What is Small Business Britain?

The nation’s 5.5 million small businesses are critical to powering the UK economy.

From the high street to online, hair salons to health clubs, digital marketers to market halls, small businesses represent 99% of businesses in the UK today and 16 million jobs.

Their founders and employees are our community heroes, who keep local economies moving and people connected.

Small Business Britain aims to champion the successes and encourage the growth of this vital part of the economy, offering personal and practical support to the people behind the UK’s amazing small businesses.

In this article, we’ve collaborated with Small Business Britain to showcase what the organisation can offer smaller businesses across the UK, from networking and skills development opportunities to sustainability advice and recognition.

What is Small Business Britain?

Small Business Britain is a champion of UK small businesses, with a mission to support, accelerate and inspire the country’s 5.5 million small businesses – no matter their location, their industry, or their size.

With a large and diverse community of small business owners in the UK, Small Business Britain inspires, supports, and advances the nation’s entrepreneurs in every corner of the UK, to foster growth and increase confidence.

Founded by Michelle Ovens CBE, Small Business Britain works closely with large corporates to deliver training and skills programmes, mentoring, events, and networking.

A strong advocate for promoting the value and needs of small businesses, it runs high profile campaigns and events, such as Small Business Saturday UK, as well as regularly sharing research and insight into the small business economy and engaging Government, academics, and policy makers.

Over the time it has been running, Small Business Britain has helped small firms navigate major challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit, and the cost-of-living crisis, as well as being at the heart of addressing future challenges and opportunities for small firms, such as climate change and Artificial Intelligence.

Boosting the business skills with the Small and Mighty Enterprise Programme

Small Business Britain runs small business support programmes across the UK.

It holds a firm belief that entrepreneurs need access to the latest tools, techniques and resources, as well as support to develop new and existing skills for running a business.

Since 2022, Small Business Britain has run the popular ‘Small and Mighty Enterprise Programme’ to supercharge Britain’s smallest firms.

Run in partnership with global small business platform Xero and ARU Peterborough, ‘Small and Mighty’ is a free, six-week training course that take places twice a year to support the UK’s smallest businesses take their first steps towards growth.

Having trained almost 3000 small firms, it is designed to extend support for the UK’s 5.2 million microbusinesses that aren't always suited to or eligible for existing business support initiatives.

Alongside this short course, Small Business Britain also delivers a wider calendar of training and advice each week, run with a range of partner organisations on a huge variety of issues affecting small firms.

This includes topics from finance, HR, digital and marketing, to export, technology and sustainability.

Inclusive Entrepreneurship for smaller businesses

One of Small Business Britain’s key beliefs is that entrepreneurship should be fully inclusive and possible for everyone, regardless of background and circumstance.

It is committed to making all activity as accessible as possible.

Everything Small Business Britain offers small firms is completely free of charge.

Most training opportunities are offered online, with closed captions, downloadable presentation material, and playback opportunities.

In-person events are also run in accessible venues, with British Sign Language interpreters involved and most materials available in Braille.

Small Business Britain also has a major focus on supporting diverse and under-represented entrepreneurs.

It runs targeted peer-to-peer networks for female founders (f:Entrepreneur) and business owners from diverse backgrounds (i:Entrepreneur), and in February 2024 Small Business Britain spearheaded the launch of The Lilac Review – a new, independent Review aiming to tackle the inequality faced by disabled-led businesses and elevate opportunity across the UK.

Learn more about how your business can become more inclusive.

What is Small Business Britain’s Lilac Review?

Disabled entrepreneurs currently account for approximately 25% of the nation’s 5.5 million small businesses, according to FSB’s ‘Business Without Barriers’ report, but only 8.6% of total small business turnover.

Four fifths feel they have unequal access to opportunities and resources.

But Small Business Britain estimates suggest that improving opportunity for disabled founders could unlock an additional £230 billion for the UK economy.

The Lilac Review, an independent, Government-backed review, and spearheaded by Small Business Britain, aims to tackle this inequality faced by disabled-led businesses and level-up entrepreneurial opportunity across the UK.

A number of prominent disabled founders sit on the Review’s Steering Board, including Victoria Jenkins, CEO and Founder of adaptive fashion brand Unhidden who is Co-Chair of the Review, as well as representatives from the wider business community including Lloyds Bank, eBay, BT, Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), British Chamber of Commerce (BCC), The Entrepreneurs Network, Business Disability Forum, and academics from ARU Peterborough.

Since launching at the start of 2024, The Lilac Review has tracked significant progress.

