Stevenage's Member of Parliament, Stephen McPartland, visited a number of the town's small businesses, organised by the Hertfordshire branch of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

Pam Charman, Chair of the Herts FSB, said, “This tour was put on to show the great work that local businesses are doing to improve the economy of the town by exporting products, hiring local people and putting on apprenticeship schemes. We understand that Stephen McPartland MP has worked with local businesses to promote apprenticeships, however finding good staff is still a problem for our members.”

Stephen met FSB member John Carroll of Arkle Electronic Systems Ltd and had a tour of the factory.  He then went on to meet fellow member Terry Gilbert of Fix Auto Stevenage.

John Carroll said,  “I am grateful to FSB for organising this meeting between Mr McPartland and myself.  We are essentially exporting our products from Stevenage to all over the world. It is therefore important that local politicians are aware of some of the challenges that we face in this area which include access to skills. We are looking to set up an apprentice scheme here which will qualify successful candidates to a degree level electronic engineer standard. Mr McPartland has agreed to help me to find the right people and to liaise with the local college to get the scheme underway.”

Stephen McPartland MP said, “I really enjoyed meeting John, Terry and their staff. They have incredibly interesting businesses. It was great to meet the apprentices at Fix Auto and hear their passion for vehicle repair. These companies are the backbone of our economy in Stevenage and I am always delighted to meet them. I work closely with the FSB and am grateful for their support to my local business community.”

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