Wed, 02/03/2022 - 13:49
Sarah Perkins Art and China Petals, two creative businesses based at Banks Mill Studios recently attended the annual ceremony for the Small Business Sunday Awards, and were presented with their certificate by founder Theo Paphitis.
The event was held on Friday, 25 Feb 2022 at The ICC in Birmingham and included a wealth of inspiring guest speakers including TV Dragon Touker Suleyman.
Small Business Sunday, shortened to the hashtag #SBS on Twitter, was created by Theo Paphitis in October 2010 and is one of the leading small business communities in the UK. Each week, Theo rewards six small businesses that tweet him @TheoPaphitis and describe their businesses in one tweet including the all-important hashtag #SBS.
Out of the thousands of entries submitted only 0.8% are chosen and since its launch 450,000 entries have been submitted and now the network supports 3,500 small businesses.
Sarah Perkins Art is a pet portrait and animal artist and her paintings are lively with layers of colour using acrylic paint on canvas. Sarah was selected as a #SBS winner on 21 March 2021 and has found the network invaluable.
Sarah comments about winning the award: “To have my small creative business acknowledged and awarded by Theo was such a pinnacle moment in my artistic journey. To finally meet him was a proper pinch myself moment. The certificate is already proudly displayed in my studio at Banks Mill.”
Diane Daley is a mosaic artist and runs China Petals. She creates bespoke commissions for people that include pieces for the garden and home using cut glass and fine bone china. Diane has also developed a series of make at home mosaic kits, born due to the pandemic when she was unable to run her workshops. Diane was one of six businesses selected on 17 October last year.
Diane says: "It's amazing to have been given this opportunity by Theo and his team to be part of the SBS (Small Business Sunday) family! It was a fabulous day with lots of great speakers including a 'Fireside chat' with Theo and fellow Dragon Touker Suleyman. Being in the company of so many small businesspeople was very inspiring and of course collecting my certificate from the man himself was just the cherry on the cake!"
Find out more about Sarah and Diane by visiting their websites www.sarahperkinsart.co.uk www.chinapetals.co.uk