The tenth Small Business Saturday is happening on 3^rd December and Labour MP, Toby Perkins, is calling on Chesterfield residents to nominate their favourite small businesses in order to highlight those businesses that make Chesterfield different.

SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises) make up 99% of the business population in the UK and create 16 million jobs. Now in its tenth year, Small Business Saturday celebrates this success and encourages consumers to ‘shop local’ and to support businesses in their communities.

Toby said “I am delighted to support this, the tenth anniversary of Small Business Saturday. Small businesses are so important to our town, providing jobs, training and driving economic growth.

“Businesses have faced massive adversity and hardship over the last few years due to the pandemic and changing retail behaviours, and now face further challenges like unfair business rates, supply chain issues and soaring energy costs.

I want to hear from local people about their favourite small businesses – shops, cafes, hairdressers and so on – and I will try to visit as many as I can as part of Small Business Saturday”

Labour has recognised the support that small businesses need not only to survive but to thrive. This is why the party has pledged to cut and eventually entirely scrap business rates, replacing them with a new form of business taxation fit for the 21^st Century.

Toby said that Labour will make online giants pay their fair share and introduce annual revaluations of business rates, with savings passed on immediately to small businesses. This would support small businesses rebuilding from the crashed economy, and level the playing field between online giants and bricks and mortar businesses.

Support for the self-employed was also highlighted by Toby as a crucial part of Labour’s pro-worker, pro-business agenda. Labour will extend the protections for self-employed workers including the right to sick pay.

“Labour understands the struggles and challenges small businesses face, and this is why Labour will make online giants pay their fair share and introduce an annual business rates revaluation, with savings passed on to small businesses immediately. We will also support the self-employed by extending protections including the right to sick pay.

The Government need to listen to small business owners, which are the bedrock of our economy and central to our communities. Labour has a plan that will make a real difference for business owners immediately and in the long-term.”

Constituents can nominate their favourite local small business Here