Billie Piper Gets PIPING for Small Business Saturday

     (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/613251/Billie_Piper_Icing_Cake.jpg )
     (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/613252/Billie_Piper_Icing_Cakes.jpg )
     (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/613253/Billie_Piper_Mixing_Icing.jpg )

     (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/613254/Billie_Piper_Serving_Cakes.jpg )
     (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/613255/Billie_Piper_With_Cakes.jpg )

To celebrate, Billie Piper, a passionate supporter of small businesses, decided to step off the London stage and don an apron to help out in her favourite local shop in North London - The Cake House.

While at The Cake House, Piper alongside the café owner, Lorenzo, helped out, baking and icing cakes to encourage everyone to get out there and support Small Business Saturday. Lorenzo has owned the café for over 15 years making it an integral part of the community in which Piper and many others live.

"I've been coming to The Cake House - daily! - since I moved to the area. I live locally and absolutely love the relationships with people in what feels like a village. I want my kids to know people in the community and be able to come into The Cake House and ask for their ridiculous desert requests! I come to The Cake House all the time and Lorenzo has managed to get my daily coffee order down from three shots to two which, in fairness, took quite some doing." - Billie Piper

Small Business Saturday sees thousands of small businesses all over the country take part every year since its inception. According to research undertaken by American Express, founder and principal supporter of Small Business Saturday, last year a total of over £717 million pounds was spent by shoppers on this particular day.^[1]

Piper partnered with American Express to celebrate the United Kingdom's thriving small independent businesses, such as The Cake House, to encourage shoppers to go out and 'shop small' this weekend.

"I was delighted when Amex asked me to help support this year's Small Business Saturday. They actually read about me talking about local businesses that I'm passionate about in my local press and decided to contact me to get involved. Independent retailers across the UK offer so much more to a community than just a shop - and that is something I really care about." - Billie Piper

1. 3,610 UK adults were polled by Toluna between 8pm on Saturday 3rd December 2016 and 8am on Monday 5th December 2016.  

About Small Business Saturday 

Small Business Saturday is a grassroots initiative encouraging people to show their support for small businesses by shopping small.

First conceived by American Express in the U.S. in 2010, where it has become a key date in the shopping calendar, it has received widespread backing from numerous organisations and personalities.

Now in its fifth year in the UK, Small Business Saturday UK 2017 (2nd December) aims to build on the success of previous years.

As founder of Small Business Saturday in the U.S., American Express is principal supporter of the campaign in the UK, encouraging people to make the most of their small, local, independent shops and businesses.

For a detailed Q&A in which Billie Piper discusses her favourite independent retailers, her Christmas traditions, and the importance of shopping small, please download here https://we.tl/KRlYCTyZeq

About Billie Piper 

Actress Billie Piper recently won six Best Actress Awards, including the highly prestigious Olivier Award for her phenomenally reviewed starring performance in the title role of Simon Stone's sold out adaptation of Yerma at The Young Vic. She is going with the production to The Armory in New York in Spring 2018.

She is much beloved from our television screens with highly celebrated performances in Showtime's Penny Dreadful, Dr Who for the BBC, the Philip Pullman series of The Shadow of the North and The Ruby in the Smoke for the BBC.

For further information and assets on Billie Piper and her involvement with Small Business Saturday please contact james@kendalandpartners.com or molly@kendalandpartners.com

For further information on the Shop Small initiative and Small Business Saturday go to http://www.amexshopsmall.co.uk