Small Business Saturday roadshow to kick off at COP26 in Glasgow: Edinburgh and Kilmarnock dates confirmed

Small Business Saturday will kick off its nationwide roadshow at the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow next month.

The tour will visit 20 British towns and cities to “support, inspire and spotlight” the six million small businesses across the UK, as part of the countdown to Small Business Saturday.

For the first time, the event will showcase a fleet of eco vehicles, including an electric van, car and scooter, as well as a “delivery style” push bike. It comes as 97 per cent of small businesses say sustainability is important to their business, according to research by Tour supporter BT Skills for Tomorrow and Small Business Britain.

Michelle Ovens, director of Small Business Saturday, said: “We are so excited to get back on the road with this new tour and put the spotlight on fantastic small businesses and their communities, as well as opening up skills and networking opportunities to millions of entrepreneurs using a new hybrid format.

Alison Ruickbie runs The Re:Store in Moray, a zero waste store chosen as one of Small Business Saturday’s SmallBiz100.

“Running the tour in an environmentally conscious way is incredibly important to us, and in doing so we hope to encourage small businesses to take the leap and pledge to go net zero.”

The nationwide roadshow is set to kick off in Glasgow on November 1, with Edinburgh on the 3rd and Kilmarnock on the 4th. The tour will be on the road for a month, finishing in London shortly ahead of Small Business Saturday on December 4.

Chris Sims, BT’s managing director for its SoHo - single/small office, home office - unit, said: “Despite the hugely tough period small businesses have endured across the UK, we have seen many businesses embrace new ways of working and a shift towards digital.

“The tour is a fantastic initiative to reach out and support small businesses with the digital skills they need as they look to scale up in key areas such as digital marketing and sustainability, and we are delighted to be supporting it again this year.”

Now in its ninth year in the UK, Small Business Saturday is a grassroots, non-commercial campaign which celebrates small business success and encourages consumers to “shop local” and to support firms in their communities.

Last year, the initiative saw an estimated £1.1 billion spent with small businesses across the UK on the day.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers. If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription: www.scotsman.com/subscriptions