Stansted Airport Chamber of Commerce

Michael Portillo Champions Business and Aviation

(L to R) Stewart Wingate, MD Stansted Airport, Michael Portillo, Mark Pendlington, Director of Communications BAA

Former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Michael Portillo, has spoken of the important role aviation plays in supporting international business and the need to continue to investing airport infrastructure in the UK to keep up with other European countries.

Mr Portillo was the keynote speaker at the Gala Dinner of Stansted’s Meet the Buyers event, and highlighted the passion people in the UK have towards flying, and his own experiences of how aviation has helped transform the way businesses operate.

Meet the Buyers is a business networking event, organised by the airport and Essex Chambers of Commerce, that aims to give suppliers based in the region the opportunity to market their goods and do business with companies based at, or in close proximity to, Stansted.

Michael Portillo speaks at Gala Dinner

Stewart Wingate, Stansted’s managing director, said: "Meet the Buyers is all about supporting business and enterprise across the East of England region. It’s about Stansted’s place in the region as an economic hub, and linking the ambitions of businesses large and small to the potential of the global marketplace.

"It’s also about our international airport business playing its full part in working in the local community to make sure economic benefits are shared across as wide an area as possible. In the last 5 years this approach has put £10m into the local economy by way of goods and services bought by airport companies from local and regional suppliers.

"As Stansted grows and we serve more passengers, many of the 180 airport companies currently on site will grow too, and new ones will arrive. They will need goods and services; they will need access to a trained workforce; and BAA will want to encourage them to look for both in the local area. This is why Meet the Buyers is so significant.

"Our own ambition is to serve 200 destinations – and we already have over 160. Stansted is proud to have the largest number of scheduled EU destinations of any airport in the world. and year round we are working to encourage new airlines to come to Stansted, and for those already here to look at increasing frequencies to existing destinations. As I travel around the region, I get the message loud and clear that what business wants is more long-haul destinations too – and we are delivering now and we expect to extend even further our global reach as we continue talking to airlines in the far east and China."