CW Connect created to keep businesses informed
Coventry and Warwickshire companies will be able to bid for new contracts with local and national organisations via a revolutionary new web platform for the region.
The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce has partnered with the Coventry and Warwickshire LEP Growth Hub to launch CW Connect to offer up-to-the-minute business opportunities to firms across the area.
The site will allow businesses of all sizes and sectors the chance to post new contract and tender opportunities, allowing companies with a CV postcode to pitch. Procurement opportunities from local authorities in the region will also be linked to the portal (as well as on the dedicated home for these opportunities: www.csw-jets.co.uk).
The platform has been developed by the same company that created the CompeteFor site for the London Olympics in 2012 and it will bring together tender opportunities from other websites
There will be a £199 charge per user to gain access to the opportunities showcased on the platform but existing Chamber of Commerce members will be given access for free, thanks to the collaboration between the Chamber and the CWLEP Growth Hub.
Craig Humphrey, managing director of the Growth Hub, said: “This is an incredible opportunity for companies across our region to bid for and win new business.
“We want large organisations to place their opportunities here – including everyone from local authorities through to HS2 – but we would also like smaller businesses to do likewise. Even if you just require new post-it notes, put that on the portal and see if you can find a local supplier.
“You don’t have to subscribe to advertise opportunities but you will need to sign-up if you want to be able to bid for work through the portal. And you have to be based in Coventry and Warwickshire if you want to subscribe and pitch for the work.”
Louise Bennett, the chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said the new CW Connect portal fitted perfectly with the Chamber’s Go For Growth: Trade Local campaign.
She said: “We launched Trade Local to get firms across the patch doing more business with one another and we want that to be everything from small orders to major contracts and everything in between.
“So we are delighted to be partnering with the CWLEP Growth Hub in this initiative because we can see the benefits it will bring to our members and to the wider economy.
“We are encouraging as many organisations as possible to post their opportunities on the portal so that it makes a positive start and gets companies trading locally.
“We have invested in it in order to be able to offer our existing members a free log-in so that they can use CW Connect to help them Go For Growth.”