Small Business Saturday

Debate between Andrew Bingham and Maria Miller

Thursday 4th December 2014 Westminster Hall

[Maria Miller (Basingstoke) (Con)]

It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, I think for the first time, Mr Hollobone, in this important debate. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for City of Chester (Stephen Mosley) on securing the debate. I had the great pleasure of visiting Chester with him recently, so I know how wonderful that city is and about the important investment that is going into the city centre.

I pay tribute to my local branch of the Federation of Small Businesses, in particular Tim Colman, the regional vice-chairman, who does an extraordinary amount to support local businesses in my area. In the work that he does, he goes above and beyond the call of duty.

My hon. Friend the Member for High Peak (Andrew Bingham) spoke about his experience as a small business man. His comments resonated with me because my father was a small business man, so I recognise exactly the challenges he described. Running a small business is a tough job, especially for those with families. We should all pay tribute to the people who take that risk—who put themselves out there and run businesses to generate income not only for their own family, but for other people as well.

[Andrew Bingham]

Like my right hon. Friend’s father, my late father set up his business at the age of 27. The whole family were part of that business, because dad set it up and we lived and fell by his efforts. We were born into that as we came through as the next generation.

[Maria Miller]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that it is in the blood, and we can see that in him.

Small business Saturday gives us all an opportunity to think about and celebrate small businesses not only nationally, but in our own communities. It is important that people shop locally. Residents of Basingstoke can do that every day of the week, but they have an extra opportunity to do so next week, because on Friday the Hampshire farmers market, one of the largest in the country, will be in Basingstoke, showing that the ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit is very much alive and kicking in my part of the world. I encourage everyone to go along and see the entrepreneurial spirit of Hampshire showcased there.

As I said, people in Basingstoke can shop locally every day of the week and our local council has played a great role in that achievement. The Viables Craft Centre on Harrow way is home to a number of small, local businesses, which have had the opportunity to come together to create the right environment for their products. They include the Butterfly Tree florists and Les Jolies Choses, which was set up by Lisa Wyatt—I know her well—who, starting from just an idea, set up a business that is now thriving. That is the epitome of what one thinks about when one celebrates small businesses.

Of course in Basingstoke we also have the top of town shopping area, our historic area, which many overlook. It is the site of our 900-year-old market and the Basingstoke assembly rooms, made famous by Jane Austen because they provided much of the material she used in books such as “Mansfield Park.” Whenever hon. Members think about shopping in Basingstoke, I urge them to think about its history as well as its modernity.

I mentioned the importance of local authorities in building small businesses and nowhere can that be more true than in Basingstoke. In the past year, we have seen more than 1,000 new businesses formed in Basingstoke—indeed, we have more than 6,800 small businesses, which account for 98% of the businesses in the borough. They grew by 6% in the past year and they are forecast to grow by a similar amount in the next 12 months.

Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy and they have been nurtured by our local authority through a variety of measures. Our local council has a procurement strategy that helps to support local small businesses, so that they can tender more effectively for contracts—a really positive action that can make an enormous difference—and we have a small business concordat, which helps that come into play. The local council has also invested in small businesses. In particular, it has ensured that our top of town is small business-friendly. We have a shop-front grant scheme to help improve the appearance of the shops in the top of town, with up to £5,000 made available through the council, and we are continuing to develop that area as a centre of retail activity in the town. In particular, I thank Councillor Terri Reid, who spearheaded that initiative. I know that local retailers are also grateful. I think it is the teamwork and partnership between our local small businesses, the local council and parliamentarians that makes that work as well as it can.

We like to celebrate small business success in Basingstoke. We have the Inspire business awards, now the largest business awards in Hampshire. This year we celebrated small business of the year winner the Basingstoke Energy Services Co-operative, a fantastic organisation that I know well. An outstanding example of a co-operative run on sustainable values, it is a deserving winner of the Inspire award. This Saturday, I, like many other right hon. and hon. Members, will be going along to join small businesses in our market square to celebrate small business Saturday.

