Small Business Saturday, the nationwide campaign to support, inspire and promote the UK’s 5.5 million small businesses, is once again launching its iconic national bus tour to mark 5 years since the campaign was launched.
The bus will be visiting 29 different towns and cities and launching the brand new Small Business Saturday mentoring programme, supporting small businesses one-to-one, with advice directly from their peers. Small Business Saturday is recruiting experienced business mentors in all locations and small businesses will be able to sign up on the campaign website from the beginning of October.
Also debuting this year is the “Small Business Saturday Blue Sofa” where interviews and exclusive Q&A sessions will be live streamed via Facebook Live.
Beginning at Dundee on October 23rd, the bus tour travels up and down the country with stops including Lisburn, Cardiff, Lowestoft and the Isle of Wight before finishing in Brighton on November 24th. The tour will provide advice and information to all small businesses as well as some hands-on activities for the public to promote local support for the campaign. Full list of stops is below.
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 withsmall businesses across the UK on Small Business Saturday, up 15% on the previous year. The campaign trended at number one in theUK on Twitter on the day with more than 130,000 campaign-related tweets beingsent, 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.
“We have run the phenomenally popular Small Business Saturday bus tour since the campaign launched in the UK in 2013. Now it has grown to five weeks, we can reach a huge number of the UK’s small businesses to deliver mentoring, inspiration and much needed optimism to small businesses across the nation,” explains Campaign Director Michelle Ovens.
“Small Business Saturday and the bus tour are open to everyone. Businesses on the high street or online, trading with other businesses or selling direct to consumers. It is open to every individual who can take this moment to support their local businesses, and it is open to public sector to both support and reflect on the huge value small businesses generate.”
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 ofthe campaign in the UK, as part of its on-going commitment to encourageconsumers to shop small. The campaign also benefits from the backing of leading business organisations including the Federation ofSmall Businesses and Enterprise Nation. The campaign is alsosupported by Facebook, Dropbox, Mercedes Benz Vans, Indeed, Vistaprint, Lightspeed and ACCA.
Bus Stops as follows:
Date Location Arrive Depart
Mon 23rd Oct Dundee 10:00 14:00 (City Square)
Tue 24th Oct Edinburgh 10:00 14:00
Prestwick 16:00 16:30
Wed 25th Oct Lisburn 10:00 14:00
Thu 26th Oct Belfast 10:00 14:00
Fri 27th Oct Dumfries 10:00 14:00
Mon 30th Oct Sunderland 10:00 14:00
Tue 31st Oct Lancaster 10:00 14:00
Wed 1st Nov York 10:00 14:00
Selby 15:00 16:00
Thu 2nd Nov Brigg 10:00 14:00
Fri 3rd Nov Rochdale 10:00 14:00
Mon 6th Nov Bangor 10:00 14:00
Tue 7th Nov Stoke 10:00 14:00
Wed 8th Nov Birmingham 10:00 14:00
Studley 15:00 16:00
Thu 9th Nov Hereford 10:00 14:00
Fri 10th Nov Barry Island 09:00 09:30
Cardiff 10:00 14:00
Mon 13th Nov Leicester 10:00 14:00
Tue 14th Nov Stevenage 10:00 14:00
Wed 15th Nov Lowestoft 10:00 14:00
Thu 16th Nov Maldon 10:00 14:00
Fri 17th Nov London 10:00 14:00
Mon 20th Nov Plymouth 10:00 14:00
Tue 21st Nov Taunton 10:00 14:00
Wed 22nd Nov Reading 10:00 14:00
Thu 23rd Nov Ryde (IOW) 10:00 14:00
Fri 24th Nov Brighton 10:00 14:00
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).
