Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are set to receive a big boost this weekend, with the launch of the UK’s first ever Small Business Saturday.
The event – which is already worth $5.5 billion (£3.4 billion) to firms in the US – is being introduced to promote confidence among some of the country’s smaller companies.
Real Business reports that the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
(ICAEW) has said that the initiative will make a huge difference to SMEs, with many already demonstrating growing optimism over the prospects for the next 12 months.
The ICAEW’s head of enterprise Clive Lewis said: “It’s great that campaigns like Small Business Saturday are putting SMEs in the spotlight. We encourage consumers to use small businesses and urge Christmas shoppers to boost the business of their high street heroes.”
However, Mr Lewis still admitted that more could be done to help businesses, using the Bank of England’s Funding for Lending scheme as an example. He said that SMEs were still struggling to muster financial support in the form of bank loans and the government needed to do more to help them to “tap into their entrepreneurial spirit and guarantee their growth”.
Small Business Saturday was originally launched by American Express in 2010, before being officially recognised by the US Senate a year later. The company said that in its first year alone the idea received 1.2 million Facebook likes, while last year, over two-thirds of consumers admitted that they were aware of the campaign and what it represented.
It’s hoped that the UK equivalent will boost morale of SMEs even further, after a recent study commissioned by the Chartered Institute of Marketing and Bloomberg revealed that almost half (42 per cent) of all firms were taking a positive approach towards risk and investment in the new year.
What do you think of Small Business Saturday? Are you getting involved?
Posted by the Secret Businessman