THE Bank of England’s new deputy governor paid a visit to Wiltshire to see what challenges face the county’s businesses.

Wessex Chambers of Commerce arranged a private meeting with Sir Jon Cunliffe and several companies last month at the site of civil engineering contractor MJ Church, based at Marshfield.

Sir Jon, who started his new role in November, was keen to hear first-hand how local businesses were faring.

Castle Combe Circuit, Chippenham-based Rotaval, Corsham Print and Corsham’s Martingate shopping centre were among those represented, as well as Nationwide, Investec Wealth Investment, Pearson May Accountants and Strakers.

Wessex Chambers manager Stefan Barbaruk said: “We were delighted to have been asked to organise this event so early in Sir Jon’s tenure. Hopefully he was able to get a picture of how the Wiltshire economy was performing.”

The Chambers have been running a series of similar meetings across the region with the Bank of England.