My parents ran their own businesses - so I grew up helping them during the school holidays and on weekends. My partner is a tech entrepreneur, so I know the hard work that goes into making a success of a business, and have recently set up my own business - following in my family's footsteps.
I want to support local businesses, shops and restaurants, and work with the Government to make life a little easier our hard working entrepreneurs.
A few years ago, I worked as the lead economist on a campaign to tackle youth unemployment and making it cheaper for businesses to hire a young person - this campaign led to a change in the law whereby employers no longer pay NI on under 25s. I want to build on this work by making it easier and cheaper to succeed in business.
I want to support local businesses through pushing for a reform of business rates and organising a jobs fair to help match jobseekers with vacancies. I organised a jobs fair a few years ago with over 500 attendees and 30 local employers, and would love the opportunity to do the same again.