Meet the Neighbours with guests MP and Minsiter for State for Business & Enterprise, Mark Prisk and Nick Barton, MD Stansted Airport Limited
Over a hundred local business people got together on Friday 29 June at the Hilton Hotel at London Stansted Airport.
Organised by Julie Budden, Chair of the Stansted Airport Chamber of Commerce (SACC), they had come to hear local MP and Minster of State for Business & Enterprise, Mark Prisk, talk about his priorities for business.
He was joined by London Stansted MD Nick Barton who described the importance of the airport to the local economy.
He told the meeting that the airport is a major catalyst for growth and productivity in the region, employing over 10,200 people across 190 airport related companies and contributing £400m to the regional economy.
London Stansted serves an area larger than Switzerland, and operates more routes to Europe than any other airport. He said that they were keen to open up routes to the Far East and to North America. Airline economics say that it takes 60,000 - 80,000 passengers pa to make a new route viable. With 462,000 passengers travelling to the Middle East and 1.4m passengers travelling to the USA passing Stansted on their way to Heathrow or Gatwick every year, this a very achievable ambition, and one which will reduce road traffic and speed the journeys for many.
Mark Prisk spoke about his programme to help business, and especially small 
business, to prosper. His remarks focused on three areas in which the Government is actively working to help SMEs, namely reforming and reducing the burden of tax on businesses; helping firms get better access the finance they need; and reducing the burden of regulation, especially on the smallest firms.
Following a Q&A session, he spoke on a one to one basis with many of the business people there.
After the presentations, delegates were able to meet and talk with fellow businesses from across the region. Julie Budden Chair of SACC said, “This event has proved to very informative for all those who attended, and provided an excellent opportunity for business networking. Many of those attending have asked that we hold it again, so I anticipate that this will become an annual event or even twice yearly".
If you wish to be kept informed of the next Meet the Neighbour event, please contact Julie Budden (01279) 87 00 64 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The event was kindly sponsored by:
Money raised for Charity
The event also raised £295.00 by way of a raffle in support of the "Hilton in the Community Foundation" which is dedicated to supporting young people in need by combating exclusion and providing skills, aspirations and opportunities. Focussed on improving access to, and the quality of, education and healthcare, the Foundation mobilises local giving and targets four key areas: disabled children, children in hospitals, children's hospices and homelessness. Grants help vulnerable and disadvantaged young people in Europe, while in the event of international disaster grants are made to relief organisations addressing young people's needs.
