MP Kevin Hollinrake visits Malton businesses on Small Business Saturday
Kevin Hollinrake, Member of Parliament for Thirsk and Malton urged residents across York and North Yorkshire to back their local businesses on Small Business Saturday (December 6), warning that local traders are facing a "perfect storm" of new government burdens.
Mr Hollinrake visited several businesses in Malton, including Derek Fox Butchers, to discuss the impact that the recent Budget has had on their business.
Hollinrake who founded his own business - Hunters - locally in York in 1992 and grew it into a national enterprise say he is passionate about supporting small businesses.
Having served as Minister for Small Business in the last Government, he oversaw the extension of the 75% business rates relief for high street shops (2024) and the launch of the Growth Guarantee Scheme to secure essential finance for growing SMEs.
Several of the businesses Mr Hollinrake visited raised the recent increases in employers National Insurance and the governments stealth rise in business rates as their biggest ongoing concerns.
Mr Hollinrake said: "Thirsk, Kirkbymoorside, Helmsley, Malton, Filey, Pickering, Malton and the villages, across my beautiful constituency we have some of the finest and most innovative small businesses in the country.
“Whether it be cafes and restaurants serving up the best local produce or our manufacturing business producing equipment for the Ministry of Defence - Thirsk and Malton has it all.
"Speaking to local businesses every week, and being from a business background myself, I know just how hard things are at the moment.
“Which is why it is all the more important to go out and support our small businesses."