There have been a couple of great events in Sale over the past week alone. On Friday it was the International Women’s Day celebration that I host every year. It is a great opportunity for the young women living in or attending schools in Sale to hear from local businesswomen and other residents about their careers and their lives.

Sara Todd, the chief exec of Trafford Council, gave a fantastic keynote speech about her journey from planner to chief exec and her experience of misogyny. We also heard from DCI Jenny Kelly who spoke of her rise to the top in GMP. They were joined by brilliant speakers from Manchester Airport Group and the regional director of IT for Amazon amongst others.

Messenger Newspapers: Mike Kane on International Women's Day

It was great to see so many guests inspired to take a soap-box moment, which is a 2-minute slot to talk about their experiences. I was really impressed by the young women who attended from Sale Grammar School and Sale High School who spoke about their hopes and their experiences. The future really does seem to be in safe hands listening to these young women.

I was also asked to say a few words at a Trafford Council ‘Business Support’ event also at the Waterside. I am very proud to be an MP in Trafford, it has a fascinating industrial heritage, once the largest industrial estate in Europe and home to Amazon, DHL, Unilever, the Trafford Centre and of course and as much as it pains me to say this as a City fan – Manchester United!

Messenger Newspapers: Mike Kane at the Business Support Breakfast

These global brands are of course important to us as a region, however of equal importance are the SMEs and sole traders who have chosen to invest in Trafford and in our people, creating jobs and driving our economy forward.

It has been a tough few years for everyone. Just as we thought we were through the worst of the pandemic, we were hit with soaring energy costs and rising inflation. Issues in Russia and the Red Sea are causing disruption to supply chains. We are still going through a cost-of-living crisis. Small business owners tell me they feel they are being hit from all sides – your costs are up; your staff need higher wages, and businesses are trying to avoid putting prices for fear of driving customers away.

Elected members and officers of the council teamed up with other local organisations to offer a one-stop shop for business support, whether that was digital marketing or financing. A special thanks to Cllr Eve Parker who drove this event forward, I look forward to continuing to work with Trafford Council and officers on future drop-ins.

As always, if you would like to discuss anything with me my door is always open.