Small Business Saturday launches virtual roadshow

The initiative will launch on 2 November with daily ‘virtual visits’ to small businesses and communities in more than 30 locations across the UK.

The online roadshow will include free virtual mentoring advice on a range of topics, from digital marketing, to time and money management. Live interviews and workshops with local businesses, experts, dignitaries and supporters of the campaign will also be streamed via Small Business Saturday UK’s Facebook page, along with a fun-filled daily ‘Happy Hour’ giveaway broadcast.

The tour will kick off in Scotland with a focus on Inverness, and will visit locations across the country each weekday, reaching everywhere from city centres like Edinburgh, Manchester, London and Cardiff, to rural communities such as Pateley Bridge in the Yorkshire Dales and Bodmin in Cornwall.

Michelle Ovens, director of Small Business Saturday UK, said: “This year has been incredibly tough for small businesses – financially, operationally, mentally and emotionally. This means our mission to support and celebrate small businesses across the UK becomes even more vital and ambitious.

“While we’re obviously sad not to be visiting small businesses on the ground, we are excited to use online to reach more people than ever, and bring small businesses and their communities a tremendously useful package of support. This is all part of our promise to make this year’s Small Business Saturday the best and most important one yet.”

Small businesses can book virtual one-to-one mentoring sessions with local experts via the ‘My Business Section’ on the Small Business Saturday website.

The virtual tour will form a central part of the official countdown to Small Business Saturday on 5 December.