{"id":86941,"date":"2017-12-02T00:15:11","date_gmt":"2017-12-02T00:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=fcda34629c00e331e46f4ee369f73184"},"modified":"2017-12-02T00:15:11","modified_gmt":"2017-12-02T00:15:11","slug":"press-release-uk-encouraged-to-shop-small-this-small-business-saturday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=86941","title":{"rendered":"Press release: UK encouraged to \u2018shop small\u2019 this Small Business Saturday"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<ul>\n<li>government ministers out in force to support their local independent businesses this Small Business Saturday (2 December)<\/li>\n<li>the UK is home to a record 5.7 million small businesses<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Government ministers are visiting independent businesses across the UK today in celebration of Small Business Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>The annual campaign, now in its fifth year, champions and supports the UK\u2019s small businesses. Last Small Business Saturday, \u00a3717 million was spent in small businesses on the day.<\/p>\n<p>Small Business Minister, Margot James said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>This government is completely behind the UK\u2019s 5.7 million small businesses \u2013 they are there, day in and day out, at the heart of our local communities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">They are the backbone of our economy, so I encourage everyone to think big by shopping small this Small Business Saturday.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>At the start of 2017 there were a record 5.7 million small businesses in the UK \u2013 an increase of more than 1.2 million since the start of 2010. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/statistics\/business-population-estimates-2017\">latest business population estimates<\/a> show that these businesses are responsible for 48% of private sector employment and contribute \u00a31.4 trillion in turnover.<\/p>\n<p>Since 2010, government support for smaller businesses includes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>British Business Bank programmes supporting \u00a33.4 billion of finance to over 59,000 smaller businesses<\/li>\n<li>over 50,000 Start-Up Loans worth more than \u00a3348 million<\/li>\n<li>increasing the amount central government spends with small business \u2013 central government contracts above \u00a310,000 are openly advertised on the government\u2019s procurement website, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/contracts-finder\">Contracts Finder<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li>a network of 38 local growth hubs which make it easier for start-ups and existing businesses to access the support they need<\/li>\n<li>appointing a Small Business Commissioner to champion the interests of small business and help drive a culture change in payment practises<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Additional support in the Budget included a 10-year action plan to unlock \u00a320 billion of investment in innovative firms, a \u00a32.3 billion package to reduce business rates bills and further freezes to fuel duty worth \u00a3850 million a year.<\/p>\n<p>For more information about government support available to small businesses, please <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/business-support-helpline\">contact the business helplines<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"call-to-action\">\n<p><a rel=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/smallbusinesssaturdayuk.com\/\">For more information visit the Small Business Saturday website.<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Small Business Minister Margot James encourages people to support local independent businesses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86941"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=86941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86941\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=86941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=86941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=86941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}