Metro Mayor welcomes Small Business Saturday UK campaign
Liverpool Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram this morning (October 26) backed the national launch of this year’s Small Business Saturday UK campaign.
Birkenhead hosted the Merseyside launch of the move to support and promote the UK’s 5.6 million small businesses, which saw Mayor Rotheram join businesses and entrepreneurs from all over the Liverpool City region coming together for discussion and mentoring.
When the Small Business Saturday campaign bus pulled into St Werburghs Square in Birkenhead town centre, businesses and consumers were able to talk with local owners to find out more about the contribution they make to the local community.
Businesses from across Merseyside also took part in special ‘Facebook Live interviews on the campaign’s Blue Sofa’, sharing their stories with a national audience.
The bus stop also featured free mentoring for local enterprises from campaign supporter Xero’s network of small business accountants.
Steve Rotheram said: “Small businesses are the lifeblood of our local communities and I was very happy to be able to support the campaign as it rolled into Birkenhead.
“As a Combined Authority we recently announced a £5m Town Centre Fund, which will help the city region’s districts provide tangible support to enable our small businesses to continue to prosper.”
Michelle Ovens, director of Small Business Saturday, said: “The Small Business Saturday tour bus stop in Birkenhead was a huge success.
“It was great to see so much celebration of the contribution of local small businesses from across Merseyside.
“Small businesses often go above and beyond without making any fuss, so it’s great to have an opportunity to highlight the work they do and give local companies an opportunity to learn from each other’s experiences.
“We hope this will help them to continue to thrive in today’s changing business landscape.”
Now in its sixth year, the Small Business Saturday campaign bus will also travel more than 3,000 miles across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, visiting 30 locations over 25 days in the build-up to Small Business Saturday on December 1.
A grassroots, not-for-profit campaign, Small Business Saturday was originally founded by American Express in the US in 2010.
American Express remains the principal supporter of the campaign in the UK, as part of its ongoing commitment to encourage consumers to shop small.
Small Business Saturday is the UK’s most successful small business campaign, which last year saw an estimated £748m spent with small businesses across the UK on Small Business Saturday.
