News: Small Business Saturday helps to Keep Trade Local
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) took the opportunity to press home the importance of keeping trade local during the first "Small Business Saturday" in Rotherham town centre.
Small Business Saturday is a grass-roots campaign that encourages people to shop local and support small businesses in their communities, both on the Saturday and beyond.
It links to the Keep Trade Local campaign from the FSB, the UK's leading business organisation with around 200,000 members, that involves encouraging people using all of the independent businesses on the high street, and celebrate the uniqueness and flavour that they bring to their communities.
In association with Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, a "pop-up" shop was opened on College Street,where shoppers could join the Council's Shop Local loyalty discount scheme whilst getting their gifts wrapped free of charge. The FSB took the opportunity to press home the message that many small businesses exist on the brink, and unless consumers make use of their local independent traders, many businesses will be lost for good. Small retailers bring local colour and variety to what might otherwise become "cloned" high streets.
John Healey, MP for Wentworth and Dearne, said: "There are over four million small businesses in the UK, more than 99 per cent of the total number of businesses. They employ 12 million people – more than half of the private sector workforce - and their collective turnover is £500 billion, or 50 per cent of the UK's GDP.
"I hope Small Business Saturday helped remind people of the value of our local small businesses, so they can continue to thrive and grow and create jobs in our area."
Andrew Flower, the FSB's South Yorkshire Branch Chairman, added: "We have worked consistently over many years to get our Keep Trade Local message across and it appears that local councils, MPs and the major UK corporations have begun to understand the dire predicament of many of our small businesses, particularly in retail.
"Small Business Saturday drove home the tough "use them or lose them" message, and we hope that consumers are now much more conscious of the plight of small traders and are more ready to do their shopping at one of the UK's treasure of small retailers."
Rotherham town centre website
FSB website
Images: FSB
Small Business Saturday is a grass-roots campaign that encourages people to shop local and support small businesses in their communities, both on the Saturday and beyond.
It links to the Keep Trade Local campaign from the FSB, the UK's leading business organisation with around 200,000 members, that involves encouraging people using all of the independent businesses on the high street, and celebrate the uniqueness and flavour that they bring to their communities.
In association with Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, a "pop-up" shop was opened on College Street,where shoppers could join the Council's Shop Local loyalty discount scheme whilst getting their gifts wrapped free of charge. The FSB took the opportunity to press home the message that many small businesses exist on the brink, and unless consumers make use of their local independent traders, many businesses will be lost for good. Small retailers bring local colour and variety to what might otherwise become "cloned" high streets.
John Healey, MP for Wentworth and Dearne, said: "There are over four million small businesses in the UK, more than 99 per cent of the total number of businesses. They employ 12 million people – more than half of the private sector workforce - and their collective turnover is £500 billion, or 50 per cent of the UK's GDP.
"I hope Small Business Saturday helped remind people of the value of our local small businesses, so they can continue to thrive and grow and create jobs in our area."
Andrew Flower, the FSB's South Yorkshire Branch Chairman, added: "We have worked consistently over many years to get our Keep Trade Local message across and it appears that local councils, MPs and the major UK corporations have begun to understand the dire predicament of many of our small businesses, particularly in retail.
"Small Business Saturday drove home the tough "use them or lose them" message, and we hope that consumers are now much more conscious of the plight of small traders and are more ready to do their shopping at one of the UK's treasure of small retailers."
Rotherham town centre website
FSB website
Images: FSB
1 comments:
The use them or lose them comment is very relevant. If Rotherham can keep the wider range of small independent shops that has developed since 2010 then others will follow and the range will become even better. The High St. keeps getting better - with more developments to follow and shoppers returning to Rotherham after many years away are commenting favourably on the improvements - I know because I spoke to many the other Saturday.
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