Revellers urged to support local small businesses during Royal Wedding celebrations

28 April 2011

Email article : Print article : More articles like this

Revellers have been urged to use the Royal Wedding to help their local small businesses through the current economic uncertainties.

The Forum of Private Business is calling on those celebrating the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton tomorrow to provide independent traders in their areas with a much-needed boost by spending their money at privately-owned shops, pubs and restaurants.

The Forum believes the mood of national celebration surrounding the wedding, coupled with the recent spell of good weather, should create a welcome upsurge in trade for smaller businesses in the tourism, hospitality, leisure and retail industries.

The not-for-profit small business support organisation is also arguing that a rise in business for firms in these sectors may help to offset the disruption small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the wider economy have suffered this month, due to the unprecedented run of bank holidays.

The Forum has been calling for increased positivity and confidence – together with more support for SMEs – through its new campaign, Get Britain Trading. Get Britain Trading aims to help kickstart the economy back into life by creating the right conditions for smaller firms, which make up around 98% of businesses in the UK, to flourish and grow, thereby creating more employment opportunities and greater prosperity for the nation overall.

Jane Bennett is Head of Campaigns at the Forum. She explained: "Understandably, there has been a lot of publicity recently focusing on the negative impact the two consecutive bank holiday weekends are having on small businesses and we at the Forum have shared our members' concerns on the issue.

"Having so many bank holidays so close together has caused a lot of disruption, even to firms which have carried on working through them, due to key staff, trading partners and customers taking the time off.

"However, it's important to remember that there is an upside to the situation and many small firms in the leisure, retail and hospitality sectors stand to benefit from the current mood of national celebration surrounding the Royal Wedding.

"They don't need to be anywhere near Westminster Abbey to benefit either – people are planning celebrations up and down the UK, particularly given the sunshine we've been enjoying recently, so there's lots of scope for small businesses to do what they do best and use their entrepreneurial spirit to make the most out of the situation."

Miss Bennett added: "We're not calling for people to boycott big businesses – we're just hoping that the sense of national unity and celebration surrounding the royal wedding will encourage people support local enterprise at every opportunity and in doing so, help to create prosperity and jobs in their communities and Get Britain Trading."

More information on the Forum's campaign is available from the Get Britain Trading website – www.getbritaintrading.co.uk

As well as raising awareness of the massive contribution small firms make to the UK economy, Get Britain Trading is calling for swift action from the Government on issues facing SMEs such as over-regulation, tax and employment law.

The campaign also allows business owners to get in touch with each other and share ideas of how best to stimulate the small business sector.

Additionally, any business owners who sign the Get Britain Trading pledge will receive a ‘Getting Your Business Trading' advice booklet, featuring expert tips on common small business issues including marketing, access to finance, credit management, training and exporting.

Email:
eNewsletter archive

Revellers urged to support local small businesses during Royal Wedding celebrations

Related articles