by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Medway, Maidstone and Gravesham councils have each signed a Small Business Engagement Accord with the Federation of Small Businesses, an organisation with some 7,000 members across the county.

The voluntary code of 14 principles underlines the importance of small firms to the local economy and seeks to persuade councils to work more closely with them and grant contracts whenever possible.

The FSB hopes that each council will nominate a "business engagement champion" to advance the cause. The best councils will compete for a special award that recognises their progress.

Council leaders celebrated the accord on the top deck of a double decker bus. Its first stop was outside Maidstone Gateway where agreements were signed by Cllr Peter Parvin, Mayor of Maidstone, and Cllr Mike Snelling, leader of Gravesham council.

The bus was then driven to the new Medway Innovation Centre in Rochester for the third signature, that of Cllr Jane Chitty, Medway council’s portfolio holder for strategic development and economic growth.

Roger House, chairman of Kent and Medway FSB, signed each document on behalf of his organisation. He said: "The FSB Accord is an important step towards addressing the most commonly-voiced concern from small businesses that decisions affecting them are often made by councils behind closed doors.

"By signing the Accord and these 14 principles, Maidstone, Medway and Gravesham councils send a clear message out to their local business community that they are open to a more productive dialogue."

The councils are instructing officials to record the nnumber and value of work given to small firms following the accord, although EU rules prevent contracts over a certain value from being awarded to local firms without a competitive tender process across the EU.