Welcome from Cllr Martin Watson

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

Firstly, this month, I extend the warmest congratulations to all our winners in the Coventry & Warwickshire Foodie Awards 2023. The excellence of Warwickshire’s food and drink offer is reflected by its economic value to the county - the sector generated over £300m for the local economy in 2022. It was great to see so many of our businesses receive the accolades at the Foodie Awards that their hard work and expertise so richly deserves.

That wonderful food and drink offer has played its full part as our county’s Visitor Economy continues to bounce back strongly from the pandemic with a total value to the Warwickshire economy of £1.27billion in 2022.

More to celebrate this month comes from the breaking news that Coventry and Warwickshire will receive up to £7.5million of new investment under the new Immersive and Creative Technologies Launchpad programme.

There is always plenty to celebrate in the excellent work of our team at Warwickshire Skills Hub. This month we feature Emma’s inspiring story in our Special Feature on Warwickshire Supported Employment Service and also report the launch of the Fair Chance Jobs Portal and the Skills Hub’s team-up with Lillington Community Pantry.

We also shine a spotlight on the north of our county where exciting things are happening in Coleshill which features in our Talk Up Our Towns section. Our guest columnist, Tom Mongan, reflects upon his time as chair of the North Warwickshire branch of the Chamber of Commerce and celebrates the deep bond of business and affection between the city of Coventry and the county of Warwickshire.

I hope you enjoy all this and much more, including our regular comprehensive round up of upcoming events, in the October edition of Warwickshire Means Business.

MARTIN