Miconex has estimated that the £24m will drive 486,000 specific visits to high streets and shopping districts in 2026, based on estimates of 3 trips into town per gift card.
Aberdeen was home to the top selling local gift card in the UK for the third year in a row, with almost £800,000 in sales of the Aberdeen Gift Card in 2025. The town of Enniskillen in Northern Ireland, which has a population of 14,000, achieved almost £300,000 in sales in 2025, and was the second top selling local gift card in the UK.
The local gift card sales figures align to November 2025 data from the Gift Card & Voucher Association (GCVA) finding that almost a third of UK consumers purchase gift cards to funnel support to local companies. Over a quarter of consumers purchased a gift card for others in the first half of 2025, up from 13.9% in 2024. Gift cards purchased for self-use also saw an increase in 2025.
GCVA data also shows the popularity of multi-store gift cards continues to increase, representing around 40% of sales in 2025, up from 34% in 2024, a rise that is partially attributed to a consumer hesitancy to commit to a single brand gift card.
Miconex operates over 200 multi-store and multi-sector local gift card programmes, including 97 in the UK, 16 in Ireland and Downtown Gift Cards initiatives in Canada and the USA. In the UK, 4 places launched their own Town & City Gift Card in 2005, with 6 new programmes in Ireland. The local gift cards are branded to a specific town, city or district, showcasing the local offering and locking spend into local economies.
Buying physical gift cards in person was the most popular way to purchase gift cards in 2025, with almost half of consumers buying a card in this way, according to GCVA data. Miconex enhanced the accessibility of its local gift cards with the introduction of in-person sales kiosks dispensing its local gift cards in Cambridge and Inverness, and a second kiosk going live in Aberdeen.
Miconex has also increased the accessibility of its local gift cards through key partnerships announced in late 2025 with Tillo and Blackhawk Network, making Town & City Gift Cards available through the Tillo platform and by enabling One4All gift card holders to swap their One4All for a Town & City Gift Card.
Corporate sales was a key driver of gift card sales in 2025, with around 8% of people receiving a gift card from work. Miconex estimates that almost half of its £24m 2025 sales were business orders, primarily organisations purchasing local gift cards for their employees. 2025 Miconex research found that 82% of organisations said supporting local has become more important to them.
Miconex also reports a significant increase in digital gift card sales in the UK, up almost 300% in the UK, aligned to GCVA data which found that close to half (43%) of consumers want wallet-compatible gift cards.
Colin Munro, CEO of Miconex, said: “Town & City Gift Cards tap into what customers and organisations want from their gift cards - choice, support for local and ease of use. No other gift card can compete on these three factors combined. Our extraordinary growth in 2025 is testament to the outstanding commitment of our network of local gift card programmes, supported by our dedicated team and partners. In 2026, we have ambitious plans to bring the power of local to even more communities.”
Adrian Watson, chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired, said: “Team Aberdeen Inspired is beyond proud that the Aberdeen Gift Card has been named the best-selling in the UK for a third year running, something which is unprecedented for a local gift card.
“The success of the Aberdeen Gift Card is also a huge success for the more than 300 businesses who are signed up to the initiative, from beauty salons to fashion outlets, theatres to restaurants and bars. Every penny spent on an Aberdeen Gift Card goes back into our bricks and mortar traders – with extra spend on top of that. Having injected a total of £7.75m into the local economy is a huge achievement and I want to thank every business who has signed up and everyone who has bought an Aberdeen Gift Card.”
Noelle McAloon Enniskillen BID Manager said: “The Enniskillen Gift Card has been a phenomenal success for us; we appreciate every single purchase and the support it has received from the business and local community. With a small team and budget, we have achieved sales of over £1.3million since we launched in 2017, for a town that boasts a population of around 14,000 that is staggering!
“The Enniskillen Gift Card has always been about promoting loyalty and showing how positive our town is, it promotes a sense of community, it has increased footfall, and it has ultimately made Enniskillen better. Enniskillen Gift Cards are a perfect gift, staff incentive and a way of telling someone you care about, that you are thinking of them wherever you are in the world. The growth of the programme has been extremely satisfying and seeing sales increase by 17% to £287,000 in 2025 is a huge achievement. Plans are in place for an even better 2026!