Braintree District Council and Essex Chambers of Commerce are to stage an Open Business Forum event in Witham on Friday, February 5.

It aims to build on the success of a similar event held in Braintree and will feature Witham MP and Employment Minister Priti Patel, Stansted Airport managing director Andrew Harrison and Braintree council cabinet member for economic development Tom Cunningham.

Denise Rossiter, chief executive of Essex Chambers, said: “We were delighted that following on from the first business forum Braintree District Council were keen to work with us to deliver an event for businesses in and around Witham.

“It is a great pleasure to have Witham’s MP Priti Patel in attendance as she is a good friend to businesses across the county along with Andrew Harrison the MD of London Stansted Airport who will be speaking about their plans for the future and what they mean for local businesses.”

Tom Cunningham added: “Witham is a great place to do business especially because it is set in a great location with great links to Colchester and London and beyond. We’ve already seen businesses moving to the district and we want to do more to encourage that further.

“It is an exciting time for Witham as we are working on improvements to the town centre, we’re improving the availability of superfast broadband and we are working with partners to offer business support. I‘m looking forward to meeting Witham business people to hear what additional support we can give.”

For further details of the breakfast-time event and book a place, visit www.essexchambers.co.uk/events or call Essex Chambers’ events team on 01206 765277.