Together let’s celebrate small businesses and rejuvenate our high streets

Two years ago, as I sat on a bus in my Streatham constituency glancing through twitter updates on my phone I noticed US celebrities and public figures tweeting about ‘Small Business Saturday’ – when I looked into the concept, I saw the fantastic success it had achieved in the States, and called for a British version.

Bringing together a grassroots campaign, and with support from business organisations, last year we made the UK’s first ever Small Business Saturday a reality. The day was a huge success and was the biggest celebration of small business this country has ever seen, with 40 per cent of local authorities taking part and £500m of additional spending with small businesses.

The recurring frustration of being in opposition is being unable to be deliver for people on the ground without holding the reins of power. But on this issue – as well as recently on pubs, with a cross-party rebellion being led by Toby Perkins – Labour’s Shadow BIS team is leading the way in showing how we can make a difference despite not yet being in office.

This weekend across Britain, Labour MPs, PPCs and councils will celebrate Small Business Saturday, raising three cheers for our small businesses and encouraging consumers to use small shops and independent businesses.

Of course, we’ll all be knocking on doors as part of our campaign day too, but why not pop in and say hello to some of the small businesses you pass on your way, or when you’re taking a moment away from the doorstep.

Last year Small Business Saturday enjoyed fantastic support from MPs and activists. Some Westminster journalists even complained online afterwards that their twitter timelines were filling up with selfies of smiling Labour MPs with local small business owners. Together, let’s make sure we get the same ‘complaint’ this year! George Osborne even felt compelled to namecheck the Small Business Saturday campaign – initiated by Labour – in his Autumn Statement this week. Good – I am glad the Government got on board following my formal request to Vince Cable in the House of Commons last year.

Events including High Street fairs are taking place across the country, while elsewhere pop up shops will be springing up offering unique items made by small businesses.

My own local Labour run council in Lambeth and many others including Ashfield are offering free parking for the day; Stockton council has opened a new ‘enterprise arcade’ to provide a showcase for start-ups and Derby Council is hosting entrepreneur workshops and start up surgeries – these are just some of the examples of what is happening this weekend.

Small businesses are part of Labour’s DNA – they add to vibrancy of our High Streets and local communities. Our pubs, local shops and service providers – our plumbers, mechanics, painter-decorators – are part of the ‘glue’ which bind society together.

And our small firms and entrepreneurs turn their ideas into reality, offering consumers greater choice or a new product or service which may not have existed previously, often taking on the established players in markets as an insurgent.

But in recent years, small firms have had a tough time: business rates and energy bills have soared, and they’ve struggled to get access to the finance they need. That’s why we’ll cut then freeze business rates for over 1.5million business premises, introduce an energy price freeze which will save the average small business £5000, we’ll clamp down on late payment of small firms by their large customers and reform our banking system.

In the States, they have the ‘American dream’, celebrating the little guy and the opportunity for everyone to succeed. Although we may not shout about it as much, I believe we have our own version – a ‘British dream’ – which is just as inspiring and powerful.

So this weekend, together let’s bang the drum for our small firms, thank the people who work tirelessly running them, and demonstrate why One Nation Labour is the party that will help our businesses to get on – they after all are the ones who create the good, decent jobs we want to see.

Chuka Umunna is Shadow Business Secretary and MP for Streatham