C & W in Business March 2017

Issue 58

March / April 2017

Monica Fogarty explains why chemistry is the key to partnership - page 20

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Coventry & Warwickshire in business

Foreword

CONTENTS

Taking time out to consider the future Dear Chamber of Commerce Member, I find myself writing this column whilst sitting, as a delegate, at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) Annual Conference 2017 in London on 28th February 2017.

Much like our own Coventry Warwickshire Chamber Annual Economic Conference (date for your diary- Friday 3rd November 17), it is useful, at times, to take time-out to think about how the wider economy, globally and locally, impacts on your business. To also network with your peers and listen to how they go about growing their business. To also reflect on local and national and, indeed, international Government thinking and consider how this will impact on our (your) business environment. Of course the Chancellor of the Exchequer outlined, on 8th March, some of his thinking on how to make UK businesses more productive and more successful, but I am not convinced that the budget was as business-friendly as it could have been. I am also conscious of the forthcoming business rates shakeup and I am certainly not convinced that this is 'best for business' as businesses are currently facing rising costs in an increasingly competitive (and somewhat uncertain) market/s. Should there be further mention of business rate increases (at a local, regional level) I believe that the 'case has to be made' as to how this money will be spent before it would get business agreement and my hope would be that we will see the election of a West Midlands Metro Mayor with strong business acumen alongside, of course, political astuteness.

BREXIT remains a big topic of conversation, with businesses now calling for clarity on Government thinking around trade, immigration, agriculture policies and much more. I would urge Members to pick-up a copy of our British Chambers 'Business BREXIT Priorities' document which calls for early clarity around trade deals and on-going support for new & existing exporters. I am also delighted with the progress of our own CW Business BREXIT Club that led a great event, recently, with Lord Bridges of Headley MBE, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department for Exiting the European Union.

www.cw-chamber.co.uk

Hearing from Greg Clark, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, at the BCC Conference, I was pleased to note that he referred to Chambers of Commerce as unique networks with a strong voice of business and the need for Chambers of Commerce to be part of new 'sector and locality' based deals and for Chambers of Commerce to be both developing and 'delivering' the Government's new Industrial Strategy.

Makes sense as thousands of businesses continue to view their local Chamber of Commerce as the 'place to go to' for support and advice.

What is great to hear is that Members & clients of Chambers of Commerce are increasingly being viewed as "civic businesses", the foundation of localities, the generators of wealth & jobs, with as much interest in profit as they / we are in investing in our local communities.

I would urge more "civic businesses" who can evidence success in trade, innovation, sustainability to take a look at the Queen's Awards for Business - could you apply for such an award? If yes, get in touch with me on louiseb@cwchamber/.co.uk as your Chamber is working with the West Midlands and Warwickshire Lieutenancy Service/s to deliver, this year, a Queens Awards Masterclass.

I think the most important factors for business, going forward, is resilience and confidence and I see bucket-loads amongst the civic business of Coventry & Warwickshire; a dynamic economy with thirty five thousand plus businesses of all sizes and across all sectors.

Your Chamber of Commerce continues to support local businesses with a real positive "Go for Growth 2017" theme.

If you need advice, support, export opportunities, connectivity and networks, skills & apprenticeship support, then just give us a call on 02476 654321.

Kind regards Louise Mrs L Bennett-Bayliss OBE, DL Chief Executive

March/April 2017 Mayor Election

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Go for Growth

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News

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Events

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Corporate Profiles

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International Trade

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Corporate Profiles

12-13

Chamber Training

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Business Support

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Legal & Finance Property

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Profile

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Policy

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Around the region

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Apprenticeships

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Retirement

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News

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Business Services

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News

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President & People

44-45

New Members

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Training & Events

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Mayor Election 2017

CONTACTS At the Chamber

News desk

Members are encouraged to send any news about their firm - new orders, staff, new products, expansions or relocations - for publication in C&W in business.

Metro Mayor debate comes to Coventry

Whilst every effort will be made to publish submitted articles, we cannot guarantee inclusion.

Send them to: news@cw-chamber.co.uk Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce Chamber House Innovation Village Cheetah Road Coventry CV1 2TL T: 024 76 654321 F: 024 76 450242

At the publishers

Publisher

Ian Fletcher

Benham Publishing Limited 3tc House, 16 Crosby Road North, Crosby, Liverpool L22 0NY 0151 236 4141

Advertising Contact Karen Hall karen@benhampublishing.com 07801 788880 Production Manager Mark Etherington Accounts Director Joanne Casey Media Number 1495 © Benham Publishing 2017 C&W in Business is produced on behalf of Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce by Benham Publishing Limited and is distributed to members free of charge. Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information contained in C&W in Business, neither Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, nor the publisher can accept responsibility for any omissions or inaccuracies it contains. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Chamber.

The official publication of the Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce

The official publication of the Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce 4

The Chamber has played a supportive role in securing all of the five main candidates to appear at four Public Debates across the West Midlands in the lead up to the election of the first regional mayor on May 4.

Councillor James Burn (Green), Pete Durnell (Ukip), Beverley Nielsen (LibDem), Siôn Simon MEP (Labour) and Andy Street CBE (Conservative) will line up for the events starting on March 7.

The dates and venues are: Wednesday 22nd March: Coventry Cathedral Tuesday 4th April: Patrick Centre, Birmingham Hippodrome Sunday 23rd April: Vox Conference Centre, Resorts World Birmingham, NEC Campus.

All Public Debates will take place in the early evening, with the exception of the last one which will be during Sunday daytime. A total of around a 1,000 people are anticipated to attend.

The Public Debates are supported by a range of service partners including Purpose (brand and design), PSP (technical services) and Action Starter (technology). Principal partners include the Chambers of Commerce across the region (Greater Birmingham, Black Country and Coventry and Warwickshire) and leading think tank Centre for Cities.

Other partners include BPS Birmingham, the Lunar Society and Downtown in Business Birmingham.

Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “We are delighted that we have played a strong role in bringing this event together at Coventry Cathedral.

“Alongside the significant numbers of the general public who will be at the heart of the audience, we have secured places at the Coventry event for our Strategic Partners, Corporate Members and other key local partners to ensure that businesses can play an active part in the debate.”

The Public Debates are organised by Urban Communications, sister firm of

RJF Public Affairs which publishes the Chamberlain Files political blog. It is also launching an information website www.westmidselects.org.uk - to help voters find out more about the role of mayor, the candidates and details of how to cast a vote on May 4.

Kevin Johnson, Managing Director of Urban Communications and Partner at RJF Public Affairs, said: "Generating interest and engagement in this election is going to be challenging. It will need big moments to bring the contest and the opportunity to life.

"Debates that are open to and fully involve the public are therefore essential to this election.

"I am very grateful to all the candidates for readily signing up to Public Debates when we started to pull together plans some months ago.”

The Public Debates will be led by local newspapers across the region – the Express & Star, Birmingham Mail and Coventry Telegraph. The papers will be responsible for selecting members of the public to attend the Public Debates and putting their questions to the candidates.

Programme helps firms target growth A new support programme to take high-tech companies in Warwickshire and Coventry to the next level is now being promoted by Corporate Chamber member Glued.

The Business Ready programme is delivered by the University of Warwickshire and supported by Warwickshire County Council and the European Regional Development Fund.

Local business branding consultancy, Glued won the contract to promote the programme in partnership with Strategic Chamber member Advent Communications who are doing the PR and Image+ of Coventry who are developing the web site for the initiative.

Eligible companies will get advice and mentoring, access to key services and University resources to maximise their growth potential. Contributing to the skills base and competitiveness of the region. Targeted at established

small or medium sized growing business, progressive start-ups will also be considered.

Janette Pallas, of the University of Warwick Science Park, said Business Ready built on the support services already offered by the Science Park.

She said: “Business Ready will help to grow the region’s economy and create new jobs.

“Barriers to growth usually come down to a lack of access – to space, to finance, to knowledge and skills and to markets. For some SMEs it can be one or all of those issues that’s affecting them and Business Ready will help them to overcome them and, therefore, grow more quickly.”

David Wilson, Creative Director at Glued, said “It is great to be involved with an initiative that reflects our own mission to have a positive impact on the local and regional economy through its businesses.”

www.cw-chamber.co.uk

Coventry & Warwickshire in business

Policy Go for Growth

Firms offered help over Brexit A group of senior business figures has started to help local firms plan for the UK withdrawal from the European Union.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce has launched a Brexit Club to help its members adjust to life outside the EU – and its steering group has held its first meeting Representatives from sectors including manufacturing, automotive, construction, legal, leisure and logistics drew up plans to help the area’s companies be fully prepared when Brexit happens.

The group looked at any changes which have happened since the referendum result in June, what challenges and opportunities Brexit may bring, along with major priorities.

The session was chaired by David Burton, a leading city accountant and a Chamber board member. He said that it was vital that the Chamber was as prepared as possible to allow business to make any adjustments once Article 50 was triggered by the Government.

“With such a scarcity of information from the Government about its plans for Brexit, it is very hard for businesses to set out their stall for the coming months and years, so that they are in the strongest position once the withdrawal actually happens,” he said.

“There were a myriad of issues – from custom controls to employment law, and from energy costs to certification – which the steering group raised as areas which will be key.

“Those companies which trade oversees also felt it very important that we also seek the views of international trading partners to assess their perception of how Brexit may affect their relationships with UK firms because that will also be crucial.

“We will now collate the issues raised, so that we are ready to put them to ministers and other key decision makers in the coming months. We will also be planning a series of wider events which will address particular issues.”

Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Chamber added: “Businesses thrive on certainty and planning, and the lack of a visible plan makes that very difficult. We will be lobbying ministers to try to provide answers to the questions which have been raised.

“The lack of a visible plan may well be a tactic, but certainly the feeling of the group is that the Government was caught on the L to r : Louise Bennett, David Burton & John Nollett with representatives hop by the vote to from a range of business sectors. withdraw and we “But, when all said and done, the are clearly stepping into the unknown withdrawal from the EU – whatever which makes business nervous, and shape it takes – is going to happen therefore can hinder growth when our and businesses will need to be as ready economy is actually out-performing and prepared as possible.” many others.

Specialist steps in to help after cyber attack

A Coventry-based IT specialist has been praised by a company for ‘getting it out of a hole’ after being hit by cyber-crime.

Netmetix, a strategic partner of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, didn’t even count Micromix Plant Health as a client when they received an urgent call from the firm at the start of 2016.

But after coming to the Nottinghamshirebased business’s rescue, Netmetix has

become the IT supplier to the growing company, which is now making the most of its cloud computing services.

Wilson Boardman, the managing director of Micromix, explained: “I actually knew Paul Blore, of Netmetix, but they didn’t work for us at the time.

“I was out at a meeting when my operations manager called to tell me that files were being encrypted and, in all honesty, she didn’t believe the response of our existing IT provider was the right one.

“She called in Netmetix and, bearing in mind we were not even a client at the time, Paul dropped everything and raced across.

“He stopped our IT company doing what they were doing – which was deleting files – and managed to decrypt the files.

“We were in a hole and Paul dug us out of it. IT is somewhere between absolutely vital and business critical so a loss of files and

any considerable downtime would have been damaging.

“Paul and his team had us up and running within 24 hours and had even recovered the deleted files. We couldn’t thank him and the team enough and there was no doubt in our minds to invite Netmetix to take over all of our IT services.”

Micromix was established in 1987, Wilson joined the company in 1999 and bought it in 2006. It develops and supplies products, mainly to farmers, around the globe to help crops grow – whether its pistachios in the Middle East or mangos in Brazil.

In 2016, it sold products in 21 countries worldwide, with South Korea its biggest export market.

After spending several years concentrating on research and development, it is now looking to raise its profile and also to attract investment to take it to the next level. Micromix has 31 staff at its Nottinghamshire base as well as three in Brazil and one in France.

Wilson added: “By operating ‘in the cloud’ it means our staff around the world and those in the office are all joined together.

We, therefore, see Netmetix as a playing a key role in our future growth.”

Paul Blore added: “We were delighted to be able to help Micromix in their hour of need and it’s been great supporting their growth over the past 12 months.

“Cloud computing is safe, secure and gives businesses the chance to utilise the most up-to-date software and services – and to connect their staff anywhere in the world where there is an internet connection.

“For most small and medium-sized businesses, any expenditure on IT is generally a grudge purchase, but cloud computing allows them to take a much more strategic perspective on their IT requirements and match them precisely to the current needs of the business.”

Government urged to act on land shortage Business leaders in Coventry and Warwickshire are urging Government to look at the region’s shortage of employment land as a matter of priority.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce has written to Gavin Barwell, Minister of State for Housing and Planning, saying it backs ambitious plans for 88,000 new homes in the sub-region in the period between 2011 and 2031.

But, the Chamber says, the plans for more employment sites fall way short of meeting the needs of the growing population’s ability to be self-sustained when it comes to jobs.

It adds that, due to the ‘welcome pace’ of economic growth, the 714 hectare target across the 20-year period

www.cw-chamber.co.uk

amounts to just two-and-a-half years’ provision and will hinder the area’s potential of landing major inward investors.

That, the Chamber says, will be a severe restriction on ambitious and essential growth plans for the regional economy and its ability to provide employment to a growing population over the next 15 years.

Sites at Ryton and Ansty have been identified by the Chamber as potential areas for expansion and it has written separately to Rugby Borough Council as part of its consultation on its local plan for 2011-2031.

In that letter, the Chamber has asked why a proposed new ‘model village’ known as Walsgrave Hill Farm – which comprised 2,400 new homes that would

complement the expansion of the Ansty Business Park and Rolls Royce site and maximise the environmental benefits of Coombe Country Park to the wider public – has been dropped for a site 15 miles away from Coventry.

The Chamber has offered to support the Borough Council – in conjunction with Coventry City Council, the CWLEP and the region’s MPs – in seeking an urgent meeting with Government to clear any ‘impasse’ that could have such a ‘fundamental and prejudicial impact on the sub-region’s ambitious plans and economic aspirations’.

Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, wrote: “Our arguments and evidence about the inadequacy of new employment land provision now seem

to have been acknowledged and accepted by the CWLEP, our political leaders and our local MPs but the ability and willingness to do anything about this precarious position is being thwarted by, what we are told in feedback from some of our MPs who have taken up the issues with the relevant local authorities, is the requirements of the Government’s National Planning Guidelines.

“We are being told that to re-open discussions to make increased provision for a realistic provision of new employment land at this stage of the Development Plan process would require all LAs to also reopen/revise the ambitious housing targets that we’ve all collectively sign up to. This doesn't make sense, is unnecessary and counterproductive.

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News sponsored column

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Landmark deal for motorsport engineering company A Coventry-based motorsport engineering company has completed a landmark deal to break into the Italian market, after attending a tradeshow in Germany.

Lifeline Fire & Safety Systems Ltd secured a deal worth more than £50,000 to supply fire suppression and safety equipment to Italian manufacturer Fiat Abarth for their R5 rally programme.

The deal was completed on the stand at the Professional Motorsport World tradeshow in Cologne, after the company received tradeshow support funding through the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce’s international trade team.

Lifeline specialise in providing fire suppression and safety equipment for cars used in world motorsport, including F1 and the WRC. Its latest system was on-board the car that won the Monte Carlo Rally in January, driven by reigning WRC

champion Sébastien Ogier. Based in Charter Avenue Industrial Estate, the engineering company employs 28 people at its 16,000 sq ft premises and exports to 43 countries around the world.

Working closely with the Motorsport Industry Association (MIA), in 2007 Lifeline diversified into defence – gaining a number of contracts with the UK Ministry of Defence.

In the past 12 months, Lifeline have developed two new fire safety systems in-line with new regulations and managing director Jim Morris says this has given the company the edge over its competitors.

He said: “We have left our competitor base standing and they can’t keep up with what we’re doing.

“Fiat Abarth were really impressed with us and our engineering and design capabilities, they are actually talking about a further order of units in March.

“Motorsport stimulates development in high-performance engineering, allowing us to push the boundaries in what we do.

“It’s very important to be at tradeshows like this, it’s a global show and allows us to access these new export opportunities and the support from the Chamber helped us do that.”

While at the show, Lifeline also finalised a deal with Hyundai, adding to its impressive customer list including Aston Martin, Mercedes Benz, Audi and BMW. Brian Mountford, International Trade Adviser at the Chamber, said: “I have been working with Jim for some time and I’m delighted that the funding we were able to give to Lifeline has helped with this milestone deal for them.

“Being out there, face-to-face with buyers at tradeshows is a great way to boost your exports and I hope more businesses take advantage of the tradeshow support provision we offer.”

www.cw-chamber.co.uk

Coventry & Warwickshire in business

News

Mercedes-Benz Vans are the healthy option for Theo’s three-pointed star since it began trading in 1992.

The firm started out with a handful of pre-owned models – its latest batch of 12 Sprinter 316 CDIs illustrates just how far it has come since.

Theo’s operates from headquarters in Aldridge and supplies its mouthwatering range of healthyeating, marinated chicken dishes as well as sauces Keeping it in the family: Founder Chris Gavriel started out with Mercedes-Benz Vans and breads to a huge and with his son Theo now at the helm as Managing Director, the relationship variety of customers, between manufacturer and customer goes from strength to strength including restaurants and One of the UK’s leading manufacturers of takeaways, schools, hospitals and marinated chicken and accompaniments businesses. has commissioned a new fleet of The company was recently audited by temperature-controlled Mercedes-Benz the British Retail Consortium and came vans to distribute its products nationwide. through with flying colours, achieving the West Midlands-based manufacturer top, AA Grade certification for the quality Theo’s has relied on vans bearing the of its products and processes.

As previously, Theo’s acquired its latest, high-roofed, Medium-length Sprinters from Dealer Midlands Truck & Van. Its first low-emission Euro 6 models, they are powered by impressively economical, smooth and responsive 163 hp engines.

Nine have replaced older vehicles which have been stood down. However, in a move that reflects strong demand for its products, Theo’s has also added an extra three to a fleet which now extends to 25 vans.

“Our loyalty to Mercedes-Benz is well established over nearly a quarter of a century,” said Managing Director Theo Gavriel, whose father Chris founded the family business.

Mr Gavriel senior, who is now Chairman, named the company after his own father, who was also called Theo.

Theo’s provides a nationwide service, delivering to customers as far afield as Scotland and Cornwall, Wales and Norfolk.

Warwickshire tourism industry set for £10-15m illion boost Warwickshire's economy is set for a major boost this year with an additional £10-15million expected to be pumped into the county's tourist industry from increased visitor-numbers.

