This weekend, I will be hosting a Battle of the Bands competition at local music venue Base Studios.

The winners of this competition will go forward as my nominations to the national Rock the House competition, which is held in Parliament and judged by leading professionals in the music industry.

Nominees will be in with a chance to win festival slots, studio time, equipment, and the chance to premier in London’s West End. Last year local band, War Kites, got all the way to the final and I am delighted that there have been so many entries this time. I am very much looking forward to seeing them all play tomorrow.

Tomorrow I will be attending an “Events with the Edge” Business Breakfast, which is always a useful opportunity to hear from local companies, and see whether there is anything I can do on their behalf.

Last weekend I visited a lovely new coffee lounge in Oldswinford, “No 92” set up by Jonathon Smith and Keifer Jodie Smith. It is excellent to see business opening up around Stourbridge, and I would encourage anyone in the area to drop by. Last week I also visited the Duke William Pub on Coventry Street and met the owner, Dave Craddock.

Dave oversees three of Stourbridge’s best pubs, and it was very helpful to discuss his business and the sector more generally.

Afterwards, I met a local doctor to talk about GP services in Lye, and whether anything could be done to improve provision in the area.

I have also had a busy time in Parliament this week. On Tuesday I attended an excellent lecture by William Hague on William Pitt the Younger. William Pitt was one of the most extraordinary characters in British history, he became Prime Minister at the age of 24 and served in this office for twenty years.

Today, I will be joining the debate on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a free trade deal in negotiation between the EU and US. TTIP has the potential to add £10 billion to the UK economy each year, benefiting companies of all sizes.

Finally, I would like to apologise for an error I made in Parliament towards the end of last year. I stated, wrongly, that 4000 new shops had opened in Stourbridge since 2010. This figure in fact referred to the number of business that have started in the borough of Dudley since 2010. I am sorry that I confused these statistics, which are, of course, unrelated. The Parliamentary record has since been corrected, and regardless of my mistake I’m delighted that businesses are doing so well in our borough.

Margot can be contacted on 01384 370574 or margot.james.mp@parliament.uk.

You can also sign up to her regular newsletter at www.

margotjames.com/subscribe or you can write to her at The Old Library, Hagley Road, Stourbridge, DY8 1QH.