Staff and students at a dance school in Bassingbourn are celebrating after they were named among 100 small businesses in the UK which will be promoted by a campaign dedicated to championing smaller firms.

Now in its fourth year, the campaign encourages people to buy local and support smaller traders by highlighting one business a day for the 100 days leading up to Small Business Saturday on December 3.

Dance teacher Naomi Wallen was thrilled to learn DanceMatters – which she opened 11 years ago to cater for dancers of all ages – had been selected to feature in campaign as the small business for Saturday, September 3.

“DanceMatters competes against much larger dance schools by offering a different environment and atmosphere,” she said.

“We think dance really does matter and we use dance as a teaching and participation tool.

“Some of our dancers have a range of disabilities including autism and communication disorders and we use Makaton sign language in our pre-school dance classes, not only because it’s a great way to develop movement skills but also as some of the children have learning

disabilities which we can support.”

Last year’s campaign saw £623 million spent with small businesses across the UK on Small Business Saturday and the campaign trended at number one in the UK on Twitter on the day with more than 100,000 tweets being sent.

Campaign director Michelle Ovens said: “The British public has a great affection for small businesses and we continue to see that grow year on year. Small Business Saturday is an exceptional example of collaboration and co-operation with small businesses teaming up in communities around the UK.

“Although the campaign focuses on one day, the goal is to have a lasting impact on small businesses by changing mindsets, so that people make it their mission to support small businesses all year round. Most people in this country own a small business, work for a small business or know somebody who does, so supporting a small business on Small Business Saturday is absolutely personal.”