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At our most recent Rugby Local Business Forum we paid tribute to Mark Pawsey MP and wished him all the best for the future! It’s not the first time we’ve done it but we now know that it was the last, writes Karen Shuter, chair of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce’s Rugby Local Business Forum.

We know Mark is standing down at the next General Election and that, whatever way the polls go on July 4, we’ll have new MP for the borough.

The Chamber is a politically neutral organisation. It’s our role to ensure the needs of businesses are understood and any issues we are facing are raised with local, regional and national decision makers.

For the past 14 years, Mark has been in regular contact with the Chamber and has been only too happy to update us on what’s happening in Westminster that might affect us but also to listen to our concerns and barriers to growth.

After announcing he was stepping down, we made sure he knew we were grateful for his efforts over the years as it felt like a General Election might be imminent which the Prime Minister confirmed in the Downing Street rain.

Whoever comes in next, we would urge them to follow Mark’s lead in the way he has engaged with businesses and the genuine support he has offered.

One of the key take-aways from our latest forum was that businesses would like to see the next Government implement an industrial strategy. Mark believes there might be some reticence in doing this because the Government doesn’t want to be seen to be ‘picking winners’ when it comes to sectors in the economy.

However, that’s not what business is looking for. We just want to know the direction of travel so that we know areas where we need to invest and having an industrial strategy would help that.

For example, when businesses are looking at the skills they might need for the future, they want to do so with a strong sense that they are investing in the right areas.

In this area, I have been hugely impressed by the work the Warwickshire Skills Hub is doing in supporting businesses to recruit and in helping individuals find the right employment.

To that end, there is an employers’ Logistics Industry Future Skills Roundtable at Rugby Town Hall on 18 July. This is a very important sector for this region and it is good such attention is being paid to it. If you would like to register your interest to attend please email Louise Stolz, Future Skills Business Support Advisor: [email protected]

Our next MP must make a Mark with businesses