacy that roughly translates to custard tarts. Come along and get one! They’re only B£1.

And, more importantly, we want the shop to be a community-​focused space. We want to know what you, the community members, would like to see on the Brixton high street. Would you like to run a workshop, host an event in the space, or have other ideas for using it for community benefit? We want to show that a different high street is possible!

History

Established in 2009.

B£ was launched in September 2009 as a physical paper-​based currency and was followed in September 2011 by the launch of the electronic B£ pay-​by-​text platform. Around 250 businesses currently accept paper B£ and around 200 have pay-​by-​text accounts.

The B£ makes money work for Brixton by supporting smaller shops and traders who are under threat from the recession and larger chains. It stays in Brixton and circulates, increasing local trade and community connections. Money spent with independent businesses circulates within the local economy up to three times longer than when it’s spent with national chains, research by the New Economics Foundation has shown.

The B£ encourages people to think about where their money is going and commit to spending a proportion of it locally. On the environmental front, the B£ supports local businesses in sourcing more goods and services locally, reducing their carbon footprint.