Welcome from Mark Ryder

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

This month we bring the excellent news that £5.6m from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund has now been granted to Warwickshire County Council.

This funding will support local communities, businesses, people and skills and, working in partnership with the District and Borough Councils, Warwickshire County Council will deliver a bottom-up programme to help residents gain new skills and businesses to start, grow and thrive. 

The continued UKSPF support for another year allows the County Council to extend the Business Growth Warwickshire programme with its six strands of varied support, and to continue to drive Warwickshire Skills Hub’s range of employment and skills programmes, including Destination Work and the Future Destination Hub.

There are many relevant links in all the WMB articles but please do visit Business Growth Warwickshire to see if we might be able to help your business.

Also in this month’s WMB we hear from the founder of a groundbreaking software company who explains why Coventry & Warwickshire is the perfect place to build an automotive tech business. Our Talk Up Our Towns section features Kenilworth and how historic events there 450 years ago are still benefiting the town’s economy in 2025. We hear how the Hercules Academy and Warwickshire Supported Employment Service have teamed up brilliantly to bring opportunities to those facing barriers to finding work.

Whatever your needs in terms of business and skills support. there is almost certainly a programme which could help. As Leamington hairdresser Keri Chimes puts it in this edition, after her business benefited from the Skills Escalator, “There is so much business support out there in Warwickshire and it’s not something you get in every county. We are really lucky and I would encourage every small business to see how they could benefit."

All this in the July WMB, plus the customary comprehensive round-ups of local news-in-brief and upcoming events. Enjoy - and please do get in touch if we can help your business!

MARK