With so many world-renowned attractions across the county, including Warwick Castle, the Royal Shakespeare Company and The Rugby World Hall of Fame, the tourist sector is a major component of the county economy.

Overseas visitors spent more than £100million in Warwickshire in 2015.

And that sum is expected to significantly increase this year as visitors from around the world, notably the United States of America and Europe, take advantage of sterling's post-Brexit devaluation.

The full implications of Brexit on the national and local economy will take years to unfold with next year likely to be tough as uncertainty over the future, causes

businesses to hold fire on planning and investment. But there will be a very positive impact on tourism in the short and medium-terms, says Warwickshire County Council's Economy & Skills Group Manager Dave Ayton-Hill.

He said: “The significant and sustained devaluation of sterling, particularly against the dollar and euro, will encourage more overseas visitors to come to the UK this year. With so many fantastic attractions in Warwickshire, we can expect to welcome our share.

"Indications from the US are that a lot of people who have long been thinking of a trip-of-a-lifetime to the UK will now take this opportunity while their money will go that much further. That is good news for Warwickshire because, whereas European visitors tend to come over for a weekend or few days, because of the distance involved tourists from US come for two

or three weeks so spend that much more.

We expect an extra £2.5million spend from visitors from the US and £5.3million from Europe.”

"When you factor in tourists from other parts of the world,a £10-15million uplift in tourist revenue next year is likely, simply on increased spending power. That is good news for Warwickshire's tourist industry which is traditionally strong and globally renowned.”

Farrellys shines with new Mercedes-Benz Antos

So taken was Steve Finnegan Jnr with the appearance of the Mercedes-Benz Antos demonstrator he was shown by Dealer Midlands Truck & Van that he replicated it when ordering his company’s new 18-tonner shortly afterwards.

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Mr Finnegan is the General Manager of Black Country metal polishing firm Farrellys and his father, Stephen senior, is Managing Director of the thirdgeneration family concern.

Their new flagship shares the same ClassicSpace S-Cab in metallic grey paint with optional colourcoded bumpers and external sun visor as the Antos curtainsider in which Truck Sales Executive James Smith arrived at their factory in Wednesbury.

Mr Finnegan said: “James was clearly eager to win our business while I really liked the sleek styling of the Antos he brought out for us to look at.

I used the demonstrator as the template for our own vehicle.”

The largest independent non-ferrous metal and tube polisher in Europe, Farrellys serves customers from the automotive, architectural, marine, brewing and food industries among others. Its impressive client list includes the likes of Princess Yachts, Louis Vuitton, One Hyde Park, the O2 Arena and the new Grand Central in Birmingham.

The company’s 30,000 sq ft factory has five overhead cranes which ensure easy loading and unloading of products.

The new truck is now making collections and deliveries, predominantly within the West Midlands region.

Mr Finnegan said: “As well as being highly cost-effective to operate, the truck looks really smart in our new livery and doubles as a great mobile advertisement for the business.”

sponsored column

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Corporate Partners Event

Sports legend inspires audience Garlands Corporate were delighted to have Derek Redmond at Mythe Barn speaking at a Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce event for Directors on Tuesday 17th January.

Sport, business, psychometric profiling, teamwork and their interrelation were discussed. A tour of the venue and adjoining events facilities were offered alongside a range of team building activities and exercises to try out.

Competitive activities including archery and laser clay pigeon shooting were also available.

Derek, sports legend and Group Performance Director of Thomas International, talked about his team’s tactics at the 1991 World Championships.

He gave an insight into how the team members themselves rather than their coach determined the final running order for the 4x400m relay team, and how having assessed their profiles some years later he came to see how a mix of attributes and skills is essential within a team. He and his team members changed the running order the night before the relay race and Derek revealed how their strength profiles shaped their responses to this last minute team meeting. Derek believed that they won because they, as a team, played to these

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strengths; they felt that the new running order was better for them individually, believing in their ability having decided the order for themselves.

Derek believes that the same characteristics and talents that make good athletes are also transferrable into business and pearls of wisdom abounded throughout Derek’s engaging talk. He reinforced that a team of people exactly like yourself will not bring success, but that a mix of strengths and talent is essential. He also discussed the importance of understanding the characteristics of people within the team to improve performance, and the part that psychometrics can play in helping to understand ourselves and other team members better.

The event provided a great networking opportunity throughout the morning and a useful understanding of psychometric profiling and the value this can bring to an organisation. Competition for the archery and laser clay pigeon shooting was fierce, and the event finished with an awards presentation. As anticipated, Derek Redmond stole the show walking away with the prize for laser clays. Pleased with his performance, he commented ‘that’s the first thing I’ve won in a long time!’

“The event provided a great networking opportunity throughout the morning and a useful understanding of psychometric profiling and the value this can bring to an organisation.”

www.cw-chamber.co.uk

Coventry & Warwickshire in business

Chamber TLC Network

sponsored column

Chamber's new TLC launch event a great success Businesses in the leisure and tourism industry were given an insight into Coventry’s bid to become UK City of Culture in 2021 and the huge economic impact it could have on the area.

David Burbidge, chairman of the Coventry City of Culture Trust, was guest speaker at the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce Tourism, Leisure and Conferencing (TLC) network launch at Coombe Abbey Hotel.

It was part of the Chamber’s new Sector Network which will see dedicated events and information offered to firms in Tourism, Leisure and Conferencing (TLC); Manufacturing Supply Chain (manufacturing, engineering, automotive, logistics, construction); Skills (education, training, HR); and Innovation (ICT, digital, innovation) sectors.

At the very first TLC event, David spoke to businesses about tourism in Coventry, the benefits that Hull has seen after winning the title of UK City of Culture 2017 and how winning the bid for UK City of Culture in 2021 would benefit not just Coventry, but the wider region.

He also urged the companies to get behind the bid to help strengthen the city’s chances of winning the accolade.

David said: “This is a massive opportunity for Coventry economically.

We would be the biggest UK City of Culture to date and a lot of people would visit because of our geographical location.

“We are right in the centre of the Midlands Engine area and there are 40 million people who live within two hours of Coventry.

“Hull is currently being transformed and is calculating that being UK City of Culture will add £150 million of economic value, but I think the figure will be more like £200 million. The city has already seen tourism rise 14 per cent.

“We are currently doing some in-depth research on tourism in Coventry with the city council and the two universities to show how we can build on this opportunity.

“We want to make sure that people come to Coventry and stay here rather than moving on to other places nearby, and winning the bid for UK City of Culture 2021 will help us achieve this.

“We have a serious chance of winning but we do have some serious competition. Having the business community behind us will strengthen our bid.”

Julie de Thierry, membership and business team leader at the Chamber, said: “The launch of our TLC network was very successful and gave businesses the opportunity to network with likeminded individuals from the sector.

“We were delighted to welcome David as guest speaker. He was able to give businesses an overview of the current state of tourism in the city as well as speak about the huge benefits that winning the UK City of Culture 2021 would bring.

“The Sector Network is another part of our commitment to helping companies across Coventry and Warwickshire grow and we look forward to welcoming businesses to our next TLC network event at the RSC in July.”

For more information, contact the Chamber on 024 7665 4321 or log onto www.cw-chamber.co.uk

Making Tax Digital – What does it mean for you?

We are now able to operate large parts of our lives via the internet – we manage our financial affairs, book holidays and purchase just about anything you can think of – so it was becoming increasingly incongruous not to be able to organise and view our tax affairs online.

Making Tax Digital is a project to create online tax accounts for all taxpayers and to require businesses to keep financial records electronically and report their performance to HMRC on a quarterly basis.

For many, MTD will just mean increased visibility of their tax affairs and replacement of the tax return with reporting information via their online tax account, but for some small businesses, quarterly reporting is going to be a shock to the system.

The first group of taxpayers being brought within the quarterly reporting regime will be small sole traders, small partnerships and individuals with reasonably significant investment property portfolios and this will apply to their first accounting period commencing after 5th April 2018.

For some, this is inevitably going to lead to more formal record keeping, but this should be seen as an opportunity rather than a headache. Accounting software has improved immeasurably in recent years and is now capable of being based in The Cloud so can be accessed from any device from virtually anywhere. Accounting records can be kept up to date with minimal effort once a little time has been invested on initial set-up. This will give an up to date view of how your business is performing, thus enabling decisions to be made based on accurate information.

So hopefully the vast majority of taxpayers will stand to gain from this brave new digital world of taxation. Not in monetary terms, but in ease of interaction with HMRC and in improved visibility of where they stand.

For those that can see nothing but extra administration and cost, speak to us to learn how you can make these changes work for you, rather than against you.

If you would like more information on Making Tax Digital please contact Brian Jukes on 02476 221 046 or email brian.jukes@dafferns.com

www.cw-chamber.co.uk

9

Corporate Profiles

London Taxi Company hails Chamber support

Chris Gubbey, CEO of LTC

The manufacturer of the black cab is preparing for life at its new home on the edge of Coventry.

The London Taxi Company (LTC), which has been building taxis at its current site in Coventry since 1948, has plans to expand into the global market and sell its black cabs to major cities around the world – investing £300m in the project.

Since starting to make the taxis synonymous with the capital, London Taxi Company has been based at the same

facility in Holyhead Road, Coventry, but next month it will move home after nearly 70 years.

The new factory, based at Ansty Business Park, will be the first brand new automotive facility to be built in the UK in over 10 years and the UK’s first facility dedicated to solely producing ultra-low emission vehicles.

At the new facility, LTC will produce a range extended electric fleet of the famous black cabs, creating up to 1,000 jobs for the region.

The business has already seen its workforce double to over 600 in the past 12 months, and the new factory has the capacity to assemble up to 36,000 vehicles a year.

LTC is a corporate member of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, providing the business with access to automotive expertise in the region.

Chris Gubbey, CEO at LTC, said: “This is a really exciting time for London Taxi Company, the new factory will put us at the forefront of automotive innovation and allow us to create our world-beating new vehicle.

“We’re delighted to be staying in Coventry. The area has a unique automotive heritage. There is a huge amount of expertise here, particularly in the use of advanced materials.

“It wouldn’t make sense for our business to be based anywhere else.”

London Taxi Company’s main dealership is based in London, where it holds an 80 per cent share of the taxi market, but its manufacturing operation has always been based in Coventry.

The new factory will open in March and the company will launch its brand new range extended electric taxi later this year.

LTC is aiming for the taxi to achieve OLEV Tier 1 funding, which requires a vehicle to run for more than 70 miles on electric power alone, The TX5 taxi will be able to run for more than 70 miles on electric power alone.

Back in 2013, London Taxi Company went into administration but was saved following investment from Chinese automotive giants Geely – the largest private automotive business in China.

“Geely saw the potential of the business and the bright future in the industry.

Particularly with declining personal car ownership, growing urbanisation and environmental concerns in cities,” said Chris Gubbey.

“By becoming a corporate member of the region’s Chamber of Commerce we hope to reinforce our network in the local area and work with others to develop new relationships.

“It’s crucial for us, that we make the most of the expertise in the area, embrace the automotive community and improve what we can offer to a global audience as we continue to grow.”

“The new factory, based at Ansty Business Park, will be the first brand new automotive facility to be built in the UK in over 10 years and the UK’s first facility dedicated to solely producing ultra-low emission vehicles.”

Company enjoys another year of growth A leading utilities and energy consultancy based in Coventry is powering ahead off the back of another year of sustained growth.

Utility Team, whose headquarters are at Elliott Court on Coventry Business Park, Herald Avenue, is looking to increase its headcount from 30 to 40 staff this year to support its expanding client base and services.

The fast-growing company was established in Coventry in 2009 by Matt Jakeman and Scott Birley and works with businesses of all sizes and across multiple sites throughout the UK to manage their utility contracts and reduce their consumption.

Through its established relationships with all of the major energy suppliers, as well as water and telecoms companies, its team of experts help clients get the best value from their contracts.

Managing director Matt Jakeman said uncertainty in an already volatile market had sparked demand for their expertise during 2016.

He said: “We have seen growth of between 30 and 40 per cent year-on-year and want to continue at that sustainable rate as we have done in previous years.

“In the last 12 months, we opened an office in Birmingham as the base for our small and medium size business sales operation which contributed to our growth during that period.

“Our focus for this year will be building long-term relationships in and around our

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business which can help us with delivering other products to clients.”

Working with small and medium sized companies is one of the fastest growing areas of the business with Utility Team’s products allowing these companies to join together in buying consortiums to access the wholesale market and make significant savings.

The deregulation of the water market in England in April this year represents a new opportunity for the company to broaden its services. Commercial customers will, for the first time, be able to choose the best water retailer for their needs regardless of where they are based.

Matt added: “We are also looking to grow our staff numbers to 40 this year and will be investing in the right people to help take our business further forward.”

On-going training and investment in staff is a priority for Utility Team and the company was recently certified to the quality management system standard ISO 9001 which is focused on customer service.

The company is committed to continually improving service to achieve customer satisfaction by having rigorous quality procedures in place to meet and exceed the requirements of ISO 9001.

Utility Team is a corporate member of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce which gives the company an opportunity to develop links with other businesses across the area.

Matt added: “Although we operate throughout the UK as an industry leader,

Utility Team managing director Matt Jakeman (left) and sales director Scott Birley.

our roots are very much embedded in Coventry and as a corporate member of the Chamber, we look forward to working with more businesses in the area to help them

get the most from their utility contracts.”

Further information about Utility Team is available by visiting www.utilityteam.co.uk

“Utility Team is a corporate member of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce which gives the company an opportunity to develop links with other businesses across the area.” www.cw-chamber.co.uk

Coventry & Warwickshire in business

International Trade

Firm takes advantage of European opportunities

Exact Logistics’ new warehouse operative Dan Armstrong, sales and marketing director Karen Shuter, Paul Mitchell – promoted to transport supervisor, new warehouse operative Aldis Maurins, new transport supervisor Greg Randall, Nauris Janulis – promoted to operations manager and operations director Fred Kennett.

A logistics firm in Rugby has launched a new continental service and has taken on new staff members to cope with demand.

Exact Logistics has expanded to offer daily services to and from Germany for small consignments of palletised freight as it looks to provide its increasing customer base with even faster overseas delivery options.

The company specialises in delivering palletised freight across the UK and Europe,

with Germany being home to the majority of the company’s overseas customers.

To cope with demand, the business has appointed three new members of staff and made two promotions as it sees a considerable amount of growth.

Karen Shuter, of Exact Logistics, said: “Our services to and from Germany are a very important part of our business and our new daily service gives customers in both Britain and Germany even more

flexible delivery options at a fixed rate tariff.

“Traditionally, British firms importing goods from Germany buy them delivered, however because of Brexit and the rate of the pound dropping it works out a lot more expensive to pay for transport in euros.

“We give customers the option to arrange their own transport which is managed by Exact and pay their delivery cost in pounds making it a cheaper option.

“Companies delivering both to and from Germany can rely on the fact that we have daily services and their pallets will be delivered in a good transit time.

“We have recently seen a considerable amount of growth and are very proud to launch this new daily service as it shows both a commitment to our customers and a confidence in the market.”

The company’s expansion has led to it recruiting three new members of staff as it appoints a new transport supervisor and two warehouse operatives and there have also been two internal promotions.

Karen added: “As Exact expands, it is essential that we have the best possible team on board to help us cope with this increase in demand.

“We are pleased to welcome our new team members and we would also like to congratulate our colleagues who have been promoted.”

Shakespeare performed live by actors 1,600 miles apart in world first

An act of Shakespeare has been performed live by drama students in Finland and the West Midlands thanks to a life-sized digital portal.

Coventry University’s performing arts school teamed up with students in the University of Tampere to rehearse and

perform an act of King Lear as if they shared a stage thanks to creation of the pioneering interactive window.

The project, aimed at eliminating global travel costs and bringing international students together on a single stage, follows a pilot in 2016 which was crowned one of the best new teaching ideas of the year with a Reimagine Education Award.

The virtual rehearsal room uses of a combination of stage and videoconferencing technology mirrored on both sides of the North Sea, requiring a much higher quality connection than phone-size apps like Skype.

The collective technology allow the students to make eye contact, move and match up voices around the room, and see and speak in real time with virtually no delays.

It was created last year in partnership between the two universities with hopes of eventually being made fully portable to address the costs and environmental

impact of global travel for students worldwide.

Tom Gorman, coordinator of the project at Coventry University said: “This all came about by accident as what we needed to work across two spaces didn’t exist.

We started experimenting and ended up creating this virtual theatre in real space and time. It’s very exciting and then we realised we had created something that nobody else had. This is a world first.

“To be able to rehearse this would normally mean us travelling for up to four weeks and the costs and time of that are huge compared to being able to do it all in exactly the same way from home.”

Mikko Kanninen senior theatre lecturer at the University of Tampere said: “For us it was like these British students and teachers were actually visiting Tampere without flights costs. Everyone had normal work hours and the budget was minimal but we had a real international workshop on Shakespeare.”

Ukraine Embassy and DIT help Coventry exports Mike Button, Coventry Chemicals General Manager for healthcare, was invited to present a paper on bio-security for animals by DIT in Ukraine at the British Ukrainian Agribusiness Forum in Kiev.

This was a double presentation along with Dr Simon Doherty, the veterinary advisor for the UK Government’s Agri-Tech Organisation.

The DIT in Ukraine organised a British pavilion

www.cw-chamber.co.uk

where companies including JCB, Baker Tilly and Coventry Chemicals distributor for Ukraine Wright Frank Ltd had stands.

British Ambassador Judith Gough visited companies to offer support. Judith was extremely interested in the products that Coventry Chemicals manufacture and export to Ukraine.

Ukraine is a new country for Coventry Chemicals to sell into and the first order was only delivered in December 2016.

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2. Leadership needs to guide culture development The leaders will have a considerable amount of influence over how well the desired culture is adopted by the employees beneath them, make sure they take part.

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At Sandler, we help our clients build cultures. Contact Neil Liddell on 0845 0573 563 if you want to prepare your organisation for the future.

••• Written by Neil Liddell of Sandler Training. Providers of Sales and Management Training E: nliddell@sandler.com T: 0845 0573563 M: 07547 227442 www.central.sandler.com •••

11

Corporate Profiles

C&W Growth Barometer launching

Roger Buckley Partner Corporate Finance

Accountancy and business advisory firm BDO will launch its Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Barometer at the end of March, providing insights, trends and success stories from across the region. The Barometer is designed to showcase business and celebrate the successes in the region.

This is set to be a notable year for the Coventry and Warwickshire region, with the 2021 City of Culture bid and significant investments in infrastructure, such as the development of Whitley South and the Friargate Business District, providing exciting opportunities for businesses and their supply chains.

