Summary Bullets:

• Held on the first Saturday in December, ‘Small Business Saturday’ in the UK encourages small businesses to promote themselves and attract customer attention.
• Following Black Friday offers, UK telcos should use this event to target SMBs and SOHOs – acquiring customers is more profitable than slashing margins.

Having started in the US in 2010, ‘Small Business Saturday’ has found its way to the UK and celebrated its 12th anniversary this side of the Atlantic on December 7, 2024 – an estimated GBP669 million was spent on Small Business Saturday in the UK in 2023.

Having started in the US in 2010, ‘Small Business Saturday’ has found its way to the UK and celebrated its 12th anniversary this side of the Atlantic on December 7, 2024 – an estimated GBP669 million was spent on Small Business Saturday in the UK in 2023.A marketing initiative originally promoted by American Express to encourage holiday shopping on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, it is now scheduled for the first Saturday in December in the UK. Overall, the aim is to encourage small businesses to promote themselves and attract the attention of consumers, often feeling guilty having done their Christmas shopping online while simultaneously bemoaning the demise of their High Streets.

The event has been supported by groups such as the Federation of Small Businesses but has increasingly captured the attention of telecoms service providers. This is especially true now when telcos’ B2B focus has shifted to the opportunities presented by the 5.5 million SMBs in the UK – a number that fails to include non-registered businesses and ‘side hustles’ that form a significant part of the economy.

The opportunity is underlined by recent research by BT Business, which found that 78% of UK small businesses have adopted ‘new tech’ in the last year, with the greatest focus on cybersecurity and social media. However, 22% still see themselves as ‘analogue first’ using landlines, paper, and fax machines. Encouragingly, 89% of small businesses reported that digital technology has opened up new revenue streams, 80% cite a competitive edge, and 79% say it has helped them find new customers.

To make the most of the event, BT sponsored a Small Business Saturday tour to visit 23 towns across the UK to highlight local small businesses and their impact on their communities and economies. It also included free online training, mentoring, and webinars. These events were co-championed by local councils and business partnerships.

It is perhaps worth noting that service providers spent a lot of time and money promoting their own offers on Black Friday. In 2025, it would be nice if they could follow this up with offers targeted at small businesses for Small Business Saturday. It would make marketing and PR sense and may also capture new customers.

It remains difficult for telcos with tens of thousands of employees to ‘get’ small business. Very few of their employees have ever worked outside of a corporate environment, but most have friends and family who have. In their efforts to establish credibility among SMBs and SOHOs, service providers need to move beyond the helicopter view and TV adverts. Ideally, they should encourage their employees to spend a day with a small business to experience their realities – this would return valuable insight and information, helping them to grow their credibility in what is a massive, complex, and hugely diversified market opportunity.