Free parking has always been acknowledged as one distinct advantage garden centres have over the High Street – so it will be interesting to see how a ‘Free Saturday Parking’ experiment next month in more than 25 local areas affects your centre’s trade.

More than 25 local councils have agreed to offer free parking on Small Business Saturday, 7 December, following lobbying from national small business group the Forum of Private Business.

Last month the Forum wrote to local authorities across the UK asking them to waive parking fees in support of the event.

The inaugural Small Business Saturday UK is the culmination of a campaign to encourage communities to shop local and support their small businesses.

FPB Chief Executive Phil Orford said parking charges discouraged many consumers from shopping on the high street, diminishing small businesses’ customer base. “The Forum believes removing these charges will help generate the conditions needed to make Small Business Saturday UK a great success,:” he said

“The response from many councils has been really encouraging. It’s great to see local authorities are prepared to take this step to support their local small business community. We may have just 27 so far but we hope many more will follow suit.”

The Forum is hoping more councils will join in as the date nears.

The campaign has ministerial support. Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock said: ”I'm pleased to see local councils across the whole country, from Chesterfield to Cornwall and Selby to Stevenage, are showing real support for Small Business Saturday by waiving parking charges, and I hope many more councils will follow their example. Small businesses employ more than 11 million people across the UK and our new Business is GREAT campaign is celebrating the contribution they make."

Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna MP said: ”This is a grass roots campaign and it is fantastic that support for the day has grown so significantly, with special events and campaigns being planned in local areas for the day across Britain. I hope the day will provide a real boost for small firms during the busiest shopping season of the year.”

If you’re near one of the participating areas listed below, you might want to monitor trade on 7 December to see how it affects your own footfall:

Arun District Council
Blaby District Council
Breckland Council
Camden Council
Castle Point Borough Council
Cheshire East Council
Cheshire West and Chester Council
Chesterfield Borough Council
Cornwall Council
Cumbria County Council
East Riding of Yorkshire Council
Eden District Council
Hart District Council
Hartlepool Borough Council
Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council
Merton London Borough Council
Middlesbrough Council
Mole Valley District Council
North Tyneside Council
North Warwickshire Borough Council
Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council
Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council
Pendle Borough Council
Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council
Rossendale Borough Council
Selby District Council
Stevenage Borough Council