I’m urging everyone across Thirsk and Malton, York and North Yorkshire to get out and back our local businesses this Small Business Saturday.
The message is clear: our small businesses up and down the country are facing a perfect storm of Labour’s Jobs Tax, the stealth hike in business rates and sky-high energy bills.
As someone who started Hunters from scratch here in York in 1992 and grew it into a national business – and as your former Small Business Minister who extended the 75% rates relief and launched the Growth Guarantee Scheme – I know exactly what these extra burdens mean for family firms.
From the cafés and restaurants in Helmsley and Pickering using the best local produce, to the manufacturers in Kirkbymoorside making kit for our Armed Forces, Thirsk and Malton is full of some of the finest small businesses anywhere in the country.
Every pound you spend with them today stays in our community and has a massive multiplier effect.
So please – shop local, eat local, support local this Small Business Saturday. Our high streets need you now more than ever.
