DISTRICT councillor Ken Moon and East Hampshire MP Damian Hinds visited a selection of East Hampshire firms to celebrate Small Business Saturday.

Small Business Saturday is an annual event organised to celebrate the importance of small businesses across the nation, and to encourage residents up and down the country to support local retailers, venues and organisations.

The day started in Alton’s Market Square with a visit to The Wheatsheaf pub.

Michele Murton and Colin Berry explained how difficult the lockdowns had been for the hospitality sector, and the events they had organised to encourage residents to enjoy themselves when the rules had relaxed.

The theme of hospitality continued with a visit to the Nosh Cafe in Medstead, where Jude Ower talked about the changes the cafe had made to encourage custom through the pandemic - installing a pizza oven to allow for takeaways during the evenings and extending the seating area to support social distancing.

Sports clubs were also hit hard by the pandemic and had to adjust their ways of supporting the community.

One such club is Four Marks Martial Arts Academy, which Cllr Moon and Mr Hinds visited at Four Marks Primary School.

They moved their teaching to Zoom but had to give up their premises because of the ongoing costs and reduced income.

They have now bought a van to transport all their equipment to the community venues they train from.