BDO’s Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Barometer analyses the Top 50 fastest growing companies in the region based on turnover. Its aim is to identify those that are growing most quickly and therefore contributing to the economic growth of the region as well as to highlight the successes of the largest companies in Coventry and Warwickshire.

Companies such as Jaguar Land Rover, EON and Tulip Foods are some of the biggest names of Warwickshire and deserve support, but BDO is calling for more government attention and support for the ‘squeezed middle’ of the business community in its New Economy report.

The report found that mid-sized businesses have grown faster and created more jobs than any other part of the economy yet they continue to be undervalued and overlooked by the government.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Barometer, which will be published at the end of this month, will seek to explore how these growth businesses became successful and to highlight their contribution to the local economy. We will also look at practical steps that government can take to help support these businesses and others with the ambition to grow The Growth Barometer report shows the success of sectors such as manufacturing, technology and media. It also looks at the development of ‘Silicon Spa’ where

Leamington Spa, Warwick and Southam have become home to a cluster of large gaming and technology companies including Codemasters, Playground and most recently Ubisoft.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Barometer will also provide insight on key regional investments, as well as interviews from local business ambassadors such as the CWLEP and the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce.

The report is set to be launched at a breakfast event on Friday, March 24 at Coventry University. A panel of business leaders and advisers will discuss the opportunities and challenges businesses are currently facing. They will also discuss the latest developments in the area, the roles of universities in skills development, and how the Coventry and Warwickshire ‘brand’ can be developed to make the region even more attractive to businesses, investors and potential employees.

BDO is an accountancy and business advisory firm that provides integrated advice and solutions to help businesses navigate a changing world. The team operates across the Midlands, advising local businesses on a wide range of services including audit, tax, corporate finance, business restructuring, fraud & forensic investigations.

Internationally, BDO is part of a global network spanning 158 countries and employing 68,000 people across the world. It has the local, national and international scale needed to help ambitious, entrepreneurially-spirited businesses fulfil their ambitions.

“BDO’s Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Barometer analyses the Top 50 fastest growing companies in the region based on turnover.”

Helping to make an impact An award-winning Warwickshire hotel with a unique, historic and picturesque setting is helping a variety of corporate functions make an impact.

Dating back to the 12th century, Coombe Abbey is certainly ‘no ordinary hotel’, offering something completely different for conference and business events.

Founded back in 1150 AD, the hotel is a former monastery - that at one point was even under the ownership of King Henry VIII and certainly makes an impression.

Boasting 11 rooms that are ideal for conferences, meetings and corporate entertainment, the venue can cater for small gatherings or up to 500 people.

Although the venue is steeped in history, Coombe Abbey’s conference and meeting rooms all come with a range of modern facilities.

A dedicated event manager to provide advice, help and assistance is offered to businesses that choose the venue along with stationary for delegates, AV equipment, unlimited tea and coffee, morning and afternoon snacks, flexible lunch options and much more.

But Coombe Abbey also goes that extra mile with its private dining rooms and banqueting facilities, providing more for businesses than just the usual facilities.

It also hosts an array of events that could compliment corporate functions including the extremely popular Medieval Banquets.

Transporting guests back in time, the banquets at Coombe Abbey feature a talented cast of actors for a stage show,

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music, a traditional menu and are a perfect way to end any business event.

With 119 rooms to stay in as well, the venue is the complete package for firms to play host to events.

Ron Terry, general manager at Coombe Abbey Hotel, said another added bonus is the fact that the venue is easy to reach from the M1 and M6 and is just a short distance from many destinations such as Birmingham and Stratford Upon Avon.

“We are highly experienced at hosting many events such as conferences and meetings for businesses,” said Ron. “We have excellent facilities and are well situated within the heart of Warwickshire, which has all led to a huge amount of fantastic feedback.

“We say that Coombe Abbey is ‘no ordinary hotel’ and this is completely true, we go that extra mile for all our guests and visitors to make sure they have everything they need.

“Our conferencing facilities are second to none and we have the added bonus of our added features, such as the Medieval Banquets, which offer something that little bit extra to make the right impression.”

Coombe Abbey Hotel is a corporate member of the Chamber, which provides the venue with an opportunity to showcase what it has to offer to businesses across Coventry and Warwickshire.

For further information about Coombe Abbey Hotel and its corporate facilities or the Medieval Banquets, contact 024 7645 0450 or visit www.coombeabbey.com.

“Transporting guests back in time, the banquets at Coombe Abbey feature a talented cast of actors for a stage show, music, a traditional menu and are a perfect way to end any business event.” www.cw-chamber.co.uk

Coventry & Warwickshire in business

Corporate Profiles

Hotel team looks forward to summer A Warwickshire hotel steeped in history is celebrating a very busy start to 2017 and is looking forward to a summer of conferences and events.

Wroxall Abbey is an award-winning country house and hotel situated in 27 acres of parkland and gardens.

Dating back to the 12th Century, Wroxall has a rich history and boasts a collection of listed buildings in its grounds.

The AA four star hotel features 72 luxury bedrooms, its popular Sonnets Restaurant, Arches Bistro, a number of bars and a spa and leisure club.

The venue also has 12 conference and meeting rooms as well as a large marquee and can cater for meetings and events from two to 500 people.

It is within easy reach of major transport links, located just 10 minutes away from Birmingham International Airport, at the centre of the motorway network and is close to rail links to London, Heathrow, and the rest of the country.

Simon Muncey, Business Development Manager at Wroxall Abbey, said: “We have had an excellent start to the year and are now looking ahead to the rest of 2017.

“We host a range of events from weddings and parties to meetings, conferences and trade shows, all tailored to meet the needs of each individual.

“Our marquee offers more than 700m² of flexible space making it the ideal choice for hosting large conferences, awards dinners, product launches, exhibitions and training events.

“The marquee also benefits from direct access, free car parking and free wifi, with a maximum capacity of up to 500 delegates.

“We have a number of packages available for delegates and can also provide a range of refreshments and catering as well as overnight options.

“Our extensive grounds enable us to host many car club events and gatherings - perfect for all enthusiasts.

“We also have a number of dining options, including corporate lunches, and our award-winning Sonnets Restaurant, which opens every day, is a popular choice for Sunday lunches.”

Wroxall Abbey Hotel and Estate is a corporate member of the Chamber, which will provide the venue with an opportunity to showcase what it has to offer to businesses across Coventry and Warwickshire.

Simon added: “We receive a lot of repeat bookings, however some people do not realise the wide range of both leisure and corporate facilities we have available.

“Joining the Chamber will allow us to network with businesses and we look forward to meeting other members over the coming year.”

Wroxall Abbey is offering Chamber members a 10 per cent discount on its Sunday lunch prices until May 31, 2017.

IT company drives growth A Coventry IT company specialising in strategic network solutions has been driving growth as it allows companies to cut out the middle man and receive a complete end-to-end service tailored to their needs.

Syscomm offers a broad range of data hosting, cloud, telephone and internet connectivity services delivered directly and privately from their own network.

Established in 1984, Syscomm expanded into Electric Wharf in Coventry in 2013.

Operating from this renowned Victorian power station site – one of the first in the country – Syscomm is continuing the site’s tradition for innovation by pushing the boundaries of technology with its pioneering approach to IT, internet services and networking.

Chris Tyler, from Syscomm, said: “Realising a decade ago that cloud technology and mobility would redefine how we work, we developed a network of six data centres between London and Coventry to simplify and secure the delivery of innovative technology and internet services to our customers, breaking the dependence on faceless ISPs and cloud providers to offer a safe and flexible path to cutting-edge technologies.

“With cloud offering ever-more opportunities for innovation and costsaving, it’s a philosophy that is truer today than ever before, and the mantra that ‘the cloud is only as good as your network’ has been driving our growth in cloud optimised internet services in recent years.

“Our desktop to data centre reach closes the support-gaps of traditional IT to deliver www.cw-chamber.co.uk

a modern IT platform that can scale to support modern digital initiatives and growth.”

Today, Syscomm offers a broad range of services delivered directly and privately from its own network – cutting out the ‘middle-men’ and the insecurity of the public internet to deliver a truly end-to-end service, tailored to customers’ needs and supported seven-days a week by the company’s 18 strong Coventry team.

Syscomm’s new data centre facility at Electric Wharf offers an exciting proposition for firms across the region to connect in over short, ultra-fast fibre to build an offsite IT facility and deliver cloud services or data backup as a private extension of their internal network.

Internet access is also included, but business data is never transmitted over it for complete peace of mind.

Chris added: “Having grown solely through recommendation and word-ofmouth, we are delighted to have recently joined the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber, beginning a more proactive approach towards engagement with the community.

“We are keen to reach out to develop local links and keep business within the local economy.”

To learn more about Syscomm, visit www.syscomm.co.uk or contact the company directly on 024 777 12000.

“Syscomm offers a broad range of services delivered directly and privately from its own network – cutting out the ‘middle-men’ and the insecurity of the public internet .”

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Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce Training

Tom Meredith – from apprentice to award-winning professional in just three years For a young man who rebelled at age 16 because he felt that he was being shoe-horned into a university place he did not want, Tom Meredith has proudly demonstrated that you don’t have to go to university to succeed by winning Coventry and Warwickshire First Young Professional of the Year 2017.

The competition in the Banking and Financial Services category was extremely tough and was a true showcase of the region’s most talented young professionals. On 27 January, at an awards ceremony at the historic St Mary’s Guildhall in Coventry, Tom was presented with his award after being selected from a strong line-up of four short-listed entrants. Entries are judged on performance at work, contribution to Coventry and Warwickshire and the “x-factor”.

Having rejected the university path, Tom started with MarchantCain Design as a Business Administration apprentice through Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber Training in December 2013. He swiftly completed his apprenticeship and, after just six months of basic training, enrolled on a self-taught programme with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, with the goal of becoming a Chartered Global Management Accountant as quickly as possible. To date he has passed 14 examinations and is at advanced diploma level already.

Tom has become an extremely valuable employee through his incredible ability to teach himself the complexities of management accounting, and apply them in a fast moving business. Not only does he provide management accounts he also manages the IT and has so far managed all the purchasing function single-handed. He has grown in confidence to the extent that he now manages all financial matters within the company including negotiations with investors and suppliers whilst keeping a very close eye on purchasing.

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C&W Chamber Training Apprentice secures full time role at the HR Dept Congratulations to Derri Morgan who has accepted a permanent position at The HR Dept South Warwickshire, after completing her Level 3 Business Administration apprenticeship.

The HR Dept South Warwickshire provides full HR support to small and medium sized businesses across Coventry and Warwickshire. Derri will continue her role as HR Assistant and support the team of advisors at their offices at Camden House, Kenilworth.

Derri began her Business Administration apprenticeship in February 2016 at C&W Chamber Training. “The support from my assessor and my employer throughout my apprenticeship was incredibly valuable” said Derri. “C&W Chamber Training have definitely helped my confidence which has now resulted in me being offered a permanent full time role at The HR Dept, where I can now pursue my career in HR.” Before her apprenticeship, Derri completed her AS Levels in Law, Sociology and Photography. She moved on to work with a motor group in a retail role, which

developed to involve HR duties. In September 2016, whilst completing her apprenticeship, she began her Level 3 CIPD and looks forward to starting the CIPD Level 5 later in the year.

“Derri is such an asset to the business as her passion for HR is growing immensely” Tracey Hudson, Managing Director of The HR Dept South Warwickshire said. “We’re so pleased with the help C&W Chamber Training gave her and even more thrilled with how they managed to find her for us.”

There has never been a better time to recruit an Apprentice… fresh talent, new ideas... employers may also be eligible for a Government grant of £1500 to help with salary costs.

Call our Recruitment Team on 024 7623 1122 or email enquiries@cw-chambertraining.co.uk to find out more.

“C&W Chamber Training have definitely helped my confidence which has now resulted in me being offered a permanent full time role at The HR Dept, where I can now pursue my career in HR.”

ACCA Accounting success for Steve at Leigh Christou Steve Walsgrove is celebrating after achieving success in his recent ACCA examinations. He can now proudly use the letters ACCA after his name as a qualified member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

Steve joined Leigh Christou as an Apprentice straight from school in 2007 and started his AAT studies with C&W Chamber Training. Throughout his studies, C&W Chamber Training have worked hand-inhand with both Steve and Leigh Christou to ensure that Apprenticeship training gave value to both Steve and the practice. With an AAT qualification under his belt he then began his ACCA studies in 2010.

Chris Christou, Senior Director, said, “We are justifiably proud of Steve’s achievements and we put a lot of our own business success down to the strength of our team which has largely been achieved by developing home grown, talented people who share the desire to deliver a quality service to the highest standards.”

Steve has successfully worked through the ranks at Leigh Christou joining as an Accounts Trainee, progressing through to Accounts Assistant, and then to his current role as Client Services Manager.

This is now the start of the next phase of Steve’s career with Leigh Christou and long may it continue. Well done Steve!

Apprenticeships are a route to fresh new talent, designed around the needs of employers and leading to nationally recognised qualifications which will not only benefit the individual but the business as well. Apprenticeships ensure that your workforce has the practical skills your organisation needs now and in the future.

The mixture of on and off the job learning ensures that Apprentices learn valuable skills.

Apprenticeships can be used to train both new and existing employees. For existing employees, who are eligible, we will jointly design the delivery of learning around the needs of the business in order to develop the skills and knowledge of the individual.

For more information contact C&W Chamber Training on 024 7623 1122 or email enquiries@cwchambertraining.co.uk today.

www.cw-chamber.co.uk

Coventry & Warwickshire in business

Business Support

Weaving their way to success A start-up hair and beauty business is set to move to a premises six times bigger, despite only being open for a few months.

Dream Hair and Beauty, based in Cannon Park Shopping Centre, Coventry, specialises in providing a weaving and braiding service alongside selling quality hair products.

The shop opened in September 2016 and focuses on providing high quality products and moulding its service to the needs and requirements of customers.

Tuse Woodhead and her husband, David, received free help and guidance from Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce when setting up the business – seeing huge growth since opening.

The couple hope to have a second shop in the next year and expand their wholesale operation – and aim within five years is for their business to have a six figure valuation.

They are also in the process of expanding to provide a specialist wig service to individuals with health issues affecting hair loss, in partnership with Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.

David and Tuse were assigned their own business mentor to help with their business.

Tuse, who co-ran a salon in Tanzania before moving the UK, said: “There was a gap in the market without question.

We have already built up a very loyal customer base in four months, we’re really happy so far and it has far exceeded our original expectations.

“We’ve seen a huge demand in the area and to be moving to a shop six times the size of our current one so soon is brilliant.

“I knew the Chamber was a very good starting point, our mentor has been very supportive and through her advice we have avoided making a host of mistakes we might have ended up making.”

After expecting the majority of their customers to be from Afro-Caribbean backgrounds, they have been surprised to find that a high proportion of their customers come from European backgrounds.

Dream Hair and Beauty’s new shop is directly opposite their current store at Cannon Park Shopping Centre. It will include a salon area separated from the main shop and allow the business to more than double its stock intake for hair products.

Wendy Brown, a business advisor at the Chamber, said: “It has been brilliant to work with Tuse and David to get their shop set-up and trading.

“The way they applied themselves has been brilliant and it is no surprise that they are already looking to expand – I wish them all the luck in the future as their business continues to grow.”

A trio of new creative businesses have taken residence at Fargo Village Spray Station, Choc “n” Roll and The Green Unicorn are the three newest start-ups to move into premises at the creative village, following free advice from Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce.

Choc “n” Roll, owned by former Stratford-upon-Avon lecturer Tony Davies, specialises in producing hand-made chocolates and macaroons – and has recently started holding workshops to teach his art.

After 15 years of working with chocolate, including a period at the Swedish Houses of Parliament, he decided to set up his own business and has plans to bring a fine desserts club to Fargo soon.

Spray Station brings a new form of art to the village, with owner Andy Clare specialising in Aerosolgrafia – one of the fastest growing art movements on social media, after originating in Mexico in the 1980s.

Andy started demonstrating his talents on the Coventry city centre streets and sold enough of his paintings to start up his own studio at Fargo. The artist is also holding personal tuition and group workshops to train people in the aspects of spray paint and street art.

Nikki Chetwynd’s The Green Unicorn is a brand new shop that will cater for the needs of the city’s growing Vegan community.

The store will provide food, groceries, snacks, chilled and frozen foods for vegans – and will also sell vegan themed handcrafted gifts.

Nikki, who has been a vegan for three years, said: “I found Fargo Village and just fell in love with the place, especially the shipping containers as they were the perfect size for a start-up and the rent charges were very competitive.

“Having a mentor from the Chamber with whom to discuss my business has been invaluable and has enabled me to have the confidence to really give it my best shot.

“I know I’ve got some good times and bad times ahead, but I’m so glad I took the plunge.”

All three start-ups received free advice from Chamber business advisor Wendy Brown and Nikki also took advantage of free courses in starting a business.

Wendy said: “Fargo Village is a fantastic space and perfect for these new business – with whom it has been a pleasure to work with over the past few months.

“Each of the three have taken the plunge to go out of their comfort zone and start their own business, they have done brilliantly so far and I wish them the best of luck in the future.”

Chamber support helps secure grant for growth A family manufacturer in south Warwickshire has been helped to buy a machine to generate its own nitrogen – and it’s positive news for the wider supply chain.

Henley Engineers, which is based in Henley-in-Arden, was supported by the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce to secure a £10,000 grant towards the £60,000 machine bought from a Rugby-based supplier.

The company is a fabricator of metals and supplies laser-cut parts to a range of industries, including Solihull-based Whale Tankers which is one of its biggest clients.

Henley Engineers, which is run by Paul Warmington and his son, Nick, previously spent between £15,000 and £20,000 on tanks of nitrogen each year – and could, very often, be waiting on supply.

Nitrogen is required in the laser cutting process to ensure that there is no contamination that could alter the course of the beam.

Being able to generate its own supply will make the firm more time and cost

efficient and means even better service for its customer-base. It will also allow the company to cut thinner materials in carbon steel at no extra cost.

The company employs 22 people and would like to grow that figure by moving into new premises in the south Warwickshire area.

Paul, whose grandfather established the business and passed it onto his father, Derek, said the firm had the potential for more growth.

He said: “We’ve invested £750,000 in machinery in the past six years and this latest piece of technology is going to make us even more efficient – we are really grateful to the Chamber for supporting us in accessing the grant funding.

“They have been great with general support and advice too and I know they are raising the general issue of the availability of business land and the affect it’s having on companies’ ability to expand.

