Small Business Saturday returns for its fourth year

After last year’s event saw £623m spent with small businesses across the UK on Small Business Saturday, an increase of £119m or 24 per cent on the previous year, the nationwide event to support, inspire and promote small businesses is back for another year.

Set to return on 3rd December 2016, events will be planned throughout the UK in the run-up to and on Small Business Saturday itself as with previous years. These will include an expanded nationwide bus tour and the Small Biz 100; an annual search for 100 small businesses to be profiled each day in the 100 days leading up to December 3rd.

New for 2016 is the Small Business Saturday UK podcast which has more information about the campaign as well as features of general interest to small business owners. The first edition looks at the goals for this year’s campaign, the burgeoning UK pet sector and why Belfast is a small business hotbed.

Michelle Ovens MBE, director of Small Business Saturday UK, said: “Last year, small business owners, local authorities, a wide range of other organisations and members of the public embraced Small Business Saturday more than ever before.

“The British public has a great affection for small businesses and tapping into that continues to be important. The small businesses themselves really make the campaign as they effectively deliver it on the ground and collectively show the depth and breadth that exists within the sector.

“This year we aim to reach more people, get more engagement, and encourage more people to support small businesses. We will be talking a lot about community because whether they are selling to consumers online or in a particular location or B2B businesses working together and doing business together, our small businesses are a community that benefits both our local and national economies.”

American Express originally founded the ‘Small Business Saturday’ initiative in the US in 2010 and continues to support the campaign in the UK, as part of its on-going commitment to encourage consumers to shop small.