This week, Sir Stephen Timms MP (Labour, East Ham) initiated a debate in the House of Commons which was solely focused on the Ethnic Diversity in Business report released by London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Black Business Association (BBA) and Asian Business Association (ABA) in May 2022.

Sir Stephen rightly praised our collegaue Esenam Agubretu, LCCI's Parliamentary and Regulatory Affairs Manager in the debate and also spoke of what Lord Dr Hastings, Chair of BBA campaigned for in the report.

A senior SNP MP and the most senior MP in the Commons – the Father of the House, Sir Peter Bottomley MP also spoke in support of the key messages in the report.

In response, the Minister for Industry and Investment Security, Nusrat Ghani MP, promised to consider further the issues raised in the debate whilst stating that the Government is determined to remove the obstacles faced by far too many minority ethnic owned businesses.

The LCCI looks forward to working with business communities across London in 2023 on the next steps to impliement the campaign for minority ethnic owned businesses in pursuit of success.

Access the full transcript of the debate.