Gavin Williamson, MP for South Staffordshire, celebrated Small Business Saturday by visiting a number of small businesses around South Staffordshire.
Gavin joined Councillor Matthew Ewart on a visit to Pet Stop in Codsall, who held their event ‘Prezzies 4 Pets’ which included a photograph with Father Christmas. Pet Stop’s owner, Glynne Owen has been in the retail industry for over 30 years and set up his first small pet shop in 1995. In 2011 the business moved to a larger unit. As well as the pet shop, Glynne’s wife, Jill, owns a professional Dog Grooming studio and mobile van service.
The Chancellor announced in the Autumn Statement that he will again extend the doubling of Small Business Rate Relief for a further year from April 2015, which will benefit 61,000 small businesses in the West Midlands alone. Business rates will be capped at 2%, which were due to rise by inflation in April 2015 without action. The Chancellor also increased this year’s £1,000 rates discount for high street shops, pubs and cafés to £1,500.
Gavin said: “I thoroughly enjoyed Small Business Saturday, highlighting and celebrating the hard work that small business owners have done this year. I had a great time visiting Pet Stop with my own dog, finding out about Glynne’s incredibly successful local business.
“I was happy to hear that the Chancellor has continued to back small businesses in the Autumn Statement last week. Because we have backed small business and enterprise with better infrastructure and lower jobs taxes, there are over 2 million more private sector jobs and 760,000 more businesses.
“I am so proud of the fact that South Staffordshire has so many fantastic small businesses and they have played a significant role in the recovery of our economy. It’s so important that we continue to support small business owners in every way we can, which is why I am urging constituents to shop local all year round, especially during this festive season.”