A voice for small firms

Wakefield-based therapeutic consultant Janice Haigh has been elected Yorkshire and Humber policy chairman for the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) which has 16,000 members in the region.

Ms Haigh, who originally worked in export sales, now provides complementary therapies, counselling and neuro-linguistic programming to businesses and individuals. She joined the FSB Wakefield branch in 2000 and was first elected to its policy committee early in 2009.

She said: "Small businesses are now, perhaps more than ever, the backbone of the region's economy and have a major role to play in its economic recovery.

"The change of government and slow emergence from recession will bring a lot of national decisions with a big local impact and makes these exciting, but challenging, times."