STRABANE business owner John Friel has been reappointed as the Federation of Small Businesses’ regional chair for Northern Ireland following the organisation's annual general meeting.
And he says he is relishing the challenges of the next 12 months leading the north's largest business organisation (it now has 6,000 members).
“As we look to the weeks and months ahead, FSB will be at the forefront in encouraging government at all levels to promote and protect the interests of all small businesses, which are the backbone of our local economy," he said.
" At this time of particular uncertainty around our future relationship with the EU, we will fight to ensure that the voice of small business is central to the debate.
“We will continue to fight for our members’ interests in areas such as non-domestic rating, where we hope that the Executive will recognise the importance of supporting businesses from every sector of the local economy in providing relief to help our smallest firms manage this burden on their business.
“Encouraging consumers to support local traders, we will again be supporting the Small Business Saturday campaign on December 3, and will also continue to work with local government to improve their performance in paying their suppliers on time," he added.
Marlene Marcus and Brendan Kearney were confirmed as regional vice-chairs at the AGM.
