Michelle Ovens CBE
Director, Small Business Saturday UK
The nation’s 5.5 million small businesses1 have faced tough challenges, including the cost-of-living crisis, inflation and post-pandemic recovery, negatively impacting entrepreneurs, their confidence and communities.
With signs the economy is turning a corner, there is a huge opportunity for small firms to drive renewed economic growth for the UK as we head into 2025. To unleash this, small businesses need continued support from across society, particularly over the festive season, which is a crucial period for many business owners.
Small businesses’ time for growth
Indeed, new research2 from our Small Business Saturday campaign identified signs that the festive season could deliver a critical boost for UK small businesses, as approximately £20 billion is set to be spent by UK households, with at least a quarter of people planning to spend more than last year.3
Encouragingly, a lot of this could be up for grabs for small firms, with households expecting to spend a fifth (22%) of their festive spending pot with small businesses on average. This amounts to approximately £4.4 billion that entrepreneurs could tap into.2 This underlines the tremendous impact that this time of year can have on the fortunes of small businesses across the UK, plus the difference that public support can make.
As we head into 2025, small businesses need
this optimism to seize all the other opportunities
available to help them recover and grow.
Public support for small businesses
The Small Business Saturday campaign, taking place on 7 December, is vital for encouraging support of small businesses across communities on the day and beyond. It aims to galvanise people to celebrate the incredible value that small businesses create across society.
Small Business Saturday came to the UK in 2013 and is backed by principal supporter American Express, which founded the campaign in the US in 2010. In the UK, the campaign has seen a growth in public support for small businesses with billions of pounds spent with small firms on Small Business Saturday.
Financial opportunity and renewed confidence
The public must come out in force again to throw their backing behind their favourite independents. Hopefully, small businesses can convert the huge opportunity before them this festive season, so they can start the new year in a stronger financial position and with renewed confidence.
As we head into 2025, small businesses need this optimism to seize all the other opportunities available to help them recover and grow — whether that is embracing new technology like AI, exploring the financial benefits of sustainability or being open to new markets and ideas.
[1] Office for National Statistics. Business population estimates for the UK and regions. 2023.
[2] Office for National Statistics. Families and households in the UK: 2023. 2024.
[3] Small Business Saturday UK, 2024.
