Luke's mission is to make a real diffence to WCC's business centres

"I like to feel as though I am making a difference and really helping to support businesses and deliver value and that is my top objective in this role."

Luke Pulford is "very excited" by his new role as Business Centres Manager for Warwickshire County Council.

It is a role to which he has brought much relevant knowledge and experience from a track record of success in supporting small businesses and delivering value at business centres.

Luke is eminently qualified for the role - but that did not stop him putting in some serious extra research for it, from the inside, before he took it up after leaving his position as Workspaces Development Manager for Leicester City Council.

"I really wanted to get an insight into the role, so before I actually started the job I spent several days unpaid around our business centres just taking a good look at how they operate," he said. "I spent time with my predecessor Duncan Haldane and the teams around the centres. I was made really welcome and it was very useful.

"I am very excited by the role. It is a really different challenge for me - I think that was the main lure. At Leicester, I was basically given a brownfield site and told to build everything from scratch. Here, the business centres already exist and it is a question of seeing what we can improve. And while there is a lot about our centres that is very good, there is certainly scope for a lot of improvement.

"That's my challenge - to ensure that our tenants get the best possible value so that they are thriving and happy and remain in our centres and therefore give high value to the county council and the communities around them."

Born in Kettering, Northamptonshire, Luke studied at De Montfort University, Leicester for a degree in Entrepreneurship. Through his consultancy business, he then worked with over 200 start up and SME clients and helped them launch and grow businesses and created many jobs. He has worked in both public and private sectors, in start-ups, SMEs and PLCs

In Leicester, he was initially recruited to launch the City Council’s first centre to create, support and grow a cluster of technology-focused. His role quickly evolved and ultimately expanded to running the wider portfolio of workspace buildings for the Council.

"I really enjoyed my work in Leicester and am proud of it," said Luke. "I dealt with some fantastic people and businesses there.

"But I like to stretch myself and this role in Warwickshire is different. I like to feel as though I am making a difference and really helping to support businesses and deliver value and that is my top objective in this role."