2012-The Year Enterprise Rocks

A Rocking Good Start To 2012

The UK Enterprise Rockers movement invites journalists to kick off 2012 by covering the launch of their #MicroBizMatters campaign. The Enterprise Rockers, all micro business owners, have chosen Scarborough to host the media launch event at noon on January 9th.

Scarborough is a former winner of both the most enterprising place in Britain and the most enterprising town in Europe. Oh and the two founders of the Enterprise Rockers, Tina Boden and Tony Robinson OBE, live there.

The aim of the Enterprise Rockers movement is to make life better and fairer for all Micro Business Owners in the UK. The #MicroBizMatters campaign will improve awareness of the importance of the UK’s 4.5 million micro businesses, including start-ups, to jobs, the economy and communities.

The campaign also seeks to make people more aware of the discrimination by Government, Banks and Big Businesses against micro business owners and what the benefits to Britain would be if they gave them a fairer chance to survive and thrive. The campaign also positively recognises large organisations that the Rockers agree are micro enterprise friendly such as Apple, the Co-op, British Library and ACAS.

Founder Tina Boden, who owns a fine food company, explained, ‘We're not a political, lobbying or a fee paying membership organisation. Micro business owners freely get involved in the Rockers to do as much or as little as they like. We agree everything by majority decision.

We believe that by thousands of us supporting each other, trading with each other and carrying the same messages in villages, towns and online all over the UK that we can harness the power of plenty to make life better and fairer for micro business owners.

Our #MicroBizMatters campaign will make people aware why it is important that Britain is more micro enterprise friendly. This in turn will improve the future prospects for micro-business owners including start-ups.’

Tony Robinson OBE, who owns a training media company, added ‘As micro enterprise owners we are and have to be positive people but I am annoyed at how little progress we’ve made in the last twenty years consulting with Ministers and Government officials to try and get a better deal on skills and support for start-ups and enterprise owners.

This is a different approach and already the enthusiasm from the Enterprise Rockers, doing it for themselves, makes us confident that this is the way to make a difference for future generations of business owners.

Influencing public opinion and in turn government is a small part of what we’ll achieve. After all, we’ll never be as important to Ministers as Big Business and the Banks but we can hopefully stop 95% of government funding and support going to bigger business so that the 95% of all UK businesses that are micros get a fairer deal and an even break.

We’re growing. We already provide most of the new jobs, innovation and best help to communities and we contribute a third of all private sector jobs and a fifth of UK turnover. The thousands of Enterprise Rockers actively involved on Twitter, Facebook, Linked In and ready to champion our #MicroBizMatters campaign will make life better and fairer for us all.’

The #MicroBizMatters campaign already has 750 signatures on its ‘Tell Us What You’re Doing for Micro Enterprises Not for’ SMEs’ government e-petition. This already puts it at Number 14 out of over 600 e-petitions to the government’s Department of Business, Innovation and Skills.

The launch of #MicroBizMatters takes place in the Penthouse, the Sands, North Bay, Scarborough at 12 noon on Monday, 9th January. All journalists are welcome to attend or arrange to interview the founders of the Enterprise Rockers. Please e-mail tony@entrepreneursuk.com with your requirements.

__________________________________

Editors Notes:

(1) Journalists can register for the event here: http://enterpriserockersofficiallaunch.eventbrite.co.uk/?ref=enivtefor&utm_source=eb_email&utm_media=email&utm_compaign=invitefor&utm_term=readmore&invite=MTU1Nzk2OS90b255QGVudHJlcHJlbmV1cnN1ay5jb20vMA==

(2) ‘Micro Business’ is defined as an enterprise with 0 to 9 employees. There are 4.5 million micro businesses in the UK – over 95% of all businesses.

(3) More information on the Enterprise Rockers movement is available on http://enterpriserockers.co.uk

(4) 1 in 7 of the adult workforce are starting or running micro businesses and the Enterprise Rockers believe self-employment and running your own micro business should be supported by government as much as any other major career option.

(5) Whilst the Rockers are not campaigning, through #MicroBizMatters for government funding they are requesting that government reduces its funding and support to Bigger Business. For example for every £50 million of government support 4.5 million micro businesses get 6000 big businesses get £1 billion.

(6) The #MicroBizMatters government e-petition ‘Tell Us What You’re Doing for Micro Enterprises Not for ‘SMEs’ can be seen at http://t.co/QK36cLlU

(7) Journalists unable to attend can request photographs, after the event, of the Rockers on Scarborough beach. Journalists unable to attend can arrange to interview the founders of the enterprise Rockers and micro business owners attending the event. Contact Tony Robinson OBE E: tony@entrepreneursuk.com M: 07715 749079 Tw: @TonyRobinsonOBE