{"id":2039,"date":"2017-12-05T14:55:28","date_gmt":"2017-12-05T14:55:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/?p=2039"},"modified":"2017-12-05T15:10:01","modified_gmt":"2017-12-05T15:10:01","slug":"small-businesses-saturday-in-swanley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/?p=2039","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Small Businesses Saturday&#8217; in Swanley"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Michael took the opportunity to celebrate local businesses over the weekend in aid of Small Business Saturday \u2013 a campaign to raise awareness of small businesses and their importance to the economy.<\/p>\n<p>He visited a number of businesses in Swanley and Westerham, ranging from hairdressers to retailers.\u00a0 Feedback from those he met highlighted the innovation and creativity small businesses require in order to thrive.<\/p>\n<p>Michael started the day outside <a href=\"http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/?attachment_id=2041\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2041\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2041\" src=\"http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Michael-inspecting-the-ETMS-lorry-with-owner-Martin-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Michael inspecting the ETMS lorry with owner, Martin\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a>Swanley Town Council, where he met the owner of Exhibition Traffic Management Services, Martin.\u00a0 The company hires and trains local young people and helps the council with voluntary projects such as litter-picking.<\/p>\n<p>The local MP then walked through Swanley Shopping Centre, where he visited Rural Age Concern Darent Valley, an independent charity, and RAW Hair, a hairdressers.\u00a0 It was the tale of two businesses with plenty of customers but one struggling with high rent.<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-2039 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/?attachment_id=2044'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Michael-with-the-owner-of-RAW-Hair-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-2044\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-2044'>\n\t\t\t\tWith the owner of RAW Hair\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/?attachment_id=2043'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Michael-with-staff-outside-Rural-Age-Concern-Darent-Valley-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-2043\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-2043'>\n\t\t\t\tOutside Rural Age Concern Darent Valley\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/?attachment_id=2042'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Michael-signing-a-petition-to-protect-Rural-Age-Concern-Darent-Valley-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-2042\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-2042'>\n\t\t\t\tSigning a petition to save Rural Age Concern Darent Valley\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>Walking down the High Street, Michael was struck by the number of empty lots where businesses have left and moved up into the Shopping Centre.\u00a0The owner of Towes Convenience Store, Darren, said business was slower due to the traffic and restricted parking in the area.\u00a0 He hopes his Hermes parcel collection system will help bring in more customers, and his array of Eastern European foods and drinks will keep them coming back.<\/p>\n<p>Lastly, the local MP visited K2 Flooring \u2013 a company Sir Michael was pleased to discover has existed since the 1960s under the same family ownership.<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-2' class='gallery galleryid-2039 gallery-columns-2 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/?attachment_id=2046'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Michael-discussing-the-Hermes-system-with-Darren-owner-of-Towes-Convinient-Store-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-2046\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-2046'>\n\t\t\t\tInside Towes Convenience Store\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/?attachment_id=2047'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Michael-in-K2-Flooring-with-Stewart-the-Manager-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-2047\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-2047'>\n\t\t\t\tWith the manager of K2 Flooring\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>Later in the day, the MP visited businesses in Westerham during Late Night Shopping and watched the turning on of the Christmas lights.<\/p>\n<p>Michael said: \u201cSmall businesses are the lifeblood of the economy.\u00a0 We could all learn from small businesses: they work hard and invest their own money to employ other people.\u00a0 As we approach Christmas, I encourage everyone to think \u2018small\u2019 and support our great local businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Michael took the opportunity to celebrate local businesses over the weekend in aid of Small Business Saturday \u2013 a campaign to raise awareness of small businesses and their importance to the economy. He visited a number of businesses in Swanley and Westerham, ranging from hairdressers to retailers.\u00a0 Feedback from those he met highlighted the innovation &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/?p=2039\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;&#8216;Small Businesses Saturday&#8217; in Swanley&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[661,698,699,484,694,497,697,696,29,12,695,28],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2039"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2048,"href":"http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039\/revisions\/2048"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}