Welcome from Mark Ryder, Strategic Director for Communities

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

This month we feature the success of our first Apprenticeship Levy Transfer and it is good to read how valuable the funding has proved in supporting Unique Care Services with training and recruiting.

 UCS is an impressive company which cares for some of the most vulnerable members of our society in their own homes and the Levy Transfer has proved a success story on every level. This creative use of funding has benefited the business, individual employees within it and, as a result, all those for whom they supply care at home.

This month brought Purple Tuesday, an excellent initiative which encourages businesses to give greater consideration to customers with disabilities. Warwickshire County Council is passionately committed to supporting our towns in becoming as accessible as possible to all so it was great to see our businesses throw their weight behind Purple Tuesday.  I am delighted that Mike Adams, chief executive of We Are Purple has written an exclusive Guest Column for us.

Elsewhere in this edition, please have a read about several business which have grown after harnessing the available business support available. The Little Soap Company is an inspiring story of an entrepreneur who was herself inspired by the Creative Warwickshire programme. AG Instruments are settling into a bigger base after taking advice from Invest Warwickshire. Lyra Electronics are targeting further growth with the backing of the Business Ready programme.

There is so much support available from ourselves and our partners - and always more coming down the track like the new round of the Growth Programme for rural businesseshttps://business.warwickshire.gov.uk/november-2019/news-in-brief/growth-programme-reopens-for-rural-businesses which has just opened. Rural businesses in Warwickshire received a total of £2.7million support during the two previous rounds of the scheme.

This edition also sees the launch a new section of Warwickshire Means Business - In the Towns - which will provide regular updates on the many strands of support offered by our town centres and tourism team.

Our Skills for Employment team, meanwhile, have been busy compiling bespoke skills fact sheets for each of our five districts. These outline the employment trends in each locality so please have a look to find out the very latest information from your area.

I hope you enjoy this edition of Warwickshire Means Business.