Offering Bespoke Insurance to the UK’s Newest Currency

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve been working closely with the founders of the Lake District Pound, the UK’s newest independent currency, to help bring this exciting and community-driven initiative to life. Our consultant Edward Winiarski explains Russell Scanlan’s relationship with the project and puts the spotlight on this fascinatingly innovative form of inward investment in one of our country’s most popular tourist destinations.

The Lake District Pound (LD£) officially launched on May 1 and has received a very positive response from businesses, tourists and residents alike in just a matter of weeks. The concept behind the scheme is to support the Lake District’s vibrant local communities and protect its unique landscape through the introduction of its very own currency – which takes the form of vouchers that can be spent in local businesses, just like Sterling.

Only local businesses can accept the LD£, so tourists and visitors to the region know that by buying the currency they are directly supporting homegrown and independent entrepreneurs and communities across the region.

We’re proud to have been recommended to provide the cover for the currency by one of our long-standing clients. We’ve arranged specialist policies for the LD£, which involves insuring the vouchers currency at face-value, akin to insuring cash.

The Lake District is the UK’s largest tourist destination, attracting 18m visitors per year. A key driver behind the LD£ was to help maintain and preserve this Area of Outstanding National Beauty for now and generations to come, as tourists can leave an indelible footprint on the area. By encouraging visitors to purchase the LD£, the future of the region will be protected because all proceeds and profits will go to local community projects. Every LD£ that tourists collect or save as keepsakes helps the organisers to continue supporting local businesses and funding conservation projects through the work of Cumbria Community Foundation and the Lake District Foundation.

We’re really pleased to have played an important role in making this vision of a committed group of local Lake District supporters come to life and we’re eager to see how the project will progress over the coming months. Initially, around £2.2m of LD£ have been printed but, Given the popularity of the scheme so far, we predict a reprint may well be in order in preparation for the summertime as visitors flock from all over the globe to enjoy one of the most tranquil and beautiful regions of the UK.

For more information about the LD£, visit www.lakedistrictpound.com