A new All Party Parliamentary Group has been set up to address the challenges faced by the wholesale industry.

Made up of 25 members, it aims to “highlight the role and value of the wholesale food and drink industry to the British economy, and provide a forum for discussion of the challenges it faces”.

The group is chaired by Liberal Democrat MP Dan Rogerson, who said that the sector needed to be represented in Parliament. “Wholesale distributors provide a vital service to thousands of small businesses, and as all the other links in the food and drink supply chain have their own All Party Groups, it is absolutely right that the wholesalers are represented within Parliament in this way,” he said.

The group will meet four times a year to discuss the industry and how it can help wholesalers and their customers.

Its next meeting will be in October when it will discuss alcohol fraud and its effects on the wholesale business as well as potential activities to put pressure on the government to explore legislative measures to tackle threats.

Federation of Wholesale Distributors chief executive James Bielby welcomed the introduction of the group. “These MPs and Peers have demonstrated their support for our industry and an understanding for the challenges we face, and we are delighted that they will be using their influence to represent our policy positions to their Parliamentary colleagues,” he said.