Ed Miliband MP meets with businesses to discuss net zero, economic conditions and the need to rejuvenate Doncaster city centre

Here, the MP participated in a candid discussion that spanned a number of different topics, including: current macroeconomic conditions; the importance of championing Brand Britain when it comes to international trade; the latest developments in relation to Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA); and what needs to happen to rejuvenate our languishing city centre.

Given Ed’s position as Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, the green agenda was inevitably a subject of great interest as well, with firms articulating the various challenges and opportunities they are facing at the moment in that particular area.

Equipped now with these valuable insights, the hope is that the MP will be able to use his platform going forward to better represent the local business community and more authoritatively speak on their behalf. The open forum also gave attendees an opportunity to pose questions directly to Ed and to raise any concerns that they think ought to be on his radar.

The roundtable session took place on Friday the 19th of January and was kindly hosted by Doncaster Cables.

Reflecting back on it, Dan Fell, Chief Exec of Doncaster Chamber, said: “This event generated a lot of stimulating and constructive debate and I am sure that Ed found it to be an incredibly useful experience, just as we did.

“Among other things, our conversation touched upon the need for more long-termism in Government, the economic conditions that are necessary for business growth and, of course, the ever-pressing issue of how we can support businesses to meet their Net Zero commitments. A lot of important points were raised in respect of each of these, and I am confident that Ed came away from the session with lots of homework to be getting on with.

“From our perspective as a Chamber, we too will be striving to improve things for Doncaster this year, as we develop a brand new vision in the form of our upcoming Business Manifesto and continue to lobby for meaningful change wherever we can. The insights from this roundtable were therefore equally valuable to us and so I’d like to thank those businesses who attended for sharing their experiences and making this such a productive discussion.

“Of course, I’d also like to extend my gratitude to Ed for his candour and for taking the time to meet with our members here, and would similarly like to thank our generous hosts at Doncaster Cables for making the event possible.”

Echoing many of these sentiments, Ed Miliband, MP for Doncaster North, said: “I want to express my thanks to Doncaster Chamber for organising the roundtable discussion last week and to Doncaster Cables for hosting us.

“The discussion was a fantastic opportunity to talk to local businesses about their work to take advantage of the opportunities of transitioning to Net Zero, as well as to hear about the challenges that they are facing.

“Working together with business is the way to help Doncaster succeed and the event was a great opportunity to speak to local businesses, with some excellent discussions about our City.”

Finally, Neil Mallinson, Managing Director of Doncaster Cables, added: “It was a privilege to host this roundtable event with Ed Miliband and to welcome distinguished guests from a variety of local businesses. With Chamber CEO Dan Fell chairing the event, discussions were had on various important subjects, including: sustainability; electric vehicles; solar power; and the future of the Doncaster Sheffield airport.”

Doncaster Chamber regularly convenes roundtables like this, with two per year set aside for each of our city’s MPs. On that note, the next session will be with Dame Rosie Winterton, MP for Doncaster Central, on Friday the 26th of January, while another event for businesses in Nick Fletcher’s Don Valley constituency is currently scheduled for April.

In addition to this, all three MPs (including Ed Miliband) will be coming together under one roof in May for a “Question Time” event. As the name suggests, this will see them all sitting together on a panel to field questions from a crowd of Doncaster Chamber members. More information about this can be found here.