The national chairman of Britain's biggest business group has visited Gloucestershire to hear about some of the issues facing the county and its small business owners.

Martin McTague, who heads up the FSB (Federation of Small Businesses), had the chance to meet a number of local businesses as well as take part in a roundtable discussion about how the county's business community will keep its strong voice when GFirst, Gloucestershire's LEP, sees its funding end next year.

Mr McTague also visited the Gloucestershire Growth Hub to hear about the county's unique network of hubs and it was there he met up with LEP chiefs David Owen, Dev Chakraborty and Sarah Danson to discuss the post LEP environment and what impact that could have on local business decision making.

The FSB team then visited the Sherborne Cinema in Gloucester to hear first hand about the difficulties independent businesses like that face when competing with the larger chains. Owner Mark Cunningham also shared his frustrations that his proud 'cash only' policy is proving difficult to maintain in an increasingly cashless society.

Joined by FSB area lead for Gloucestershire Russell Warner, FSB regional chairman Lee Nathan and the county's FSB development manager Sam Holliday, Mr McTague also visited the West End Office suites complex near Stonehouse where they enjoyed fruitful meetings with two successful businesses based there - Market Dojo and Business Insurance Partnerships (bip).

Mr McTague admitted to being very impressed with what he saw of the county on his visit.

"It was fantastic," he said. "It was good to hear some of the issues businesses faced and have a positive discussion on the way forward for the business voice following the decision to cut LEP support."