Sam Holliday, FSB Development Manager, Gloucestershire, Bristol, Bath & South Gloucestershire
Gloucester is, proudly, a city of small, independent businesses. In 2023 over 85 per cent of all the city’s businesses were either run by sole traders or had less than ten staff members and it is estimated that over 1,000 new businesses were registered in Gloucester last year alone. That is a magnificent testimony to the spirt of entrepreneurship and innovation so evident in the city.
What motivates all these brave souls to start a new business is the desire to provide great products or services usually initially at least for a local market. The small independent shop owner or restaurant boss is not expecting to ‘beat’ the big chains but he or she wants the chance to offer something different and to establish their own niche spot in whatever sector they choose to operate.
Every thriving economy needs that mix of the bigger names and the smaller ones – and both have a key part to play. In city centre terms, the big recognised national names help ensure the footfall but even they know that it is the smaller independents who then add the local flavour, charm and community cohesion to the overall mix and help prevent a town or city becoming an identikit one.
That is why we welcome Gloucester BID’s Independents Week. It is a celebration of all the city’s smaller businesses and it invites us to all to respect, support and enthuse about Gloucester’s independent sector so it remains at the heart of this diverse, unique and special city.”
