Oral Answers to Questions

Jade Botterill Excerpts

Thursday 1st May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Kirsteen Sullivan (Bathgate and Linlithgow) (Lab/Co-op)]

1. What recent steps his Department has taken to encourage small businesses to export.

[Jade Botterill (Ossett and Denby Dale) (Lab)]

10. What recent steps his Department has taken to encourage small businesses to export.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Gareth Thomas)]

We have begun a series of roadshows, which bring overseas buyers to the UK to meet small businesses here in, for example, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, technology, and digital, creative, financial and professional services. In addition, we are offering new online support to help small and medium-sized enterprises win new export orders to EU markets.

[Gareth Thomas]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question, and I commend her for the business roundtable that she hosted. She is absolutely right, and we recognise that supply chain instability is a critical issue for businesses. We are therefore working hard to minimise the uncertainty that businesses face, both in exporting and in purchasing from key markets. Whether through the economic deal with the US that we are seeking to negotiate, the reset of our relationship with the EU, or new opportunities with India and the Indo-Pacific, we are keen to take down barriers to business. I have to say that the evidence continues to demonstrate that free and fair trade drives down prices, offers better choices for consumers and, crucially, leads to more stable supply chains.

[Jade Botterill]

I recently visited Phoenox Textiles in Denby Dale, a family-run business that proudly continues our community’s heritage in the sector. It raised the concern that, while it operates a “zero to landfill” operation, low-quality, unsustainable imports from Chinese sellers such as Temu undercut its business and the local growth that it sustains. How are the Government addressing this concern, and what are they doing to support British businesses?

[Gareth Thomas]

First, I commend the work of Phoenox Textiles and my hon. Friend for championing its concerns. Because of the concern she has articulated, which we have heard from across the retail sector—I have certainly heard it from members of the Retail Sector Council—my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State recently met the Trade Remedies Authority to agree urgent steps to prevent the dumping of cheap goods in the UK. There will be increased support for businesses to report unfair practices, and my right hon. Friend the Chancellor is also reviewing the customs treatment of low-value imports.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jade Botterill Excerpts

Thursday 30th January 2025 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Jade Botterill (Ossett and Denby Dale) (Lab)]

1. What progress his Department has made on establishing the business growth service.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Gareth Thomas)]

Small businesses are critical to our economy and to the future of all our communities. We will bring forward our small business strategy later this year to improve the environment for small businesses to grow. As part of that work, we are consulting widely with small businesses and other stakeholders on the design of the business growth service, which we will launch later this year.

[Jade Botterill]

Before Christmas, I was pleased to meet some of the many microbusinesses operating in Osset and Denby Dale. They told me that they previously felt that they had fallen through the cracks of Government policy and economic ambition. How will the Minister’s business growth service assist those microbusinesses, as well as broader measures that the Government are taking to help smaller organisations to grow?

[Gareth Thomas]

I commend my hon. Friend on her support for the microbusinesses in her constituency. We want to get behind all those who are willing to take the risk to set up their own business. They help to make our communities more vibrant, they create jobs, and they generate the tax revenues that make our country stronger. The business growth service will be designed to get businesses quicker access to the support they need from the Government, such as applying for a start-up loan, access to training and management support and help with exports.