“We’d love to move – either to a newly built unit or an existing property,

ideally in the Stratford district area because that’s where our staff are from.

“The new machine and our existing technology and expertise gives us the chance to grow further – we have more than 15,000 parts on our database.

“The latest machine gives us greater flexibility and the opportunity to be more efficient and we are excited for the future ahead.”

The support was providedthrough Coventry City Council as part of the Coventry & Warwickshire Business Support Programme which is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Martyn Manning, a business coach with the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “It’s great to be able to support a business in this way – especially a long established, family-run manufacturer.

“There is grant-funding available for eligible projects of this type and we can help steer businesses in the right direction to help with this kind of capital investment.”

sponsored column

Is your business prepared for the next cyber-attack?

According to PwC’s Security Survey 2016, there was a 38% increase in cyber security incidents for all businesses compared to 2015.

Unfortunately it’s not just corporates affected by cyber-crime, 74% of SME’s also report* they have suffered a security breach.

Get the basics right In 2014, HM Govt. launched Cyber Essentials, an initiative that enables all businesses to gain accreditation to show they have the necessary cyber controls to protect against threats.

With effective procedures, a culture of awareness and regular training, the majority of cyber threats can be stopped but it takes continued diligence.

How easy is it to be affected?

It could be as simple as an employee inadvertently opening an infected email; a former employee still having access to client data, or losing a data-stick that holds sensitive information or personnel files.

What are the implications?

• Loss or damage of digital assets such as data or software • Business interruption from systems down time • Cyber extortion - paying a ransom to get back your system access • Cost of forensic investigations to find the root cause • Customer notification expenses when there is a legal and regulatory requirement • Reputational damage from breach of personal data or loss of IP • Loss of third party data and subsequent compensation costs The average costs of the worst data breach f or SME’s were between £75,000 and £300,000!

Cyber-risks are no longer just an issue for the IT department. The reputation of the business could be at stake, directors need to ensure effective controls and procedures are followed and where possible transfer the risk.

The loss of personal data has become of such a concern globally that new legislation is coming.

In 2018, the EU’s GDPR – General Data Protection Regulation comes into force and requires all data processors and controllers to comply.

For the most serious of data breaches, the new data laws could impose punitive fines.

As part of a FREE review, Morrison Insurance Solutions is offering Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce members a 10% discount on a new Cyber Liability policy.

To book a FREE cyber review please contact Steve Roberts Cert CII. t: 01789 767 708 e: steve.r@morrisoninsurance.co.uk *Source: www.pwc.co.uk/assets/pdf/2015-isbs-technicalreport-blue-digital.pdf Morrison Insurance Solutions is a trading name of Morrison Edwards Insurance Services Ltd, Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Registered in England No. 3755087

The Coventry and Warwickshire Business Support Programme is funded by the European Regional Development Fund, in partnership with Coventry City Council, Warwickshire County Council and the District and Borough Councils.

For more information or to book on to the Business Support programme call the Chamber on 024 7665 4321 or log onto www.cw-chamber.co.uk www.cw-chamber.co.uk

15

Legal

New appointments are made

Generous staff make charity donation The staff at Cocks Lloyd Solicitors have contributed toward the purchase of new IT for their nominated charity, The Acorn Centre.

The updated computers were purchased to help the centre with its vital counselling work supporting women and men with pregnancy-related concerns.

Cocks Lloyd handed over £500 to the charity towards the computer equipment, which the charity says has transformed the way they work.

Cheryl Liddle, Trustee of The Acorn Centre, said: “The donation from Cocks Lloyd has made such a big difference to the work at the Centre. The updated computers are much faster which means our team can work faster to help support people. We are so grateful for all the money raised. We are such a small charity so every penny counts and means so much to the people who need our services.”

Cocks Lloyd has been fundraising for The Acorn Centre since last May after employees chose the service as its charity of the year. A range of different fundraising events such as bake sales, BBQ and a quiz have all helped to raise a substantial sum for the charity.

Cocks Lloyd Partner Sharon Wilkinson said: “When colleagues heard about the state of the computers at the centre and how long it was taking people just to access their emails, we all really wanted to do something to help. It was really important that we donate a portion of our fundraising to them as soon as possible so our money could have an immediate impact.”

The Acorn Centre, based in Nuneaton, offers counselling and support for women and men who are coping with issues including infertility, baby loss, unexpected pregnancy, pre and post abortion and postnatal depression. They also offer counselling for young adults on a range of issues.

Midlands law firm Wright Hassall has bolstered its team with a further nine senior appointments, following another period of double digit growth.

The hires at the Leamington-firm include additions to its development, commercial property, construction, employment, corporate, housing and insolvency teams.

Jo Deffley has joined as a partner in the Development Team, having previously been at Eversheds, while construction partner Nichola Vine, who is also previously of Eversheds, joins from the West Midlands Combined Authority (previously Centro).

The construction, social housing and commercial property teams have also recruited three new solicitors with the appointment of Jugdeep Chagger, Sarah Tranter and Bhavika Mistry.

Joining the firm’s growing Tax Team, Associate Sebastian Salt has returned

Brethertons is judged Family Law Firm of the Year Brethertons received the award for Family Law Regional Firm of the Year in the Midlands at a glittering awards ceremony at the Bloomsbury Big Top. The company was pronounced ‘best in class’ by sponsors 1 Kings Bench Walk and the award’s high profile judges.

The Family Law Awards recognise the important work of family lawyers, and celebrate their many successes and outstanding achievements.

Judges were impressed with Brethertons’ entry, which demonstrated its high levels of customer satisfaction, innovation and its positive internal culture and staff development. The firm also stood out as a leader in its

field having helped make new law in a number of high profile and successful cases last year.

Linda Jones, Director of Legal Services for Brethertons’ Individual Sector, said: “I was delighted to accept the award on behalf of all the team at Brethertons. I’m proud to lead the team in what is such a progressive, friendly and successful firm.”

Simon Craddock, Head of Practice Area for Family, said: “I’m so pleased for the whole of the Family Law team here at Brethertons. It’s a pleasure to dedicate this honour to them all and we would like to send a huge congratulations to all those who were shortlisted and winners of the other awards.”

Wright Hassall’s new recruits Caroline Benfield, Tina Chander, Jo Deffley, Bhavika Mistry, Jugdeep Chagger, Sebastian Salt, Nichola Vine, Mohammed Abbas, Sarah Tranter

“This year we are targeting continued growth in a number of priority sectors, including advanced manufacturing and engineering (AME), agricultural, housing, health and social care, gaming and development and these high-calibre appointments will be key in supporting us to reach our goals.”

Hughes Legal helps client keep Leamington Spa smiling!

Stratford-upon-Avon-based law firm Hughes Legal has advised Dr. Charles Buckle on his acquisition into the business of Euston Place Dental Practice, Leamington Spa, with its large portico fronted Victorian building.

Euston Place Dental Practice has been established since the late 1800s and is a friendly, modern private dental practice which prides itself on keeping up to date in advances with dentistry, technology and treatments.

Oliver Hughes, Director and Solicitor at Hughes Legal, said, “It was clear to me from the start how passionate Dr. Buckle was about excellence in dentistry and patient care. Euston Place was a

perfect fit and we were really pleased to help Dr. Buckle buy into the practice.”

Dr. Buckle said, “Hughes Legal made what could otherwise have been a daunting process much easier. Their experience meant they focused on the key business and legal issues. They understood the various parties and healthcare bodies involved and I knew I could proceed with confidence.”

Residential conveyancing team strenghtened North Warwickshire firm Willsons Solicitors, has grown its residential conveyancing department with the appointment of a new Solicitor.

Solicitor Susan Vincent returned to Willsons Solicitors in November 2016, having previously completing her Training Contract and qualifying as a Solicitor in 1996 at Willsons.

She returned following a career working in the government legal service and being a Director of a pre-school charity foundation.

In this role she helped to secure charitable status, limited company registration and deal with employment law issues.

After having her two children Susan decided she wanted to return to residential conveyancing.

Susan co owns a company that deals with property renovation and extension. She therefore fully understands the time scales that clients need to work to and the process both legally and from a ground roots level.

Willsons Solicitors residential conveyancing team now comprises of two Solicitors, Susan Vincent and Shahid Razak together with Becky Cutting and Jasvir Sandhu.

Solicitor Shahid Razak joined Willsons Solicitors in February 2016. Having qualified as a solicitor in 2009 he has gained vast conveyancing experience in all types of transaction such as sale and purchase of freehold, leasehold, new builds, shared ownership, Help to Buy, and Islamic mortgages.by working in different types of conveyancing

Can we help you find a ? e r u t u f r e t h brig @BurgisBullock

16

from Deloittes, having originally trained at Wright Hassall. Sebastian has employee incentives experience and joins the firm’s top ranked employee incentives practice. The employment team has also recruited associate Tina Chander from Sydney Mitchell Solicitors.

Senior associate Caroline Benfield has moved from Darbys Solicitors to lead the Insolvency and restructuring team while Mohammed Abbas - previously of Harrison Clark Rickerbys and Lodders - has been recruited as a corporate solicitor.

Wright Hassall now employs 286 staff, including 101 lawyers and 46 partners.

Managing Partner Sarah Perry said: “The firm achieved significant year-on-year growth in 2016 and we’re delighted this strong performance has led to us continuing our recruitment drive into 2017.

firms. He has built a reputation in dealing with technical conveyancing matters and dealing with high net worth clients all over UK. Becky Cutting has been undertaking residential conveyancing work for the last five years. Within that time she has been studying extremely hard in her own time and working towards becoming a Legal Executive. Having taken her final exams in January, Becky is hoping to graduate as a Legal Executive in March and work towards becoming a Fellow Chartered Legal Executive once she has completed her post qualifying work-based portfolio which will help strengthen the knowledge of the team even further. Becky is a contentious conveyancer who works in a

methodical manner and is keen to get the job done.

Jasvir Sandhu has also recently joined the Firm. She is returning as a Senior Conveyancer after almost a six-year career break.

During this period Jasvir has focused on raising her two children and starting up and managing a successful wine retail business. Jasvir’s previous experience as Head of Conveyancing and Practice Manager for over a decade means she brings with her a wealth of experience and knowledge.

Jasvir has an avid interest in promoting opportunities for women in business and property and was a founding and active member of the Black Country’s Inspirational Women organisation between 2004 and 2010.

Sound advice in an uncertain world The VAT treatment of land and property transactions is notoriously complex.

Whether something is taxable or exempt, understanding how the various reliefs apply and just getting the timing right to avoid at best, adverse cash flow and at worst losing the right to recover VAT altogether takes real specialist knowledge.

These complexities multiply where charities are concerned because the reliefs often also depend on their status and how the property is going to be used.

At Burgis & Bullock we have the specialist knowledge to help you and your clients.

Contact us today or visit our website for more information.

Tel: 0845 177 5500 www.burgisbullock.com

Offices in Leamington Spa, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Nuneaton, Leicester, London and Rugby.

www.cw-chamber.co.uk

Coventry & Warwickshire in business

Finance

Investors celebrate support for businesses

L to r : Steve Martin (Minerva), Andy Street, David Grindrod (University of Warwick Science Park), Jenny Tooth (UKBAA), Dean Prof. Andy Lockett (Warwick Business School), Tim Powell (Minerva).

A group of angel investors, with offices in Coventry, have ploughed more than £8.5 million into new and innovative businesses, ranging from a protective headgear sportswear company through to medical device entrepreneurs.

The Minerva Business Angel Network, operated by the University of Warwick Science Park, has been helping companies access early stage funding from business angels since 1994.

Its recent annual ‘end of year’ event at Warwick Business School was opened by the Dean Prof. Andy Lockett with guest speakers including Andy Street, the WMCA mayor candidate, and Jenny Tooth, the CEO of the UK Business Angel Association.

It was revealed that £8.5 million has been invested by the angels since 2010, when the network expanded its reach across the Midlands through establishment of small investor groups, into 56 companies.

That cash has helped to lever in a further £23 million into the businesses over the course of the past seven years.

With an audience of nearly 100 present, Steve Martin, of Minerva at the University of Warwick Science Park, said: “The year saw 113 of our network of investors inject more than £1m of equity capital into

businesses – most of which are in the Midlands – and we have now achieved two successful exits for our investors.

“On the day we heard from a range of our companies and, generally, the feeling is very good. Minerva has invested in some incredible businesses – some that are really pioneering cutting-edge technology.

“One of our businesses has developed and patented a way of cleaning a laparoscope during an operation – which is a game-changer for surgeons in this field – while another has created an innovative new form of protection for safety wear in sports such as cricket, American Football and motorcycling.

“They are just a flavour of the types of company we have supported and we are confident that our investors are going to see more returns in the next 12 to 36 months.”

Jenny said that business angels were a crucial source of funding for cash-hungry, innovative companies.

She said: “In my view, angel investment is the most important source of risk capital for businesses who are trying to bring an innovative product to market.

“I was delighted to be asked to speak at the Minerva event as it is doing fantastic work in investing in some ground-breaking companies.”

“£8.5 million has been invested by the angels since 2010, when the network expanded its reach across the Midlands through establishment of small investor groups, into 56 companies.”

The right approach for Scott’s Commercial Scott’s Commercial has managed to find a more straightforward approach to its invoice financing thanks to support from Cranfield Business Finance.

When the recession hit, Scott’s Commercial sought help from its bank to help manage cash flow. The bank offered an invoice finance solution to help reduce the pressure on the business, however this ended up creating more problems for the company.

Pippa Scott, owner of Scott’s Commercial, said: “Cash flow did improve but we felt that was down to the work we were doing rather than what the bank was doing.”

Pippa did a full audit of the business and the results appeared to be quite shocking. She said: “The cost of the factoring was a very high expense and it really brought home that it was not providing a solution to the problem.”

It was then that they turned to Cranfield Business Finance. As an intermediary, Cranfield is able to offer impartial advice and guidance. The company was able to determine that invoice factoring had been the right solution for Scott’s Commercial but the problem was with the provider.

Scott’s Commercial now has a far more suitable facility that is saving the company time and money and Pippa said: “I have to say that it has made an astronomical difference to the business.

I now deal with the cash flow entirely and have a complete eye on it which makes it so much easier.”

BDO invests in Warwickshire’s senior team BDO has strengthened its team in Coventry & Warwickshire to support its continued growth in the region.

Andrew Mair provides senior level experience in audit services as part of the building of the BDO team in the Coventry & Warwickshire area.

Andrew has more than 25 years’ experience providing audit and advisory services to a wide range of private and public companies. He leads the wider Midland teams in the private equity and the real estate & construction sectors.

Richard Rose, Head of BDO in the Midlands said: “We see exciting

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opportunities for Warwickshire and the wider Midlands economy and with it opportunities for us to continue to grow. It was a logical step to add to the existing team with individuals who are part of the local business community.

Andrew’s appointment will complement and support our ambition to be seen as the leading adviser to ambitious, fastgrowth businesses in Coventry and Warwickshire.”

With offices across the Midlands region, BDO employs more than 350 staff providing audit, tax and advisory services to a range of businesses across the Midlands.

“We see exciting opportunities for Warwickshire and the wider Midlands economy and with it opportunities for us to continue to grow.”

17

Property

Trio help celebrate success

More land needed to allow for growth Coventry is perfectly placed to weather a potential Brexit storm but needs to find more employment land for companies to grow.

That’s the view of property expert Peter Holt, director of D&P Holt – which serves the Coventry, Warwickshire and West Midlands area.

Over the past 12 months, the company has been involved with deals of more than one million square feet of commercial space across the region as well as 30 acres of land.

Peter has added his weight to the argument that Coventry – and Warwickshire – needs more employment land and property to meet the growing needs of businesses to expand.

He said: “It’s been a challenging year but very positive for us as a business despite the uncertainty that Brexit has brought.

“With continued volatility in Europe it will be interesting to see how both Europe and the UK fair in 2017.

“Notably, The City Tracker Report, prepared by Irwin Mitchell, ranked Coventry as the fifth fastest-growing city economy in the country. The strength of motor vehicle manufacturing has helped drive this growth and will continue to do so.

The question now is what do we expect in 2017?

“With the lack of good quality office and industrial space available, both rents and prices are likely to see a gentle upward trend in this area.

Jaguar Land Rover continue to go from strength to strength, which is great for Coventry and the supply chain, but the lack of employment land in and around the city must be addressed to ensure that future growth is not stifled.

“This will require all parties in both local government and industry to work together to a common end and although we expect uncertainly both in the UK and internationally to continue, Coventry is well placed to weather the potential Brexit storm if we get this right.”

18

The trio of people behind a pioneering business development were invited back to celebrate its highly successful off-spring.

The Rural Innovation Centre (RIC) at Stoneleigh Park was created three years ago, after a bid to DEFRA to win funding to help businesses in rural areas.

Warwickshire was one of just five Rural Growth Network (RGN) pilots in the country which provided a flexible package of advice and support to rural businesses in any sector and people looking to start their own business.

Part of the successful bid was the RIC concept and the centre subsequently opened in September 2013. It had room for 16 companies as well as meeting space and hot-desking and was fully let in around six months Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, David Ayton-Hill of Warwickshire County Council and Denis Chamberlain of Stoneleigh Park made the case to create the centre.

That success promoted Stoneleigh Park to create an additional 20 serviced offices and two meeting rooms which opened in August this year and is also fully let.

To mark the expansion, Stoneleigh Park invited the trio back for a tour of RIC 2 – and to discuss plans for further future developments to allow the companies there to expand.

Colin Hooper, Estates Director of Stoneleigh Park, said the developments would not have happened without the efforts of the bidding team.

“To have gone from bidding to being the home to 30 growing companies in a matter of a few years is a really great achievement to Stoneleigh and for the region,” he said.

“Louise, David and Denis – backed by Stoneleigh – really bought into the idea and presented a strong case to DEFRA and were successful. The fact the scheme has proved so successful and still has potential only underlines the strength of their case.

“They had to prepare a huge amount of evidence and put in a great deal of work for their pitch but it has proved really worthwhile.”

The RIC I was part of Rural Growth Network funded by DEFRA, and led by Warwickshire

County Council on behalf of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, but Stoneleigh Park’s owners LaSalle Investment Management funded RIC 2 privately.

Colin added: “Getting the bid team back together again also allowed us to look at how the concept might develop in the future.

Clearly we have tapped into a demand which is good for us, good for the companies involved and also for the local economy.”

Companies in the RIC buildings are from a range of sectors including agriculture, engineering, recruitment and events.

