Sim keen to engage with digital and creative industries in districts and boroughs

A new business group has been formed to help build and champion the digital and creative industries in Coventry and Warwickshire.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership

is keen to build on the growth of creative and digital companies across the region, not least, the digital games cluster in Leamington, so has established the new group to help that happen.

The new CWLEP digital creative group aims to harness the digital expertise within the region and drive forward the Coventry & Warwickshire economy.

Warwickshire County Council Sim Lee is on the group with a role as a bridge between it and local authorities and other groups around the county.

“The group serves as an invaluable platform to feed back updates from around the county to industry and other partners," Sim said. "It is also a great way to swap input into new ideas and projects.

"In addition to this, the group will provide me with a great opportunity to work with the district and boroughs throughout the county on all current topics in this sector.”

Jonathan Browning, chair of the CWLEP, said: “We have companies undertaking cutting-edge work in digital industries and that should be reflected through our structure which shapes the investment decisions we make - all designed to help growth.

“Those companies are spread across a wide range of sectors but we felt it was important to draw them together and harness their capability as a key driver in the area.”

“I am very pleased that the Digital Creative Business Group is chaired by CWLEP board director Sarah Windrum, who is CEO of the Emerald Group, an IT and communications company based in Leamington.”

Sarah is excited by the formation of the new group and believes the nature of digital development means the group is far wider-ranging than others formed by the CWLEP.

“This new group includes representatives from businesses working in geo-spatial mapping, in games development, in digital design, in information technology and manufacturing," Sarah said. "Supported by Economic Development representatives from Coventry City Council, Warwickshire County Council, the CWLEP Growth Hub and the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, we will be able to build better partnership-working with the invaluable academic research and testbed facilities we have at the Universities of Coventry and Warwick which are also represented on the group.”