The Great British Pub is part of the community, and Bracknell’s MP supported local pub “The Queen’s Oak” on Friday evening, 13^th January 2012. He started his ‘shift’ at 7.00 p.m.

Dr Lee had a lesson in pulling the perfect pint of Brakspear from landlord, Dawn Lay, and spent time serving customers calling in for an end of the week relaxing drink, keeping up the tradition of generations who have used their local pub as an informal meeting place. Pubs like the Queen’s Oak now present an ideal setting for all the family.  

This is part of Dr Lee supporting the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group’s “MPs Behind the Bar” campaign. Last year he started pulling pints behind the bar of various local pubs, which is a great informal way for him to meet local residents and vice versa.

Dr Lee commented:  “The pub is great place to meet locals and I will make sure that pubs will continue to thrive at the heart of every community. The Queen’s Oak here in Finchampstead is a great example of how pubs are all about being part of the community. I enjoyed my evening by meeting with the locals and learned how to pull a pint correctly. Pubs are hubs of community life, as important to the local social scene as they are to the local economy here in Bracknell.”

Dr Phillip Lee, MP for Bracknell, visited Fujitsu in Bracknell last Friday 13^th of January 2012 to meet with Simon Blagden, Chairman of Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe, Cathy Walker, Head of Public Sector Marketing and David Sillitoe, Director of Group Property for Fujitsu UK & Ireland.

Fujitsu is a leading IT systems, services and products company employing 11,400 people with an annual revenue of £1.7 billion. Bracknell excels across a number of business sectors, with a particularly strong base of expertise in technologies and science. It is often referred to as the ‘Silicon Valley of Europe’.

Bracknell has evolved into one of Britain’s leading ‘knowledge economies’ –characterised by concentrations of high skill and technology industries such as advanced engineering, ICT and pharmaceuticals, financial and business services. In an independent survey commissioned by the BCC and Experian in 2010 Bracknell was ranked No 1 location for foreign owned businesses. Bracknell has the highest share of high-tech employment of any location in the UK.

Dr Lee commented: “It was a pleasure to meet with Simon Blagden, Chairman of Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe, Cathy Walker, Head of Public Sector Marketing and David Sillitoe, Director of Group Property for Fujitsu UK & Ireland.  Fujitsu does many things to support this country, many of which are undertaken within Bracknell constituency. I am proud to have such a successful company in my patch that is contributing to the thriving economy here in Bracknell.”

Dr Phillip Lee, MP for Bracknell, was pleased to join the Prime Minister at the Waitrose Distribution HQ in Bracknell on Thursday 5^th of January to recognise the outstanding involvement of the company in good causes, both locally and nationally. The Prime Minister presented managing director Mark Price with a Big Society Award for the supermarket chain’s Community Matters Scheme, which has now donated £10m to charity.

Waitrose donate £1000 every month to three chosen charities. Customers are invited to apply for their Charity of Choice to be selected to receive funds raised in store. Shoppers are offered a token every time they shop in the store. These tokens can be then inserted in one of three boxes – one for each organisation. At the end of the month the tokens for each organisation are counted, and the beneficiaries receive a corresponding proportion of the funds.

Mr Cameron called the Community Matters scheme “entrepreneurial” and “exciting” and said: “I think it is a really great advert for what a great business can do to support local charities and local people. It sums up what the Big Society is all about. It gives me huge pleasure to give Waitrose this award.”

Dr Lee commented: “It is a very long time since a Prime Minister of this country visited the Bracknell constituency (outside of the obvious regular visits to the RMA at Sandhurst). Indeed, I have found no one who can recall such a visit. I was honoured to join the PM at such an important occasion. I would like to congratulate Waitrose for being such a successful and responsible business. The “Community Matters Scheme” offers a great opportunity to help raise people’s awareness and personally contribute to some chosen charities. I am pleased that Waitrose are doing such a great job in making our society better off by helping people to engage in community activities that will benefit our society and economy as a whole country.”

Constituents had the chance to quiz their MP, Dr Phillip Lee last week, when he held his second public question and answer session on Thursday, 8th of December 2011. The meeting took place at the Driver Room at Wellington College in Duke’s Ride in Crowthorne and was followed by an open trip to the pub. Dr Lee will hold quarterly meetings, rotating around the entire constituency between Bracknell, Crowthorne, Sandhurst and Finchampstead.

Dr Lee commented: “The aim of these sessions is to increase the opportunities for my constituents to come along and engage in participating in political debates. People are getting increasingly interested in Politics and I believe that Q&A meetings are the most effective way to get involved in a discussion. I would like to thank everyone joining me in Crowthorne and I hope that more people will engage in the discussion in the future.”

Dr Phillip Lee, MP for Bracknell, visited the new Waitrose in Bracknell last Friday 9th of December to meet with Graham Oakley, Branch Manager. The John Lewis Partnership is one of the largest employers in Bracknell Constituency. The new store will create 172 new jobs for the area. The opening of the new supermarket is a significant step forward to Bracknell Town regeneration plans and with our festive season coming up the store and its employees have the busiest time of the year.

Dr Lee commented: “I am very pleased to have Waitrose as the largest employer in my constituency. The new store in Bracknell will create 172 new jobs which is a positive sign of town development. Graham Oakley and his staff are doing a fantastic job of providing a great store for everyone to use.”