L to R : Andrew Bull (LaSalle Investment Management), Louise Bennett (Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce) Colin Hooper (Stoneleigh Park), David Ayton-Hill (Warwickshire County Council), Denis Chamberlain (Stoneleigh Park), Cllr Izzi Seccombe (Warwickshire County Council).

Exciting prospect of new lease of life for Leamington Spa co-op building The CO-OP Rooms Department Store on Warwick Street, Royal Leamington Spa has been bought by a client of Drake Howard Property Limited, for investment and development.

The building constructed circa 1970 has retail showroom space on ground and first floors, with stock and offices on the top floor and a funeral parlour and office on the corner of Bedford Street. The CO-OP relocated from the premises to the former Regency Arcade on Parade, in 2015.

The new owners feel the modern design of the former store in a street scene dominated by Regency period architecture creates a landmark in the Town and offers a fantastic opportunity to breathe new life into the building and retailing pitch.

“Our agent has managed to secure the property for us at a very attractive price.

Following completion of the purchase just before Christmas. We are fine tuning plans for refurbishment and potential conversion of ground and upper floors”, said a representative from new owners, Hatchback Limited.

Martyn Howard of Drake Howard Property added, “Acquisition of this property has required a great deal of patience, but the chance to buy a substantial building immediately adjacent to Parade, is a rare thing and well worth the perseverance. Retail and leisure activity in the heart of Leamington Spa, has in my opinion, never been so active and we are now marketing the property with our joint agent Wareing & Co, for these uses.

The marketing instruction may change as plans for the building crystallise.

However, for the present we are gauging interest from retailers on the ground floor space and leisure sector operators on the building as a whole. The possibilities are wide open and on a personal note, I am excited by the prospect of new occupiers and potential changes to the exterior to enhance and compliment the original design.”

The frontage to Warwick Street is 27.5m (90 ft) and each level has approximately 372 sq. m. (4,000 sq. ft.) of floor space. There is goods access from the rear and a separate entrance on Bedford Street to the upper floors. Further details are available from Drake Howard Property and Wareing & Co.

Loveitts achieve more than £4 million in sales at its biggest ever property auction An impressive £4.2 million was raised at Loveitts most recent auction held in Coventry - representing its largest property auction in its 173-year history.

A total of 27 lots ranging from garages and commercial properties to terrace homes and even a chapel, went under the hammer last month, with a staggering 83% success rate on the night.

Hundreds of people attended the event at the Village Urban Resort Hotel in Coventry,

which Loveitts experts believe signals a changing and more positive attitude towards auction over the more traditional methods of selling a property.

Loveitts Associate Director Sally Smith, who was on the rostrum for part of the evening, said: “I think this demonstrates a changing attitude towards the way vendors want to sell their properties. Auctions provide an excellent platform for the more unusual properties – such as the Carousel pub –

and it can mean that sellers get a higher price than if they had gone down the more traditional route.”

The auction offered huge variety with lots ranging from parcels of land to business premises and a farm. The auction even saw the sale of two properties within the same street. Loveitts sold 356 Grange Road for £85,500 – which was more than double its starting price – and 332 Grange Road for £80,500.

www.cw-chamber.co.uk

Intelligent property solutions for strategic

advantage and added value

The Place to Invest Three months into 2017 there are several positives that can be reported for the Coventry & Warwickshire area.

The Shearer Property Group have been selected as developers for the long awaited Coventry South development with the support of some £98 million of funding from the Coventry & Warwickshire LEP, with proposed completion in 2022.

The new building for Coventry City Council is advancing well, and with the public realm improvements having been completed, we all hope it will

FOR SALE

not be long before the Council find themselves with some new neighbours.

On the industrial front JLR are going from strength to strength with the proposed acquisition of the land between the A45 and Coventry Airport. This will enable them to build their proposed R&D facility for battery production for their new battery powered vehicles.

At Middlemarch two speculative schemes are providing some 900,000 sq ft of new industrial units which will all be available this year.

At Lyons Park a new facility of some 400,000 sq ft is being built for Amazon. Having recently taken a new 290,000 sq ft facility at Rugby Gateway and a similar unit in Daventry, their thirst for space appears never ending.

More recently D&P Holt have sold Unit J3 (27,750 sq ft) at ProLogis Park to RAM Enterprises and completed deals on 6 units (87,000 sq ft) on the Grovelands Industrial Estate for the current owners. With 2 further units (35,000 sq ft) at Grovelands ‘Under Offer’ only Unit B (22,500 sq ft) remains available for lease.

At Ansty Park the new 250,000 sq ft facility for London Taxis is nearing completion, as is the

new facility for Fanuc Robotics.

Fanuc Robotics are relocating from the facility they lease at Unit 3 Cyan Park which will be coming available in a refurbished condition in early August. They will also be relocating from their unit on Seven Stars Estate at Whitley.

For further details of both of these opportunities please contact our agency team at D&P Holt.

We are also pleased to see work being started on the 4.6 acre site at Kingfield Road by Westleigh Holmes, in partnership with the Midland Heart Housing Association, which D&P Holt acquired for them. Westleigh are developing some 84 units which

we understand will be available either for shared ownership or for rent from the Housing Association.

Generally, there continues to be a shortage of stock, particularly of new Grade A space in both the office and industrial/warehouse sectors.

The shortage is particularly prevalent in the 5,000-25,000 sq ft range for industrial/ warehouse units.

D&P Holt would be pleased to talk to any companies either looking to expand or downsize from their current space to see whether we can assist in their relocation. Please call a member of our team or visit our website.

FREEHOLD RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT SITE Subject to Planning Consent

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HILTON HOUSE, CORPORATION STREET, RUGBY CV21 2DN • Central Rugby

• Fronting Corporation Street

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11,467 sq ft

Modern Semi-Detached Industrial Unit

UNIT 3, BANNER PARK, WICKMANS DRIVE, COVENTRY CV4 9XA • Apex height 8.35m Eaves height 6.5m • Good sized yard and car parking areas • Quality offices – raised access floors, comfort cooling, Cat II lighting

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MODERN WAREHOUSE / PRODUCTION UNIT

LAND ADJACENT TO GRENDON ROUNDABOUT, SPON LANE, GRENDON, ATHERSTONE CV9 2PD On the instructions of Warwickshire County Council

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• 9m eaves • 50Kn sq m floor loading • 3 level access loading doors • Prominently located – A444 dual carriageway access to M6, J3

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• Development Advice and Implementation • Valuation

UNIT 3, CYAN PARK, PHOENIX WAY, COVENTRY CV2 4QP

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Holt Court, 16 Warwick Row Coventry CV1 1EJ t - 024 7655 5180 e - agency@holtcommercial.co.uk www.holtcommercial.co.uk

Chemistry key to partnership “When a business makes a decision on locating here, it is clear it is a long-term commitment. They think about the environment for their employees, what are the facilities and what is the culture like? From that moment on they have a stake in developing the area for the future.”

A great deal of what Monica Fogarty does in her day job is about people chemistry.

Her husband is also into chemistry – but a slightly different field.

“He is a research fellow in Electro Chemistry at Coventry University,” she explains.

“One of his key projects is about turning pig urine into electricity – fortunately he doesn’t bring his work home with him!”

That is a luxury not afforded to Monica who is currently the joint managing director of Warwickshire County Council.

Fogarty is bright and bubbly – and clearly thrives on the human interaction of her job, but living on the patch means there is no escape.

“I actually love that side of the job.

It means that, wherever I go, I know someone and, if I don’t, then there is someone who knows me. Of course that means you can be in the firing line, but it also means that you get really honest feedback.

“Quite often people just want to know what is going on with their communities, which is great.

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They are also usually great sources of information.”

And when she needs a time of solitude you will find her in a baseball cap running the streets of Kenilworth in darkness, or with a crash helmet on, astride a Honda 550cc.

Monica may be new to this latest role, but she is certainly not new to the public sector. She had only been in her job for 10 days when The Chamber caught up with her.

She and colleague David Carter are sharing the role made vacant by the retirement of chief executive Jim Graham. Monica looks after the outward face of the council, while David’s responsibilities lie within.

But as well as the new role she still fulfils her “day job” as Strategic Director for Communities which entails a mind-boggling array of responsibilities including education, transport and economy including planning, environment, heritage, trading standards, forestry, country parks, traffic and road safety, highways and public heath!

Filling both roles may well continue until after this summer’s local election when whoever is in political control of the council will choose its

own chief executive. While Monica is discreet, it would not be unexpected if she throws her hat – or baseball cap or helmet – into the ring.

As with so many careers, Monica did not set out to follow the route she has taken. She graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a degree in business and economics, followed by a masters in business.

She joined Coventry City Council in 1990 and was given a series of roles which were perfect preparation for the all-compassing position she now holds.

“When I first joined, I was a management services officer but it was not a set career path. When I graduated, my sister was a social worker with Coventry City Council and she made me aware of a few jobs.

“I didn’t know what a council was and with no internet I cannot remember how I did my research or found out enough to get me through the interview.

“I did time and motion studies, ergonomics, looking at processes and procedures, analysing staffing levels and recommending where improvements could be made.

“It was a roving role and was really interesting. It was a great grounding in every aspect of a city council and how it works. I had to do all sorts – including going out with the Poll Tax bailiffs to collects debts. I remember in one case having to escape a very big dog. It was an education in itself.”

She became Corporate Policy Manager working with the then City Development Director John McGuigan and drew up the first city community plan.

She stayed there for just shy of a decade before moving to Warwickshire as Head of Policy.

“It was a head of service role and I was responsible for a business unit as it would be called now,” she said.

“Again it involved relationships with the community, with the district and with the boroughs, and it was during the time of real change with councils moving to a new cabinet structure so it was a very interesting time.

“There was a lot of resistance to the changes, many councillors felt marginalised as there were fewer ‘power’ roles.

“Warwickshire has been hung for much of the time from then to now, so here – compared for example with

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Coventry & Warwickshire in business

Profile: Monica Fogarty

“In the 90s and noughties the concentration was on partnership working across the public sector and local government and from around 2010 onwards there has been much more of an emphasis on public and private sector working together.”

Coventry – there has always been a need for the political parties to work together and to negotiate.”

That air of compromise and co-operation has been true inside the county council and it could well be argued that it has also outwardly prevailed.

The advent of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership – instigated by Chamber Chief Executive Louise Bennett – has seen not only the private sector working with the public, but city working with county.

“In the 90s and noughties the concentration was on partnership working across the public sector and local government and from around 2010 onwards there has been much more of an emphasis on public and private sector working together.

“We have gone through similar learning phases in terms of establishing and then growing those relationships. We are differing cultures and there has been a lot of learning on both sides to find a good way forward so that we can really drive forward the economy.

We might come from a slightly different perspective but we want the same thing – economic growth for Coventry and Warwickshire.

“There are pressures – be it from stakeholders or shareholders.

I believe those relationships are stronger than ever before and we have seen the results of that.

“The LEP has been a real leveller.

The private sector do not have to be there. They are there at their own choice but the shared aim that binds

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us is to ensure that Coventry and Warwickshire is successful. It if is successful, then all parties are achieving. It is genuinely a shared mission.

“When a business makes a decision on locating here, it is clear it is a longterm commitment. They think about the environment for their employees, what are the facilities and what is the culture like? From that moment on they have a stake in developing the area for the future.”

And the area’s future is something Monica is optimistic about – with a couple of significant riders.

“We have a dangerous shortage of employment land and we need to do something about that. If we want to sustain the growth, we cannot attract businesses and then have nowhere to put them.

“Housing numbers are an issue.

For the very reasons Warwickshire is attractive as an area to locate to, that is why there is a reluctance to over-populate with new housing, so there is a balance and there are always conflicting forces.

About Monica Fogarty Date of birth:

21 May 1966

Birthplace:

London

Married:

Dr. John Graves

“We also have major issues such as continuing cutbacks and the advent of HS2.

Children:

Benny (15) Hattie (14) both born in Warwickshire

“But with all that to deal with, we must not lose sight of just what a fantastic area this is. We have a wonderful environment, two great universities, a host of fantastic companies and we are in a great location.

Hobbies:

Running, motorbike, drinking wine

Favourite book:

The Mammy. Brendan O’Carroll

Favourite film:

Reservoir Dogs & anything Tarantino

Last holiday:

Skiing, French Alps

Car:

Audi A6

“That is a pretty powerful combination.”

Favourite gadget: My Apple Watch – love it!

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Policy

Council praised for efforts

David Penn (left) with Martin Yardley

Business leaders in Coventry have praised the City Council for attracting major investment to the city – but have urged it not to hamper one of the secrets of its success.?

Martin Yardley, the acting chief executive of Coventry City Council, and Barry Hastie, assistant director of finance, met the Coventry branch of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce to consult on the City Council’s budget.

In the face of major cuts to its grant from

central government, the City Council is having to find savings across its services.

But, the meeting heard, by thinking differently, it has managed to attract unprecedented investment to the city including at Whitley, Browns Lane and the city centre.

Part of that success has been down to Coventry City Council offering the fastest planning service in the country to potential developers but that department could be cut as part of the latest round of savings.

David Penn, the Coventry branch chair of the Chamber, said: “We are always very grateful to the city council for consulting with business on its plans and its budget.

“Martin ran through some of the development that has taken place in Coventry over the past seven years and, also, some of the exciting plans that lie ahead.

“A great deal of investment in Coventry over recent years has been facilitated by the council. By improving the public realm in Broadgate, for example, it helped to attract investment and major improvement at Cathedral Lanes. City Centre South will build on that.

“Its involvement at Whitley, has ultimately seen Jaguar Land Rover announce significant investment there. These are just two examples of how the City Council has helped to provide the right conditions for growth in the city.

“We completely understand the pressure that Coventry City Council faces when it comes to budgets but myself and colleagues here would urge them to think again on making cuts to planning.

“I understand that it might not seem as critical in terms of service provision as many others but when you look at the investment that Coventry has attracted – and planning is key to that – it has provided outstanding value.

“What we have to remember is that major businesses and investors can go anywhere they want, so Coventry has to make itself as attractive as possible. It has worked hard over the past few years to do that and being able to boast that it offers the fastest planning service in the country has played a major part in attracting companies and jobs to the city.

“We would, therefore, urge the city to maintain that commitment.”

“A great deal of investment in Coventry over recent years has been facilitated by the council.

By improving the public realm in Broadgate, for example, it helped to attract investment and major improvement at Cathedral Lanes.

City Centre South will build on that.”

Unemployment rises

Unemployment rose at the start of 2017 in Coventry and Warwickshire – and business leaders will keep a close watch on the statistics in the coming months.

In the month to January, the claimant count jumped from 4,035 to 4,260 in Coventry and, in Warwickshire, it went from 3,505 to 3,705.

Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “It’s a concerning rise and it’s something we must certainly keep a very close watch on in the coming weeks and months.

“January does tend to see an increase because of the seasonal jobs growth in the

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run up to Christmas and, only last month, we were highlighting that unemployment had halved in four years.

“So we shouldn’t set alarm bells ringing just yet but, equally, we must make sure we monitor whether this becomes a trend.

“In our last Quarterly Economic Survey few businesses suggested they would be looking to shed staff in 2017 and many of our major employers are talking about increase staffing numbers.

“The economy of Coventry and Warwickshire is strong and is performing well but we have to remember that there are a lot of pressures on businesses across the patch and, as a Chamber, we are here to help them grow during uncertain times.”

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Coventry & Warwickshire in business

Policy

Business confidence takes a dip

Coventry and Warwickshire businesses ended 2016 in less confident mood than they entered it, according to new figures.

When the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce conducted its final Quarterly Economic Survey of the year it showed that fewer companies in both the services and manufacturing sector were expecting turnover to rise than at the same point 12 months ago.

In the service sector, 64 per cent of companies said that they expected turnover to grow in 2017 – compared with more than 77 per cent on the year previous.

In manufacturing, 47 per cent of firms believe their turnover will rise compared with 73 per cent a year ago.

The figures, however, aren’t expected to have a major impact on employment prospects in the region as nearly a third of manufacturers expect to increase staffing levels while only three per cent forecast a drop.

In services, 34 per cent of businesses want to grow their team while just five per cent think they will have to make cuts.

There is also positive news on the investment front, as 53 per cent of manufacturers say they will increase spending on plant, machinery, equipment and buildings and 42 per cent want to boost spending on training.

Louise Bennett, the chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said that the figures had to be taken in context.

She said: “This time a year ago we had the most positive end of year survey we

had seen for a decade and it would have been difficult to expect confidence to be even higher 12 months on.

“There are many positives in the QES – despite fewer companies expecting turnover to increase it doesn’t appear to have added pressure to reduce headcount. In fact, many are still looking to grow their team.

“It’s also great to see that so many manufacturers across the patch are still looking to invest.

“We can’t say for sure what has caused the dip in confidence but the political instability will have had an effect on some businesses’ outlook for the year ahead.

“We’ve had the EU referendum and the complete change of Government – as well as events overseas – that have caused uncertainty.

“As a Chamber of Commerce, we have been here for well over a century and have helped businesses on this patch come through uncertain times and to actually spot opportunities for growth.

“And that’s exactly what we are doing again in 2017 – we are launching a Brexit Club to help companies to understand the effect that leaving the EU will have and to see where they can enhance their business.

“We are also providing more opportunities than ever for businesses to network with one another and a range of support to help companies get started, to trade overseas and to grow.”

“As a Chamber of Commerce, we have been here for well over a century and have helped businesses on this patch come through uncertain times and to actually spot opportunities for growth.”

RICS demands support for rural economies

Demand for farmland in West Midlands has further decreased, having now been declining for the past 24 months, according to the latest RICS / RAU Rural Land Market Survey.

Respondents are highlighting uncertainty over Brexit and insecurities over future subsidies, as well as low commodity prices as the key factors hindering the market.

Alongside the decline in demand, availability of mixed use rural land also decreased across the region, with 30% more respondents noting a decline in availability (rather than an increase).

Despite the decline in residential land available for sale 10% more respondents reported an increase in availability for commercial farmland.

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The fall in demand for rural land over the past two years has impacted prices. Farmland prices are on average £8,650 per acre in H2 2016, down 4% since the start of 2015, albeit prices did pick-up over the latest six month period.

Nevertheless, the slowing of the market is predicted to lead to a decline in prices over the next 12 months; 30% more respondents expect prices for land with a residential component to fall rather than rise, and the price outlook is even weaker for commercial farmland, with a net balance of 40% of respondents expecting values to decline over the next twelve months.

RICS has set out the priority areas for rural surveyors and land agents ahead of the EU negotiations. RICS calls for: • Government to guarantee funding of targeted direct financial support beyond 2020 where it is required and provide an availability guarantee of labour • To enhance funding immediately for UK applied agricultural and horticultural research and agri-tech development.

