Also on Monday, Judith will launch the Assembly Group on SMEs’ ‘One More in Four’ programme which aims to create the environment whereby all SMEs in NI could employ one more person in the next four years.
Motion: Small Business Saturday
That this Assembly supports the forthcoming Small Business Saturday on 7 December 2013 and urges the local community to make a special effort to support local traders on that day.
Judith Cochrane MLA said: “I am very pleased that the Assembly will have the opportunity to highlight the importance of our local traders and explain why it is vital that the public supports them.
“Our traders have faced a difficult year, but I hope that Small Business Saturday will be the start of a good Christmas shopping period for our local businesses, many of whom rely on this period to sustain their business throughout the year.
“While this is the first time that this campaign has occurred in the UK, it has been running quite successfully in America since 2010. President Obama has shown his support for this campaign when he visited a small bookshop in Washington during the American Small Business Saturday which took place on Saturday 30th November.
“It is good to see the cross party support for this campaign. Regardless of our political differences, we can all agree that small businesses are the backbone of our economy and we should do all that is possible to support them.
“I would urge consumers to make a special effort to support their local traders on Saturday 7th December, and beyond.
“I also welcome the willingness of the Ministers for Enterprise, Finance and Employment and Learning to engage with the Assembly Group on Small and Medium sized Enterprises’ ‘One More in Four’ programme. As small businesses make up the majority of our private sector, if we are to grow the economy then we should be looking to support and encourage their growth.”
ENDS