RORY CO-HOSTS ‘CUMBRIA DAY’ BUSINESS NETWORKING EVENT IN HOUSE OF COMMONS

Penrith and The Border MP Rory Stewart, together with his parliamentary colleagues, co-hosted the third ‘Cumbria Day’ in the Houses of Parliament this week, showcasing the very best of Cumbrian produce and ingenuity in London, and setting the scene for one of a high-profile business networking opportunity in the heart of Westminster.

A total of 15 exhibitors from across the county were invited to make the most of the opportunity to network and show off their products to representatives from across the whole country; from Penrith and The Border, these included Cranston’s Quality Butchers and The Toffee Shop. The event was also supported by the University of Cumbria, Cumbria Tourism, CN Group and the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), and sponsored by Sellafield.

Speaking at the event, Rory said: “Everything about this is Cumbrian – Cumbrian livestock, fed on Cumbrian grass, watered with Cumbrian rain, and made by Cumbrians into great Cumbrian food. For me the future of Cumbria, particularly east Cumbria, is about really embracing our landscape, our soil and our produce.

“We should be proud of the engineering in West Cumbria but that’s not the whole story and I sometimes worry that when we talk about economic development in Cumbria that is all we talk about.

“What will really make us unique, white different to anywhere else in the country, in the next 20 to 30 years is going to be our landscape and food because, frankly, so much of the rest of the world is getting wrecked. It’s getting over developed, it’s getting destroyed and we’ve been lucky to keep one of the most beautiful environments in the world.”