Falling on what is historically the biggest shopping day of the year, the first Saturday of December, Small Business Saturday celebrates the nation’s small businesses and encourages customers to spend their money in independent retailers rather than large high street chains.
This year Small Business Saturday will be on the 1st December and more members of the small business community than ever are finding ways to become involved.
At the heart of the campaign is the Small Business 100 List; one hundred businesses selected to represent the entrepreneurial spirit of the UK who will be featured prominently in the run up to Saturday 1st December.
On the announcement of the Small Business 100 List, Director of Small Business Saturday UK, Michelle Ovens said:
“We are thrilled to highlight the dynamic, creative and inspiring small businesses from across the country, as part of our campaign to celebrate and champion the success of the UK’s small businesses. The Small Biz 100 showcases the companies at the heart of the UK’s economy, which we need to support now more than ever.”
For those not on the list, there are numerous other ways to get involved:
- Register and advertise your business on the Small Business Finder.
- Download the Small Business Saturday logos to use on your website or social media.
- Download the free marketing pack available in both English & Welsh.
- Share your plans for the day with the Small Business Saturday team and they’ll give you a shout out via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
- If the bus hasn’t been to your area yet, find out when it will be visiting and how you can get involved.
Business West joined in the celebrations on social media when the Small Business Saturday bus rolled into Bristol last week, and members of the Enterprising West of England team headed into town to speak to business owners at the event, learning about their experience of starting a business in the area.
Speaking about the day, Enterprising West of England project manager, Cassie Yates said:
“The Enterprising West of England programme was created to support new and growing businesses in the region, so for us it was a fantastic opportunity to hear about the challenges and the opportunities entrepreneurs are encountering. We hope that everyone we spoke to will take advantage of the free one-to-ones we’re offering with a start up or scale up business adviser, as this is a brilliant resource for anyone with a business and ambitions to grow.”
Head of Enterprise at Busienss West, Tara Gillam, also encouraged small business owners to make use of the resources available to them through Business West, especially the strategic marketing and business planning workshops for new business owners.
Among the small businesses supported by the Enterprise team are Bristol based start-up Noughts & Ones. Company founder Tom Locke received 18 hours of support in the form of workshops and one-to-one meetings with a scale-up adviser on the Start & Grow programme, and has now employed two full-time developers with plans to continue growing his business.
Looking for support to start or grow your business? Find out how we can help.