Member Article

Small Business Saturday names 2016 ‘Small Biz 100’

Small Business Saturday, the campaign that culminates in the UK’s dedicated day for small businesses on December 3rd, has named among the 100 small businesses from diverse sectors and all parts of the UK to be featured one per day by the campaign for the 100 days leading up to Small Business Saturday itself.

This year’s 100 reflect the diversity that is inherent within the UK’s small business community, from consumer-facing to business to business, from retail and hospitality to tech or professional services, from new start-ups to family businesses that have been established for more than a century.

The list includes:

Long established family businesses Mitchell’s, a grocery and tea room in Inverurie, established in 1928 and now in its fourth generation of family management, and Gardner’s Bags, established in 1870 in the heart of London’s East End, specialising in the sale and distribution of bags.

Tech businesses like Olio, a free app that connects neighbours with each other and local businesses to ensure that surplus food, and other household items, can be shared and not thrown away, and Techsixtyfour, a small start-up in Teddington, whose first product is a wearable mobile phone and tracker for young children between the ages of five and ten years.

Retail businesses like The Pet Shed in Brighton, whose owner gave up her job as an accountant to pursue her dream of opening a pet shop, and Boo’s Toy Shop in Poundbury, which specialises in wooden toys for children, whose owner set up the business in 2009 after taking redundancy.

Hospitality businesses including Millie & Me, a family run café in Brixham, which tempts customers them with homemade cakes, Devon cream teas and coffee prepared by trained baristas, and Peckish Catering Services, a small Benfleet-based catering business, which caters for wedding, events and parties as well as corporate dining, and which also runs food markets across Essex.

Food businesses including The Chocolate Cellar in Birkenhead, whose amazing array of sweet and savoury snacks for chocoholics includes chocolate-dipped pretzels, strawberries, chilli chocolate and macarons, and Spice Kitchen, an artisan food producer specialising in hand-blended and home-ground spice blends and spices.

Business to business companies like Askew Brook, an award-winning digital agency in Scarborough, whose services include web design, CRM integration and helping businesses better understand their data, and MTTM Animations, a Bournemouth based business, which creates animations for small businesses to help them boost their digital marketing.

Small Business Saturday is already the UK’s most successful small business campaign. This is the fourth year of the campaign, which last year 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 campaign trended at number one in the UK on Twitter on the day with more than 100,000 campaign-related tweets being sent. Over 75% of local councils supported the campaign, giving considerable national reach into local communities.

The campaign is a great nationwide promotional and marketing tool for small businesses. It is totally free to participate and any small businesses can get involved - from one-man-bands, through to a high growth office, and from tradesmen to social media gurus. In addition to the big day, the campaign also delivers help and advice alongside opportunities to connect with other small businesses. In short, Small Business Saturday exists to support, inspire and promote small businesses.

“The British public has a great affection for small businesses and we continue to see that grow year on year. Small Business Saturday is an exceptional example of collaboration and co-operation with small businesses teaming up in communities around the UK,” explains Campaign Director Michelle Ovens.

“Although the campaign focuses on one day, the goal is to have a lasting impact on small businesses by changing mind-sets, so that people make it their mission to support small businesses all year round. Most people in this country own a small business, work for a small business or know somebody who does, so supporting a small business on Small Business Saturday is absolutely personal.”

The complete 100 are:

The Small Business Saturday 100

Anglia Indoor Karting Ipswich Anne Morgan Jewellery Aponic Askew Brook Aura Landscapes Bathing Bunnies Bear It In Mind Boos Toy Shop Brown Cow Organics Central Business Services Chloe James Lifestyle Chocolate Buddha DanceMatters Dandylion Group Decorator’s Notebook Design Essentials devillefilm DS Creative Duncombe Sawmill elevate your sole Embrace Etieno Skincare Evolution Forces Families Explorers Connect For Fika Sake CIC Frilly Industries Gardners’ Bags Greener Lavelle Haven’t Stopped Dancing Yet! Hendersyde Farm Holiday Cottages Hertfordshire Independent Living Service Homeward Creative HUF Design JD Magic JRM Agricultural Services JustBe Botanicals Keystone Marketing Lean Body Vision Luisco Chocolate Marvel Property Solutions Michael Hall Designer Jeweller Millie and Me Mitchells MTTM Animations Muddyfarm Models Mudness Ceramics Natural Baby Shower Northern Wine School OLIO Ormsby Street Peach Blossom PECKISH Catering Services Physical Digital PinkBox Boutique Podarok Prim & Clover PUG4Pets Red Herring Games Red Panda Jewellery Revival Retro Rose & Olive sarahmac designs Savvy Guest Seaside Florist Simba Sleep Sipsey Lingerie Smokin’ Barbecue Co Spice Kitchen Spinsonic Entertainment Stephen Blakely Design Stepping Into Business Suffolk Market Events Sugar Buttons Creative Techsixtyfour Ten Minutes More The Chocolate Cellar The Lampshade Company The Pet Shed (Brighton) These Girls Can Run Towers Design Unibu Vintage VW Campers What Daisy Did WrightStart Zamsoe The Emporium Somerset Seasoned Pioneers Hans Sloane Marketing by Minal Farah Qureshi London Fashion Agency Hackney Pirates Popup Pitch Lavolio Boutique Confectionery Charma Communications Sam Loves Copy Studio G Photography Pure Punjabi The Protection People Bat & Bottle The Guestlist Podcast

Small Business Saturday, which is a grassroots, not-for-profit campaign, was originally founded by American Express in the U.S. in 2010 and it remains the principal supporter of the campaign in the UK, as part of its on-going commitment to encourage consumers to shop small. The campaign also benefits from the backing of leading business organisations including the Federation of Small Businesses and Enterprise Nation. The campaign is also supported by PRS For Music, TalkTalk Business, Vistaprint, Post Office and Clear Channel Logos, digital banners, a social media guide and toolkits will be available to download from the website www.smallbusinesssaturdayuk.com and can be displayed online or on premises. Businesses around the country can also upload information to the ‘My Small Business Finder’ on the website (www.smallbusinesssaturdayuk.com) on what special events or promotional offers they will be running for Small Business Saturday.

More information on Small Business Saturday can also be found on the Small Business Saturday Facebook page (www.facebook.com/smallbusinesssaturdayuk) and Twitter feed (@SmallBizSatUk).

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Howard Robinson .