Sunny excited by chance to affect his local community

"I have always been fascinated by how places work and fit together and a local authority is at the heart of all that"

Sunny Parekh is excited to have the opportunity to help shape his local community after joining Warwickshire County Council as a senior economist.

Sunny, who was appointed earlier this month, is settling into the Economy & Skills team at Barrack Street and can't wait to get stuck in to projects that will underpin policies rolled out by the council across the county.

Qualified to Masters level, having studied at Nottingham Trent University and the University of Birmingham, he is well-equipped to help deliver the required detailed research - and Coventry-born Sunny is delighted to have clocked on at the county council having decided to step away from the private sector.

"I love the idea of doing work that materially affects and helps the community," he said. "Working for a local authority is a great way to do that and, for me, Warwickshire County Council is a brilliant opportunity to work in my patch. I am from Coventry but have spent a lot of time in Warwickshire, especially in Leamington, Warwick and Rugby, and the connections between Coventry and Warwickshire are huge so I really feel that this is my area.

"I spent a couple of years working in the private sector after uni and that was quite enjoyable and I learned a lot. But I have always been fascinated by how places work and fit together and a local authority is at the heart of all that. I know I am right at the start of the learning curve but just can't wait to get stuck in."

Cricket-loving Sunny has always had an interest in economics but his real passion for the subject was ignited by a comment from a teacher at Woodlands School.

"I was studying A'level psychology when one of my teachers said 'with your knowledge and interest in business you should be doing economics'," he said. "That made sense so I switched and my passion for economic just grew and grew.

"Working in the private sector was interesting as far as it went but it was quite narrow, centred on just one sector. The county council works in so many sectors which means the work is so much more interesting and also there is the cope to learn so much more.

"The Economy & Skills team have made me feel very welcome and they really know their stuff so I am in the perfect place to learn - and hopefully make a difference to the communities of Warwickshire."