Fast food vendor in Milton Keynes features in national advertising campaign for UEFA Women’s EURO 2022

Small businesses like Harp’s and professional footballers are being spotlighted in out-of-home locations in host cities, including Milton Keynes, to highlight the campaign message ‘When more of us play, all of us win’.

Stadium MK has already hosted three Group B stage matches featuring Denmark, Finland, Spain and Germany with a semi-final to be played next Wednesday, four days ahead of the Wembley final.

Harp, who is closely following England’s progress through the tournament runs The Rub, a wood-smoked barbecue street food and private catering business, established in April 2017.

He says the last couple of years have been tough since the pandemic hit. The business had to reschedule events and in some cases refund deposits. However The Rub adapted by offering barbecue packs and takeaways from home, progressing to small scale pop ups and drive-thru events as well as giving back to the local community by cooking meals for the NHS.

The pandemic also gave Harp an opportunity to reflect and enter 2022 with a clearer perspective and business vision.

He said: “The local community is extremely important and we’ll always support a local event over going further afield with multiple monthly pop ups, local corporates, local weddings.

“And when it comes to women in sport I believe we should all be continuing to drive the conversation around the gender pay gap etc in sport, carving the path for the modern generation."

Looking forward, Harp is keen to secure a new premise as a permanent hub and prep centre to take the business to the next level.

> Visa launched its national advertising campaign to champion women footballers and small businesses using synergies between sport and business to showcase how it’s enabling access and participation, both in football and in the digital economy.

The ‘When more of us play, all of us win’ campaign is underpinned by new research revealing the positive impact team sports can have on women entrepreneurs, and how women are helping to power communities and economies.

The adverts featuring Harp can be viewed here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Dh3zw8Tmb0