FSB: John Sergeant to tango with an all-party Question Time panel

Small businesses will fire questions at former political journalist John Sergeant as he chairs a panel of political speakers in a Question Time debate, at the Federation of Small Businesses’ Annual Conference in March.

The conference, from 18-20 March at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre, will see an all-party line-up ready to answer questions from small businesses on anything from the impact of the impact of recession to the measures they’ll take to support small businesses.

As the country prepares to go to the polls and small businesses look at how they can support further economic recovery, ex-Strictly Come Dancing star, John Sergeant will tango with the all-party line-up featuring Anne Begg MP (LAB), Derek Brownlee MSP (CON), Sir Robert Smith MP (LIB), Jim Mather MSP (SNP) and the FSB’s UK Policy Chairman, John Walker.

Over 750 delegates will have the chance to ask questions of the panel and join the debate.

John Wright, National Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses, said:

“The year ahead will still be difficult for small firms which are doing all they can to get themselves and the economy back to recovery. As the country gets ready to go to the polls, small businesses will be looking to an incoming Government – of whatever hue – to support this. This debate will be a prime opportunity for all the parties to get the small business community behind them.

“Small businesses will be key to the recovery. They provide vital revenue and employment to the UK economy and will be the job creators in years to come. It is therefore crucial that policy makers hear their views loud and clear. The FSB annual conference provides the ideal setting to do this and to underline just what small businesses can do with the right support.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1. The FSB is Britain’s leading business organisation with over 213,000 members. It exists to protect and promote the interests of the self-employed, and all those who run their own business. More information is available at www.fsb.org.uk

2. The FSB Annual Conference will take place between 18 and 20 March 2010 and will be held at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre, Aberdeen, Scotland. Exhibitors include Towergate, main supporter Visa, Dell, Co-op, ASC Finance, British Gas, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Work and Pensions.

3. Lord Mandelson and the First Minister Alex Salmond will both address the conference

4. The FSB’s Annual Conference is the biggest non-governmental SME conference in the UK. Previous conferences have been held in Cardiff, London, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Belfast and Leeds. For more information go to www.fsb.org.uk/conference2010

5. The main sponsor at Conference 2010 is Visa. In Europe, there are over 380 million Visa debit, credit and commercial cards. Visa Europe is owned and operated by over 4,000 European member banks and was incorporated in July 2004. For more information, visit www.visaeurope.com