Stephen Morgan MP, Member of Parliament for Portsmouth South, is calling on Portsmouth’s small shopkeepers to enter the Best Small Shops competition, celebrating the creativity of small shops and the central role they play in their local community.

The Best Small Shops Competition is open to any small shop operating in the UK. The competition is free to enter and all shops who enter will also be promoted to consumers through an online Indie Retail Directory. 

Shopkeepers can nominate their businesses until Monday 9 September via www.bestsmallshops.co.uk. A shortlist of 25 of the most impressive applications will be shortlisted by a panel made up of established representatives from the independent retail industry. 

The judges will be looking for evidence of a small shops’ entrepreneurial spirit, ways that they have been innovative in their business and what they have done to have a lasting positive impact on their community.  

The shortlisted small shops will be invited to a Parliamentary Reception in November to meet their Member of Parliament and find out who will be crowned the Best Small Shop for 2019.

Stephen Morgan MP said:

“Small and independent shops are such an important part of our communities, both in Portsmouth and across the country.

That’s why, shortly after being elected as MP, I set up the ‘Support Local’ campaign to raise the profile of the value of small business to Portsmouth’s economy. For every £1 spent in a local shop or business, 63p goes back into the city’s economy.

I’m assured that at a time when our high streets are on the brink and anchor stores are pulling out of our city, that the British Independent Retailers Association reports a growing number of independent shop openings across the country. But we cannot be complacent and must continue to support small business to flourish.

I look forward to seeing numerous familiar Portsmouth businesses on the shortlist for Best Small Shop. Lets put our city’s shops on a national map!”

Submit your entry

The entries for 2019’s Best Small Shop competition are now open. Submit your entry at www.bestsmallshops.co.uk.

Entries close on Monday 9^th September 2019.