Ashfield District Council hosted a delegation from Mentor City Trade Initiative (MTI) in Ohio, USA.

Mentor, a city in Cleveland, has a strong manufacturing and retail focus, along with research and development, engineering, and metalwork companies that serve advanced manufacturing for the aerospace, polymer, and biomedical industries.

The meeting explored the potential for the two communities to work together for mutual benefit, enabling their respective business communities to access UK and US trade markets.

Coun Matt Relf, executive lead member for Regeneration and Planning at Ashfield, said: “The meeting with Mentor City will mean that Ashfield will start to be seen as an important trading location within the US and encourage new international referrals.

“It will offer an opportunity to local companies to access new markets and strengthen supply chain bases.”