We are delighted to be again supporting the prestigious Dods Parliamentary Researcher of the Year Awards, which goes from strength to strength every year.

We are pleased to be a part of the awards because of the contribution we know is made by all those who work for MPs and Peers. Working with parliamentarians in Westminster, their staff are a crucial part in helping to make the case for small businesses, and when our regions work with MPs they know constituency staff have a strong sense of the needs of the local community and that of its small businesses.

The UK’s 5.2 million small businesses play a vital role in the UK economy and Parliament has an important role in supporting small firms to grow. Our latest survey shows confidence is growing in every sector with owners looking to grow, invest and take on new staff, they need support to do this. Our Business Manifesto sets out what the next Government should implement to support small businesses. We have also launched a social media campaign #ibacksmallbusiness and I Back Small Business Campaign website. This work has been helped by the invaluable support of MPs’ and Peers’ staff.

We are delighted to be bringing back the FSB Special Award to recognise a researcher who has demonstrated their understanding of the needs of small businesses, through parliamentary or constituency work in an outstanding way. This unique Award is open to both parliamentarians and small businesses to nominate. This year we will be offering the winner a chance to feature in “First Voice” our magazine that goes out to all our 200,000 members.

As always the awards will recognise the achievements of those working for all parties, crossbenchers and independents and constituency staff, and I am very much looking forward to sitting down with the judges and hearing about the incredible campaigns, achievements and other pieces of work from the last year.

In the last year we have produced reports on key areas from Broadband, Small Businesses as Consumers, to Local Enterprise Partnerships. All of this work has been supported in Parliament, in part because of the help we have been given by the staff of MPs and Peers. On many occasions we have been able to provide advice to researchers who have proactively got in touch with us to understand more about small business issues. Our Public Affairs team is always happy to give assistance on these issues and can be contacted on 020 7592 8100.

We know how dependent our work is on the efforts of those working behind the scenes in Westminster and in constituency offices across the UK. This is our way of saying ‘thank you’ for your support throughout this parliament, and making sure that we work together as closely in the next Parliament as we have over the last 5 years. 

Mike Cherry, Federation of Small Businesses

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