Tiree business named UK Micro Business of the Year at FSB UK Awards Finals
A Tiree-based business scooped the Micro Business of the Year at the UK grand final of the Federation of Small Business (FSB) Celebrating Small Business Awards 2023.
Yellow Hare Café & Gift Shop, located at the ferry terminal on the Inner Hebridean Isle of Tiree, beat 11 other winners of regional and devolved nation finals from across the UK.
This small licensed cafe and gift shop opened in 2018 as the island’s first dedicated roast coffee shop and first public launderette. When the pandemic hit in 2020, the fledgling business had no reserves but pivoted to selling ‘bake boxes’ mailed to customers’ doors. Like many small businesses, staffing has been an issue in recent years, but Yellow Hare has been creative in its recruitment strategy – even taking on holidaymakers. In four years of trading, turnover has tripled.
Judges were impressed by the creativity, innovation and resourcefulness of the business to achieve rapid growth over the last five years despite the extremely challenging trading conditions. Yellow Hare's effort to make the business as sustainable as possible was also highly commended.
Kate McLeod from Yellow Hare Café & Gift Shop said: “As a small team from a small island community, being recognised as the Microbusiness of the Year is a real honour. We’ve worked incredibly hard with the resources we have to diversify and keep going over the last few years, so it’s a real thrill to see those efforts rewarded.
“The FSB Celebrating Small Business Awards are widely recognised as a mark of quality so we’re thrilled to know that will help to attract new customers to our brilliant café.”
FSB’s West of Scotland Area Leader Wendy Hamilton said: “In a small island like Tiree, small businesses are the lifeblood of local communities. They play a vital role in the local economy, creating jobs, providing essential services and driving tourism. Yellow Hare demonstrated that small places like Tiree can produce UK’s top business and how amazing these local firms are. My big congratulations to Kate and the team at Yellow Hare.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
More than 3,000 small businesses from across the UK entered FSB’s Celebrating Small Business Awards 2023. The UK final was held in Birmingham on Thursday 18 May 2023. It followed area finals in each English region and devolved nation, with each area winner going through to the UK final.
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