Mansfield-based film production company A-Star Media has been selected as one of 100 small businesses from across the country to celebrate Small Business Saturday 2014.

One Of only four businesses chosen across Nottinghamshire, and the only outside of Nottingham City, Business Director Katrina Atherton said she was ‘thrilled and excited’ to be selected.

Small Business Saturday is a grass-roots, non-political, non-commercial campaign that supports, inspires and promotes small business and encourages people to support small businesses in their communities, both on the Saturday itself and beyond.

Katrina said: “As an ambassador for Ashfield and Mansfield, and always keen to get exposure on a wider scale, I applied for A-Star to become one of the Small Business Saturday 100, and when I found out we had been chosen I was completely speechless. It’s a fantastic opportunity for us to promote ourselves, the local business community and Mansfield as a great place to do business.”

A-Star Media has been involved with a number of local initiatives to support local business and employability, including being part of the award-winning Career Champions programme with the Mansfield Learning Partnership, and assisting in the creation of Mansfield’s first small business showcase ‘Be, See and Do Business in Mansfield’, in partnership with the Mansfield BID, Mansfield 2020 and Mansfield District Council.

Katrina said: “We’re passionate about how much small businesses can really achieve, and we’re looking forward to Small Business Saturday itself, working with local agencies to put Mansfield on the map!”

Small Business Saturday is a time to focus on our nation’s small businesses, which provide almost two thirds of private sector employment and almost half of private sector turnover. This year Small Business Saturday will take place on the 6th December, one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

More information on Small Business Saturday can be found on the Small Business Saturday Facebook page (www.facebook.com/smallbusinesssaturdayuk) Twitter page (@SmallBizSatUk) and website (www.smallbusinesssaturdayuk.com).