HART District Council has been highly commended by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) at the annual Local Authority Small Business Friendly Awards.

On Tuesday, 5 September, the council was highly praised for being one of the ‘Best All Round Small Business Friendliness’ local authorities across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, coming second to Test Valley who won the main award.

Councillor David Neighbour, district council leader and cabinet member for economic development, said: “This is a great achievement for the team at Hart. We have restructured our economic development offering and this award showcases the hard work the team have done in this short amount of time. We will continue to ensure that a thriving local economy is one of the four priorities for the council, which is reflected in our emerging new corporate plan.”

Since introducing the new economic development team in November last year, Hart officers have been proactively engaging with the local business community to update them on business support services provided by the council and how businesses can be signposted to help and advice, skills and funding information.

Neil Eames, Development Manager for FSB in Dorset, Hampshire and Isle of Wight, said: “We are delighted to recognise the work undertaken by Hart District Council and we are keen to help promote such examples of good practice to all councils, ultimately to help support our local business community.”

For more information visit www.hart.gov.uk/businesses.