Today is ‘Small Business Saturday’ in the UK, a holiday aimed at promoting the success of small businesses by calling for shoppers to steer clear of the big commercials names.
The grassroots effort takes place on the first Saturday of December every year, with the intention of raising the profile of local and independent businesses in communities across the UK.
The first Small Business Saturday took place on 7 December 2013, and has since continued every year.
No doubt encouraging to small business owners, the British Twittershpere is alive with supportive calls for the special day, including from the country’s leading political parties.
While some sceptics may ask of the day really does anything to bolster the success of local and small businesses, a study in 2016 - the first of its kind - demonstrated that consumers spent £717 million with independent businesses on Small Business Saturday of that year. 2017 was then said to be the most impactful, with an estimated £748 million spent.