Every September since 2004
Straight answers for the people who run Britain’s small businesses.
The UK has 5.7 million private sector businesses, and more than 99% of them are small or medium-sized. Every September since 2004, Small Business Advice Week has put practical advice in front of their owners, through radio, online and in print.
What happens during the week
Experts on air
Specialists from our partners give interviews to radio stations across the UK on money, marketing, staff and the law.
Advice you can use
Free guides on cash flow, funding, hiring and the legal basics, written for owners who have ten minutes, not ten hours.
Research that makes the news
Partners publish new findings on how small firms are doing. Royal Mail used the week to show how many small businesses were starting to sell abroad.
Nominations are open
Favourite Small Business 2027
Which small business would you miss most if it closed? Nominate the cafés, shops, trades and online firms you rate, then vote. Winners are revealed on the first day of Small Business Advice Week 2027.
- Café or coffee shop
- Independent shop
- Pub, bar or restaurant
- Hair, beauty or wellbeing
- Trades or home service
- Fitness or leisure business
- Professional service
- Online business
- New business
- Community champion
Quick quiz
True or false?
Three quick statements about small business. How many can you get right?
Most UK businesses employ at least one person besides the owner.
About three in four UK businesses (4.3 million) have no employees apart from the owner.
Source: Business population estimates 2025, Department for Business and Trade
More than half of new UK businesses are still trading five years later.
Of the UK businesses born in 2019, 38.4% were still trading five years later.
Source: Business demography, UK: 2024, Office for National Statistics
Late payment forces dozens of UK businesses to close every day.
Government figures put it at about 14,000 closures a year, or 38 a day, and a cost to the economy of almost £11 billion a year.
Source: Late payments infographic, Department for Business and Trade
Who has backed the week
- Santander
- Royal Mail
- Groupon
- Funding Circle
- Nectar Business
- Make It Cheaper
- ICAEW
- British Business Bank
- For Dummies
- SWIG Finance
What partners have achieved
- 32 millionSantander: audience reached across 41 radio stations
- 28 millionRoyal Mail: audience reached across 52 radio stations
- 55 stationsFunding Circle: radio stations carrying its funding advice
Free help
Stuck on something?
Free, official and independent support for UK small businesses, from tax and staff to fraud and your own wellbeing.
- Starting up
- Money and finance
- Staff and the law
- Fraud and cyber
- Your wellbeing
Want small business owners to hear from your brand?
Each year a small number of partners lead the week, with their spokespeople on air and their research in the news.
Covering small business this September?
Find spokespeople, story ideas and the dates for the next three years on our media page.
Business figure: Business population estimates 2025, Department for Business and Trade, start of 2025.