Amidst ongoing battles with rising costs, small independent coffee shops and bakeries might find some solace in the results from latest consumer research.
A survey of 1,000 UK adults run over the summer by advocate organisation Small Business Britain found that more than four in five respondents (84%) believed it was important to support small firms, while 94% thought they added value to local communities.
Over half of those surveyed (58%) said they had a favourite small business, with cafés and coffee shops topping the list – loved by almost one third (32%) of responders. Independent restaurants and takeaways was the second most favourite business category (21%), with bakeries in third (19%).
The list also featured bars and pubs (16%), hairdressers and barbers (15%), convenience stores (13%), bookshops (10%), garden centres (10%), gift shops (9%), and garages & mechanics (9%).
Small Business Britain organises the annual Small Business Saturday, a not-for-profit grassroots campaign held on 6 December that helps urge public support for the sector which includes 5.5m firms in the UK.
“Behind every small business is a person – a dreamer, a doer, and someone devoted to serving their community. This research shows how much the public values these individuals,” commented Dan Edelman, general manager of UK merchant services at American Express, which originally founded Small Business Saturday in the US in 2010 and continues as its principal supporter in the UK.
According to American Express, more than 10m Brits shopped small on Small Business Saturday last year, with a collective £634m spent on the day itself in-store and online in 2024 and average spend per person rising to a level not seen since 2020.
Jenny Pace, the marketing & ecommerce director at Cambridge-based bakery brand Fitzbillies, said it was “wonderful to hear that the great British public are supporting local bakeries, though not a surprise: the way to our hearts has long been through our stomachs.”
She expressed solidarity with other bakers doing the same and revealed that Fitzbillies will be celebrating Small Business Saturday this week. The event coincides with the end of term at Cambridge University, “which is always a busy time for us as students and families pop in for a bun and a coffee to fuel them,” added Pace.
The latest research was also said to reflect encouraging signs that UK Christmas spending will increase this and deliver a crucial boost to small businesses.
Another nationally representative survey of 2,000 people, conducted last month by OnePoll, had over a quarter (28%) of Brits expecting to spend more over the upcoming festive period. On average shoppers are planning to spend one fifth (22%) of their seasonal budgets with small businesses, representing £5.3bn in potential gains for such firms to tap into.
Earlier this year, a research report from bakery supplier Délifrance stated that coffee shops and bakery cafés are increasing in popularity with almost one in 10 UK consumers visiting them every day.
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