POLITICS INSIDE WESTMINSTER
Erewash MP MAGGIE THROUP applauds the contribution local SMEs make to the UK economy
TOP TO BOTTOM: Simon Gray, Chief Executive of Nottingham Means Business.
Ian Curryer, Nottingham City Council Chief Executive.
Nick Pulley, Chairman of the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership.
Sir John Peace, founder of CCN,
Sir Peter Soulsby, Leicester City Mayor
more than 600,000 across the county. A single strategic commissioning body would
be created to drive and deliver skills and training, to give local people the chance to get better qualifications and employment. And devolved powers over funding and finance would enable local councils to create more enterprise zones, such as Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park, the East Midlands Enterprise Gateway in North West Leicestershire, and the Waterside developments in Leicester, in turn enabling local councils to retain more of the money they get from business rates in order to reinvest it in other key business developments vital to create economic growth. Nick Pulley, Chairman of the Leicester and
Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership, said: “We are seeing business growth and new jobs being created across Leicestershire and we need to make sure that we have the right tools locally to support these businesses and ensure that we remain competitive. “The LLEP fully supports this move for
devolved powers around skills, business rates and business support funding. We also see the better coordination of local transport and housing strategies as an essential way to make sure that this great county is ready for the economic growth that we are all working towards.” In spite of this progress, there is still an
elephant in the room… It remains unclear whether or not there would
be any potential – or appetite – for Leicester and Leicestershire to become part of the North Midlands deal, effectively widening it out to cover a significant part of the East Midlands region, something which Simon Gray, Chief Executive of Nottingham Means Business, would like to see happen. He said: “When you think of the East Midlands, you think of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire… at least I do. It would make sense for Leicestershire to be involved and I think it's a shame they are not.”
Small businesses still play a big role
My constituency of Erewash, like the other East Midlands constituencies, thrives on the many small and medium-sized businesses that collectively employ many thousands of people and contribute so much to our local, regional, national and indeed the international economy. Each week I aim to visit at least one
business in my constituency, and the vast array of products and services found in Erewash never fails to amaze me. This week (early January) I have been talking to a precision laser engineering firm, a furniture upholsterer and an analytical solutions business. They all had their success stories and also their nightmare stories too. My local businesses play an important role in national infrastructure projects. Recently I
was informed that local companies had supplied products worth over £1.4m to Transport for London just last year. This is great news for our local economy and also a recognition of the quality and range of transport-related products manufactured in Erewash. This amount of business has, without doubt, also created jobs and apprenticeships locally. I am determined to shout loudly about all the good news in our area, as far too often
we hear only the bad things that are happening. It also puts local suppliers in a very good position when the procurement for HS2 begins. Big infrastructure decisions, wherever they are made, can benefit every part of the country with jobs and manufacturing. But we cannot have infrastructure investment without a secure and strong economy,
and that is what this Government is delivering. New small businesses, and start-ups which scale up, are at the heart of the
Government’s agenda. There is a wide range of measures in place to assist those who take the brave step of ‘going it alone’ initiative – there are start-up loans, mentoring through local enterprise partnerships, business growth hubs and the ongoing reduction in the burden of red tape. I know from personal experience that it is not easy running a business – everyone else
gets paid before you pay yourself, to state just one of the many issues. Over the past few weeks I have been very proud of local businesses, seeing how they
rallied together when Leaderflush Shapland went into administration. Many have gone out of their way to offer jobs to those made redundant at such short notice and have played their part in supporting our local community. We know that to lock in our future economic security and prosperity, we need our
businesses to increase their exports, boost productivity and continue to innovate to stay ahead. Quite a significant proportion of the vast array of products manufactured in Erewash are exported to all corners of the world – Dubai, China, USA to name just three. We can quite rightly be proud of businesses and their productivity and ingenuity not just in Erewash, but across the whole of the East Midlands.
ABOUT MAGGIE THROUP Maggie Throup is a scientist turned businesswoman, who is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Erewash, Derbyshire. After obtaining an Honours degree in Biology from the University of Manchester, she began her career in the NHS as a biomedical scientist, spending seven years in the role and gaining professional qualifications in Haematology. She moved into medical diagnostics sales and marketing with a pharmaceutical company, before establishing her own marketing company in 1996. In addition to speaking up for business in Parliament, Maggie was elected to the Health Select Committee in June 2015.
business network February 2016 21
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