Norfolk is home to a thriving entrepreneurial community that, often, we don’t get to see or hear about. Hidden away in sheds, bedrooms, industrial estates and old farm buildings, so many small and medium sized businesses are quietly driving forward tremendous innovation – and that’s why I co-founded the Norfolk Enterprise Festival with local entrepreneur, Mark Lapping (CEO of Aquapak Polymers), and others, last year.

We believed that Norfolk’s vibrant entrepreneurial community deserved a better platform from which to promote itself and collaborate – and we were delighted that over 500 people agreed, joining us on a chilly day to network, contribute their expertise to the discussions and provide feedback on how it could be even better.

A number of local entrepreneurs also committed to working with us to produce a Charter for us as Norfolk MPs, along with the New Anglia LEP, to take forward in our campaigns in Westminster – and I was delighted to meet with representatives of this group at the Norwich Research Park recently to receive the Norfolk SME Charter from them.

Considerable effort and commitment went into the production of the Charter and I welcome the opportunity to work with the team and drive forward the many positive ambitions contained within it.

NEF 2019 will be taking place on Saturday 13th July! For more information, please follow updates on the website and Facebook page

Photo:

From left to right: Mark Fisher (Vistage UK), Matt Cater (Cater Cunningham), Emily Groves (Indigo Swan Ltd), Pete Floyd (Risk & Policy Analysts), George Freeman MP (MP for Mid Norfolk), Chris Starkie (New Anglia LEP)