Celebrating Staffordshire with Parliamentary showcase

Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent’s MPs, local government, businesses, charities and local heroes came together for the 2018 Celebration of Staffordshire in Parliament.

The county’s 12 MPs were also joined by Staffordshire County Council, the Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce and Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership to show off the best that Staffordshire has to offer to the variety of government ministers, media and other MPs that attended.

Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership chairman David Frost CBE said: “We are delighted to be joining forces with our MPs, businesses, local authorities and other organisations to celebrate and champion our area as a great place to live, work, invest and do business.

“The LEP has an important role as a business-led organisation bringing partners together to shape and drive economic growth with policies that are tailored to local needs and aspirations.

“We are proud to have the opportunity of this Parliamentary showcase for our achievements in bringing more and better jobs to our region, raising skills levels and promoting Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire around the world.”

Philip Atkins, Leader of Staffordshire County Council, said: “Days like this are invaluable opportunities to talk to potential investors about the economic opportunities in Staffordshire, our commitment to providing the physical and electronic infrastructure for future growth and how an increasingly skilled workforce can help new businesses prosper and existing ones thrive in a county with a good quality of life.”

The attendees from the county ranged from local good causes, such as Tamworth Boxing Club, St Giles Hospice, and charities Caudwell Children, Beanstalk and Sporting Communities, to businesses large and small including Stoke’s Mr Kipling’s Cakes, Drayton Manor Park, Cannock-based ATP Industries Group, Slater’s Ales, Stafford, Tamworth Brewery, Tamworth’s Coates Butchers,  Hurst View Cider, Cottage Delight, from the Staffordshire Moorlands, and Leek-based Scabetti Studio, international specialists in ceramic fine art installations, plus the Federation of Small Businesses.

Five Cabinet ministers and numerous MPs also attended the event and heard each business owner’s successful stories.

The event was held in the ornate Jubilee Room, an annex of the historic Westminster Hall, where tilers from Staffordshire famously built the entrance to the room.

Pictured, left to right, are Sara Williams, chief executive of Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce, LEP executive board member James Leavesley, ATP Industries commercial director Mark Bowen and LEP chairman David Frost.