GOVERNMENT plans for the future of businesses in the north west came under the spotlight at a special lunch hosted by Bury College.

Bury South MP Ivan Lewis addressed around 50 local companies, each of which were presented with college "training and development" awards.

After the presentations, Mr Lewis took centre stage to talk about the "future of Bury businesses."

Later, he invited the guests to take part in a question-and-answer forum, during which company representatives and directors had the opportunity to quiz the MP on future issues.

After a brief lunch, Mr Lewis sat in with individual businesses, discussing their individual needs and the idea of setting up an inter-active workshop.

Heather Saul, Bury College's small-medium enterprise project manager, said: "It's a wonderful gesture on behalf of Ivan to come to the college so quickly and talk so positively about our work with small and medium-sized companies and about the importance of future business in the Bury area."

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