Small Business Saturday encouraged people to shop local

Hundreds of Cornish business owners were hoping for a much-needed boost during Small Business Saturday ahead of the busy few weeks in the lead up to Christmas.

‘Small Business Saturday’ took place across the country on 3 December to celebrate successes and encourage people to ‘shop local’ in their communities.

According to recent statistics, nearly 3,000 new companies were registered in Cornwall in 2021, despite challenges facing small businesses with the cost-of-living crisis, increasing energy bills and other economic pressures.

‘Small Business Saturday’ takes place on the first Saturday in December each year and many small businesses in Cornwall hosted events and offered discounts, as part of the activity.

One organisation backing the grassroots campaign was the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Growth Hub, part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and match funded by Cornwall Council.

Growth Hub has directly supported over 3,000 businesses in the county since it began in 2016 and has taken more than 5,000 business enquiries and over 15,000 phone calls from owners.

Jackie Gibbon and her husband Robert champion Cornwall’s small producers by stocking a diverse range of local products in their Falmouth shop, ‘A Gift from Cornwall’. As novice business owners, the couple say the support given by Growth Hub has been invaluable.

Jackie says, “We love the fact it’s all local. We stock small producers and nearly everything in the shop is Cornish made. The Cornish are so inventive, they are so brilliant at this sort of thing.”

This year the ‘Small Business Saturday’ initiative celebrates its tenth anniversary and business owners are being supported with a free programme of online mentoring and training.

As well as this, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Growth Hub provides free, independent, and impartial advice to help people grow and develop their businesses.

Another business that has benefitted from Growth Hub support is ‘All You Can Eco’ in Perranporth. George Carter and Lara McShee set up their shop after lockdown.

They sell a range of refillable store-cupboard essentials and offer hand-picked Cornish eco-conscious gifts, made by local artists, crafters, and producers.

“The Growth Hub sign-posted us to a lot of training, it’s an invaluable tool to have somebody who’s got your back,” says George. “We have this strong business community in Cornwall and that really can be the difference between taking your business forward or stumbling at the first step.”

Based in Constantine, when jewellery maker Nic Danning started making her handmade designs, she was surprised at how quickly business took off, “We’re looking to expand our ranges that we design and make – that’s the part that really gets my creative juices flowing.”

After taking advice from Growth Hub, Nic is ready to employ someone to help her business thrive and wants to enrol on a silversmithing course at Truro College next year.

More information about ‘Small Business Saturday’ can be found at www.smallbusinesssaturdayuk.com and Growth Hub at www.ciosgrowthhub.com