STROUD MP Neil Carmichael has helped promote Small Business Saturday by visiting local, independent retailers on the biggest day of the year for smaller companies.

Mr Carmichael, who helped found the In Our Towns project which similarly promotes high streets, visited businesses in Nailsworth, Stroud, Dursley and Berkeley on December 7 to mark the day.

Small Business Saturday came two days after Chancellor George Osborne announced business rates relief for small retailers.

Small business owners with premises worth up to £50,000 will receive a discount of up to £1,000 on their business rates for the next two years and rises in business rates will be capped at two per cent.

The Conservative backbencher said that with its broad range of independent retailers, the Stroud constituency will benefit from the rate cap.

Speaking during his visit to the Salutation Inn at Ham near Berkeley, he said: “Small Business Saturday is a great initiative to encourage people to support local independent shops and businesses, and to see the value they provide to the economy and community.

“The £1,000 discount for small businesses is a key part of the Government’s programme to boost the local economy, and it’s more great news for the constituency's small businesses.”