Adrian Trollope and David Watkins of Vaughan's Panasonic Shop on Thomas Street,Llanelli, winners of Britain's Best Independent Electrical Retailer Award 2014
None of us can be complacent about the immense challenge facing small, independent businesses, and in particular those in our town centre, but we won’t get anywhere by being all doom and gloom. Let’s remember that this year saw Vaughan’s Panasonic Shop on Thomas Street win Britain’s Best Independent Electrical Retailer Award… That’s not just best in Llanelli or Wales, but in Britain, and I’d like to add my warmest congratulations to them for this absolutely outstanding achievement.
Small Business Saturday, scheduled this year for Saturday 6th December, is all about encouraging everyone in the UK to support small businesses, both on the day and beyond. The concept of Small Business Saturday originated in the USA, where it has been a tremendous boost to spending in small businesses. The idea was brought back to the UK by Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Chuka Umunna MP, and celebrated in the UK for the first time last year, when it proved to be a great success.
This year I hope that as many of you as possible will join in on Saturday 6th December to support our small businesses in Llanelli town centre, as we know what a hard time they have had recently. The market is a real asset to Llanelli, and we all want to see a vibrant town centre, but it is very much a case of use it or lose it. If we want the choice of a range of small independent retailers and restaurants in our town centre, then we need to be supporting them. So let’s talk our town up, and do our best to encourage everyone to come and help us support our town centre. See you there!