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Certainty and stability: what businesses need

Posted by Kate Green, MP for Stretford and Urmston, at 12:17, Fri 31 May 2013:

Good afternoon,

It has been a real privilege this week to spend some time visiting some great Trafford businesses.

I was delighted to visit Tenmat Ltd on Trafford Park - my second visit to the company in a year.

Tenmat manufactures heat-resistant products, which are installed to prevent fires in public buildings like hospitals. The business is growing, and I am particularly delighted that it’s achieving a big increase in exports.

I had been invited to attend the award ceremony for the company to receive the Queen’s award for enterprise from the Duke of Kent. The is the second year running it has won this prestigious award.

Last year, it won the award for innovation. This year’s award was for international trade.

It was great to meet the employees, and to celebrate this tremendous achievement with them.

I’m not surprised Tenmat is performing well. It invests in training and development, employing highly qualified scientists and engineers, some straight from university.

And it’s led by a dynamic management team who are totally committed to their business.

Later the same day, I joined staff at Kellogg’s to mark the 75th anniversary of the company’s operations in Trafford Park.

The celebrations have been going on for days.

Kellogg’s is a major employer in the area. It too is very committed to training and skills, running an excellent apprenticeship scheme, and looking to forge closer links with schools and colleges.

I’m proud that Trafford Park , the oldest – and still the largest – industrial park in Europe is located in my constituency. I’m proud of the great businesses that are based there, and elsewhere in Stretford and Urmston. I’m excited at the plans for the redevelopment of the site of the former Shell works in Carrington. This will be a longterm project, but it offers the potential for significant economic growth and jobs.

It’s because these prime sites are located in Trafford that our economic success is key to the success of Greater Manchester, and indeed the North West as a whole. I’ve submitted my views on how we can support our businesses to develop and grow to the Greater Manchester strategy consultation which is being run jointly by the 10 Greater Manchester local authorities - you can read my submission here.

I want to ensure that everyone in our community benefits from strong business growth.

We particularly need to support smaller businesses, for whom exporting, or getting access to finance to grow, or staff development, can be more challenging. Yet smaller businesses account for the majority of jobs.

The government has designated Trafford Park a business neighbourhood, and that should help, but progress is painfully slow.

Last month I asked the Transport Secretary to guarantee funds to extend the Metrolink through Trafford Park.

That would make a big difference to businesses there. It would make it easier for customers and employees to travel to companies located on the Park, and really help them to grow.

I’ve also been calling for reform of business rates. We’re in limbo as the government has put off a revaluation of business rates until 2017.

That’s fine for businesses in the South East, who’ve seen property values increase.

But here in the North, businesses are paying rates based on pre-recession property prices, and that simply isn’t realistic.

I’d like the government at the very least to use the delay to properly consult on a fair system for business rates.

Businesses will say the most important thing for them is certainty and stability.

That’s why the uncertainty about our future in Europe is bad for business.

The European Union is our major trading partner, and it’s the gateway to trade deals with other countries, such as the US, China and South Korea.

I want to see more local businesses able to export.

I simply don’t believe we will be able to negotiate such strong international trading agreements on our own.

We’ve been leading players in Europe for the past 20 years, and I don’t think it helps us to walk away.

I want us to stay, and use our influence from the inside. We shouldn’t be playing politics over this.

Kate Green Labour Member of Parliament for Stretford and Urmston Shadow spokesperson for equalities

tel: 0161 749 9120 (constituency); 020 7219 7162 (Westminster) email: kate.green.mp@parliament.uk www.kategreen.org @kategreensu