March was another successful month for the IPT Fellowship Programme. We had 12 individual Fellowship activities take place, and four MPs began their Fellowships this month. We take this time to look over what happened during March and thank everyone involved in the programme.  

We began on 4 March with Martin Wrigley MP beginning his IPT Fellowship with a visit to the ADS Group in London. At their HQ he met with their Director for the Aerospace and Space, they discussed the work they do to support SMEs involved in their sector to grow and develop and how new businesses can become ADS members, specifically in the South West.

On Thursday, 6 March 2025, a cross-party group of parliamentarians visited Woodberry Down, a community-led development in Finsbury Park by the Berkeley Group. The visit explored key themes including the delivery of 1.5 million homes over five years, the role of brownfield development in housing supply, and the importance of sustainability and biodiversity in new housing projects.

The same day, Catherine Atkinson MP met with Trainline at their HQ in London to kickstart her Fellowship in Transport. The visit covered Trainline’s use of data and AI, mobile PAYG technology, tech-for-good initiatives, and the future of UK rail retailing, with insights from key company leaders.

Baroness Sater continued her IPT Fellowship centred on Employee Volunteering and CSR, through an online briefing with M&S. Here they discussed the work they are doing to promote employees getting involved in projects and supporting the local community, the positive effect they are having on their staff, and how these schemes are being expanded and promoted.

Following her attendance at our cross-party group visit to the London Stock Exchange last month, Sonia Kumar MP followed this up with a briefing in Parliament from them on 12 March to better understand the work they are doing to promote LSEG as a place for business to float their shares. They also discussed the challenges around stamp duty and their competitiveness against other international stock exchanges.  Also, Baroness Sheehan met with UK Power Networks to discuss the work that is being done decarbonise the energy grid, where progress is currently at, and what can be done in future to achieve Net Zero targets.

Darren Paffey MP began his IPT Fellowship on 13 March with a briefing in Parliament from Barclays plc. The briefing gave him an overview of the Financial Services sector in the UK and the role they play within that sector. As well, Dr Beccy Cooper MP met with UK Hospitality to better understand their role as a representative body in the Food and Drink sector, and understand the challenges and opportunities being faced by hospitality businesses up and down the country.

Our fourth and final new IPT Fellowship which began in March saw Kirsteen Sullivan MP meet with Energy UK in Parliament. This briefing gave her an overview of the Energy sector in the UK, the work being done to decarbonise the sector, the challenges being faced, and the future opportunities for skills and apprenticeships within the sector.

On Wednesday 19 March, Peter Fortune MP continued his Fellowship on Artificial Intelligence with a briefing from techUK. The briefing explored the state of the UK tech economy, the role of AI in driving economic growth, and its potential to support scale-ups and SMEs. It also discussed AI's impact on the future of work in the UK.

Finally, IPT Fellowship engagements this month concluded on 20 March with Baroness Berridge meeting with OFWAT in Parliament. They discussed the role that they play as the regulator for the Water sector, the work they are doing regarding bills, and the future of the sector from their perspective.

We would like to thank all the businesses and parliamentarians involved in March’s IPT Fellowship Programme for their support and hard work on these engagements. We look forward to continuing our engagement with parliamentarians on Fellowship programmes throughout 2025, furthering their understanding of business.