JULIA HOLDS "QUESTION TIME" SESSION FOR LOCAL BUSINESS LEADERS

3.30.00pm GMT Mon 2nd Feb 2009

Business leaders in Falmouth have expressed their concerns about the credit crunch to Julia Goldsworthy MP and Parliamentary candidate Terrye Teverson.

On Friday, Julia and Terrye toured Tregoniggie Industrial Estate in Falmouth to discuss the impact of the economic downturn with firms. They heard the views of local business people about how the recession was affecting them.

On Friday evening, Julia also attended a meeting of the West Cornwall Federation of Small Businesses at the Greenbank Hotel, Falmouth, and held an MP's "Question Time" session.

Julia said: "While it's clear that these are very tough economic conditions, it was reassuring to see how well many businesses are coping. Terrye and I met a huge variety of businesses, ranging from very small start ups, to well established businesses that are significant employers in the area.

"All seem to have plans in place to weather the economic storm. They were clear that they expect things to be tough, but there was also a pleasantly surprising degree of resilience and optimism."

Julia added that a lot of businesses leaders were still finding it difficult to get credit from the banks.

She said: "Many businesses are finding it very difficult to access credit from the banks, despite the multi-billion pound bail out from the government. They also raised concerns about how the freeze in government funding programmes was impacting on them.

"The FSB are running a keep business local scheme, which I strongly support. The best way to support small businesses and the local economy is to make sure you spend your money locally. This will help more than anything else to help prevent our local towns from becoming "ghost towns."