Last month I hosted a reception in Parliament to raise awareness about the work of Minority Supplier Development UK and the vital role that black and minority ethnic businesses play in our economy.
MSD UK is a Leicester based not-for-profit organisation that brings together ethnic minority businesses with corporations looking to diversify their supplier chain.

The event was attended by politicians, policy makers, ethnic minority businesses and senior executives from companies like ExxonMobil, Merck/MSD, GlaxoSmithKline, PepsiCo, IBM, BT and Enterprise Rent-A-Car, who are all corporate members of MSD UK.

I was really pleased that Gareth Thomas MP, Shadow Minister for Business, Innovation and Skills and Stephen Timms MP, the Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury, attended the event (pictured here with Mayank Shah, from MSD UK). I told them about the vital role that black and minority ethnic businesses play in my constituency, and how I believe we need to do more to help and support these companies create the jobs and growth that our city and country urgently need.