Welcome from Mark Ryder

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

This month has brought the great news that, according to the latest data, Coventry & Warwickshire is the best-performing location in the whole of the UK and Northern Ireland for foreign direct investment. This is such a resounding tribute to the quality, breadth, skills and innovation of the region’s economic offer. My warmest thanks and congratulations go to all the many people, not least our own excellent Invest in Warwickshire team at the county council, who contribute in so many ways to making our region the powerhouse that it is.

One of the factors behind that enduring success is that so much good work goes on in our patch with an eye on the future and that was very much the ethos behind the recent Future Careers Fair in Nuneaton. It was wonderful to see so many local businesses support the event which was so successful that similar ones will be rolled out in every borough and district across the county early next year.

In this edition of WMB we also reflect on the recent vibrant Polesworth Careers Fair and examine the great work of Warwickshire Careers Hub and their army of much-valued Enterprise Advisors.

We also reveal stories of businesses which have grown with support and guidance from some of the numerous projects delivered by the county council and our partners. We feature a Rugby business which is blossoming thanks to WCC’s Apprenticeship Levy Share programme, a Nuneaton firm which has tapped into Start-Up support and the Kenilworth business benefiting from the Business Ready programme.

We report the launch of the Warwickshire Business Watch website, created to help keep businesses secure, and hear how Severn Trent are keen to engage with businesses across the county to pursue their sustainability goals.

All this and much more…including ice cream. In high summer, there has to be ice cream!

MARK