I would like to take a couple of minutes to comment on some of the announcements made by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor yesterday that will be of particular benefit to businesses in my constituency and indeed every constituency, such as the fuel duty freeze and the structural review of business rates, as well as the road improvements announced earlier this year. In my constituency, the improvements to the M3 in the Winchester and Fleet areas as well as the Black Dam roundabout improvements funded by the Government will make a huge difference to local businesses’ ability to get in and out of the town, improving their ability to trade effectively.

The abolition of employers’ national insurance contributions for those taking on apprentices is also a positive measure for small businesses, which are taking a real risk when they take on extra staff. The more the Government can do to mitigate that risk, the more likely small businesses are to take on extra staff, so I particularly wanted to put on record my thanks to the Chancellor for that measure.

There are a number of other measures that I could talk about, but it is important that the House notes the positive way in which the Chancellor’s autumn statement was received by businesses in Hampshire. The Hampshire chamber of commerce said that the Chancellor’s statement will help to create jobs and stimulate economic activity. The Federation of Small Businesses in Hampshire has specifically welcomed the extension to the funding for lending scheme, which will help to provide cash for small businesses. Access to finance can be the difference between a business succeeding and it not succeeding, so it is that sort of insightful announcement that has done so much to generate such a positive reception from businesses in Basingstoke and throughout Hampshire.

If we are to make sure that our economy is the success that we need it be, we must look to the future. I have three questions for the Minister about how we ensure the health of businesses, and small businesses in particular, in the future. In Basingstoke, we are incredibly fortunate to have been nominated by Surrey university to be a hub for the development of 5G technologies, translating 5G research and development into businesses of the future. We will be working with Surrey university’s innovation centre and a consortium of Huawei, Samsung, Fujitsu and many others to ensure that that incredible research is grown into British businesses. That is an exciting opportunity for my community and something that we are well placed to do, because of the incredible skills that we have in our local work force.

My question for the Minister is: is he satisfied by the progress being made in connectivity for small businesses? If we are to exploit not only 4G but 5G technologies to their utmost, we need to make sure that small businesses have the sort of connectivity that enables them to do that. In bygone years, connectivity was all about transport—trains, roads and aeroplanes. Those remain important, but into the millennium and the next century we will need to ensure that broadband connectivity is at the heart of that as well.

My second question for the Minister is about the role of small business in getting more people into work. I am particularly interested in the fact that under this Government we now have record numbers of women in employment, which should be applauded. There has been a global rise in the number of female entrepreneurs, and the gap between the number of women and of men entrepreneurs is closing. Interestingly, the Harvard Business Review recently produced a report stating that 37% of enterprises globally are run by women; 126 million women are running businesses around the world. Dow Jones research has shown that venture-backed companies found to be successful had twice the number of women involved in forming them. Women have a critical role to play in successful businesses. The Government have already done a huge amount to support women into employment, but what else is the Minister planning to make sure that women play a full role in the economic success of this country?

On the back of that, for me, social enterprises are a hugely important part of the ability of this country to form new and small businesses. I pay tribute to Sue Dovey, the chief executive of Action Hampshire, who runs the School for Social Entrepreneurs in Hampshire. We have numerous success stories coming through that organisation of women setting up businesses and social enterprises that are hugely successful and beneficial to our community. In particular, I pay tribute to the work of Catherine Waters-Clark, who set up Inspero, a social enterprise giving young people the opportunity to grow vegetables and their own food and then to learn how to cook it. What a wonderful example of how social enterprise can start up a small business that is incredibly important and useful to our local community. My question to the Minister is, what more will he do to support social enterprises, which are a fantastic opportunity for women and men to get into employment or set up their own businesses?

