A NEW business network has been launched in Wensleydale – with Rishi's support.
The Leyburn and Mid-Wensleydale Business Association has changed its name to the Lower Wensleydale Business Network and now includes the Bedale area.
The network was launched at Tennants’ new Auction Centre at Leyburn with Rishi as guest speaker.
He said he was delighted to play a role in the launch of an organisation which would have a positive impact on the area’s business prospects.
Speaking about the importance of growth, he said Tennants’ new development, which opened last year, was an inspiration to local businesses.
In a reference to Tennants’ beginnings in nearby Middleham, he said: “When most of us convert our garage we turn it into a spare room. In the case of Tennants they turned it into what it is today: the largest privately-owned auction house in the UK employing nearly 100 people.”
He added: “When I hear someone tell me that business is something that happens in cities, I feel like driving them up here to show them this building, to take them round our villages and towns and show them your rural companies that provide amazing food, hospitality and business services.”
In his own career to date helping businesses grow, he had witnessed the importance of a sound economy and a stable financial environment. For that reason he was proud of what the Coalition Government had achieved in halving the deficit, creating two million more jobs, a million more businesses and becoming the fastest-growing economy in the G7 – the leading group of nations.
He said progress had continued with the recent Budget announcements relating to corporation tax, National Insurance, capital investment and employment tribunals. Also, small business would get better opportunities to tender for government contracts.
But Mr Sunak said the real key to growth were the people attending the launch. “Small and medium-sized enterprises like yours are the backbone of our economy and drive our national prosperity,” he said.
It was the Government’s job to back these enterprises which accounted for 60 per cent of private sector employment, particularly in rural areas which did not have the benefit of large multi-national corporations.
In Wensleydale, it was vital to improve broadband. The current service where more than ten per cent of business premises did not have broadband was unacceptable, he said.
Other areas he promised to work on to improve were the currently unfair funding arrangements for rural schools, extending high quality apprenticeships and reducing red tape.
Mr Sunak was thanked by Richard Sanderson, chairman of Lower Wensleydale Business Network for attending the event and for the well-chosen words of support.
The network, a membership organisation, will offer a range of support services to promote and develop new enterprises and assist existing private concerns by promoting a business-friendly environment.
It can be contacted at info@lwbusinessnetwork.co.uk. Its website is lwbusinessnetwork.co.uk.