Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jonathan Reynolds and David Burton-Sampson

Thursday 5th September 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Jonathan Reynolds)]

small businesses are the beating heart of our high streets and communities, and they are essential to economic success and our growth mission. We want growth in every part of the UK, and small businesses have an enormous role to play in that.

[David Burton-Sampson]

In Southend and Leigh, there are over 7,100 small and medium-sized enterprises, and in areas like Leigh Road, the Broadway and London Road, very few units are empty. Will my right hon. Friend meet me and representatives of the local business community to understand the challenges they face, and to discover some of the opportunities that businesses have taken to really capture the market?

[Jonathan Reynolds]

I welcome my hon. Friend to his place. I have always enjoyed my visits to his constituency, particularly enjoying an ice cream at Rossi’s ice cream parlour. Those visits had a serious purpose: they helped us to build our programme for small business, which recognises not only issues such as late payments, which this Department will deal with, but the need for the whole Government to tackle access to finance and retail crime—the things that make a difference. I will be delighted to make sure that my hon. Friend gets the meeting that he requests with my officials, so we can continue to do that important work.