It’s just 1 week to go until the Small Business Saturday UK Bus Tour comes to Salisbury and free mentoring sessions for small businesses in the city are available to book.
On Tuesday 26th November from 10am – 2pm, the bus will be at Salisbury Market Place.
Now in its seventh year, the Small Business Saturday is a nationwide campaign to support and promote the UK’s 5.5 million small businesses.
The bus tour is traveling over 3000 miles across England, Scotland, and Wales, visiting 25 locations over 25 days in the lead up to Christmas.
The bus will offer free mentoring sessions to small businesses. These sessions must be pre-booked via “My Small Business” on www.smallbusinesssaturdayuk.com.
A special ‘Blue Sofa’ interview series will also feature, where small businesses, entrepreneurs and leading local figures will share stories about their small business or their local area to a Facebook live audience.
A speed networking session will also be held between 11am – 12pm, providing an opportunity to meet the Small Business Saturday team, bus tour supporter Dell, and other local business owners. Free tickets for this networking session can be booked here.
Michelle Ovens MBE, Director of Small Business Saturday, said: “We are excited for the Small Business Saturday bus tour to launch in Blackpool, a town that has faced no shortage of challenges over the past ten years. But like so many towns and cities up and down the UK, what helps to keep its economy firing and its community in work is its small businesses.
“Small Business Saturday is a campaign that celebrates these heroes – a day to celebrate the work they do in their communities, and we have seen the long-term results with record numbers spent on Small Business Saturday each year.
“But this is not just a campaign for one day, we want it to inspire more people to support their local independents on a regular basis. The bus tour is another way we are able to recognise the contribution small businesses make in towns across the country.”
Robin McGowan, Chief Executive of Salisbury BID, said: “We're delighted to have secured Salisbury as a location for the Small Business Saturday UK Bus Tour. Small businesses are an integral part of Salisbury’s economy and community, so it’s important we recognise them, celebrate them and most importantly support them.
“Obviously Christmas is a time when lots of people are out shopping and buying gifts, so we’re encouraging people to think about where they’re spending their money this Christmas and to shop local.”
The Small Business Saturday Bus Tour is an important part of the official countdown to Small Business Saturday, taking place on Saturday 7th December 2019. It follows the recent launch of the UK’s Small Biz 100 – a daily celebration of 2019’s top small businesses from across the UK.
A grassroots, not-for-profit campaign, Small Business Saturday was originally founded by American Express in the U.S. in 2010. American Express remains the principal supporter of the campaign in the UK, as part of its on-going commitment to encourage consumers to shop small.
In partnership with VisitWiltshire, Salisbury BID co-fund the Visit Salisbury website to promote the city to visitors. The Visit Salisbury website has a full events calendar for Salisbury.
