Small Business Saturday, an initiative founded and supported by American Express, enjoyed another successful annual campaign on 2nd December.
Consumers Urged to Support Small Business Saturday
Recent Government figures revealed that there are now 5.7 million smaller businesses in the UK – a new record and that these businesses contributed £1.9 trillion to the UK economy this year.
Both the Government and the FSB (Federation of Small Businesses) urged consumers to support small businesses on 2nd December.
“This government is completely behind the UK’s 5.7 million small businesses – they are there, day in and day out, at the heart of our local communities,” said Small Business Minister, Margot James.
“They are the backbone of our economy, so I encourage everyone to think big by shopping small this Small Business Saturday.”
There were also many FSB representatives, Government ministers and MPs supporting small businesses on the day, with London’s Mayor, Sadiq Khan, tweeting: “London’s small businesses & start-ups are at the heart of our economy. As Mayor, I’m working to helping them grow & innovate.”
Meanwhile, FSB’s National Chairman, Mike Cherry, had urged consumers to get behind all small businesses – not just retail businesses – in a bid to beat last year’s Small Business Saturday spend of £717 million. “We know over 60 per cent of all local spend stays local, supporting communities and local economies,” he pointed out.
Small Business Saturday’s 2017 Successes
That £700 million spend was beaten, as were other records. This year, £748 million was spent with small businesses on December 2, up 4% on last year. There were 115,00 tweets about the campaign, with #SmallBizSat trending at number one, and 87% of local authorities got involved this year – up from 80% in 2016.
Mike Cherry said it had been great to see so much support from not just communities, but authorities and politicians too.
“Even in the face of pressures including falling confidence and rising costs, small businesses are very resilient- but they do need continued support,” he said. “Small Business Saturday is a great opportunity to spread the word about the services and products small firms offer their local communities. We encourage people to back their small local businesses all year round.”