Kent Science Park was at the heart of the debate on what the Government is doing to help small and medium sized businesses ride out the current economic downturn when Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Cabinet colleagues visited the county.

The Prime Minister was joined at the science park, near Sittingbourne, by Lord Peter Mandelson, the recently appointed Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform; John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, and Jonathan Shaw, Minister for the South East.

The event gave the audience of 100 specially invited small and medium-sized business people and advisers the opportunity to take part in their very own, ‘Prime Minister’s Question Time’, chaired by James Brathwaite, Chairman of South East England Development Agency (SEEDA).

In his opening address the Prime Minister recognised the impact of the 1,200 employees at Kent Science Park, describing it as: “a huge success with over 75 firms and is a great tribute to the ingenuity and creativity of the people in this area and making a difference”.

After being welcomed by the managers of the Park, the Prime Minister outlined the root causes of the current economic downturn, which he described as “the first financial crisis of the new global economy”. He went on to focus on weaknesses in the supervision of the global financial system which led to the Government’s recapitalisation of the UK banking sector to unblock the credit crunch and bring about stability.

At the heart of the Prime Minister’s speech was the Government’s commitment to help small businesses improve their cashflow and access to finance by its multi-billion pound refinancing of the nation’s banking system, and training for staff.

The Prime Minister outlined the Government’s plans to reduce the time it takes to pay small businesses from 30 to 10 days and that it wants the NHS, regional development agencies, local authorities and major businesses to follow suit.

Looking confidently to the future, Gordon Brown said: “This is the time when people are insecure and fearful about the future and we have to take people through these difficulties and show how we can build a stronger economy for the future years. Britain is strong in pharmaceuticals, science, IT, modern manufacturing technologies, and creative industries. In fact we are very strong in all those areas of high added value goods and services, which are what is going to be needed by a country like ours to sell to the world in future years.

“Despite all the difficulties that we are going through, despite the harder times that every continent in the world is facing, we should be confident of our future, because our basic skills, our basic strengths, our scientific genius and also our stability are a very good guide to how we can do well in the future.”

Andrew Bull, of LaSalle Investment Management, the managers of the Park, said: “It was very reassuring to see the Prime Minister recognise the value of many of the industries which are already well represented here at Kent Science Park and the urgency with which he and his team is focusing on small businesses which are so important to the country’s economy.”

Skills Secretary John Denham unveiled a £350m package of training support which will see the ‘Train to Gain’ programme targeted directly at small businesses to ensure they have the all important skills they need and get the quickest return on their investment and with the very minimum of bureaucracy.

James Speck, Site Director of Kent Science Park, said: “Many of the 80 companies based at the Park epitomise how the UK will compete in a global economy in the future. They are knowledge-based highly innovative businesses involved in developing new technologies that will help tackle the major issues we face, such as climate change, renewable energy, improving healthcare and feeding a growing world population.”

Before the visit of the Prime Minister, the Park’s managers met senior representatives from SEEDA and had the opportunity to outline plans to invest a further £25m over the next five years which would create a further 500 jobs by expanding the 22 hectare Science Park by a further four hectares.