Major investment in broadband will make the region's businesses more efficient

Coventry and Warwickshire companies will be catapulted into the digital age in 2018 thanks to a range of support available.

Major investment has been made in the broadband infrastructure across the region and that is set to continue, giving firms across the city and the county the opportunity to bolster their business through better and more efficient use of ICT.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce is offering companies match-funded connection vouchers on projects up to a maximum of £2,500 that will help them to transform their digital capabilities.

The voucher can be used on a superfast connection to the internet as well as equipment or networking capacity that would mean companies can make the most of new technology to help grow their business by moving from slow internet connections to a minimum of 30Mbps – and much more in many areas.

Companies must be based in Coventry or Warwickshire postcodes and must have a broadband speed of less than 30Mbps to qualify for the vouchers.

The vouchers are part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) which is part of a larger project, working with the Warwickshire County Council-backed CSW Broadband, which operates across the region to improve broadband speeds.

"We are delighted to work with the Chamber to offer this support," said Councillor Kam Kaur, Portfolio Holder for Customer and Transformation for lead partner Warwickshire County Council.

"The county council has led the CSW Broadband infrastructure investment programme that has invested tens of millions in superfast broadband. The scheme goes from strength to strength and we encourage all businesses to take advantage of the new opportunities that it presents."

The new scheme sits alongside the recently-launched UK Government Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme, which is aimed at companies looking to access 1,000 Mbps.

Coventry and Warwickshire is one of a handful of pilot areas where grants of up to £3,000 are available towards the installation costs of new gigabit capable broadband connections.

The Gigabit Voucher Scheme is being administered by Coventry City Council, on behalf of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

Keely Hancox, Operations Manager of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “There is a real opportunity here for companies to take advantage of support – and funding – that will help to move them into the digital age.

“Coventry and Warwickshire businesses can really catapult themselves forward in the New Year by taking advantage of this help.

“A fast broadband connection is key to so much of what we do in business – whether it’s downloading big files or, for some, accessing their servers via cloud-based computing. So we would urge companies of all sizes to get in touch, because there is a very strong possibility that they will be able to benefit from what’s on offer.

“With Coventry now the UK City of Culture in 2021, we will want to be as far advanced as possible when it comes to our digital capabilities, so that the whole region can benefit from the possibilities that are opened up through the use of digital technologies.”

For more information, please call Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce on 024 7665 4321.