• Government to “rural proof” all national polices, recognise the highly diverse nature of rural land-based businesses and ensure rural development funding is available to support and develop the establishment and growth of rural businesses post Brexit.

• Government to provide policy and financial support for flood protection and mitigation measures to protect good quality agricultural land as part of a national strategy for food security.

• Government to provide policy measures for reliable access to seasonal workers, including the provision of a clear and practical set of employment and associated welfare regulations. Agricultural and horticultural work should be recognised by temporary visa and work schemes to enable sourcing of suitable staff from both inside and outside the EU. RICS Policy Manager, North and Midlands, Geoff White, said: “The vital contribution of the English rural economy to England’s future economic success must not be over looked, especially as lower commodity prices and higher costs continue to impact on output values.

England’s landscape and environment needs to be protected and enhanced and its ability to deliver a range of public goods must be recognised and rewarded.”

Tell the Government how it really is to be in business Businesses in Coventry and Warwickshire are being urged to get involved in a survey that helps to inform government of the mood among companies across the UK. The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Warwickshire County Council’s economic team, has launched the first Quarterly Economic Survey of 2017.

The QES feeds into the research undertaken by the British Chambers of Commerce and provides a barometer of both the regional and national economy.

More than 8,000 companies take part nationwide in what is the largest private sector survey in the country.

The survey is split into manufacturing and service sectors and drills down into whether firms expect to grow or contract over the next 12 months, their intentions to invest in training and equipment as well as their need to take on new staff.

The British Chamber Of Commerce quarterly economic survey is the largest private sector survey in the UK attracting on average 8000 responses per quarter.

Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce has captured information from over 400 local businesses to provide us with a 'barometer' of the exciting growth opportunities in our region.

Join us for breakfast at Mallory Court, Leamington Spa, CV33 9QB on 25th April 8.00am to 10.00am to hear how our region is shaping up during this time of great movement - Brexit, WMCA, Midlands Engine, HS2 - all key drivers in our region.

Topics covered will be : Skills and recruitment, investment plans for capital expenditure and training, Coventry & Warwickshire productivity levels, business growth areas, access to finance and grants This is a must attend briefing for those involved with driving their businesses forward and looking to make informed intelligence based growth decisions.

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Coventry & Warwickshire in business

Area Focus: Coventry

City welcomes Games organisers

Back row from left, David Nuttall (Coventry City Council), David Boughey, David Moorcroft, Cllr George Duggins, Takashi Mitsuhashi, Cllr Lindsley Harvard, Takako Nihira, Cllr Abdul Khan and Tom Clift with Coventry Ambassadors

Organisers behind the Tokyo 2020 Olympics visited Coventry to learn of their successful role in staging one of the biggest sporting events on earth.

Lord Mayor of Coventry Lindsley Harvard and Dave Moorcroft were some of the names who met Japanese representatives from Chiba, one of Japan’s host cities in 2020.

Two delegates from the Chiba Prefectural Board of Education, Mr Takashi Mitsuhashi and Miss Takako Nihira, visited Coventry to learn more about the city’s award-winning Coventry Ambassador programme, and to understand the impact of Coventry’s achievements in inspiring different generations to have their own Olympic moment. The delegates visited the Ricoh Arena, one of five UK wide venues to host

Olympic Football during London 2012, with 12 football matches that attracted more than 170,000 visitors.

In excess of 300 Coventry Ambassadors welcomed the world during Games time and more than 13,500 children engaged in the Festival of Sport and Sportivate projects.

More than 40,000 people also lined the streets of Warwickshire for the Olympic Torch Relay, while 95 businesses in the local area secured contracts worth £30 million, including Premier Group who made over 9,000 Olympic and Paralympic torches.

Chiba is now looking to follow in Coventry and Warwickshire’s footsteps when the city’s Makuhari Messe Convention Centre hosts taekwondo, fencing, wrestling and windsurfing in three years’ time.

Chiba’s delegates were given first-hand insight into the legacy of the Coventry Ambassador volunteer programme from a company called ENV – a community interest company, which manages and delivers a range of events training and volunteer programmes.

Since 2012, the Coventry Ambassadors have supported more than 90 events and 30,000 volunteer hours and the scheme is also one of the only surviving host city ambassador programme outside of London.

David Boughey, Managing Director at ENV, said: “The legacy of the London 2012 Olympic Games well and truly lives on in the city of Coventry.”

Lord Mayor of Coventry, Cllr Lindsley Harvard, said: "I was delighted to welcome representatives from Chiba to our city, and to share our experience of being a host city.

Welcoming athletes and visitors from around the world is one that will stay with our city forever.”

Tom Clift, who headed up Coventry and Warwickshire’s Olympic programme and is now Programme Manager at Engage!

Coventry, a values based education programme that promotes the core values of rugby, believes the visit was of great benefit for their visitors.

He said: “We were honoured to host part of Tokyo 2020’s organisers, and the Chiba delegates were really impressed with how Coventry engaged in London 2012 and what our City achieved from the Games, involving communities and all generations.”

Creative mailing specialist awarded Government certification A Coventry-based direct mailing specialist has been certified by Cyber Essentials, a Government-backed scheme to help businesses and organisations protect themselves and their clients against increasingly common cyber attacks.

Cyber Essentials is a way for SMEs to take a cyber health check and implement strategies necessary to protect their customers and clients giving reassurance their details are safe with them.

Jigsaw CCS Operations Director Lorna Harling said: “Our work with clients is based on trust. We treat their businesses, and the data we process, as highly confidential. And we wanted to carry out a health check to

ensure our own systems supported that, which is why we decided to apply to the scheme.

“The people who carry out cyber attacks – whether criminal or mischievous – have no respect for the impact that an attack can have on a business. We wanted to make doubly sure we were doing everything possible to protect our clients and ourselves.”

Jigsaw CCS worked with Risk Evolves – a risk management and security company – to prepare the business for the certification process. It was also helped to implement its processes for the certification by another Midlands based IT Solutions business, Zenzero.

Jigsaw CCS Operations Director Lorna Harling, Zenzero Accounts Manager Kevin Goss, Risk Evolves Ltd Managing Director Helen Barge

Refurbished Metals Laboratory at ALS Coventry ALS Environmental has opened its new metals instrument laboratory in Coventry where it will process more than 50,000 samples annually, across five ICP-MS and two ICP-OES instruments.

The laboratory, previously used for preparation of samples for metals extraction, has been completely renovated, including the installation of new flooring, walls, ceiling, benching and gas lines.

Metals analysis at the Coventry site was previously split across two laboratories and eleven ICP systems; a large amount of method development and validation has been performed to consolidate methodologies and reduce the overall footprint of the laboratory to the existing seven systems.

The renovation of the metals analysis laboratory has allowed ALS to greatly reduce its carbon footprint with the installation of fully updated electrics, bespoke air conditioning and extraction systems alongside a centralised system providing cooling water to the ICP instruments.

Christopher Law, Inorganic Chemistry Operations Manager, said: “The opening of the new instrument laboratory is the culmination of significant effort from across the business, demonstrating our commitment to continuously improve our processes in order to exceed client expectations.”

The opening of the metals instrument laboratory is the first step in the planned refurbishment of several laboratories at the Coventry site, including those for metals extraction and the analysis of anions.

Success for WCG apprentices at Coventry awards WCG apprentices dominated the City of Coventry Freemen’s Guild Apprenticeship Awards, with Ella Jackson, Shannon Lynch and Christopher James picking up the three top awards.

The Guild Apprentice of the Year is held annually to recognise the region’s best young apprentices.

The event was held in the historic St Mary’s Guildhall and the prizes were presented by The Master of the City of Coventry Freemen’s Guild, Steven Morson, and the Lord Mayor of Coventry, Cllr Lindsley Harvard. The guest speaker at the event was Dave Moorcroft OBE, former world record holder for the 5,000 metres.

Ella Jackson won the Apprentice of the Year for a small or medium size employer. Ella, 20, from Long Marston, has recently completed her Level 2 Business Administration apprenticeship with Robert Welch Designs Ltd in Chipping Campden and has progressed onto Level 3.

Alice Welch, Deputy Managing Director at Robert Welch said: “The apprenticeship scheme has given both the company and Ella the chance to craft a bespoke training schedule and to ensure that she has had the chance to experience each part of the business in depth.”

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David Wallace, Careers Manager at Stratford-upon-Avon School, Ella’s former school said: “An apprenticeship now is very different from the old days of £25 a week and making tea all day. It brings good training, a great qualification and the potential to move on to higher qualifications, supported by the employer.”

Shannon Lynch won the award for Apprentice of the Year for a Large Company.

Shannon, 21, is an engineering apprentice with Jaguar Land Rover and achieved a distinction in her Foundation Degree in Engineering at Warwick Trident College. She has gone straight to the second year of an Applied Engineering degree at Warwick University.

The Endeavour Award is is a discretionary award for exceptional achievement for a person who has overcome a significant life challenge, but despite this has achieved success within their apprenticeship. The winner, Christopher James, 23, has just completed a three year Advanced Apprenticeship in Engineering Manufacture with The Manufacturing Technology Centre and has already been offered a permanent role at the High Temperature Research Centre, where he will aid research using techniques like additive manufacturing which will play a large part in future engineering processes.

The two Apprentices of the Year each receiving a certificate, trophy and cheque for £1000, with the Endeavour Award winner receiving a certificate, trophy and cheque for £100.

“D&P Holt has a very strong reputation in the area and we can build on that in the years to come by continuing to provide the highest

level of service, combined with our knowledge and expertise across the full breadth of commercial property.”

Rupert Gillitt said: “We are all excited with the next growth phase of the company and Nick’s directorship will help ensure continued business expansion is achieved.”

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Area Focus: Coventry

Firm pledges support for children’s charity L to r – Amanda Deavy, Peter Deeley, Elaine Arlow, Julie Neville, Ian Clorley

Elaine a worthy winner of the Gary Neville Award

An annual award which honours the legacy of a respected figure in the property industry has been awarded for the fifth time.

The Gary Neville Award was created in 2012 by Deeley Group and is awarded to the employee who has displayed the most commitment to their role over the past year.

Elaine Arlow, an accounts supervisor at the Coventry-based firm, was announced as the 2016 recipient of the award and was presented the award by Gary’s wife, Julie.

Elaine said: “I was so surprised to win the award. It’s such a nice thing to know that your fellow colleagues voted for you.

I was just completely and utterly shocked when they read out my name.

“The award is the centrepiece of my brand new mantelpiece and it was fantastic to see all those lovely comments from everyone.

“In the accounts office, Ian, Amanda and I sometimes feel like people think we are just pestering them so it’s nice to know that people recognise what you do.

“Gary was a lovely person. Everyone loved and respected him and it’s nice to know that people were thinking of him at this time of year.”

The award is voted for by employees and is a fitting tribute to Gary who passed away in 2011, having joined Deeley as an apprentice before progressing to become a contract manager.

Peter Deeley, managing director of Deeley Group, said: “Elaine has received wonderful praise from her colleagues for bringing a positive atmosphere to the office with her polite and cheerful attitude to work.

“Her co-workers have highlighted that Elaine will always go that extra mile for them and does not understand the word ‘no’ when faced with a difficult task.

“Gary was a well-known and popular member of the Deeley family, a fantastic member of the team, and I’m sure that he would have agreed that Elaine was fully deserving of this award in his remembrance.”

Local children’s charity Molly Olly’s Wishes is receiving a welcome boost to its fundraising efforts thanks to Thomas Sanderson.

The Coventry-based blinds and shutters manufacturer has pledged its support for Molly Olly’s Wishes as its corporate charity and will spend 2017 raising money through a variety of events and activities.

Molly Olly’s Wishes supports children with terminal or life threatening illnesses and their families to help with their emotional wellbeing. The charity grants individual wishes and donates therapeutic toys and books to children directly, and to hospitals throughout the UK.

Nigel Campkin, managing director of Thomas Sanderson, said: “We endeavour to support this very worthy cause indefinitely in a number of ways. From birthday donations and tuck boxes to raffles and lotteries, we’ll be putting all our efforts into fundraising.”

Rachel Ollerenshaw, of Molly Olly’s Wishes, said: “We are delighted Thomas Sanderson is supporting us. The company’s fundraising efforts play a vital role in helping us to be there for local children and their families, when they are at their most vulnerable.”

Mental Health First Aid training for all healthcare students programme, which launched two years ago to ensure all nurses fully understand the subject of mental health and emotional well-being.

Now, Coventry University is leading the way in Mental Health First Aid training by offering the course to students on all healthcare disciplines, such as occupational therapy, paramedic science, and dietetics, with between 400 and 500 to participate in L to r– Professional Services Support Staff taking the MHFA course: sessions next month.

Michelle Hughes, Rebekah Harris, Natalie Lynn.

It is part of the university’s drive to raise awareness of mental health A project training students in Mental Health issues across the university, which has First Aid is to be rolled out across all also seen 200 academic personal tutors healthcare courses at Coventry University. and professional services staff undergo The scheme provides people with the ability the training. to spot the vital warning signs of mental The aim is not only to train the next health issues and help steer the person generation of health professionals in towards the right support.

Mental Health First Aid but also make students and staff more aware of their own About 300 nursing students have already mental health, and that of their colleagues. been given the training as part of a pilot

26

Healthcare students will take part in a three-hour introductory training session, delivered by trainers accredited by Mental Health First Aid England. University staff can take part in a two-day Mental Health First Aid course.

Diane Phimister, Associate Head for the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, said: “It is really important that everyone in the health care disciplines understand the basics of mental health.”

Natalie Lynn, who works with students as they hand in their assignments, said: “It has been really worthwhile. It has made me a lot more aware of the importance of understanding when talking with someone is necessary, or when a different approach is needed.”

Caroline Hounsell, Director of Partnerships and Product Development for Mental Health First Aid England, said: “Coventry University is an institution on the leading edge of the mental health movement by delivering this crucial training not only to their staff but to students across all healthcare disciplines.”

HBT Communications - a look back on 2016 2016, 28 years since the launch of HBT Communications and a turbulent year for the UK, but another milestone year for this family run IT and Telecoms business.

HBT has expanded over the years and 2016 saw its workforce grow at its fastest rate to date with an increase of over 30%, taking its total number of employees to 41.

The expansion has been with both the service and sales teams and included an apprentice. Nurturing talent has always been a passion for the business and this was rewarded by its current apprentice Abdullah Khan reaching the regional finals of the Apprentice of the Year.

HBT’s MD Zamurad Hussain said: “We now have quite a few members of staff who joined us as apprentices and have worked hard and found their niche within our business. Their commitment has made them all a crucial part of the team. We are proud of all their achievements, but particularly proud of Abdullah’s success in the Apprentice of the Year” Alongside its staff, HBT is also proud of the strong relationships it has built up over the years with key suppliers. In 2016 the business was awarded the prestigious accolade of “Reseller of the Year” by global Telecoms software supplier Swyx.

Zamurad continues, “We have worked hard to build trusting and long standing

Businesses offered free fibre broadband installation Coventry businesses are being offered free installation of ultra-fast fibre broadband as part of a government-backed scheme to supercharge internet speeds in the city.

The city is one of a handful across the UK to be named a Gigabit City, with the rollout of pure fibre to the premises (FTTP) technology offering businesses lightning speeds at low cost.

It comes after the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, announced a £1bn push to support high-speed broadband in the UK, with a focus on funding full fibre networks, in his Autumn Statement.

The connections are being offered by business communications provider

Thomas Sanderson's Technical Development Manager and charity committee member Ken Rotchell (left) and Director Andrew Briggs (right) celebrate the company's adoption of Molly Olly's Wishes charity.

Onecom through the market-leading CityFibre network.

As part of its commitment to the government-backed programme, Onecom, has launched a “Lighting Up Coventry” campaign and is offering installation worth £2,000 at no charge to any Coventry business which takes ultra-fast fibre broadband.

Darren Ridge, CEO of Onecom, said: “Coventry is one of just a few cities to benefit first from the rollout of this new technology, and we are pleased to be launching Onecom’s provision of this service in the city with the offer of free installation.

“Fibre to the Premises technology is capable of incredible speeds yet it

costs less than comparable leased line and Ethernet services.

“It is the ideal solution for small and medium sized businesses, particularly those who are seeking to streamline and improve their systems through the use of voice over internet calling and cloud technology.”

Last year Matthew Hancock, Minister of State for Digital and Culture Policy, underlined the government’s commitment to full fibre, urging businesses to adopt the technology to help Britain become a global digital leader.

For more information about the free installation offer see lightingupcoventry.co.uk and for more about Onecom see onecom.co.uk

relationships with all our suppliers and have great relationships with Swyx, BT, Talk Talk and Gamma to name but a few. Having direct contact with these suppliers often gives us the competitive edge in terms of price and provision of services, which we can then pass on to our customers.”

2016 was also a year for personal challenges. HBT was one of the sponsors of the 2016 Coventry Half Marathon and entered a 14-strong team; a mixture of experienced and complete novice runners.

Everyone completed the run and hundreds of pounds was raised for charity.

The company finished off last year with a make-over for its office in Foleshill, Coventry.

Business expands Lyntech Systems Limited is a Coventry-based specialist commercial interior fit out company with a trading history going back to 1985.

With a diverse client base established over many years, they are expanding their core interiors business of office refurbishment and industrial installations including mezzanine floors, with two distinct additional areas of operation.

Firstly, fully glazed office partitioning to provide a clean contemporary look to any office space. Glass partitions provide the ideal combination of privacy within each office yet visibility

within the overall working space.

This combined with graphics on the glass panels or the thoughtful use of colours to the other surfaces can certainly create an office with an impact.

Secondly, a new online store offering more than 3,000 workplace products from lockers, shelving, cabinets, canteen seating, work benches, trucks, and much more.

The site provides a simple browsing and ordering platform with secure payment, and credit accounts can be arranged. This is all highlighted in their website dedicated to workplace products.

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Coventry & Warwickshire in business

Area Focus: Coventry

Anniversary helps raise charity funds University hits

A bike ride to commemorate a local company’s 80th anniversary has set the wheels in motion for a big boost for a regional grant-giving charity.

Construction and development firm The Deeley Group organised an 80-mile cycle around Coventry and Warwickshire to raise money for the Heart of England Community Foundation and to celebrate the company’s 80th year since it was founded.

The money, donated by the teams involved, raised an initial £2,500 but after seeing the publicity about the event, Holland & Barrett’s charity group Healthy Hope turned the donation up a gear by adding a further £2,500 to the total.

