This week I launched the “Start-up Hub” national competition for start-up businesses, to give them the chance to exhibit their business idea for free at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester. This is the third year that we have organised this competition, and twelve businesses will be given the opportunity to join us at the [...]

Reforms to the NHS to help deliver services designed more closely around the needs of patients and the local community have come into effect this week; following the legislation that we passed in parliament last year. Shortly before the Easter break I met with members of the new South Kent Coast Clinical Commissioning Group, which [...]

The latest unemployment figures show that more people are finding work in our area and across the country. Over the last year the overall rate of unemployment in the Folkestone and Hythe constituency fell by 2.6% and the rate for the young unemployed (18 to 24 year olds) has fallen by just under 13%. Nationally [...]

It’s official, according to The Times newspaper, Folkestone is the fifth “coolest place” to live in Britain. I know what you are thinking; they’ve marked the town four places to low. Whilst these kinds of surveys and lists are a bit if fun, it’s great to see our area receiving some positive national publicity which [...]

For centuries fishermen have braved the elements to bring in their catch from the waters along our coast. In addition to this sea fishing is a popular local sport and pastime which attracts visitors to our area. The local businesses selling wet fish straight from the sea where it was caught, like Folkestone Trawlers, Griggs [...]

The House of Commons returned from the Christmas recess on Monday and the following day we were straight into one of the main topics of concern; the future of support for people to find work and also those living on benefits. In 2012 I had meetings with the team at the Folkestone Job Centre, Avanta, [...]

Happy New Year! Now that the Christmas and New Year celebrations are over and we are back to work, we tend to look forward to the challenges in front of us, rather than back on the recent festivities. 2012 was a tough year for the economy, but also a year of national triumph and celebration [...]

The nuclear decommissioning programme at Dungeness A station received a boost last week, in a move which will bring in millions of pounds of investment and create new jobs. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has granted over £12million to bring forward the clearance of the land to the south of the reactor buildings. This phase of [...]

This week saw the official launch of the ‘Grow for it’ campaign to promote business investment across East Kent. The campaign will include events, bus tours and an advertising and marketing campaign all designed to boost awareness of the business investment opportunities in our area. The ‘Grow for it’ campaign features many local business people, [...]

The meeting at The Grand on Monday night of town centre traders from Folkestone showed the strength of feeling and concern over the parking strategy. Shepway Council has recently taken steps to promote the town to shoppers and visitors by making parking free in the weekends leading up to Christmas. The price to park for [...]