Business secretary Vince Cable is visiting businesses on the Somerset Levels, one year after the floods that devastated the area’s infrastructure and economy.

Accompanied by Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) chairman John Allan, Cable will visit three local businesses and take part in a round table event with 20 firms from the area.

He used the occasion to spell out government funding commitments, including £2.3 billion long term investment in UK flood defences and more £1 million targeting flood-hit businesses in Somerset.

“This time last year, flooding on the Somerset Levels damaged many small firms that had taken many years of hard work to build up,” he said.

“These small businesses are vital for a growing and balanced economy, and creating jobs for local communities – it is only right that we do all we can to support them.”

Cable will visit Shakespeare Glass, a small artisanal glassmaker that received a government grant to create a business recovery grant after the floods.

He will also visit the Somerset Cider Brandy Company, which has been creating cider products for 150 years. It employs 20 people and exports to the EU and United States.

The last destination on his tour will be Yeovil Town football club, where he will deliver a speech highlighting opportunities for small businesses in Somerset to work on the Hinkley nuclear project.