Feast and fortune
With Christmas just around the corner, the crucial festive period is drawing near. This vital season offers small businesses across the UK a much-needed financial lift.
The festive season is shaping up to be a pivotal moment for the UK’s small business community, with new data revealing a potential £5.3 billion boost heading their way. This figure represents a fifth (22%) of the nation’s total seasonal spending pot and an estimated 19% nominal uplift on the projected spend seen in 2024.
This massive potential gain is rooted in shifting consumer priorities. The UK is expected to spend over £23 billion in total across the festive season — a 16% nominal year-on-year rise. With UK households expecting to spend £824 on celebrations on average, 8% more than last year, the money is there. Crucially, the top priorities for this increased spending are food (78%) and alcohol (53%). Given that the majority of businesses in the food and drink industry are SMEs, this shopper focus represents an extraordinary, timely opportunity.
The positive economic outlook arrives at a critical juncture. The Small Business Saturday campaign, which kicks off its annual call to action on 6 December, highlights that this “peak” trading season is essential for sustaining small businesses throughout the year.
Michelle Ovens CBE, director of Small Business Saturday UK, notes that this larger spending pot offers an “incredible opportunity to boost the UK’s amazing businesses”. She urges the nation to spend with small firms, particularly as key discounting events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday can pose challenges for independents struggling to compete on price.
Encouragingly, public support remains robust. Four in five people (84%) think it is important to support small businesses, and 95% believe they add value to the local economy. This comes as the number of small businesses has risen to 5.6 million for the first time since 2020, following a series of post-pandemic falls.
The festive season’s importance is tangible for founders across the UK: Jeevan Punj, founder of Elite Hampers in Shropshire, is already delivering for Christmas and has seen sales increase year-on-year during the festive season, highlighting the willingness of people to “spend on others during this time of year”.
Hepsie Goddin of homeware brand Martha and Hepsie acknowledges the uncertainty of household budgets but hopes shoppers will “be looking to invest in smaller quality products designed with purpose”.
The Small Business Saturday campaign, backed by principal supporter American Express, has fostered this culture of support since 2013. Last year, over 10 million Brits shopped small, spending a collective £634m on the day itself, demonstrating the campaign’s power to drive tangible support.
While spending remains paramount, supporting small firms extends beyond the transaction. Dan Edelman, general manager at American Express, stresses the importance of shopping small “whatever their budget”.
Campaign organisers suggest supporting independents in other ways, such as leaving positive reviews or spreading the word amongst friends and family.
The impact will only be fully realised if the nation consciously directs its seasonal spending — especially the budget allocated to food and drink — toward the independent businesses that form the foundation of our communities. Supporting them now is vital to helping them “turn a corner” and “supercharge the economy next year”.
- Rodney Jack, editor, Food & Drink Technology. Keep in touch via email: [email protected] Twitter: @foodanddrinktec or LinkedIn: Food & Drink Technology magazine.
