Ahead of ‘Small Business Saturday’ – a day designed to highlight small business success and encourage consumers to ‘shop local’ – the Government has compiled a range of new and existing guides to support businesses with funding, late payments and everything in between.
The event, which this year takes place on 1 December, has helped raise millions of pounds for local small businesses. The day raised an estimated £748 million in 2017 alone with support from the Prime Minister and the Mayor of London, as well as celebrities and high-profile figures across the country.
Local communities and businesses are encouraged to take part in the day by using the hashtag #SmallBizSatUK on the social media platform Twitter. According to the report, over 115,000 tweets were published last year reaching more than 115 million people, trending in the number one spot (the most talked about) in the whole of the UK.
Councils are also likely to support the event at a high street near you, for example, by offering free parking on the day.
If you are a small business, getting involved is easy. Simply register and advertise your business on the Small Business Finder here, for free. Once registered, customers can find your business using the directory online.
A Small Business Saturday bus tour has also been running alongside the event, which stops at 30 different towns and cities over five weeks, delivering a mentoring programme at all stops of the tour.
Backing the day, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has published its full range of small business support guides online.
The guides include how small businesses can access finance, how to contact the Small Business Commissioner to resolve late payment disputes, how to apply for Government contracts, how to grow and innovate your business and more.
Commenting on this year’s Small Business Saturday, Small Business Minister Kelly Tolhurst MP, said: “With more than 1,000 starting up every day, the UK’s small businesses are the backbone of our economy and at the heart of our modern Industrial Strategy.
“The Small Business Saturday bus tour showcases the vital contribution they make to our economy and communities up and down the country. I would like to encourage as many people as possible to get involved in the tour and the day itself.”
Find the guides here.