South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth has praised the region’s small businesses on a visit to Flourish Dumfries, as part of Small Business Saturday.

Flourish Dumfries supports a collective of over 40 makers and producers and is a project by social enterprise The Guild Dumfries in partnership with Midsteeple Quarter who own the property at 111 High Street in Dumfries.

Small Business Saturday – which returned on 4 December – celebrates small business success and encourages consumers to ‘shop local’ and to support businesses in their communities. This year it is calling on the nation to share a ‘big thank you’ with small firms to recognise their vital role throughout the pandemic.

Colin Smyth said: “It was great to catch up with Leah and the team at Flourish Dumfries on Small Business Saturday. Flourish is a really exciting new venture for the town from the Guild and I would encourage everyone to head there and check out their fantastic range of products. I was particularly delighted that it’s opened in one of the Midsteeple Quarter’s recently purchased properties in the High Street.

“As we approach the festive period, it’s so important that people consider supporting their local small businesses.

“During the pandemic, many of our fantastic small businesses went above and beyond to help keep their communities going and now it’s time to repay that support.

“The many lockdowns and restrictions have had a terrible impact on our small businesses and high streets and the best way we can reverse some of these ill effects is to shop local and shop with small businesses.”

Now in its ninth year in the UK, Small Business Saturday is a grassroots, non-commercial campaign with an impact that lasts all year round.

On Small Business Saturday, customers across Scotland go out and support all types of small businesses – everything from local independent shops and restaurants, to smaller service providers like accountants, personal trainers and dog groomers.

Last year the campaign achieved record-breaking success and saw an estimated £1.1 billion spent with small businesses across the UK on the day, according to estimates from the campaign’s principal supporter in the UK American Express.