Small Business Saturday

By Lewis on 26th August 2016 - View Comments

Derby-based father and son driving school named in Small Business Saturday UK’s ‘Small Biz 100’ for 2016

A Derby-based father and son owned driving school, which caters for all levels of driver from learners through to full licence holders, has been named among the 100 small businesses in the UK to be celebrated by Small Business Saturday, the campaign that culminates in the UK’s dedicated day for small businesses on December 3rd.

WrightStart, set up by Lewis Wright and his father Andy, has also developed an off-road driving company called WrightStart Experiences as part of its learn to drive programme. Anyone under 17 can get behind the wheel for a driving experience, in a controlled, private environment with fully qualified and insured instructors. The sessions aim to teach car basics helping customers to save time and money when they start driving lessons at 17. The company, which also works closely with local schools promoting road safety through classroom sessions, will now be among the select number of businesses to be featured by the Small Business Saturday campaign one per day for the 100 days leading up to Small Business Saturday itself.

“As a local, growing small business we aim to promote and use local suppliers in Derby and Burton wherever possible,” explains Lewis, who wanted to become a driving instructor since he had his own first lesson.

“We call on the services of local independent suppliers and promote these to our customers when they have their own cars and via the driving resources section on our website. We are all about building long lasting relationships with like minded local businesses in order to sustain growth and maintain high levels of customer service.”
Small Business Saturday is already the UK’s most successful small business campaign. This is the fourth year of the campaign, which last year saw £623m spent with small businesses across the UK on Small Business Saturday, an increase of £119m or 24 per cent on the previous year. The campaign trended at number one in the UK on Twitter on the day with more than 100,000 campaign-related tweets being sent. Over 75% of local councils supported the campaign, giving considerable national reach into local communities.

The campaign is a great nationwide promotional and marketing tool for small businesses. It is totally free to participate and any small businesses can get involved – from one-man-bands, through to a high growth office, and from tradesmen to social media gurus. In addition to the big day, the campaign also delivers help and advice alongside opportunities to connect with other small businesses. In short, Small Business Saturday exists to support, inspire and promote small businesses.

“The British public has a great affection for small businesses and we continue
to see that grow year on year. Small Business Saturday is an exceptional example of collaboration and co-operation with small businesses teaming up in communities around the UK,” explains Campaign Director Michelle Ovens.

“Although the campaign focuses on one day, the goal is to have a lasting impact on small businesses by changing mind-sets, so that people make it their mission to support small businesses all year round. Most people in this country own a small business, work for a small business or know somebody who does, so supporting a small business on Small Business Saturday is absolutely personal.”

Small Business Saturday, which is a grassroots, not-for-profit campaign, was originally founded by American Express in the U.S. in 2010 and it remains the principal supporter of the campaign in the UK, as part of its on-going commitment to encourage consumers to shop small. The campaign also benefits from the backing of leading business organisations including the Federation of Small Businesses and Enterprise Nation. The campaign is also supported by PRS For Music, TalkTalk Business, Vistaprint, Post Office and Clear Channel

Logos, digital banners, a social media guide and toolkits will be available to download from the website www.smallbusinesssaturdayuk.com and can be displayed online or on premises. Businesses around the country can also upload information to the ‘My Small Business Finder’ on the website (www.smallbusinesssaturdayuk.com) on what special events or promotional offers they will be running for Small Business Saturday.

More information on Small Business Saturday can also be found on the Small Business Saturday Facebook page (www.facebook.com/smallbusinesssaturdayuk) and Twitter feed (@SmallBizSatUk).

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