Conference will focus on current challenges facing businesses

The line-up has been announced for Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce's Annual Business & Economic Conference on Friday, November 11.

The conference will focus on current challenges facing businesses, including rising interest rates, energy costs, inflation, raw material sourcing and costs, recruitment and retention issues and other barriers to growth. It will also explore some opportunities of which businesses in the region can take advantage.

More than 200 delegates are already booked to attend the event, which has two main sponsors – PET-Xi Training and Prime A ccountants Group. Supporting sponsors are WCG and Help to Grow, while PLMR Advent is the conference’s media partner.

The event will be hosted by Chamber Chief Executive Corin Crane, who will also chair an Economic Panel which will include Liam Conway, from Control Energy Costs; Steve Harcourt, from Prime Accountants Group; and Angela Joyce, CEO of WCG. They will discuss issues that are holding back growth and what businesses want from new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

A Business Confidence panel will be chaired by Professor Martin Reeves, Chief Executive of Coventry City Council, and will include Monica Fogarty, Chief Executive of Warwickshire County Council; Martin Sutherland, Chief Executive of Coventry City of Culture Trust; Dr Fleur Sexton, founder of PET-Xi; and Atul Lakhani, CEO of IXL Events Centre.

The panel will look at some of the exciting developments on the horizon for Coventry and Warwickshire around inward investment, investment zones, innovation, a potential Gigafactory and the legacy of Coventry 2021. It will also explore opportunities for upskilling and reskilling, growth in business and leisure tourism and social mobility.

The conference will close with a keynote speech from Dr Sabrina Cohen-Hatton, who was homeless on the streets of South Wales at the age of 15 before starting a career with the fire service at the age of 18.

She went onto study at the Open University followed by Cardiff University, completing a PhD in Psychology.

While climbing the ranks within the fire service Dr Cohen-Hatton continued her academic work, and her research into decision-making in high pressure situations in the emergency services has won awards and influenced global policy.

Corin Crane said: “I am really looking forward to this year’s conference – my first as Chief Executive of Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce. It’s a chance to get businesspeople and decision makers from across our great region in one room and look at the issues we’re all facing.

“Not only that, we can start to look at some of the opportunities for businesses in Coventry and Warwickshire to grow and to come up with real and tangible solutions to the problems that companies across the patch are dealing with on a day-to-day basis.

“We’ve already had a great response from businesses booking on to the conference but there is still time for firms to secure a ticket for what is the biggest economic event on the business calendar in Coventry and Warwickshire.”

For more information or to book a place at the Chamber’s Annual Economic Conference go to: https://www.cw-chamber.co.uk/events/annual-business-economic-conference-2022/