Last but by no means least, there is the important role of enterprise in the lives of young people in this country. In Hampshire, we have an active Young Enterprise organisation. Young Enterprise is the largest business and education charity in the UK, supporting 250,000 young people to learn about business, and it is active in my constituency. One of the most important things that we can do during a child’s education is to teach them about enterprise and the opportunities of entrepreneurship. I will be interested in the Minister’s comments.

Small business is the foundation of British business. The Government’s long-term economic plan provides the right conditions for small businesses. What we have to do is unlock the entrepreneur in all of us, so that we can see our economy thrive and do as well as we need it to in the future. I look forward to the Minister’s responses to my questions.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Bingham and Maria Miller

Thursday 30th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Bingham (High Peak) (Con)]

5. What funding her Department is making available to ensure the final 10% of premises get access to superfast broadband.

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Maria Miller)]

The Government have committed a further £250 million to extend superfast broadband to 95% of UK premises by 2017. In addition, we are investing £10 million to find ways to provide superfast broadband to the hardest-to-reach and remotest premises.

[Maria Miller]

I know that my hon. Friend takes a great interest in this. I think she will be pleased that the existing £132 million Superfast Cornwall project is already delivering superfast broadband to 82% of homes in her area, and there will be further opportunities to extend coverage with the additional £250 million that we have announced. Projects in her area will clearly be eligible to bid for such funding.

[Andrew Bingham]

I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer and for those assurances. In my constituency of High Peak, which is very rural, many farms and businesses are in the last 10%. They have many other below-spec utilities, such as poor electricity supplies, and it is crucial they get good quality, fast broadband. It is as important for the last 10% as it is for the first 10%.

[Maria Miller]

As I am sure my hon. Friend knows, the Government are already investing more than £7 million in superfast broadband in Derbyshire, and the additional money that we have pledged—£250 million—will give further coverage in his area, but it will be up to the local authority to ensure that it is targeted in the right way. I am sure he will work with the local authority to ensure that that is done well.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Bingham and Maria Miller

Thursday 20th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Bingham]

May I stress how vital faster broadband is for the vitality and viability of the rural economy? I often refer to it as the fourth utility. Faster internet access will be crucial to rural areas if we are to not only retain our businesses, but attract new ones. Will the Secretary of State reassure my local businesses that the Government remain committed to faster broadband rolled out to rural areas such as the High Peak?

[Maria Miller]

I can say absolutely yes, which is why we have got a £1.2 billion infrastructure programme already under way, meaning that more than 10 million more homes and businesses will get access to superfast broadband by the end of the Parliament. Furthermore, the rural community broadband fund is already further supporting rural communities, having made its first award to Rothbury in Northumberland. My hon. Friend will be aware that many local authorities with large rural communities in areas such as Lancashire, Cheshire and Cambridgeshire are going further with investment. I know that he will be doing all he can to encourage his local authority to do likewise.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Bingham and Maria Miller

Thursday 22nd November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Bingham (High Peak) (Con)]

12. What steps she is taking to increase the effects of tourism on the economy.

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Maria Miller)]

Tourism is a key priority for the Government. That is why we are funding VisitBritain’s biggest ever global tourism initiative, the GREAT campaign, which is expected to create 4.6 million extra visitors, £2.3 billion additional spend and nearly 60,000 jobs over the next four years. In addition, a major domestic campaign by VisitEngland is expected to create 12,000 jobs over three years, with £500 million extra spent by tourists.

[Andrew Bingham]

Recent research has shown that tourism in Buxton in my constituency of High Peak generated a massive £72 million for the local economy. Does my right hon. Friend agree that this demonstrates not only the huge financial and employment benefits of an effective tourism industry, but the fact that these benefits spread out to surrounding areas and all parts of the local economy, even those that would not necessarily be associated with tourism?

[Maria Miller]

My hon. Friend should not be surprised at that level of tourism in his area, given the fantastic international festivals, the wonderful Georgian architecture of Buxton and the way that it has inspired so much creativity over the generations. All Members of the House should be looking at the way that tourism can help to support their own local economies because it has such potential for growth.