It means the Heart of England Community Foundation – which gives grants to local community groups and charities that make a positive difference in their areas – can now help more people.

It means the Heart of England Community Foundation – which gives grants to local community groups and charities that make a positive difference in their areas – can now help more people.

Nicky Main, a senior buyer at Holland & Barrett and chair of Healthy Hope - which helps to boost the fundraising efforts of Holland & Barrett’s employees and suppliers, said: “We are delighted to give the money to such a fantastic cause through the brilliant fundraising efforts of the Deeley Group.

“With a total of £5,000 going to the Heart of England Community Foundation we hope the money will enable communities to have a fantastic start to 2017.”

Tina Costello, CEO of the Heart of England Community Foundation, said: “This is a wonderful gesture from Healthy Hope and we will ensure it goes to a great cause in the local area that will make a real difference.

“We were thrilled with the initial support from the Deeley Group and its partners on the back of the 80-mile ride and this has just added the icing to the cake.”

Peter Deeley, of the Deeley Group – which is building a new extension at the Holland & Barrett headquarters in Nuneaton, said: “We have a great relationship with Holland & Barrett through many years of working with the company.

record high

L to r– Nicky Main, Sue Heyes (Heart of England Community Foundation), Peter Deeley

“It came as a real surprise when they got in touch to say they wanted to add to the total – but to more than double it is simply fantastic news.

“Tina and the great team at the Heart of England Community Foundation really do tremendous work in helping a range of groups and charities in our area who are a great asset to their local communities.

“I believe very much in what the foundation does for Coventry and Warwickshire and I am delighted that our 80th anniversary has provided a financial boost for them.”

Exciting times at commercial property consultants Coventry based commercial property consultants D&P Holt is preparing for its next phase of growth by promoting the next generation.

Nick Holt is now a director of D&P Holt after joining the company in 2003 and will be key to the development of the business over the next five to ten years, together with Peter Holt and Rupert Gillitt who continue as directors.

David Holt has moved into a consultancy role, focussing on his current involvement

with strategic land projects. Nick believes the company has the perfect platform from which to grow.

He said: “This is an important phase in the company’s history and I am delighted to become a director to help lead the growth and development of the business over the next few years.

“When I joined D&P Holt 14 years ago, it was with a view to ultimately becoming a director and being able to take the company forward. The market is strong in Coventry and Warwickshire – and the wider region – and

this is a real opportunity for us to expand the business.

D&P Holt has a very strong reputation in the area and we can build on that in the years to come by continuing to provide the highest level of service, combined with our knowledge and expertise across the full breadth of commercial property.”

Rupert Gillitt said: “We are all excited with the next growth phase of the company and Nick’s directorship will help ensure continued business expansion is achieved.”

Record numbers of students accepted places at Coventry University last year, placing it in the top three largest and fastest growing institutions in the UK, UCAS figures have revealed.

The numbers of people choosing to study with Coventry rose by eight per cent in 2016, meaning that 8,130 people accepted places on full-time undergraduate degrees across the University Group, which includes campuses in London and Scarborough.

The university is the second largest in terms of growth, with numbers increasing by 50 per cent since 2011, according to figures from UCAS, which detail acceptances to over 280 universities.

Outright, Coventry is the third largest in the UK for annual full time acceptances.

The number of EU students choosing undergraduate courses at the university through UCAS grew by 36 per cent - to 1,220 accepted applicants last year.

The data show Coventry drawing students from across the country, with London the second biggest feeder area, supplying more than one in five of the university’s student intake last year.

More West Midlands students than ever before are choosing Coventry. The six per cent increase shows the university delivering on a commitment to support the regional skills agenda of West Midlands Combined Universities, and providing the qualified graduates local employers need.

Professor John Latham, Vice-Chancellor of Coventry University, said: “I’m proud we’ve become one of the most successful and attractive universities in the UK, without losing our special character and reputation for excellent teaching, preparing students for careers and offering international experiences across all of our courses.”

New order is secured

Midlands-based Murley Construction Equipment, a leading plant hire equipment provider to the construction and agricultural sectors, has announced a significant new agreement.

The 14-unit contract from R. Savage Plant Hire in Birmingham will see a selection of one, three, six and nine-tonne Terex® site dumpers supplied, including two all-new TA9SP swivel-tip units featuring Start/Stop Control and Autoshift technology.

Replacing the plant hire firm’s existing site dumper fleet, the heavy-duty models will be manufactured at Terex Construction’s manufacturing facility in Coventry James Bird, Area Sales Manager at Murley Construction Equipment, said: “Since joining the Terex global distributor network, we have worked in close

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partnership with the manufacturer’s Coventry team to provide our loyal customer base with the latest compact plant equipment and state-of-the-art onsite technology. This is just one of the resulting supply contracts.”

Paul Savage, Managing Director at R. Savage Plant Hire, said: “This latest purchase of Terex site dumpers represents a significant investment for our company. We decided to choose Murley and Terex because we are confident in their ability to meet our expectations when it comes to part availability and servicing.”

Gregg Horne, General Manager of Terex Construction’s Coventry facility, said: “Over the past few years, we’ve invested heavily in our products. We’re delighted to see this pay off with another significant order.”

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Area Focus: Coventry

Consultancy secures big contract What a difference a year makes savings can be made, assess the effectiveness of any energy efficiency measures in place and identify if carbon footprints can be reduced.

Julie Plunkett, Business Development Manager at Utility Team, said: “We look forward to working with Shoe Zone to help maximise profit and drive down costs. Bill validation is high on their agenda, so ensuring invoices are correct will be one of our main focuses. We will also be tailoring our reports to feed straight into their current finance system.

“In the coming months we will be working with the retailer to L to r– Julie Plunkett from Utility Team with Alex Girvan, Emma Hall and roll out smart meters to help Jonathan Fearn from Shoe Zone and Kimberley Salmon from Utility Team. further analyse energy consumption.

A utilities consultancy is celebrating a “Going forward we will also look at Shoe major contract win.

Zone’s water which will involve conducting a full site audit where we will collate all of the Utility Team, which has its headquarters in bills and look at what we can achieve before Coventry and an office in Birmingham, is now putting the contract out to tender. We will also managing the UK-wide energy contracts for be working with them on their contingency Shoe Zone. plans in the event of a power outage.”

The company, which works with businesses Jonathan Fearn, finance director at Shoe around the UK to manage their utility Zone, said: “We chose to award the contract contracts and reduce their energy to Utility Team as they offered competitive consumption, will manage the gas and pricing and felt that their way of working was electricity at about 500 Shoe Zone sites. the closest to ours.

Water will also be a focus as Utility Team “They were able to tailor their services to supports the footwear retailer, which is match what we wanted, and their expertise headquartered in Leicester, in moving to a really shone through. It was also evident that single water supplier in April. the Utility Team colleagues that we met were the ones we would be dealing with on a daily They will also be working with Shoe Zone to basis which also made a big difference. “ roll out smart meters which highlight where

Brothers Aaron and Mitchell Langley arrived at City College Coventry with severe learning difficulties – struggling to read or write even the most basic text.

The twins left school without any qualifications and were assessed as being at pre-entry level when they enrolled on the Light Vehicle Body Repair course in 2015.

But after only a year at the college, both students have left tutors speechless with their impressive progression which saw them finish the first year of their City and Guilds body repair course – Aaron with one distinction and two passes and Mitchell with two distinctions and one pass.

The 17-year-olds have even secured work experience at Shilton garage XK Engineering, which could lead to fulltime employment at the end of their two-year course.

Tutor Ian Wilson said: “I have been so impressed. Their hard work and commitment to their studies is to be commended. I am so incredibly proud of what they have already achieved in their first year at City College Coventry.”

The brothers have proved to be such an inspiration they were asked to return to their Coventry school to give talks to other pupils who may be struggling with their studies.

Aaron said: “Both Mitchell and I have always had a bit of a thing about cars and motorbikes.

“There was nothing else that I fancied doing – I wasn’t really keen on anything

like IT or construction, bricklaying, etc, but when we found this course, I knew it was something I wanted to do.”

Mitchell added: “I knew this course was right for me. Although we couldn’t read or write we both used a scribe to pass the exams. It worked really well.

Now I’m in the second year of the two year course. I can go further if I want and then on to an apprenticeship. My end goal would be to run my own business – maybe with Aaron.”

Both Aaron and Mitchell were also rewarded for their outstanding achievements at City College’s Shine Awards 2016 achieving the Aim Higher Award and Mitchell was also named as Engineering & Motor Vehicle Apprentice of the Year.

Changes in water industry could lead to savings Firms across the West Midlands could save thousands of pounds if they plan ahead for the biggest changes to the water industry for a generation.

Business energy and water consultancy Utility Team, which has offices in Coventry and Birmingham, is urging businesses to make the most of the deregulation of the water market in England which comes into effect in April.

It will mean more than 1.2 million commercial customers in England will be able to choose the best retailer for their needs, regardless of where they are based.

Currently, businesses can only get their water and sewerage services from a single provider located nearby – such as Severn Trent or Thames Water.

In 2008, Scotland became the first country in the world with a deregulated water market. The move is designed to introduce competition into the water market in order to increase the incentives for suppliers to reduce costs or provide a better service.

Utility Team works with businesses around the UK to manage their utility contracts and reduce their consumption.

Scott Birley, Utility Team Sales Director, said many business were not aware of the changes or were mistakenly waiting until the new legislation to come into force before acting.

He said: “These are seismic changes in the water industry and companies who grasp the opportunity now will be able to make significant savings.”

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The changes will see licensed retailers buy wholesale water services – the physical supply of water and the removal of wastewater – from licensed regional water companies. The retailers can then package them together with other retail services and compete for customers.

Regional water companies will continue to supply water, treat wastewater and maintain the water and wastewater pipe networks.

Open Water, a body set up by the UK government to deliver a competitive market, estimates that deregulation in England will deliver around £200m of benefits to business customers and the UK economy.

Utility Team Managing Director Matt Jakeman said that as well as significantly reducing bills for businesses, the changes should make dealing with water companies much simpler.

Utility Team employs 30 staff across its headquarters at Elliot Court in Coventry and sales office in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter.

Utility Team Managing Director Matt Jakeman (left) and Sales Director Scott Birley.

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Coventry & Warwickshire in business

Area Focus: Mid Warwickshire

New services launched for West Midlands’ employers

Career-Mums Partnership has launched new services for West Midlands employers to attract, retain and develop senior women.

The organisation has been running workshops for parents wanting to relaunch their careers following a career break for the past year in Leamington Spa and Solihull.

Most of their clients are well-educated, professionally-qualified women who go on to set up their own business, re-train or take up employment. Most have a caveat that they need a degree of flexibility in the work they choose as they continue in their role as main carers for their children or elderly relatives – perhaps reduced hours, term-time only or flexitime.

Career-Mums partners’ Sally Dhillon and Nishi Mehta realised that there was a mis-match in the market: employers crying out for qualified and experienced quality people whilst qualified and experienced people find it difficult to secure posts that work for them.

They undertook extensive research of what is available elsewhere and what the best-in-class employers are doing to plug this issue. They found that: • Businesses with a healthy gender balance consistently out perform other businesses financially • Pressure is being put on businesses to rectify gender pay inequalities (the gap being 26% in the West Midlands according to a recent report by Korn Ferry Hay)

• Women tend to work at levels below their potential, £1.1bn increase in earnings if women worked at levels that they are qualified to work at in the UK • Stigma attached to taking career breaks – employers are more likely to hire a less qualified candidate than someone that has a gap on their cv for raising their children • 3 in 4 women who are pregnant or on maternity leave report feeling discriminated against by their employer • Full-time carers would be more willing to return to work if some flexibility (not necessarily less hours) were offered • Fathers report that they would like more flexibility from their employers to participate in parenting (despite shared parental leave having such a low take-up so far) • International banking, accountancy, consulting and law firms are leading the way in offering a range of parent-related benefits and options, including different routes back to work, to make being a parent compatible with holding a senior role (for both genders).

The research led Career-Mums to create a new range of services for employers in the West Midlands. These include Maternity Coaching to support an employee through the often vulnerable stages of pre-maternity leave, whilst they are on maternity leave preparing to return to work and then in the post-leave period, supporting integration back to work.

Career-Mums also offers Returnship programmes - structured and supported hiring process to recruit people that have had a career break to return to the workplace.

Sally said: “With employment prospects in the region looking healthy, local employers will need to be creative in how they attract and retain the best available talent.”

New spa to open The Eden Hotel Collection, a privatelyowned portfolio of nine properties in the UK, has announced the launch of a new Elan Spa at Mallory Court Hotel in Warwickshire in April – the first new spa to open in the county for more than ten years.

The English country house hotel is located just outside Leamington Spa and

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the new Elan Spa sits within Mallory Court’s ten-acre grounds, surrounded by sheltered woodland.

Facilities include an outdoor vitality pool with countryside views, glazed outdoor sauna, Rhassoul mud room, seven treatment rooms, 10m indoor Hydro pool, sauna, steam room and gym.

Garden trails and wellbeing/mindfulness retreats are also planned. There are 12 new spa bedrooms, in addition to the existing 31 bedrooms in the main hotel.

Mary Smith, Group Spa Manager, Eden Hotel Collection, said: “We are thrilled to be launching a new Elan Spa at Mallory Court in Warwickshire – the first spa to open in the county for ten years.”

David Lester, joint senior partner with Blythe Liggins Solicitors, Ian Dunwoody, founder and chairman of TMG and Suzanne Horner, chief executive of Gray Dawes Travel.

Travel Management Group (TMG) Sold

The £38 million turnover Travel Management Group (TMG), launched 30 years ago in Leamington Spa, has been sold in a multi-million pound deal to one of the UK’s leading independent corporate travel management companies.

TMG and Cambridge Business Travel have both been acquired in simultaneous deals by Gray Dawes Travel in London and Colchester.

David Lester, joint senior partner and head of the commercial department at Blythe Liggins Solicitors, who advised TMG on the deal, said the two acquisitions would help make Gray Dawes one of the UK’s 20 largest travel management companies.

Founded in 1986, TMG is one of the UK’s leading independent travel management specialists, with dedicated departments for corporate, events, leisure and sport.

As well as providing business travel for many blue-chip organisations, TMG is Europe’s leading professional sport travel agency, with a client base that has included Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Leicester Tigers and Middlesex CCC, as well as the FA and Premier League.

TMG founder and chairman Ian Dunwoody said: “Gray Dawes’ acquisition of TMG provides a major growth opportunity for both our business and extended services for our clients. With the stability and backing of one of the longest established travel management companies in the country, TMG customers will benefit from even wider products, services and innovation.”

Gray Dawes chief executive Suzanne Horner said: “The goal has been to propel our business into one of the 20 largest travel management companies in the UK, trading in excess of £100m per year.

These acquisitions enable us to achieve this strategic position in 2017.”

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Area Focus: North Warwickshire

Concern over shortage of land Auctioneer sets her sights on breaking the mould

Auctioneering is a career traditionally dominated by men – but there’s one Warwickshire woman who is looking to break the mould.

Sally Smith is Coventry and Warwickshire’s only female auctioneer and one of only a handful across the country.

She has headed the auctions department at local property experts Loveitts for the past seven years and having only recently taken her place on the rostrum, she has already been recognised by the industry after being named a finalist in the Novice Auctioneer of the Year Awards.

The Nuneaton businesswoman said: “I love the energy and passion of an auction. The first time I picked up the hammer and took part in my first auction I felt totally exhilarated. It was so exciting and I got the bug. I knew it was something I wanted to do again.”

Sally’s passion for property started in her teenage years and after leaving school she entered the commercial property sector at a business in Bedworth before moving into new homes where she remained for the next 17 years.

The former Bablake School pupil was then recruited by Loveitts, where she worked in new homes before Loveitts directors invited her to take over the auction department.

She said: “It was a massively different culture from what I had been used to, but I embraced it immediately.”

Loveitts recently held its biggest auction in Coventry which raised a recordbreaking £4.2million with 83% success on the night. Sally was an auctioneer for part of the night and helped to sell many of the 27 lots across the region – which included commercial property, terraced homes, parcels of land and a farm.

She said: “It is a tremendously rewarding career and I would love to see more women coming into the field. Hopefully, one day in the near future, women auctioneers will be commonplace and even recognised for bringing a feminine approach to the business.”

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Nuneaton and Bedworth faces a stark shortage of employment land which will impact on the potential to create jobs in the area in the future, business leaders have warned.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce’s north branch met at the headquarters of Subcon Laser in Nuneaton and were joined by Marcus Jones MP and representatives from Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council.

David Penn, a property expert and chair of the Chamber’s Coventry branch, also joined the meeting to help feedback on the draft Borough Plan on the back of research the Chamber has undertaken across the city and the county into a lack of new opportunities for business space.

“We have a chronic problem when it comes to employment land supply across the entire sub-region,” he said.

“There is strong evidence that we have a huge surplus of demand over supply and plenty of anecdotal evidence from companies saying they can’t find space here.

“What we are saying across Coventry and Warwickshire is that the plans for housing – in terms of numbers – are about right but when it comes to employment land we are falling woefully short.

“The problem is that the Plan runs from 2011 to 2031. So we are already six years in from when the research was first carried out and our economy is in a very different place to where it was in 2011.

“We will be feeding back formally on the Borough Plan but we have also written

Paul Carvell (centre) with Marcus Jones MP and Tom Mongan, of Subcon Laser (right) along with members of the Chamber’s north branch and representatives from Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council.

directly to Government on this because there is a link between the number of houses and the amount of employment land you can allocate.

“We believe this link has to be broken.

Without a more ambitious plan for Nuneaton and Bedworth when it comes to employment sites, there is a very real risk to job creation in the area in the future.”

Paul Carvell, chair of the Chamber’s north branch, said: “We are extremely grateful for the work that David and colleagues have undertaken around the issue of employment land not just here in

Nuneaton and Bedworth but right across the sub-region.

“Businesses and the wider public want to see ambitious plans for this area that show a positive aspiration for employment and inward investment into the region.

“We were very grateful to get the opportunity to put our concerns to Marcus Jones and to Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council.

“We hope that our local feedback, along with our soundings to ministers, results in a plan that offers real opportunities for new employment across our area."

Inspirational group enters its third year The Inspirational Women’s Group, which was set up by Lorraine Phimister of Willsons Solicitors and Cheryl Stanley of the SFB Group, has entered its third year.

The group was set up to bring together business owners/businesswomen from Nuneaton, Bedworth and the surrounding area to share their knowledge and expertise.

The first meeting took place at the then ‘Wing Wah’ in Nuneaton in December 2014, where eight businesswomen attended.

