Wandsworth’s Avenue Cookery School is one of this year’s 100ventures
A cookery school, a toy shop and the UK’s first dedicated butcher and bottled beer store are amongst the 100 independent UK businesses that will be championed in the run up to this year’s Small Business Saturday.
The country’s most successful small business campaign turns five years-old in 2017 and, in keeping with previous years, it will promote one independent business online and across social media per day, for 100 days before Small Business Saturday itself, which this year falls on 2 December.
Small Business Saturday is viewed as an effective marketing tool for small businesses that would otherwise struggle to promote themselves nationwide. Last year’s campaign trended at number on Twitter in the UK on the day itself, with over 130, 000 related tweets being posted.
Moreover, Small Business Saturday 2016 saw 717m spent with small and independent companies throughout the UK a 15 per cent jump on the year before and over 80 per cent of the country’s local council backed the initiative.
This year’s 100 businesses include Katie Cardew Illustrations, an architectural illustration firm making products including wallpaper, lampshades and greeting cards from a rural Northamptonshire studio, traditional family-run South Lanarkshire smokehouse Smoky Brae, and South West London-based Zeamu Music, which delivers original pop music for primary aged children.
The campaign’s director, Michelle Ovens, said that it was now more crucial than ever to get behind small UK businesses. “It has been a tough year for small businesses with confidence, particularly in retail businesses, quite low, she said.
that is why it is more important than ever to support our incredible small businesses, shine a light on their success stories and grow a sense of optimism from the grassroots that will snowball to inspire the whole country.”
In an exclusive interview in June this year, Ovens laid out to Business Advise her campaign’s important mission. She said: it’s about changing people’s shopping habits over time.
For high street retailers, Small Business Saturday is often about reminding customers that you’re there. Shoppers might not buy anything from you on the day, but by encouraging people to visit high streets or town centres, people discover shops and businesses to revisit later.
The campaign, which was originally founded by American Express in the US in 2010, remains a not-for-profit initiative, of which the US company is still the main supporter in the UK as part of its aim to encourage customers to ‘shop small.
‘small Business Saturday has gone from strength to strength in the five years since it launched in the UK, added Ovens. Businesses and customers have taken it to their hearts and now not only make a special effort once a year for Small Business Saturday, but appreciate the value small businesses bring to their communities year-round.
This year’s Small Business Saturday 100
Purpol Marketing
Business Comparison.com
Stand up Paddle Board UK
Cece And Me
Tipple Tails
Anja Potze
Wellvine
Calm Treatment Rooms
William and Tilda
Reinvent -Rosie Letts Nutrition
Zeamu
Durham Hens
Inclusion Archery
Made in Nottingham
Jengers Craft Bakery
Mooch Gifts and Home
JuLu The Laundry Ladder
Natural Beauty Sleep
Idle Pig BBQ
Jo Macfarlane
Katie Cardew Illustrations
Smoky Brae
NEMI
Jonzara
Miles and Mia
Social BeeNI
Crown Lane Studios
Cloud 9 Gallery
Kuvrs
Naturally Social
Dreamee Teepees
Breakout Manchester
Driving Miss Daisy
Block and Bottle
East Village
Blue Moose Kitchen
Fitzgerald Jewellers
Owl and Monkey
Kerry Newell Wildlife Artists
Liz Drury Voiceovers
Enso Martial Arts
Love my Cleaner
Evo Supplies
Cinemerse
F&M Hair Dressing
H Atkinson & Sons
GRN Sportswear
Wild Elements
The Hoop Guy
Time to Float
Plan Bee Ltd
Integrity Accountancy Services
Red Door Studios
Wheels4Dogs
Leadenham Tea House
Giovanni’s Restaurant
People First Mobility
Meemoobaby
Helmsley Wines
Next Steps HR
Pink SpaghettI PA Services Chester and North Wales
