DONNA Kehoe, the Bank of England’s agent for South West, was in Westbury last Wednesday (9 May) to chair a meeting of the area’s business leaders.

As one of a team of agents across the UK, Ms Kehoe acts as the Bank's “eyes, ears and voice” in the region. The Westbury meeting aimed to help the Bank of England to collect information about trends and developments within the region’s businesses and also gave her an opportunity to explain the Bank’s policy decisions.

Afterwards she said: "It was a great meeting organised by Inspire – I got lots of useful insights from the businesses present on consumer demand investment, skills and Brexit uncertainty. This information will be used to inform the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) about economic conditions in the county.’’

The meeting was hosted by On-group, a specialist in natural beauty and nutrition and a leader in collagen technology.

James Greenwell, founder and chief executive officer of On-group, said: “It’s wonderful to be welcoming the Bank of England to Westbury for business discussion and debate.

“Brexit, interest rates, inflation and impact of government policy on local and national businesses were all on the agenda.

“From my business’s perspective, we’re hoping for very little change in interest rates as a consequence of Brexit and that global trade deals will match many of the EU arrangements. We anticipate we may lose some margin on our sales but remain very positive about the trading period ahead.’’

The event was co-ordinated in partnership with Inspire, which is committed to promoting small and medium sized enterprises across Wessex.