LAST YEAR, The Voice took the bold step to publish a Black Business Guide to highlight the advances that were being made by self-sustained small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) in our community, which are contributing greatly to the UK economy.

We highlighted the valuable contribution these businesses were making, not only creating wealth for these innovative entrepreneurs, but employment as well.

According to figures released last year more than 55,000 businesses have been launched with the help of government start-up loans since 2012, creating more than 66,000 jobs.

An impressive 1 in 5 of these enterprises are black owned. Sadly many in our community don’t know about the valuable contribution they are increasingly making to the UK economy.

That is why The Black Business Guide is so important – it gives these businesses a platform to showcase their many products and services to a wider audience and enables people to find them.

Potential customers in London can now tap into a black business establishment in Huddersfield.

Likewise someone in the Midlands can buy from a supplier in Bristol or another part of the country.

This second edition covers businesses in a wider range of sectors – from the hair and beauty industry to health and wellness, to name a couple.

When the guide was first published last November, it was followed by the first Voice Black Business Fair at Lambeth Town Hall in Brixton, south London.

The event attracted over 2,000 visitors who were eager to support black businesses in time for Christmas.

We are pleased to announce that the second staging of the Fair will be in December and many of the businesses featured in the guide will also be on show.

It’s estimated that the spending power of UK black consumers is worth £300 billion.

If we can spend that amount generally, why not spend it within our community and help create prosperity for all? The appetite for this is growing.

Both the Guide and Fair attracted much positive feedback and a desire to see them continue.

We want to continue to improve them and reach as many entrepreneurs as we can.

We can never solve our economic problems or create a future for our young people while sending all of our money out of the community as fast as we earn it.

Our future prosperity won’t be built on what we do for others but on what we do for ourselves.

Black businesses are a crucial part of this process.

That is why we continue to support them and we hope that you, our readers, will do so too.

If you are interested in a stall at The Voice Black Business Fair, email us at [email protected]