John Penrose

Conservative Party | Weston-super-Mare

Weston-super-Mare MP First to be Nominated for Top Business Award

Weston-super-Mare MP John Penrose is the first politician to be nominated for the Forum of Business’ (FPB’s) 2008 Business Friendly MP/MEP Award.

The Award, sponsored by England’s Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), recognises the work of the MPs and MEPs who have excelled in understanding and representing the needs of smaller businesses over the past year.

Angela Hicks, of the North Somerset Enterprise Agency, which is based in Mr Penrose’s constituency, praised his work on local authority services, removing red tape and improving the environment.

“Whenever possible John will attend local business networking meetings and contribute to the proceedings either by listening to the views expressed or by offering direct support for a particular issue. He is able to offer practical advice, for example on how a company can reduce their impact on the environment, will champion any cause adversely effecting small businesses locally and will add his weight to campaigns to change or improve legislation.”

In addition to his work to tackle social problems in his constituency, Mr Penrose has campaigned for small businesses on the issues of business rates, planning and property and unfair competition.

The South West MP narrowly missed out last year when Nigel Evans, the MP for Ribble Valley, was chosen to receive the Business-friendly MP Award for 2007 by a select panel of judges.

On hearing the news of his nomination Mr Penrose said: "I'm delighted to have been nominated again for this award. I've been involved in business all my adult life, so I've got first-hand experience of the problems and pressures which managers and staff face every day. It's too easy for politicians to focus on spending taxpayers' money, rather than on how to help the people who create it in the first place."