Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce (TVCC) was pleased to welcome Greg Smith, MP for Mid Buckinghamshire, to its latest Political Working Lunch (PWL), hosted at the Craftyard on Wendover High Street.
The event brought together local business leaders, academia and other stakeholders for a timely discussion on the political and economic issues shaping the operating environment for businesses across the Thames Valley.
Following a welcome from TVCC CEO, Paul Britton, Greg gave us his ‘View from Westminster’, offering insights into his work in Parliament, how this feeds into his role representing the constituency, and the key issues currently facing policymakers and businesses.
This warmed up the audience for a facilitated Q&A session, during which attendees explored a range of topics including business rates, employment costs, the Employee Rights Act, apprenticeships and early-stage careers, access to power for new business developments, local election results and post-Brexit trading conditions. Greg further highlighted the breadth of manufacturing in his constituency from food and drink, beer and artisanal crafts to high technology and motorsport and the impact of changes to Business Relief for Inheritance Tax to local family-owned businesses.
Commenting on the event, Greg Smith MP said: “It was a pleasure to join the Chamber and speak with local businesses on a range of topics covering difficult trading conditions facing locally based businesses, reduced capacity to offer apprenticeships, early- stage careers and infrastructure needs. Local forums such as these provide a superb way to facilitate interaction between policymakers and business, raising the profile of issues in common.”
Reflecting on the event Paul Britton, TVCC CEO said, “The PWLs are an important feature in our work to connect local businesses with parliamentarians. We explored the day-to-day business challenges with the MP in conversation with local family-owned jewellers to multinationals operating in the space sector at the impressive Westcott Park”.
TVCC’s PWL programme provides members with direct access to policymakers, enabling open dialogue on the issues that matter most to the business community. Our next scheduled PWL is with Josh Reynolds, MP for Maidenhead on Friday 26th June 2026.
