A meeting between members of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) in who live in or run their businesses in Hitchin and Harpenden and the new MP Bim Afolami was held at the Victoria Public House in Hitchin last week (29 September) to discuss issues affecting small businesses.
The meeting was chaired by Dean Russell, a Harpenden businessman who is vice chairman of the Hertfordshire branch of FSB. It was also attended by eight other local small businesses from the constituency.
The meeting was held to discuss issues that are important to members the including finding the right staff in Hitchin and Harpenden, shortages of decent business premises, business rates and access to high speed broadband.
Dean Russell said: “We had very useful discussion with Mr Afolami he is clearly very supportive of the small business community in his constituency and he listened very carefully to our demands and was happy to help with getting them raised in parliament.
Bim Afolami said: ” I was very pleased to meet FSB members who came to see me. Small businesses are the life blood of the area contributing to more than half of all employment and they are fully immersed in our local communities. We had a great discussion in which they outlined issues that get in the way of small business growth including skills shortages and business rates, I gave them my commitment to help address these issues.
