Minister stops for tea at award-winning Wiltshire business

Staff at one of Wiltshire’s most successful small businesses had a surprise visitor last week, when the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions came by.

Iain Duncan Smith MP was visiting Wiltshire with Conservative PPC Michelle Donelan when he called on the showroom of John Williams Heating Services on the Bumpers Farm Industrial Estate in Chippenham.

Director Debbie Williams said: “We were only asked the previous day if we would be available to speak to the Secretary of State and we were delighted to be asked.

“We discussed apprenticeships and how they fit into our business.

“He told us how, when he was leader of the opposition, he visited a school in Holland and how they identify early on in education some students prefer more practical studies.

“We talked about how crucial it is to get into local schools and promote apprenticeships as a really viable career path.”

Debbie Williams has recently been appointed as an Apprentice Ambassador for the national Skills Funding Agency. John Williams Heating Services has been employing apprentices since 2011 and currently four are employed as part of the team.

John Williams Heating Services has been a part of the Wiltshire business community for more than ten years.

The company won the award for Best Small Business and Business of the Year 2014 in the Enterprising Wiltshire awards.