Northampton business owner sings popular Christmas song with choir in nationwide 'shop local' campaign

A Northampton business owner has featured in a nationwide campaign urging the public to shop local this Christmas.

Owner of Brooklyn Brownie Co, John Lashley, will feature in the out-of-home campaign run by small business insurance provider, Simply Business, in more than 100 sites from December 20 to Boxing Day (December 26).

Small business owners across the county - including John - sang their hearts out to save their businesses.

The choir re-recorded Wizzard's 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day' because they need it to be Christmas every day to stay in business.

John said: “Small businesses are extremely important as they bring so much variety to an area and boost the economy by employing people.

"Small businesses really are the heartbeat of the economy and so it’s extremely important to shop local as you are personally helping people pay their mortgage, their bills, feed their family, and support their business overall.

"It’s been a tough 18 to 24 months and Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year – a lot of small businesses will make a significant amount of their revenue at Christmas, so it’s an important message to shop local this year.”

The Small Business Choir, commissioned by Simply Business, which has an office in Northampton, features 16 small businesses from across the country, plus prominent business figures including Tony Robinson OBE, author and vocal champion of the self-employed and The Apprentice Winner and founder of Dough Bakehouse Carina Lepore.

Lord Sugar is a lead investor in Dough Bakehouse, which opened its second branch in Beckenham mid-pandemic.

CEO at Simply Business, Alan Thomas, said: “The festive classic ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’ will be played up and down the country in the coming weeks, as the UK enjoys a period of well-earned festive cheer. But the feeling among small business owners is likely to be rather more sombre this Christmas.

“For a third of small businesses, Christmas accounts for over 20 percent of their annual revenue – for many owners, they quite simply need it to be Christmas everyday if they’re to continue their recovery from a devastating two years.

“They’ve faced the pandemic head-on, navigated supply shortages, and adapted to a new normal. They’ve shown resilience in abundance and done all they can to stay afloat. But without a strong Christmas trading period, one in five small businesses will permanently close in 2022.

“It’s vital we support small businesses this Christmas. And if anything, the pandemic has served as another reminder that we should be supporting them all year round. They’re the lifeblood of our local communities, and with close to six million of them in the UK, together they contribute trillions of pounds in turnover. They are quite simply the backbone of the economy.

“This Christmas needs to right the ship after a challenging two years, and set them up for recovery in 2022. But small businesses are for life, not just for Christmas. So at Simply Business we felt compelled to highlight this by teaming up with a host of brilliant small business owners to re-record the Christmas classic ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’.”

According to Simply Business, one in five Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) do not expect their business to survive without a bumper Christmas and over half of SMEs in the UK still live in fear of future lockdowns.

Their studies also found that almost 43 per cent of SMEs in the UK are struggling to recover financially from the impact of Covid-19, which has cost SME owners a combined total of over £126 billion in lost earnings.

Simply Business also claim that one in four SMEs say they're 'not confident' about their business' chances this December, despite the importance placed on Christmas earnings.

Channel Direct sales director, Lee Mead, added: “At Clear Channel, our purpose is to be both a platform for brands and a platform for good. We naturally believe in supporting small & local businesses, helping Simply Business’s initiative with our local yet national medium just made sense."

Watch the video and learn more about the campaign hereFor more on how important this Christmas is to small businesses, see the full report on the SImply Business website.Simply Business's report on 'The Impact of Covid-19 on UK small businesses' can also be found on their website.