Salamandra.uk Celebrates Success in Small Biz 100

Not only have Salamandra.uk been nominated for numerous awards this year (such as Cardiff Animation Festival, Orlando Film Festival, Latitude Film Festival, SME News: Business Elite Awards, The Lift-Off Sessions and the PM Digital Awards) but CEO Christine MacKay has been awarded a place on f:Entrepreneur top 100 and most recently won a spot in this year's Small Biz 100. Small Business Saturday is, for the 8th year, highlighting 100 small businesses, one a day for 100 days leading up to Small Business Saturday 2020!

For the last seven years, the 100 have not only received exposure on Small Business Saturday's social media channels and in the local and national press, but also joined the Small Business Saturday team in London at receptions in Downing Street, House of Lords and the Treasury Drum with the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Michelle Ovens (MBE) is the director of Small Business Saturday, a campaign to support, inspire and promote small businesses, on the day of the event and beyond. She is responsible for delivering and growing the campaign across the UK and has been since its launch in 2013. With all of the restrictions surrounding Covid-19, causing many businesses to close up shop, support from campaigns such as Small Business Saturday provides a well-needed air of positivity and support which salamandra.uk is overjoyed to be part of and its company ethos sings a perfect harmony to the Small Biz community song. Being wonderfully passionate about the versatility of animation and its value particularly for Business as well as for Entertainment, CEO Christine revels in being able to share her infatuation with others and would like to introduce SMEs to this medium to illustrate how they can convey their complex messages quickly and succinctly. 

“Small businesses up and down the country are the backbone of the economy and are the hardest hit in these times. Anything to promote or support these businesses now is extremely welcome and we are immensely proud to have been chosen as one of the companies in Small Biz 100. SMEs are the single largest employers and contributors to the economy; they drive growth, provide employment opportunities, open new markets and have contributed 51% of all turnover generated by the private sector in 2018 and contributed to 60% of all jobs in the UK in 2019. That is no ‘small’ feat and one that needs to be celebrated - and we can’t wait to be part of that celebration!” - Christine MacKay on Small Biz 100.

Having offices in both Eton and Dundee, salamandra.uk grabs every opportunity to be part of the conversation in both areas, being members of institutions including London Scotland House and Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce where they take part in virtual networking and have recently been discussing what businesses are doing during Covid-19 to support each other and the community. Most recently, Salmandra.uk has been continuing its work with homeless charities and has raised almost £600 with the team walking a collective 180km in July.

“One of the few silver linings to Covid has been how homeless people were taken off the streets and placed in temporary shelters. As participants in the race to end homelessness, we firmly believe there should be a long-term plan in place to make this an ongoing reality.” - Christine MacKay on the Crisis fundraiser.

Christine hightailing it for Crisis fundraiser

Salamandra.uk is also a big supporter of shop local and has completed award-winning pro-bono work, co-marketing with other local businesses and connecting them with business opportunities because the team “loves cross-pollinating their growing list of contacts”. Every year salamandra.uk hosts and supports local students from all walks of life and physical abilities (from schools and tertiary institutions) by offering them studio visits or work experience and ensuring they have a project to complete. The company has also supported apprentices and interns to offer young people a foothold into the industry. One young man attributed his stay with us with getting his dream job at Disney!! Taking pride in and supporting its local areas, the company hopes to be part of the reason why it thrives.