small is not only beautiful, but better

Wednesday, 09 January 2019

At the Guildhall in the City of Hull this Friday, January 11, 2019, the 'Small is Beautiful' Roll of Honour will be published for the first time.

Well-known names and organisations are Xero with Gary Turner. Co-founder and Managing Director, Ian Cass, CEO of the Forum of Private Business, Andrew Goodacre, CEO of the British Independent Retailers Association, Janet Jack CEO of the International Association of Book-keepers, Don Hales of Awards International and Dan Martin of Enterprise Nation.

A separate section of the Roll of Honour has sixty names in the #MicroBizMatters Hall of Fame. These are the people that have supported the free, informal, #MicroBizMatters movement, Day and co-founders over five years or more. The names include Kanya King CBE (#MicroBizMatters Inspiration), Charlie Mullins OBE (#MicroBizMatters Tsar), Tim Campbell MBE, Kate Hardcastle MBE, Penny Power OBE, Dinah Bennett OBE, Sway, Chris Percival and the late Roanne Dods, co-founder of the Small is Beautiful Conference, who commissioned the two-minute video containing the values that those on the Roll of Honour subscribe to.

The 'Small is Beautiful Roll of Honour' is published online for the guests and media attending the 5th annual #MicroBizMatters Day at the Guildhall in Hull, the social media hub for the day. Two-hundred business owners and heads of business membership, business networks and business support organisations will assemble there to live stream eight hours of learning sessions on YouTube and eight hours of interviews and workshops on Facebook.

Tony Robinson OBE, who co-founded #MicroBizMatters Day with Tina Boden, explained the purpose of the Roll of Honour. "There are 5.5 million micro business (0-9 employees and under £2 million turnover) owners in the UK and #MicroBizMatters Day is a social media Day of Recognition, Action and Learning where we help each other and show why we believe small is not only beautiful, but better."

EF Schumacher's ‘Small is Beautiful’ values were captured in a brilliant two-minute video by the ‘Small is Beautiful Conference’ in Scotland in 2017. We asked the heads of all sizes of organisations to watch this video and if they agreed with it to put their name and organisation behind it. We have an economy that allows bullying by big business with 45 to 120 days payment terms. We have government policies primarily focused on the misconception that big is better for growth, productivity and the 5% of UK businesses with 10 or more employees.

This Roll of Honour lists the friends of small and micro business owners. It is reassuring, inspirational even, for all of us as small and micro business owners to know many others share our values and are willing to put their head above the parapet and level the playing field for us. As the video states 'The value of life is as high as the currency you trust. And in a really big, small way we believe in the currency of us.'

Tina Boden, the co-founder of #MicroBizMatters Day, explained why Kanya King CBE and Charlie Mullins OBE top the Hall of Fame. "Tony and I talk a lot about the #PowerOfPlenty. If we as micro business owners work together, buy from each other and help each other to make ends meet we can show small is better for life, health, happiness and the environment. Kanya King CBE is our inspiration and has given her time, totally free, to support us. What Kanya has achieved for the music of black origin and British urban music is just sensational. It proves the #PowerOfPlenty in action.

Charlie Mullins OBE will be joining the event by online from Pimlico Plumbers on #MicroBizMatters Day for the 5th year in a row. Pimlico Plumbers is a £30 million business with hundreds of employees, but Charlie runs it and grows it like a micro business owner. He hosted our 2017 #MicroBizMatters Day and without him, we would not have succeeded in making the term 'micro-business' recognised and celebrated."

The two-minute video the Small is Beautiful Roll of Honour is centred around is at https://vimeo.com/170180676

MORE INFORMATION ON THE 5TH ANNUAL #MICROBIZMATTERS DAY

After three years in London and then Manchester this year, the City of Hull will host the live streaming event for the fifth annual #MicroBizMatters Day on Friday, January 11th 2019.

The UK's biggest small business membership organisations are actively involved. Enterprise Nation, Forum of Private Business (FPB), Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), Freelance Heroes and International Association of Bookkeepers will all feature in Hull and business networks across the UK will promote the day and the live streaming to their members too. Paul Uppal, the Small Business Commissioner is also travelling to Hull to support #MicroBizMatters Day 2019.

After three years in London and then Manchester, Hull City Council, supported by the John Cracknell Youth Enterprise Bank, is to play a significant part in this fifth, annual, social media day of recognition, action (#PayIn30Days and #Indie"5ER) and learning. The Day celebrates the contribution made by the 5.5 million micro businesses to the UK Economy and hundreds of thousands of micro business owners are encouraged to kick off the new business year by giving eleven minutes (#IGave11) of their time to support other business owners.

Ends


As always business journalists are invited to talk with and video the business owners and VIP guests, but for safeguarding reasons they must pre-register here; so they can then drop in any time between 9.15 am and 3.00 pm.
About Tony Robinson OBE

Tony Robinson OBE is known as the Micro Business Champion. He is an author, speaker, business owner of thirty years and the co-founder of Enterprise Rockers CIC and #MicroBizMatters Day.

In 1996 Tony founded, and remains a co-owner of, the SFEDI Group including the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs. SFEDI is the Government recognised, national and international sector skills body for enterprise. SFEDI specialises in skills development, qualifications and learning for small, medium and micro businesses and those who support them.

In 2001 Tony was awarded an OBE for his services to small firms and training.

Tony has also received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Enterprise from the IAB in 2012. His latest of eight books is ‘Loose Cannon’, which is available on Amazon.
About Tina Boden

North Yorkshire-based Tina Boden is one of the UK’s leading voices for micro business. By the age of 21 Tina was running her own business in partnership with her mother and has been running micro businesses ever since.

Through her rebranded business, The Tiny Troubleshooter, Tina shares over 25 years of her experience and helps others who are running micro businesses, charities or social enterprises keep their organisation on the right track. Tina ensures business owners develop and flourish through strategic implementation.

In 2012 Tony and Tina created a free, non-membership ‘network of networks’ to bring together micro enterprises and business owners to share their knowledge to other micro business owners. Enterprise Rockers CIC, #MicroBizMatters Day and @MicroBizMatters operates globally.

Website: https://microbizmatters.co.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/microbizmatters
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/microbizmattersday
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/microbizmatters/

Media information provided by Famous Publicity. For further information please contact Tina Fotherby on 07703 409 622 or email tina@famouspublicity.com