A BUSINESSMAN has spoken of his pride after taking a trip to Downing Street to celebrate the work of small firms across the country.

Nigel Richardson, who runs Secret Hamper, was invited to take part in a showcase for the national Small Business Saturday event.

Mr Richardson, 47, from Tolleshunt Major, started his hamper business in summer 2016.

As part of the event he got to showcase his company, which allows people to send a hamper of essentials to family and friends, and network with other firms.

For the day Tiptree’s Wilkin & Sons prepared a special No 10 Downing Street label for a jar of jam for Mr Richardson to present to organisers.

He also met MPs including Stephen Barclay, economic secretary to the treasury and Baroness Fairhead, minister of state at the department for international trade.

Mr Richardson described the visit as a day he would never forget.

He said: “It was a great honour and privilege to be invited to No.10 in celebration of being one of the 100 businesses nationwide to be chosen to feature in Small Business Saturday 2017.

“To be able to stand in front of one of the most iconic street doors in the world and then walk up the famous staircase featuring the portraits of all the former PM’s will be a day I’ll never forget.

“It was great chatting with Stephen Barclay and also Baroness Fairhead CBE who was rather taken with our special No.10 jar of jam with had specially labelled by our friends at Wilkin & Sons.”

Small Business Saturday took place at the weekend and the special event at Downing Street was held last month to mark five years of the nationwide campaign.

Michelle Ovens MBE, director of Small Business Saturday, said: “Small Business Saturday shines a spotlight on our local businesses to show how vitally important they are to individual communities and the UK as a whole.”

To find out more about Secret Hamper visit secrethamper.com.