Derby’s historic Market Hall, in conjunction with Derby City Council and Essential Print Services, will be hosting ‘Derby’s Festival of Small Businesses’ to celebrate the fifth year of Small Business Saturday UK.
The Market Hall event will offer two free business workshops, inspiring talks from local business owners, a business-to-business exhibition area and even the chance to be a Trader for the day. There will be plenty of opportunities to talk to like-minded, local business owners for help and advice and NBV’s qualified business advisors will be on hand to provide business support and answer all your business-related queries.
The purpose of Small Business Saturday UK is to raise awareness and the profiles of smaller businesses and the necessity of local support. The campaign also highlights the substantial contribution that these small businesses make to the UK economy.
The ‘Festival of Small Businesses’ is the brainchild of Yvonne Gorman (pictured above left with Cassandra Carruthers, Markets Officer for Derby City Council). Derby-based Essential Print Services’ owner, Yvonne, has been chosen as one of only a handful of Entrepreneurs from around the UK to be a Small Business Saturday UK Champion for a third year running. It is Yvonne’s mission to unite the small businesses of Derby and Derbyshire in a show of strength and solidarity, to demonstrate the diverse range of products and services available in and around the region and indeed the East Midlands.
“Small Business Saturday plays a valuable role in focusing the minds of consumers and fellow business owners on what small businesses can offer in terms of the range of products and services”, explains Yvonne. “Most people in this country either own a small business, work for a small business or know somebody who does, so I am delighted to have been asked to champion Small Business Saturday UK”.
Councillor Martin Rawson, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and the Economy said, “We’re delighted to once again promote the Small Business Saturday event. We have a thriving small business community and we’ve pledged to showcase the wide variety of support that’s available to local companies and entrepreneurs to help them create and grow sustainable enterprises.”
Small Business Saturday is the UK’s most successful small business campaign and is this year celebrating its 5th birthday year. Last year saw £717m spent with small businesses across the UK on Small Business Saturday, up 15% on the previous year. The campaign trended at number one in the UK on Twitter on the day with more than 130,000 campaign-related tweets being sent, reaching over 140 million people globally. Over 80% of local councils supported the campaign, meaning wherever you were on Small Business Saturday, there was something going on nearby.
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 Facebook, Dropbox and Mercedes Benz Vans.
The Market Hall will be celebrating Small Business Saturday UK on Saturday 2nd December throughout the day and it will be a family-friendly event.