With Parliament in recess I like to use this time to catch up with local businesses and organisations. It was great to visit the Hyde Group earlier this week, one of Tameside’s most important and successful companies.

The Hyde Group comprises over 20 engineering firms across Stalybridge, Dukinfield, Audenshaw and Denton, and employs over 500 people. They specialise in aerospace and nuclear work and are involved in some of the UK’s most important programmes, including the F35 and Typhoon aircraft, the Royal Navy’s Type 26 and Type 35E frigates, the Dreadnought submarines and the work of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

It was particularly good to hear about their support for apprenticeships. The Group currently has 59 apprentices (10% of the total workforce) with a strategy of taking on 15 to 20 apprentices each year.

The Hyde Group are exactly the sort of firm we should be proud of and want to see expand and grow, with Government procurement rules that recognise the contribution a business like Hyde makes to an area like ours.