Welcome from Monica Fogarty

Hello and welcome to the January edition of Warwickshire Means Business. I wish you all a very happy 2024. 

I am delighted to say that the first WMB of the year is a bumper edition with plenty of good news. With National Apprenticeship Week just around the corner, we feature three articles which underline Warwickshire County Council’s longstanding commitment to apprenticeships. 

We give comprehensive details of all the support offered by Warwickshire Skills Hub to businesses looking to take on an apprentice. This support includes the recently launched Future Apprenticeships Fund. We reveal the impressive stats which show just what a positive impact apprentices make day in and day out around the county, and we report a great example - apprentice Ella who has quickly become integral to the team delivering the Electric Car Strategy at Warwick-based Advanced Vehicle Contracts.  

In other news, the New Year brings yet another new strand of support available to Warwickshire businesses with the launch of the Manufacturing Growth Programme (MGP). The MGP, part of the £4.6 million Business Growth Warwickshire Programme, developed and commissioned jointly by Warwickshire County Council and the District and Borough councils, will nurture and support our diverse and excellent bedrock of manufacturing SMEs across the county. 

The MGP joins the multitude of business support programmes from ourselves and our partners already in place and very much ongoing. We hear how a Small Capital Grant helped Warwick-based Plantool sustain their growth, how the Duplex Investment Fund injected impetus to Handmade Speciality Products in Exhall, and how Above and Beyond Solutions, in Kenilworth, are advancing with the excellent input of Coventry & Warwickshire Reinvestment Trust and two County Council funds.  

Our Talk Up Your Town section features Nuneaton where some very exciting developments are coming together with more on the way. Warwickshire County Council is delighted to be working with Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council to deliver the ambitious Transforming Nuneaton programme and it’s great to see it advancing. The wonderful enterprise, spirit and resurgence of the people and businesses of Nuneaton are encapsulated by the heartwarming story of The Saints.  

The Warwickshire Country Parks service is in the spotlight in our Special Feature which investigates the business side of keeping those precious open spaces beautiful and safe to receive almost a million visitors every year. 

All this and much more, including the customary round up of news-in-brief and upcoming events, in the January edition of Warwickshire Means Business. Please do have a good read and click on the relevant links if you think we may be able to help you. 

MONICA