National Small Business Saturday Bus Tour stopping in Plymouth

Small Business Saturday the nationwide campaign to support, inspire and promote the UK’s small businesses, is unveiling its celebrated tour this year with a sensational bus tour to mark 5 years since the campaign was launched.

The bus will be visiting 29 different towns and cities and launching the brand new mentoring programme, supporting small businesses one-to-one, with advice directly from their peers. Also debuting this year is the “Small Business Saturday Blue Sofa” providing live streamed interviews and exclusive Q&A sessions.

Beginning in Dundee on October 23rd, the bus tour is travelling up and down the country with stops including Lisburn, Cardiff, Lowestoft and the Isle of Wight and visiting Plymouth on 20th November before finishing in Brighton on November 24th.

The event in Plymouth will begin at City Business Park between 9am to 10.30am and move onto the Plymouth Guildhall from 11am to 2pm. The day will provide advice and information to all small businesses as well as some hands-on activities for the public to promote local support for the campaign.

Small Business Saturday is the UK's most successful small business campaign and is this year celebrating its 5th birthday year. Last year saw £717m spent with small businesses across the UK on Small Business Saturday, up 15% on the previous year. The campaign trended at number one in the UK on Twitter on the day with more than 130,000 campaign-related tweets being sent, reaching over 140 million people globally. Over 80% of local councils supported the campaign, meaning wherever you were on Small Business Saturday, there was something going on nearby.

“Small Business Saturday has gone from strength to strength in the five years since it launched in the UK. British businesses and customers have taken it to their hearts and now not only make a special effort once a year for Small Business Saturday, but appreciate the value small businesses bring to their communities year round,” explains Campaign Director Michelle Ovens.

“Small Business Saturday is open to everyone. Businesses on the high street or online, trading with other businesses or selling direct to consumers. It is open to every individual who can take this moment to support their local businesses, and it is open to public sector to both support and reflect on the huge value small businesses generate.”

Small Business Saturday, which is a grassroots, not-for-profit campaign, was originally founded by American Express in the U.S. in 2010 and it remains the principal supporter of the campaign in the UK, as part of its on-going commitment to encourage consumers to shop small. The campaign also benefits from the backing of leading business organisations including the Federation of Small Businesses and Enterprise Nation. The campaign is also supported by Facebook, Dropbox, Mercedes Benz Vans, Indeed, Vistaprint, and Lightspeed.

More information on Small Business Saturday can be found on the Small Business Saturday Facebook page (www.facebook.com/smallbusinesssaturdayuk) and Twitter feed (@SmallBizSatUk).