British business wants us to encourage foreign students

Employers are suffering because of the government's blanket approach to rules on immigration

- Chris Blackhurst

At the House of Commons on Thursday evening, there was little sign of any government ministers. It was a pity, because I rather wished they’d been walking past the doors of the packed Members’ Dining Room and looked in.

E2E, the business networking and mentoring organisation, was holding a dinner to launch the "E2E International 100", tracking Britain's 100 most successful small to medium enterprises. It's the third such track, all produced in association with The Independent, coming after the E2E Female 100 and E2E Tech 100. "Job Creation", "Dynamic" and "Profit" are next. The criteria for the International 100 is more than £5m in export sales over the past two years and more than £10m in turnover.

In the room were assembled many of our finest up-and-coming entrepreneurs, people who had formed their own businesses and were now selling their products overseas. They ranged across all sectors, from food and drink to automotive accessories to data to tech to professional services to leisure goods (the figures for the hot-tubs supplier were especially impressive). It was a glittering array of British commercial talent on display in one place. The atmosphere was crackling and energetic, as you might expect.