This year’s most inspirational British small businesses have been revealed by the Small Business Saturday campaign, as it marks its ten-year anniversary with a call for the public to support small businesses in the community and shop small.
On this year’s list are no less than 3 lingerie related brands – Julie May Lingerie (Lingerie brand based in Kent, focused on elegant, comfortable styles made from natural fabrics and allergy friendly); Save My Knickers (a Berkshire based company (the first blood stain remover designed to revolutionise periods) and Clip-Knix (adaptive patented front fastening underwear for women).
Julie May
Now in its tenth year in the UK Small Business Saturday will return on 3 December 2022, with a mission to support and celebrate the UK’s 5.6 million small businesses, particularly as they face mounting economic challenges over the winter.
“The fantastic small businesses featured in this year’s SmallBiz100 sum up the extraordinary contribution that small firms make to our economy and local areas,” said Michelle Ovens CBE, Director of Small Business Saturday UK. “We brought Small Business Saturday to the UK ten years ago as there was a huge need to celebrate the amazing achievements of the fantastic small business community and offer them support through a raft of challenges, and this mission could not be truer or more vital today.”
“With small businesses facing incredibly tough times, and many still recovering from the pandemic, it is absolutely critical that the nation gets behind these businesses.”
Business from the SmallBiz100 line-up will be placed under the campaign’s national spotlight each day as part of the official 100-day countdown to Small Business Saturday.
A grassroots, not-for-profit campaign, Small Business Saturday first came to the UK in 2013 has grown into an iconic campaign celebrating small business success and encouraging consumers to ‘shop local’ and support businesses in their communities.
The campaign was originally founded by American Express in the U.S. in 2010, and the company remains the principal supporter of the campaign in the UK.
On Small Business Saturday customers across the UK go out and support all types of small businesses, from independent shops and restaurants to small service and b2b based businesses like accountants and digital marketeers. Many small businesses take an active role in promoting the day by hosting events and offering promotions.
Over the time the campaign has run in the UK it has engaged millions each year, with spend on the day topping over £1 billion.
Small Business Saturday attracts huge attention on the day itself, with an impact that lasts all year. Last year the campaign trended at number one in the UK on Twitter, with the Prime Minister, leader of the opposition and the Mayor of London among those publicly supporting the campaign. Over 90% of local councils also supported the campaign.
