high street twitter

The government’s new high streets minister has turned to Twitter in his latest move to drive up sales through digital innovation.

Andrew Percy announced a new category - the most social media savvy shop - in the Great British High Street Competition, which is running for a third year.

Twitter is backing the category and Percy, appointed high streets minister last month, said he wanted to find independent shops that have used social media to drive footfall to their local high street and support their community.

Members of the general public, as well as retailers, will be able to nominate entrants to the Best Shop on Twitter category by sending a tweet using the hashtag #BestGBTwittershop.

The government said it would award the category winner with £1,000 worth of advertising credit, as well as a trip to Twitter UK’s London office to further boost their digital skills.

“This year’s competition is set to be bigger and better with new categories, including the Best Shop on Twitter, to showcase how the very best high streets across the country are adapting to the digital world,” said Percy.

Director of strategic innovation at Twitter UK Dan Biddle added: “Lots of us are lucky to have amazing independent shops on our local high street and while they’re often hidden gems, many are using Twitter in brilliantly innovative ways to connect with customers and let even more people know about them.”

Nominations for the competition are open across England, Wales and Scotland. The shortlisted entrants in each category will be announced in October.