Business leaders visit Commons
Business leaders from an Uckfield networking group joined Wealden MP Charles Hendry for breakfast at the Houses of Parliament.
A close working relationship is growing between Uckfield Business Networking International and the MP, who spoke recently at one of the group’s early morning meetings.
Twenty-six members took up Mr Hendry’s invitation to travel to London, see where debates on the nation’s business are conducted and chat to him about their own concerns.
The traditional BNI meeting format was followed with thousands of pounds worth of business passed.
One-minute presentations were made by each member and Mr Hendry was invited to take a longer ten-minute slot which he used to explain a little more about his role as an MP.
He stressed the importance of members staying in touch with him, letting him know about business concerns as and when they arose, so giving him the opportunity to lobby the Government on their behalf.
He also talked about his role as shadow minister for energy which included developing policy ideas with the prime aim being to ensure security of supply.
After breakfast the group was taken on a tour of the Houses of Parliament. They went into the House of Commons seeing where MPs sit during debates and the speaker’s chair which dominates the room.
The visit ended with lunch during a river trip on the Thames.
The next day BNI members gathered again at 6.30am for their regular breakfast meeting at the East Sussex National Golf Hotel and Spa.
They work together as an enlarged sales team promoting each others’ businesses among their contacts.
Since January about £350,000 worth of business has been recorded as generated for members through Uckfield BNI.
Chapter director, accountant Greg Penfold, said he was grateful to MP Charles Hendry for making the special breakfast meeting at the Houses of Parliament possible.
He was a generous host and members had enjoyed the chance to meet and talk to him again.
Mr Penfold said: ‘Our chapter of the BNI is proving to be a very successful organisation. Seven new members have been recruited in recent weeks taking numbers to 36. We are always pleased to welcome visitors.’
Charles Hendry added: “I am always delighted to welcome groups from the constituency, such as businesses, schools or community groups, to Westminster, so they can see at first hand how Parliament works and we can develop closer working relations.
“It is essential for me to have feedback on the issues facing local businesses, if I am to represent them effectively in Parliament. In such difficult economic times, it is vital for MPs to understand how businesses are coping and the effectiveness of different Government initiatives. “I greatly value the links with groups such as BNI as they represent such a wide range of business activities.”
(Added to site Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009)
