Momentum is building towards this year’s Small Business Saturday event on December 6th - when small, independent businesses in communities across the country will be in the national spotlight.

Small businesses around the UK are planning events, promotions and other activities to attract clients and customers to them on December 6th but also as a way of creating a mindset for people to more readily think of doing business with small, local companies. Already more than 30,000 small businesses around the UK have engaged with the campaign on various social media platforms, many of which have downloaded marketing packs and posters to display on their premises.

Around the country communities are coming together to mark the day. In Grantham, a festive Food and Drink Fair will support local producers and retailers; Sefton Council on Merseyside and New Forest Council in Hampshire are just two of a number of authorities to offer free parking on Saturday, December 6; local choirs, musicians and street performers will provide entertainment in Kettering ahead of a Catwalk Christmas Fashion Show.

Small businesses are also staging special events. In Birmingham, Steelhorse Motorcycle Training is organising a motorcycle ride in support of Shard End Youth Centre for Small Business Saturday; In Hertford, The Creative Sanctuary, a knitting & sewing boutique is creating a trail of businesses offering Festive snacks, complimentary gift wrapping, discounts and extras, whilst The Shake Shop in Witney will be offering customers a Small Business Saturday loyalty card, with the chance of receiving a free shake, if they visit some of other independent businesses locally and collect stamps.

“The first Small Business Saturday last year was an exceptional example of collaboration and co-operation with small businesses teaming up in communities around the UK,” explains National Campaign Director Michelle Ovens.

“We always said we wanted this to be the start of something amazing; a regular event that shines a light on small businesses throughout the UK in a way which is hugely beneficial to both the local and the national economy. Small Business Saturday reinforces that message and demonstrates the level of diversity, innovation and talent that is active within our small business sector,” Michelle adds.

Michelle goes onto say that, with 4.9 million small businesses in the UK, the chances are that if you don’t own one, then you work for one or know somebody who does.

“This isn’t some abstract economic concept,” she says. “This is personal. It’s about getting out and supporting your friends, your neighbours and your family members and reinforcing your local community and economy.”

Senior politicians led by the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, Ed Milliband; Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne; Secretary of State for Business, Vince Cable; Chuka Umunna, the Shadow Business Secretary and Matthew Hancock, the Minister of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, all took to the streets last year to encourage consumers to ‘shop local’ and support small businesses.

Speaking about Small Business Saturday 2014, the Prime Minister, David Cameron, comments:

“I have the utmost admiration for the millions of people who run a small business in this country. They are making an enormous contribution to our economic recovery and their hard work and commitment embodies all that is great about the UK. Small Business Saturday is a vital reminder that we need to celebrate small businesses not just on one day, but all year round.”

Ed Miliband MP, Leader of the Labour Party, said:

“It is fantastic news that Small Business Saturday is returning in 2014, having been such a huge success last year. As well as making a huge difference for small firms it was great to see it attract support from consumers and local authorities right across Britain. I look forward to Small Business Saturday being even bigger and better this year - a great opportunity to celebrate and promote small businesses and the contribution they make to our national life.”

Small Business Saturday UK has attracted the support of leading business organisations including Federation of Small Businesses, the Association of City and Town Management, Association of Convenience Stores, Northern Ireland Independent Retail Trade Association, as well as corporates like American Express, O2, Lloyds Bank and NatWest and prominent entrepreneurs Theo Paphitis, Karren Brady and Martha Lane Fox.

The research taken after the event in December also showed that some 43% of shoppers chose to do so specifically because of Small Business Saturday.  Those consumers who knew about the day and took to their local high street spent between £1 and £2000 on the day, with tills in independent shops and small businesses ringing in an average of £33 per person which equated to a total of £468 million across the UK as a whole. Indeed 45% of those aware of the day who shopped in a small business on 7 December said they spent more than usual, with nearly one in five (19%) saying they had spent at least 50% more than they would have usually done on a typical Saturday.

American Express founded the hugely successful ‘Small Business Saturday’ initiative in the U.S. in 2010 and is an active supporter of the programme in the UK, as part of its on-going commitment to encourage consumers to shop small.

More information on Small Business Saturday, participating retailers and details on promotions and other incentives to ‘shop locally’ can be found on the Small Business Saturday Facebook page, Twitter page and website.