West Northamptonshire Council wins regional title for backing small businesses

18 October 2022

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has been awarded the prestigious ‘best in the region’ award for its support for the local small business community.

WNC was among 250 councils from across England who entered the inaugural Federation of Small Business (FSB) Local Government Awards, and was successful in winning the ‘All round Small Business Friendly’ regional category.

The awards, which were announced virtually at the final on Friday (14 October), were aimed at celebrating and recognising those who had made the biggest impact on local SMEs during the Covid crisis and beyond.

At the final, WNC was named as the East Midlands regional champion with judges being impressed by the council’s communication with and promotion of SMEs, as well as practical support such as webinars, 1-2-1 support and the development of an e-commerce and tourism app; Explore West Northants.

Cllr Daniel Lister, WNC’S Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Town Centre Regeneration and Growth, said:

“I am absolutely delighted and extremely proud that West Northamptonshire Council’s Economy Team has been presented with this remarkable award for supporting SMEs throughout the Covid19 pandemic and continuing to do so every day.

“This award is testament to the hard work, dedication and esteemed support of colleagues across the organisation, and I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say we are proud of what we do and strive to continue to play an enthusiastic and positive role in helping small businesses and the local economy thrive.”

FSB Development Manager for Northamptonshire, Jennifer Thomas said they are very pleased that the hard work of WNC had been recognised amid a high-quality field of entries by local councils.

She said: “It is really pleasing to see West Northamptonshire Council rewarded for their hard work through what has been a very challenging couple of years.

“Both the quality and quantity of entries from this region and beyond was incredibly high, so the council team should feel very proud to be among the regional winners. We look forward to continuing to work with them - and all our other business-supporting councils - to ensure we have a vibrant and strong local SME community.”

Full details of the council’s submission as well as others from across England can be found on the FSBs website.