Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Bill Esterson, shadow minister for small business, arranges to meet me at Portcullis House, the ominous-looking building beside the Houses of Parliament.
Once past the beefed-up security (“It’s because of Brexit,” Esterson grumbles), it’s a jolt to see many of the faces you see on the nightly news: over in one corner sits Robert Peston, while Andrea Leadsom and Nicky Morgan sit at others and James Cleverly wanders through waving at people. Clearly, this is the beating heart of Government.
Esterson, 52, became an MP in 2010 having previously run a training consultancy with his wife. Their small business employed 14 people. Then the Financial Crisis of 2008 happened, and their bank called in its overdraft. The Estersons used their savings to repay the bank and pay staff salaries.
“It’s a story I hear again and again from businesses,” he says. “It’s absolutely essential that we put in support and advice and really back our small firms.”
Esterson, who became an MP in 2010 and has been shadow small business minister since 2016, is clearly what used to be known as “a red-hot Socialist” in the old parlance. Passionate about the problems facing small business, once he