Welcome from Cllr Izzi Seccombe

Hello and welcome to the December edition of Warwickshire Means Business.

As we come to the end of a very challenging year, may I offer my sincerest warm wishes for a peaceful and happy Christmas.

I would also like to say a heartfelt thank you to all of you in the business community for your diligence throughout the year regarding measures for limiting the spread of Covid. I fully understand that these measures have impacted on your time and business and affected your employees and we, at Warwickshire County Council, truly appreciate all the efforts that you have made.

In light of the recent emergence of further variants, it is vital that we all maintain our vigilance, of course, as Jonathan Toy outlines in our Guest Column this month.

It is nice to round off the year https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/business-supportwith some very positive news. In this edition of WMB we report the approval of another £1million funding from the European Regional Development Fund to support some of our business programmes through to 2023. It is also great to read of the success of our Adapt & Diversify grants scheme - and the well-deserved Star Award for the team that worked so hard and so selflessly to deliver it and ensure that much-needed grants reached small business as quickly as possible.

Please also have a read about the support offered during 2021 by two support schemes delivered by Coventry and Warwickshire Reinvestment Trust - maybe they could benefit your business?

Or perhaps you, or someone you know, could benefit from the Business Ready or uxplore programmes, as Kelcie's Horse Treats and Everyware Ltd did respectively? Please do visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/business-support to find out all about the huge range of business support available from ourselves and our partners.

I wish you all a very happy Christmas and peaceful and prosperous 2022.

Izzi