GCA’s Amanda Fergusson voices industry concerns at Westminster
It was all happening in the Houses Of Parliament yesterday, July 20 – while the debate was going on to find the final two candidates for the Conservative leadership, only a few rooms away GCA ceo Amanda Fergusson was making the greeting card industry’s voice heard.
As politicians were arriving at Westminster in good time for the final vote, which now sees Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss go head to head for the top Tory job, the GCA’s head honcho made her way down the corridors of power in the House Of Commons to participate in The Genesis Senate, a meeting of the lobbying group members which has the interests of SMEs at its heart.
Hosted by Lord Risby, Amanda joined 17 fellow Genesis Initiative members, including the Federation Of Small Business (FSB), British Chambers Of Commerce and those representing the interests of fashion companies, engineering businesses, market traders and bookkeepers, to discuss how the Government could provide greater clarity and support in various areas.
As Amanda told PG Buzz: “What a day to be in the House Of Commons! With all the changes in Government, it makes being part of The Genesis Initiative all the more important as this gives us, as an industry, a direct feed to the top on important issues. Joining forces with other sectors who share our concerns undoubtedly gives us more clout to lobby for improvements.”
One area Amanda pushed at the meeting is for more relevant support for SMEs such as greeting card publishers on the export front, to protect and facilitate the industry’s world-leading position, which was something that chimed with UK fashion designer Simon Carter, who amplified the GCA’s views.
“Simon explained that it used to be that companies could secure a Government grant for three years to promote themselves at trade shows overseas,” Amanda added, “now, this has been scaled back to one-off £2,000 grant for companies with a turnover of at least £250,000 – and they have to complete a 34-page form even to be in with a chance of this.
“This is hardly encouraging for some of the UK’s talented companies, be they card publishers, fashion companies or other SMEs to promote themselves overseas to perpetuate growth.”
After the vibrant meeting, The Genesis Institute will feed members’ suggestions through to Government when it meets after the summer recess, with a follow-up meeting scheduled for October.
The GCA has blogs about exporting on its website – https://www.gca.cards/publishers-starting-up-export/ and https://www.gca.cards/2nd-greeting-card-industry-seminar-on-trade-with-eu-post-brexit/.
Top: The Houses of Parliament yesterday morning