Following extensive research and consultation, an Interim Report in May 2024 identified a number of significant barriers to entrepreneurship becoming more accessible.

This included inaccessible support services, poor access to finance and the ongoing ‘burden of proof of disability’.

A series of initial recommendations were shared - for bigger businesses, the wider business support community, as well as Government.

The Review also saw an intention set by the Department of Business and Trade to work with the Lilac Review Steering Board members, the British Business Bank, UK Finance and Small Business Britain to further develop a Disability Finance Code for Entrepreneurship, with support from Lloyds Bank, NatWest, Barclays and HSBC UK.

Running for an initial period of two years, The Lilac Review will undertake extensive research and consultation with a final report scheduled for the end of 2025.

This will share recommendations and best-practice for supporting disabled entrepreneurs, accompanied by a call-to-action to drive positive change across society.

How smaller Businesses can support sustainability

With small businesses representing half of UK business emissions, according to the British Business Bank’s 2021 report, ‘Smaller businesses and the transition to net zero (PDF,6.4MB)’, there is a huge opportunity to better engage this major part of the economy in the fight against climate change.

Despite growing awareness and passion for sustainability amongst small businesses, Small Business Britain’s research shows that most small businesses want help to increase their knowledge and take action.

Recognising greater leadership and support is needed to help small firms understand and embrace sustainability, Small Business Britain launched a free training programme after the 2021 COP26 Summit.  

It now runs a six-week ‘Sustainability for Small Business’ training programme in partnership with BT, which aims to empower small businesses across the UK to better understand their environmental impact and embrace more sustainable practices.

Delivered entirely online, with 1000 places for small businesses available, it will focus on key sustainability topics such as measurement, accreditation, and financing.

Read more about what smaller businesses can do to become more sustainable with our handy guides.

Helping smaller businesses to network

Small Business Britain also believes in fostering the power of community for small business owners, who can often find themselves working alone or without support from those with relevant understanding or experience of entrepreneurship.

To combat this, Small Business Britain facilitates opportunities for small businesses to connect with like-minded business owners, as well as mentors.

Small businesses can join its large and diverse community of entrepreneurs, which also includes supportive and inclusive peer networks for groups such as female founders or business owners from diverse backgrounds.  

The organisation offers online communities and networking, as well as opportunities to attend in-person events with the chance to meet small business owners from all over the country.

In particular, the team also runs regular themed ‘Netwalks’, in partnership with BT, in different regions across the UK.

These give entrepreneurs a chance to get out of their usual working environment and meet up with other local businesses in a less formal way to network, share ideas and experiences and build business connections.

They are also a chance to upskill and learn from top experts in various topics, like AI, social media, and finance.

Championing smaller businesses

Small Business Britain aims to occupy a unique and optimistic space in the small business landscape, championing businesses and helping them to thrive.

It challenges stereotypes about entrepreneurship, aiming to inspire and showcase the rich diversity and vibrancy of small businesses across the country and the broad contribution they bring.

Small Business Saturday UK

The Small Business Britain team is also behind the annual Small Business Saturday UK campaign, a grassroots, non-commercial campaign, which celebrates small business success and encourages consumers to ‘shop local’ and to support businesses in their communities on the day, and beyond.

Taking place on the first Saturday of every December, Small Business Saturday was originally founded by American Express in the U.S. in 2010, and the brand remains the principal supporter of the campaign in the UK.

On Small Business Saturday, customers across the UK go out and support all types of small businesses; from independent shops and restaurants to small service and b2b-based businesses like accountants and digital marketeers.

Many small businesses take part in the day by hosting events and offering promotions.

Over the time the campaign has been running, it has engaged millions and seen billions spent with small businesses on Small Business Saturday.

In the run-up to the day, the Small Business Saturday team tours the nation for the month of November, spotlighting small businesses and their stories through interviews and ‘behind the scenes’ on-site visits.

Alongside this, the campaign offers a daily schedule of free daily workshops and mentoring opportunities to help boost small businesses across the UK.

The Small Awards

Small Business Britain has also run the yearly Small Awards since 2017, a nationwide search for the smallest and greatest firms in the UK, across all sectors, judged by a panel of leading enterprise experts.

Nominees are shortlisted across 11 Small Award categories, from ‘digital stars’, to ‘high street heroes’ and mission-driven businesses with a ‘heart of gold’. 

Applications are totally free, with all finalists treated to an awards ceremony that brings together small business owners, experts, and special guests for a night of celebration and networking with brilliant food, drink and entertainment.

To find out more about Small Business Britain, visit the website where you can also sign up to newsletters to stay up to date with all activity.