Naushabah Khan, MP for Gillingham and Rainham, has launched the first Gillingham Small Business Roundtable in conjunction with Small Business Saturday.
The Small Business Roundtable, hosted on Saturday 7th December 2024, enabled local small business owners in Gillingham to share common challenges, understand key priorities for local business growth and to strategize solutions.
This is the first of two local Small Business Roundtable’s Naushabah is hosting, with the second taking place in Rainham in January 2025. As the first stage of Naushabah’s approach to local business growth, it began the vital conversation on how to make Gillingham and Rainham a place where businesses can thrive.
The Roundtable was attended by Naushabah, members of her office, a selection of local business owners, representatives from Medway Council and the local police. The session gave a platform for local small business owners to be part of a wider conversation around creating a better town centre, openly discussing local business innovation and how they can work together productively to build the future of Gillingham and Rainham.
The event took place on Small Business Saturday, a UK-wide grassroots non-commercial campaign, which highlights small business success and encourages consumers to ‘shop local’ and support small businesses in their communities. It was great to have multiple small business owners at the event, which took place at The Queen of Bakes on Canterbury Street.
The Gillingham Small Business Roundtable aligns with the Labour Government’s wider missions to support small businesses, which are the lifeblood of communities and high streets across the country.
Naushabah Khan MP highlighted the key objectives of the event:
“Hosting the first Gillingham Small Business Roundtable is the first step in the right direction to revitalising local business in our area and giving life back to Gillingham High Street. Small business owners are a vital part of our community, and it was important to discuss with them how we can work together to make Gillingham a great place to live, work and trade.”
“Having launched the ‘Love Gillingham’ initiative earlier this year, these opportunities to speak directly with local stakeholders are so important in bringing our communities together and instilling a sense of local pride. It’s brilliant that we can host this event on Small Business Saturday and build on this Government’s agenda of empowering local business and reviving high streets across Britain
Louise Malone, Owner of The Queen of Bakes, said of the event:
“As a local small business owner in Gillingham, I want the challenges that I face to be listened to and given the time of day. Most of the small business owners attending this event will experience similar issues, so being able to learn from each other and tackle common problems together is really helpful”
“Owning and running a bakery business is rewarding but can also be very difficult at times due to economic factors and a lack of local investment. Small business owners need support, which is why it’s great to see our local MP taking the time to understand how she can help local business develop in our area and give some life back to our high street.”