Where is the cheese shop Matthew Offord promised us?

Perhaps the oddest election pledge from any MP anywhere was the one Matthew Offord made to the people of Mill Hill if elected. he promised us a "high quality cheese shop". One year on and it seems that whilst he's happy to campaign for human rights for Jack Russell terriers (at least I think that's what he was on about), he's conveniently forgotten the pledge to open a cheese shop in Mill Hill Broadway.

I must confess that I am partial to a nice bit of Roqueforte and a mature cheddar so I was hoping that Offord would actually deliver on his pledge.

Whilst Matthew's pledge has caused much myrth, many people have asked exactly what he said. I was told this by a voter I was convassing who asked Mathew what difference he'd make. He replied "Only the Conservatives are business friendly. Only the Conservatives create the environment where businesses thrive. I'd make sure that our town centres get the support they need to thrive. I'd make sure that places like Mill Hill Broadway are the type of place where someone would think "That's a great place to run a cheese shop, a thriving High Street".

I wrote the quote down. The Tories have been in charge of Barnet Council for nine years now. Is anyone aware of any new cheese shops anywhere in the Borough? We got a branch of Iceland to replace Woolworths, we've got several new bookies, including Paddy Power and Corals, We've seen plans for the Garden Centre to become a school. We've seen the Dizar gift shop come and go. Have we seen any of the small shops, which Matthew Offord was saying are vital to a vibrant High Street. No.

So what small businesses have done well in Barnet under the Tories? Well it may surprise you to know that there are plenty who've made a mint. Matthew Offord said that he'd "like to make it easier for people to run businesses without getting bogged down in red tape and bureacracy". He has lived up to his word on this. a small firm named Metpro Rapid Response was able to get £1.4 million worth of business from Barnet Council without any red tape or bureaucracy whatsoever. No contract was ever signed. Invoices were paid before purchase orders were raised. No checks were done to see whether CRB forms or licenses were in place. Sadly Matthew hasn't yet informed us whether he thinks that a bit more bureaucracy may have been a good thing. There are also stacks of small  businessmen operating as consultants getting paid a fortune by Barnet Council. One of these is the consultancy firm operated by Mr Andrew Travers. He works as Barnet Council's Deputy CEO  and his company gets paid around £14K  a month for his services. There are apparently 9,700 vendors who supply services to Barnet Council. I wonder how many of these have official contracts? I wonder how many of these get invoices paid before purchase orders are raised?

I run a small business. I am a member of the Federation of Small Business and I'd love to see Cheese Shops and other small businesses regenerating the High Streets of Barnet. Sadly, it seems to me that if you are in the business of setting up Cheese shops in Barnet, or any other sort of small business which is not council subsidised, you will get no help whatsoever. Here's an example. A friend of mine who runs a landscape gardening firm had to bid for some work with the Council. He had to fill in a document with over 60 pages of procurement documentation and 13 pages of legal documents. All of this for a contract worth £50K. He simply couldn't believe that Metpro could operate with nothing, having been forced to jump through so many hoops.

Let me tell you another thing. Several years ago, before I was a blogger or politically active, I discussed the issue of Business rates appeals with Tory Councillor John Hart. He said "They are a waste of time. The council always wins. I was on the rates appeal board for 13 years". I informed him I'd won several appeals and got thousands of pounds back. His response "We'll I find that rather hard to believe" (this was a bloke who'd knocked on my door, trying to win my vote). I've subsequently advised at least a dozen other small businesses in the process and all have achieved a reduction and a rebate.

Anyway I have this message to Matthew Offord MP. It is time to start living up to your promises to REAL small businesses. It is time to start "creating an atmosphere where someone would think Mill Hill Broadway is a great place to start a cheese shop". You may want to see just how much interest Matthew Offord MP has taken in small business - Here's his recent appearences - http://www.theyworkforyou.com/search/?pid=24955&pop=1#n4