The UK’s funniest small business name has been revealed after a public vote crowned one small business with ‘Britain’s Best Small Business Name’. Perky Blenders, a London-based specialty coffee roasters, beat over 1,500 punny-named small businesses to be presented with the hotly contested accolade.
The husband and wife duo picked up 16% of the total votes (685 out of 4,402 votes) and will receive a £2,500 grant from Simply Business, aimed at supporting business growth. The competition by small business insurance provider Simply Business was launched to celebrate the wit, creativity, and humour of the nation’s small business owners.
It comes as a recent study of 2,000 consumers from Simply Business revealed how a witty or funny business name can play a huge part in helping small businesses succeed, with third (28%) of people stating they’d be more likely to shop at a small or local business with a funny or witty business name compared to those without. Two thirds (64%) of people would also be more likely to notice a small or local business with a funny or witty business name.
Perky Blenders was family-formed back in 2015 by husband and wife duo Adam and Victoria Cozens. Originally based in Waltham Forest, a few years on they now have three shops within the borough, and supply to over 60 stores – including Whole Foods, The Conran Shop, Anthropology, and the award-winning Eat17 Spar shops.
Simply Business meticulously considered those with the wittiest and most memorable business names from across the UK before agreeing the shortlist. It was then down to the British public to crown the winner of the competition.
Small businesses are vital to local communities and people are noticeably preferring to shop small rather than at larger chains. Given the choice, nearly nine in ten (88%) people prefer to shop at small, local, or independent businesses when compared to larger chains, or a mixture of small businesses together with larger chains.
Alan Thomas, UK CEO at Simply Business said: “We’re incredibly proud to provide tailored insurance to over 800,000 creative and diverse small businesses in the UK. But we see our role as more than an insurance provider – we’re champions for small businesses. It only feels right to celebrate the creativity and personality of some of the best business names in the UK, and Perky Blenders is a worthy winner of our inaugural ‘Best Small Business Name’ award.
“The impact a memorable business name can have on your business is incredible – our research suggests a third of customers are more likely to spend with businesses with witty names.
“With close to six million small businesses across the UK, acting as the lifeblood of our communities and collectively providing trillions of pounds to the UK economy, we’re delighted to have found Britain’s Best Small Business Name, and awarded them with a £2,500 grant to support their journey.”
Adam Cozens, MD + Co-founder of Perky Blenders: “We're over the moon to be crowned 'Britain's Best Small Business Name', and are always stoked when people get as much of a kick out of our name as we still do all these years later!
“I came up with the idea for the name as the founding team planned our premium offering at the kitchen table in 2015. The Perky Blenders name was born from a need to get noticed with relevance to what we do.
“The name Perky Blenders was clearly inspired by a popular TV show, however it has grown into so much more. As a well-known ‘coffee by post’ specialty coffee roaster, the name, and the company as a whole, now means much more to our Perky Family. Our roasting team is a talented mob, and our coffee is carefully sourced for quality and with good practice always at the front of mind.
“Perky Blenders, unsurprisingly, blend most of our coffees for variety and flavour as well as consistency in a busy coffee world where only the best will do. We have franchised the brand with 8 stores currently in the UK, where you can Perk yourself with inspired Blends that contain nothing but 100% specialty grade coffee beans. We roast and post throughout the UK... all done by the gang at Perky Blenders HQ.”
