Small businesses vote Conservative MEP as their champion

Malcolm Harbour, MEP for the West Midlands, has been voted the 'Small Business Friendly MP/MEP'.

The Award, sponsored by the nine English Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), was voted for by members of the Forum of Private Businesses. The accolade, being presented for the first time, recognizes outstanding efforts by a politician to represent the concerns of smaller businesses.

James E. Brathwaite, CBE, Chair of the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), commented on the win for the Conservative MEP: "I congratulate Malcolm on winning this Award. His excellent work with businesses in the West Midlands and his knowledge of the impact the European Union has on businesses and economic development across the country makes him a worthy winner."

Speaking to Bytestart, Malcolm Harbour MEP was clearly pleased to pick up the Award, "It is a privilege to be the first Member of Parliament to be honoured with this new award. Since I was first elected in 1999, with 30 years in industry behind me, the work of creating a more business friendly environment has been one of my top priorities."

Malcolm also gave Bytestart an insight into why he campaigns on issues affecting small businesses, "Small and medium size businesses need special attention from politicians. They have been the main engines of job creation, yet they suffer disproportionately from heavy handed or bureaucratic regulation. Time spent on form filling by business owners is time that could be far better spent seeking new customers or developing new products!

I am pleased that, over my time in the Parliament, the small and medium sector has been recognised by the creation of an SME champion within the Commission and by an SME Charter setting out best practice principles of regulation. The Austrian government, currently leading Europe's business, has made a special point of promoting SME policies, with their Chancellor taking a lead role.

But, despite this attention, there are far too many examples of badly drafted EU legislation, badly interpreted by the UK civil service. My colleagues and I have worked with SMEs to get their views directly into policy makers and to deals with issues as diverse as chemicals, food labelling, car components, and organ building.

This award will encourage us to keep up our efforts on behalf of all entrepreneurs, so that we can remove the barriers to their ambitions and encourage them to take advantage of an expanding European internal market."