The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt. Hon. George Osborne MP, invited me to a Reception at No11 Downing Street in the last couple of weeks, and so I asked representatives of the Northampton business community to accompany me so that I could introduce them to George Osborne and thank them for the hard work they do running businesses of all sizes in Northampton North.
This was also an opportunity for Northampton businesses to hear about the Chancellor’s plans for the economy. Just as importantly, it gave Northampton businesses the chance to put their experiences, ideas and questions to the Chancellor. Events like this are really helpful for local businesses: co-operation and understanding between businesses and politicians is essential to the health of the wider economy, and helps to create jobs and prosperity.
Amongst others, I invited the owner of a small popular local business with one employee in Northampton The Italian Shop in Abington, a medium sized local enterprise, and the Chief Executive of a very large business with over 600 employees- Opus Energy. This ensured the widest variety of representation possible, and reflects the importance of businesses of all sizes to economic growth and employment in our town.
With so many innovative businesses in Northampton, including many new enterprises emerging in the economic recovery, the hardest part was trying to choose which ones to invite!