COMPANIES in Rugby have been urged by their MP to tell him what isn’t working for businesses in the region.
Mark Pawsey met the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce’s Rugby Branch at the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance HQ at Butler’s Leap.
He heard about a range of issues – from mobile ‘not-spots’ through to public sector procurement – and said he wanted to get as much feedback as possible from companies across the borough.
Mr Pawsey sits on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Select Committee and told the meeting that it had launched an enquiry into small businesses and the obstacles that stand between them and strong growth.
He said: “The first evidence will be heard by the committee in the next couple of weeks and I am very keen to hear from businesses across this area on an ongoing basis on what might be holding them back and how we can take a pro-active approach to help them grow.
“One area we are looking at is what is preventing company owners from moving their business on to employing staff and growing, because everyone will see the benefit of stronger business growth.
“We see a lot of companies that start up where the owners are very happy with the lifestyle that it brings so don’t necessarily want to take on any further risk. However, if they could see the benefits of taking on additional staff and growing, it would be great news not only for them, but the wider economy too.
“There was some good feedback in the Chamber meeting on that topic and I am certainly keen to hear from other companies and business owners on how Government can make it as easy as possible for firms to grow.”
Anne Rogers, vice chair of the Chamber’s Rugby branch, said companies in the area could feedback any issues affecting their business to the Chamber and also gain support for their growth.
She said: “We represent thousands of businesses across the area. That means we hear a whole host of issues from a very broad range of businesses and we can make sure that they are heard by politicians at a local, regional and national level.
“Companies can feedback directly to Mark, but if they also send any information they have to the Chamber, we can collate all of that and use it when we are speaking to the broad cross-section of decision-makers in the region.
“Further to that, if companies do want to grow they can speak to the Chamber about the support available to them.”
Email [email protected] with examples of obstacles to businesses growth.
