Wednesday, 29 January 2020

EKM hosts national MicroBizMatters Day in support of small businesses

E-commerce specialist EKM hosted a free-to-attend day of inspirational talks from successful entrepreneurs to celebrate and promote #MicroBizMatters Day.

The firm opened the doors of its Preston headquarters to more than 200 guests who networked, learned lessons from business owners and met with EKM founder and popular vlogger Antony Chesworth.

Members of the audience represented a wide range of industries, from food and crafts to motorbike sales, but all came together to promote the message of buying from independent retailers whenever possible.

Campaign organisers Tina Boden and Tony Robinson OBE opened the day with a short welcome, followed by expert speakers including Camilla Ainsworth, the youngest ever The Apprentice finalist and founder of dairy alternative brand M+LKPLUS, entrepreneur Paul White who spoke from personal experience about managing a sensible work-life balance, Richard Few and Jonathan Finch of Sales Geek who gave an insight into smart selling in 2020, and magazine publisher Richard Slater who spoke about marketing microbusinesses.

The event also featured a question-and-answer panel with business gurus including Kirsty Henshaw, the founder of Kirsty's meals who earned investment from Dragons’ Den and Sunny Sandwell, who recently launched Fun At Work to encourage companies to create productive workspaces.

The UK is home to more than 5.6 million micro businesses, and #MicroBizMatters was created to support and inspire them. As well as social media events and campaigns including ‘Pay in 30 Days’, organisers hold a live event in January of each year.

Previous days have been held in London, Hull and Manchester, and long-time supporter of the initiative EKM was chosen to host the 2020 celebration. The event took place in its £3.5m offices, which feature a presentation auditorium, fully equipped kitchen and three-storey slide.

EKM holds a special affinity for microbusinesses. The company has produced an online tool which gives entrepreneurs an affordable and straightforward route to selling online. The company began as a microbusiness itself and counts thousands of them among its customers.

Antony Chesworth, EKM founder, said: “Microbusinesses play a crucial role in the UK economy, 96% of businesses are microbusinesses, so it’s vital that we recognise, support and inspire them.

“Our company has been involved in previous MicroBizMatters events but this is the first time that we have been able to host the main annual event. It was fantastic to see our headquarters full of enthusiastic entrepreneurs and I’m proud that we were able to inspire so many people and to help give them the knowledge and tools that they need to succeed.”


Notes to Editor

EKM is the UK’s highest rated ecommerce platform and has helped over 80,000 people set up their own successful online business.

All images can be found here and are available to use under Creative Commons Attribution Licence

You can also view a short summary of the day here