On Friday the 15th November, Tom Rutland MP newly appointed for East Worthing & Shoreham, visited Lancing Business Park for the first time.
LBP are grateful to Tom for finding the time to visit the park and to the four LBP businesses who opened their doors to welcome Tom. This was a whistle stop tour designed as a first introduction to the park. Each of the four provided an overview of their operations and a quick tour of their site, whilst explaining the issues currently facing them.
The tour commenced with Lawrence Boon, MD at Fizz Creations in Commerce Way. Lawrence provided a tour of his global novelty gifts operation and introduced Tom to staff across the business. Lawrence explained Fizz's fair employer ethos and the difficulties UK companies face when trying to compete with the likes of China and Amazon.
A quick trip up Peter Road and Tom visited Phil Kennedy, MD at Eschmann Technologies. Phil explained the history of their global autoclave operation and the measurers currently being researched to reduce production costs and maximise manufacturing. Phil raised concern about the impact the budget's Employer National Insurance increase is going to have on their operation.
Tom was then whizzed across the park to visit Lee Golby, Sustainability & Compliance Manager at Paula Rosa Manhattan Furniture (PRMF) for a tour of the largest manufacturing site on the park. Lee explained how their manufacturing floor was originally the old carriage works for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. Emily Sparrow, PRMF's Finance Director then explained how PRMF has recently expanded their kitchen manfacturing operation from new build wholesale, to now also include retail direct to individual customers.
Emily expressed that PRMF are keen to support the new Living Wage increase, but coupled with the Employer National Insurance increase this is not an easy transition for any large UK business.
Last but by no means least, Tom was welcomed at Bidfood in Chartwell Road. Formally a steel works, this 65,000sqft state of the art foodservice wholesale & distribution hub was built in 2018. Gavin Hill, Business Unit Director and Tom Souter, QHSE provided a tour of the facility which included a quick visit to Bidfood's enormous freezer and fridge.
By this time it was evident that there are many business issues which need further discussion and therefore Tom agreed to work with LBP to design a Business Roundtable Event soon and LBP are very grateful to Gavin for offering to host this event.
Tom is keen to continue visiting the park to meet a whole range of businesses and gain insight into each business sector represented on the park.
If your business is based on the park and you are keen to be included in a future tour please email LBP by clicking here
To view Tom's comments on this visit click here
