Businesses from Livingston and West Lothian joined local MPs and MSPs in Bathgate this week to discuss the potential impact of Brexit on their companies.
Hannah Bardell MP, Martyn Day MP and Angela Constance MSP hosted the listening exercise at the Regal Theatre for dozens of owners, directors and managers from both sides of the debate.
Hannah said afterwards: “This was a great opportunity for Angela, Martyn and I to really listen and understand the hopes and fears of our local businesses, and while there were concerns raised around both sides of the argument I felt it was a very balanced event.
“Some of our businesses are worried about EU nationals and their right to work because of their reliance on workers from other countries, and there were some very specific concerns about EU funding being cut and the serious impact that would have.
“I have to say there was some positivity from the attendees about their ability to work through Brexit, but the overarching feeling was that there just isn’t enough clarity from the UK government at present.”
Hannah also expressed her thanks to Cynthia Guthrie, Rob Aberdein and the FSB’s Gordon Henderson for their speeches and contribution to the event.
Cynthia is Joint Managing Director at the West Lothian-based Guthrie Group Ltd and former Board Member of West Lothian Chamber of Commerce.
She is well known locally, and Guthrie Group Ltd is one of the largest independent, family owned distributors of health and safety and facilities supplies in Scotland.
Rob Aberdein is a partner at Aberdein Considine, and chairman of Business for Scotland.
Aberdein Considine is one of Scotland’s fastest growing law firms, and Rob has been personally recommended by the Legal 500 for his Dispute Resolution expertise – specifically the Debt Recovery work he does for major UK banks.