I’ve been out canvassing in Kingswinford South with the excellent Cllr Patrick Harley who is also Leader of Dudley Conservative Group.

I’ve welcomed a few visitors to Parliament. I arranged for Paul Maubach, Chief Accountable Officer of Dudley Clinical Commissioning Group, to give a briefing to the Dudley borough’s MPs on the group’s progress and future plans, which was most useful.

I was also pleased to welcome Amy Simmons from Wall Heath and her parents for the ‘Postcards from the Edges’ exhibition — to promote autism awareness — which Amy successfully entered.

I visited Plyvine Catering, a family run catering business in Brierley Hill which has been providing high quality event catering services for over 30 years, to meet with directors Philip and Stuart Matthews.

I also visited Dudley Building Society’s new head office next to Merry Hill. It was great to meet with Anna East, Chairman, and Jeremy Wood, Chief Executive, to welcome the society to its new home at the Waterfront and hear about plans to serve more savings and mortgage customers in Dudley and the Black Country, and South Staffordshire.

It’s great to have another major local employer coming into the rejuvenating Waterfront and also positive that Dudley Building Society now has room for future expansion from its new base.

Well done to 19-year old Christian Webb for taking the plunge and opening his first business, The Sun Lounge Wall Heath. I was delighted to visit Christian’s newly opened salon on Wall Heath’s High Street.

I visited Meridian Metal Trading where Richard Bowyer, Managing Director, showed me their impressive site employing 140 people in Dudley South. The company has been expanding in recent years, adding more units at its Netherton base. It was great to visit another growing Dudley firm optimistic about future prospects.

In the Commons I made numerous contributions to the second reading of the Consumer Rights Bill and also took part in Treasury Questions, raising improving unemployment figures in the West Midlands with the Chancellor.

  • Chris Kelly can be contacted via 01384 211 041, office@chriskelly.mp or House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. You can also read the latest news and views at www.chriskelly.mp.