Originally published at: North London Repair Voucher trial: so what did we learn? - The Restart Project
At Restart, we do all we can to make repair more accessible. We know that one of the biggest barriers to repair is cost, and that vouchers are the most effective way of ensuring that citizens directly benefit from a cost reduction. So when we saw a chance to trial a repair voucher scheme, we jumped at it.
Funded by the North London Waste Authority, The Restart Project worked with ReLondon to design and deliver a scheme, inspired and informed by similar schemes in other countries. The administration platform was delivered by FixFirst.
How did it work?
The scheme ran for 12 months between April 2025 and March 2026. It offered residents of seven North London boroughs a 50% discount on electrical repairs, up to £50. Residents received the discount up front, and businesses then reclaimed the discount offered.
Headline results, and the story behind them
- Voucher applications: We received more than 4,000 applications for vouchers, 3,600 of which were eligible – i.e. within North London boroughs.
- Voucher use: 1,254 vouchers were used to help people repair their electrical or electronic devices.
- Conversion rate: 35% of eligible vouchers got used. There wasn’t much public information about conversion rate from other schemes, so initially the drop off surprised us and we had to work hard in the first few months to get people into repair shops and using their voucher. After a bit of digging we discovered that 35% is fairly consistent with other schemes.
- Participating businesses: 14 businesses actively engaged in the scheme out of the 23 businesses signed up. Of these, 10 offered tech (laptops, phones etc) repairs and 4 offered repair of other products: vacuum cleaners, sewing machines, lamps and radios.
- Value of vouchers: The average value of the vouchers redeemed was £44. When we asked voucher users how much they thought they’d saved, taking into account repair costs as well as replacing the product, the average saving for residents was £54.
What we learned
1. Repair Vouchers were popular and reached a diverse audience
Vouchers reached those that needed them most: 59% of voucher users earned less than £30,000 a year. They were also used across age brackets, with 18-24 year olds the most frequent age group to sign up for vouchers, and one of the two most frequent age bands to use their vouchers. With repair often seen as something for older audiences, this engagement of young people is important. And half of voucher users identified as being of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic background, reflecting North London’s diversity well.
2. There were immediate and longer-term benefits
As well as the immediate cost savings for residents, results showed that repair vouchers can potentially support an intention to repair more: 79% voucher users reported that they were likely to repair again; 86% would return to their chosen repair provider and 96% would recommend the scheme to friends and family.
3. Consistent promotion was key
We worked with project partners and local authorities to get the word out about the vouchers. We found that different channels worked in different ways. Those that applied for vouchers heard about the scheme mostly through local council channels, and social media. Those that went on to use their voucher mostly heard about it from friends and family, and street advertising.
So local promotion—and especially word of mouth—were particularly effective strategies to spread the word.
4. Repair shops need support
We worked hard to encourage businesses to take part in the scheme. With most having only a handful of employees, many were reluctant to adopt a new system, particularly for a temporary scheme. We invested capacity in face-to-face visits, building relationships, supporting businesses through onboarding and troubleshooting.
But we also learned that businesses are facing the same challenges as anyone who repairs: products are decreasing in quality and are harder to get into, spare parts are difficult to find or too expensive, and documentation is often not available. We also heard that businesses struggle to recruit new repair technicians, so those which are thriving with waiting lists are unable to increase their fixing capacity. We delve into this more in a separate report.
Looking ahead
We hope these lessons will support the development of other repair voucher schemes – within and beyond London. Repair Voucher schemes can support local communities to access repair, and long-term schemes, with the right support, could support repair business communities to survive – and thrive.
For more detail, Download the full evaluation here (PDF, 4.8 MB)
Acknowledgements
Finally a few words of thanks. The repair businesses are the real heroes of this project, deploying their considerable skills and experience to keep North London repairing, and taking the time to take part in the scheme. Muntasir, who runs a repair cafe in London, came on board to help with the crucial work of supporting these businesses.
It was a joy to work with Rachel at ReLondon and Sebastian at FixFirst in developing the scheme, and of course we couldn’t have done this without the funding and support from North London Waste Authority, and the North London boroughs.
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Featured photo by North London Waste Authority