Business summit held in Canary Wharf

Delegates from 100 businesses have quizzed the mayor on how Tower Hamlets Council can help them.

The business summit was aimed at giving small firms and start-ups a voice in the East End's strategic planning for the future.

"Canary Wharf has one of the largest concentrations of global financial firms in the country," Mayor John Biggs said.

"But 98 per cent of East End businesses are small firms employing fewer than 50 people, with a significant number employing fewer than 10."

Yet one organisation fighting unfair rents was absent. The East End Trades Guild, which lobbied parliament earlier this year to stop crippling rents going up three-fold for small businesses, wasn't invited, according to its general secretary Chrissie Nicholson.

The summit was chaired by East London Business Alliance's director Julie Hutchinson, who said: "Operating in inner London presents challenges which is why it was focussed on how to help businesses stay in the East End as they grow."

Garrett Clarke, from White Label marketing agency which set up the summit, told the East London Advertiser: "We had 100 small companies whose voices were heard, discussing challenges such as affordable commercial space, how Further Education helps make a skilled workforce and the transition to digital technology."