Alison Griffiths MP has launched her Bognor Regis and Littlehampton Business Club, bringing together employers to ensure their experiences, concerns and ideas are heard clearly and directly – locally and in Parliament.
The inaugural meeting took place on Friday 6 February at Fino, a local family-run Italian restaurant in Felpham. 40 attendees were confirmed, representing 34 businesses and organisations from across Bognor Regis and Littlehampton.
The new Business Club is designed as a practical forum for local firms to come together, share challenges and feed real-world insight straight into Alison’s work as the constituency’s Member of Parliament.
Unlike other networking groups, the Business Club is focused on representation and influence. It gives local businesses a direct route to raise issues affecting them day to day, and to shape the questions Alison raises with Ministers.
The Club will meet regularly and will be supported by follow-up and briefings so that concerns raised do not stop at the meeting room door.
Alison said: “Businesses are the backbone of Bognor Regis and Littlehampton – from family-run shops and cafés to manufacturers, care providers and creative enterprises. Too often, decisions are taken nationally without properly listening to the people who are taking the risks, creating jobs, and holding our high streets together.
“This Business Club is about changing that. It is a way for local businesses to come together with one collective voice, to tell me directly what is working, what is not, and what support they actually need. My job is to take those experiences into Parliament and make sure they are heard where it matters.
“I am hearing the same message again and again from small and medium-sized businesses about the pressures they are under. Business rates are punishing high streets, energy costs remain stubbornly high, and new and higher taxes, including employers’ National Insurance, are making it harder to hire and grow.
“Add in more red tape and regulatory burden and you get a picture where good local businesses are spending more time battling the system than building their future.
“I am grateful to the team at Fino in Felpham for hosting the first meeting and for opening their doors to such a wide range of local businesses.”
The Bognor Regis and Littlehampton Business Club has been set up to complement, not duplicate, existing local business networks. It offers a focused space for policy discussion, feedback, and advocacy, ensuring that the realities facing local employers inform Alison’s work on business and trade in Parliament.