Since then, the group has gone from strength to strength and now has about 75 members.

The events take place every other month and there is no joining fee.

Lorraine said “Both myself and Cheryl wanted to create a ladies networking group for ladies in business from Nuneaton and the surrounding area that is relaxed, informative, informal and fun.

“We thought it would be great to have a meeting every other month where ladies in business could meet after work for a drink and bite to eat and share their business expertise and knowledge.

“These meetings are a great opportunity to meet and network with likeminded business women and to build important business contacts”.

The events take place at local venues and are varied with guest speakers, spotlight on businesses, fun events and opportunities for women to showcase their businesses.

Lorraine said: “We are looking for new members to join so if you are female and own a business or fun a business and would like to come along to socialise, network and share your expertise, please contact me.”

Email: lphimister@willsonslegal.co.uk

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Coventry & Warwickshire in business

Area Focus: South Warwickshire Need for more business land among items on meeting agenda The three Ps were on the agenda when MP Nadhim Zahawi met local business representatives.

The south Warwickshire branch of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce organised the session with Mr Zahawi at Pashley Cycles – and property, power and people were the main talking points.

The Chamber is currently looking at the shortage of employment land and how it could hinder investment, and the meeting heard about the work it is undertaking to ensure that more sites are brought forward across the Coventry and Warwickshire area.

Larry Coltman, chair of the branch, said that Mr Zahawi was fully aware of the issue, and was happy to work with the Chamber to broker a solution.

“The Chamber has formed a working party to look at the issue, which is the single

biggest impediment to growth in our area,” said Mr Coltman.

“We have assembled a team of experts who are investigating the problem across our area and looking to work to help resolve what we believe is a serious threat to on-going investment.

“Local plans across our authorities are at different stages of gestation, and while there has been a massive focus on housing numbers, employment land has been gobbled up at an increasing rate.

“As a region, we have everything going for us, but if there is not the potential for our local companies to grow and sites available for inward investors then we will stagnate and we simply cannot afford to let that happen.

“We made sure that Nadhim was fully aware of how important we view the problem and that it is something we need to work on as a region,

and that might well mean lobbying ministers to ensure land is re-designated and action is taken.

“There are a great many factors in our favour at the moment – many of which may not reoccur – and we need to be in a position to make the most of them.”

The shortage of skilled labour in some areas and a lack of power capacity to new sites were also discussed.

Mr Coltman added: “Nadhim has always maintained a close working relationship with the Chamber and the local business community and is prepared to use his links to help us ensure that the issue of land supply is at the top of the local authorities’ agendas.

“He also brought us up to speed on the plans for Brexit and how he feels that will evolve in 2017 once it starts in earnest.”

L to r – Peter Deeley, Adam Cooper, Justin Williams, Richard Pepper

Topping out ceremony at development

Business and education secure funds to boost tourism industry Stratford-upon-Avon College, in collaboration with Henley-in-Arden School, Proactive Education, QHotels and Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, has been successful in its bid to secure funding for a new youth engagement project soon to be delivered in Warwickshire.

Twenty two businesses and education providers submitted proposals for the Warwickshire County Council Skills for Employment Major Grant.

The College’s proposal focused on raising awareness of Hospitality and Travel & Tourism as a viable career pathway, to address a skills shortage in both

sectors and to support an industry that is crucial to Stratford’s local economy.

The bid brought together parties with which the College has a proven track record, cementing the its commitment to the surrounding community and helping to make a major positive difference to the employability of young people in the county.

Engaging with students from Year 7 upwards, the project will offer them access to all aspects of the hospitality and tourism sectors everything from the usual customer relations and catering, to areas such as event management and business administration; teaching them transferable life skills communication, computer skills, team work – skills that are required in various degrees in every job; and help them make informed choices. The College is delighted to be working with four local organisations – Henley-in-Arden School, Proactive Education, QHotels and Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

By benefiting from the combined expertise of a school, a further education college, an employer engagement specialist and local employers, the College will be in a position to improve the transition of young people from education into employment.

One example of this enhanced partnership between education provider and employer is that all students on the programme will work closely with mentors from QHotels and Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, giving students a real insight into the world of work and prepare them for an interview at the end of Year 11 for apprenticeship opportunities.

Stevie Edmund-Jones, the College’s Head of Employer Engagement, said: “We are delighted that Warwickshire County Council has approved our bid. We all believe that with the knowledge and expertise all parties possess, we have the making of an excellent model that can be replicated in other areas.”

A development being created in Stratford-upon-Avon has gone through the topping out ceremony.

Fordham House is a development of 82 private rent apartments on the corner of Birmingham Road and Clopton Road, with initial preference to key workers in the town.

The development is a partnership between Stratford Town Trust, Orbit, ABD Developments and Robothams Architects. Deeley Construction is the design and build contractor.

A topping out ceremony was held at the development, which is on the site of a vacant office building that was demolished to allow work to proceed, to mark the highest point in the build being reached.

Justin Williams, of Stratford Town Trust, and Adam Cooper, of Orbit, joined Peter Deeley and site manager Richard Pepper on the roof of the scheme before other visitors.

WCG hosts first ever apprenticeship graduation ceremony Apprentices, employers, family and friends celebrated at WCG’s first ever Apprenticeship Graduation and Celebration of Awards ceremony at Old Shire Hall, Warwick.

The apprentices were celebrating completing a range of apprenticeships from dental nursing to bricklaying, farriery to engineering at businesses large and small, local and national.

The ceremony began with a drinks reception at the Grade 1 listed Old Shire Hall before guest of honour, Duncan Midwood, gave a keynote speech. Duncan is Managing Director of CEWE Ltd, Europe's foremost digital printing and finishing company whose UK operation is based in Warwick.

The apprentices then took to the stage to receive their official scrolls from WCG Group Principal and CEO, Angela Joyce. Awards were also made to Outstanding Apprentices in three industry sectors.

• Ben Lamb won the award for Outstanding Apprentice in Engineering and Construction

• Daniel Paré won the award for Outstanding Apprentice in Service Industries • Declan Emmerson won the award for Outstanding Apprentice in Land-based Industries Angela Joyce, Group Principal and CEO of WCG said: “We are extremely proud to be the largest college provider of apprenticeships in the Midlands, with more than 2,000 apprentices training with us every year and the event was the culmination of our long-held ambition to recognise and reward apprentices in the same way as those who have studied for a degree.”

Duncan Midwood told of his career journey from starting out as a trainee through to his current role as Managing Director of a company employing apprentices. He said: “For me as an employer, apprentices are a cost-effective way to bring great talent into an organisation and for the apprentices, it’s a fantastic foundation for a very successful career.”

Harpreet Kaur Hundal, 19, was celebrating graduating from her apprenticeship in dental nursing with Bridge Dental Practice in Leamington. She is now a dental nurse with the practice and said: “I’d always wanted to get into dentistry or medicine, and saw the apprenticeship route as a great alternative way of getting there” Ben Lamb, 25, completed his engineering apprenticeship at Jaguar Land Rover and won the Outstanding Apprentice Award for engineering and construction. He said: “I had a brief experience at university but decided it wasn’t fulfilling what I wanted to do educationally and professionally so looked into opportunities that offered higher education and found the Jaguar Land Rover apprenticeship scheme.”

Daniel Paré, 20, from Warwick won the Service Industries Outstanding Apprentice Award. He completed his apprenticeship with

the Warwickshire County Council’s Public Health team, before securing a permanent role.

He said: “I did well at school but I didn’t feel that A-levels or university were the right path for me, that’s why I chose to do the apprenticeship and it was the best decision I’ve ever made.”

Declan Emmerson, 25, was winner of the Land-based Industry Outstanding Apprentice Award, travelled from Sussex for the ceremony.

He said: “I started off wanting to be a blacksmith, but I love horses and working outdoors so decided to do the farriery apprenticeship. I’m not hugely academic, I struggled a bit at school but practically I’m very capable, so in doing an apprenticeship I was able to do what I loved, but also get the academic qualification alongside.

“I’m running my own farriery business now and want to continue to build that up and eventually take on my own apprentice.”

Minister visits college to see apprenticeships in action Minister of State for Apprenticeship and Skill Robert Halfon visited Warwick Trident College to see how WCG is training the skilled employees the country needs.

WCG is the largest college provider of apprenticeships in the West Midlands, with about 2,500 apprentices training with the Group each year.

WCG has recently been shortlisted in the TES FE Award for Apprenticeship Programme of the Year and as Training Partner of the Year at the Semta Skills Awards.

Mr Halfon was greeted by WCG CEO and Group Principal Angela Joyce and toured the college’s engineering and motor vehicle facilities. He met a group of Jaguar Land Rover apprentices who train at the college studying at advanced, higher and degree level in product design, electrical and electronic engineering,

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alongside Jaguar Land Rover staff. Mr Halfon then met other WCG apprentices, including apprentices working in farriery, accountancy, horticulture, clay modelling, vehicle maintenance, equine, engineering technical support and dentistry.

Farriery apprentice Oliver Laker presented Mr Halfon with a commemorative horseshoe to mark the visit. The minister also met a number of apprentice employers with apprentices at WCG, including Aston Martin, BT Fleet, Find me a Gift, AGCO, WAGO and Bransford Webbs.

Robert Halfon said: “I have been extremely inspired by the work Warwick Trident College and Warwickshire College Group have been doing to ensure people are getting the highest quality education and training. I hope other colleges and providers will be able to follow WCG’s lead.”

Angela Joyce said: “We have been at the forefront of the apprenticeship reforms taking place over recent years and this visit was a great opportunity to share our work with the minister.”

Charlotte Somers, Jaguar Land Rover first year Degree Apprentice, said: “The minister took a genuine interest in us as apprentices.

He listened to our views and seemed keen to act upon them.”

Ezra Cunningham, Jaguar Land Rover first year Degree Apprentice. Said: “We felt privileged to be able to share some quality time with a government minister who took our comments on board and is able to make a difference. He was clearly well informed and passionate about apprenticeships.”

Joshua Berrill, 20, from Daventry is an engineering apprentice at WAGO in Rugby.

He said, “It was great to meet the minister today and he was interested to hear about my journey.“

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Area Focus: Rugby

Therapist kicks off new year in style

Karen Shuter and Mark Pawsey with representatives from the Chamber’s Rugby branch

Backing the case for development land Rugby’s MP has urged business leaders to carry on ‘building the case’ for more sites to be set aside for employment land in the region.

Mark Pawsey MP met the Rugby branch of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, which is raising awareness across the region of a chronic shortage of new employment space in the city and the county.

He told the group that the site at Walsgrave Hill Farm, which was recently removed from Rugby’s Borough Plan, should be revisited as it was a natural progression from the hugely successful Ansty Park where it benefits from the same infrastructure, close to Junction 2 of the M6.

And Pawsey told the gathered firms that the more examples the Chamber could uncover of businesses being prevented from growing in the area, the stronger the case would be.

He said: “To start with, I believe the site at Walsgrave should go back in the plan because I am hugely proud of what has happened at Ansty – it’s a huge success. That is exactly the right area for the development of new employment land.

“I would also urge the Chamber to keep uncovering individual businesses who are saying they want to grow in Rugby, but can’t, as that is compelling evidence for the need for more employment land.

“I have, myself, spoken to companies that have wanted to expand in the Borough but just couldn’t find the right space so I know it’s an issue. We have to use the evidence – both statistical and anecdotal – to continue to make the case for needing more employment land here.”

The Chamber has already written to MPs in the area and to Gavin Barwell, Minister of State for Housing and Planning, as well as to Rugby Borough Council regarding its plan.

Property expert David Penn – who chairs the Chamber’s Coventry branch – also addressed the meeting.

He said: “We estimate that there is between nine months’ and two-and-a-half years’ worth of employment land supply in the region.

“We are satisfied, generally, the target number of housing is about right but – put simply – there just isn’t enough space set aside to provide the jobs for people to go to.

“Mark did also mention a possibility of designated, affordable commercial property space when planning permission is given and that is certainly an interesting idea that could help businesses in certain sectors find space.”

Karen Shuter, the chair of the Rugby branch, added: “We are grateful to David who has put in a lot of work on this topic for the Chamber and also to Mark for coming and listening to the Chamber and its members on this topic.

“He was extremely supportive and we will continue to ensure that this topic remains firmly on the agenda in the weeks ahead.”

Businesses that want to expand but are unable to do so because of a lack of suitable space are urged to email Martyne Manning at the Chamber at martynem@cw-chamber.co.uk

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A sports therapist to professional football referees has kicked off the year by expanding his business in Rugby.

Barry Phillipson, whose most high-profile work is treating match officials for the Premier League, Football Association, Football League, UEFA and FIFA, is taking on two additional units at The Craft Studios at Hillmorton Locks where he runs Smart Studios.

His three existing units house six treatment rooms for therapists offering a range of therapies including physio and sports massage, injury rehabilitation, reflexenergy, relaxation massage and beauty treatments.

The extra units on the ground floor will provide another treatment room to offer sports therapy for less mobile and disabled clients, and launches the Smart Progress Room with a range of exercise and rehabilitation equipment to enhance the services and treatments.

Barry said: “I established Smart Studios at Hillmorton Locks in 2009 and it has grown in that time with my approach being to develop and mentor younger therapists

and encourage new therapists by giving them the opportunity to develop their own skills and businesses here from my 18 years of experience.

“My dream has been to develop a holistic, progressive clinic with each therapist confident to express their unique characters and treatment packages.

“This expansion will enable me to take Smart Studios to the next level. My longterm plan has been to have an area where I could continue the progress of clients not just from hands-on treatments but by using rehabilitation and exercise equipment.

“As well as providing that new facility, we will now be able to support the growing focus on making more sports accessible to all abilities with a treatment room that has disabled access.”

The Craft Studios, located off Brindley Road and next to the Oxford Canal, was acquired by Coventry-based commercial property company The Wigley Group in early 2016 with the aim of offering an improved service to tenants to allow the estate to thrive.

Barry said: “I would not have taken this step if it wasn’t for the commitment and support from The Wigley Group. They have been able to make a dream of mine come true.”

Louis Smith, estates manager at The Wigley Group, said: “A year on from acquiring Hillmorton Locks, we are delighted to see the estate enjoying growth and to have been able to help make this expansion happen for Smart Studios.”

A warm welcome to Dollman Farm A year in the making, this community courtyard hub is the first glimpse of life at Houlton and offers residents of Rugby and surrounding areas a fantastic stop-off for lunch and to experience the emergence of Rugby’s newest neighbourhood.

Situated on the site of the former Dollman Farm - set back from the A428 Crick Road, you will find The Tuning Fork eatery - run by Elaine and James Enticott from the wellknown and highly successful business The Chef’s Kitchen in Hillmorton.

The former farm house is now a Visitor Centre, offering prospective house buyers a vision for the future of Houlton and the benefits and opportunities of living in this

new community. And The Barn provides high quality community space for local groups, clubs and classes.

Good progress is being made on the housebuilding front, with Davidsons Homes being the first developer on site. With a well-established reputation for building superb-quality family homes, they’ll be marketing from Dollman Farm in April.

They’ll be joined later in the spring by two more quality home builders, Morris Homes and Crest Nicholson.

Urban&Civic and Aviva Investors have also been working with local historian and ex-Rugby Radio Station Manager Malcolm Hancock to publish his book The History Of

Rugby Radio Station. Malcolm spent his whole career at the station and his book is rich with detail of the station’s technical achievements and groundbreaking transmissions as well as fascinating local history and genuinely charming accounts of the lives of those who worked there.

The History Of Rugby Radio Station is available to purchase at The Tuning Fork.

Or purchase online at: www.rugbyradiostation.co.uk/ thehistoryofrugbyradiostation Proceeds from the sale will go to the local Air Ambulance Service.

Company develops airline safety system

John Rushbrooke, Lenoch Engineering chief executive, and Rich Warren, business mentor and account manager at the CWLEP Growth Hub with the bomb proof box.

A Rugby engineering solutions firm is developing an innovative piece of equipment that could soon be keeping airline passengers protected.

Lenoch Engineering is creating a bomb proof box for airports around the country to use keep travellers safe during emergency situations.

The box is currently in development by the firm and a plan is in place to launch it and consult with airports in 2017.

There have already been two rounds of rigorous testing and the box set for more analysis in the New Year.

John Rushbrooke, Lenoch Engineering chief executive, said the box could be brought in if there are any suspect packages left in airports and it could absorb any explosion.

“The bomb proof box is a big cube that can be easily brought in to a situation and a suspect package can be placed inside,” said John.

“It’s made of a number of materials which are flexible so the box expands with the explosion and it goes from being a cube to round like a football, but it also absorbs all of the energy.

“Tests on the box have gone well so far as they have shown us what we need to adapt to make sure that it is entirely safe for use.

“But we hope that once it has gone through all its test, that the box becomes a useful tool for airports in this country and beyond.”

The development of the bomb proof box comes after Lenoch was given assistance by the CWLEP Growth Hub. The firm was looking to purchase the Somers Road-based buildings that it calls home and needed some financial assistance in the form of grants.

The company also wanted help to buy some new specialist machinery that could help with the engineering work that it undertakes.

But John needed advice about grants that are out there and the best place to search for the most appropriate ones.

He was pointed in the direction of the CWLEP Growth Hub which offers specialist advice and thanks to the help the company was awarded £50,000 from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and £35,000 from Warwickshire County Council.

Rich Warren, business mentor and account manager at the Growth Hub, said: “Lenoch is an exciting company with an excellent reputation and producing some amazing work.

“The bomb proof box is just one of the interesting and innovative projects that it can continue to produce thanks to the grants that the Growth Hub assisted in getting.

“The company may be a small, but it is an integral part to all of its clients as they can get things done swiftly, efficiently and to the highest standard.

“We are extremely pleased that we could work with Lenoch and assist them in driving the business forward.”

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Apprenticeships Specialist IT and Software Apprenticeships

WCG’s approach to apprenticeships wins ministerial approval - and helps businesses

Coventry based JBC Skills Training is a government prime training provider who specialise in technical IT and software development apprenticeships.

Marcus Roddy, part of the Employer Engagement Team at JBC Skills Training said, “2017 marks a seismic change in apprenticeships, not only because of the levy and funding changes, but because of the new specialist apprenticeship standards. It is a great time for IT and software employers to get involved and benefit from these changes”.

To find out how your business can benefit contact Marcus Roddy on 07387 266 670 email: marcusroddy@jbcmail.com www.jbctraining.co.uk

Could your Curriculum benefit from Technology?

Our Primary Goal is to embed the use of technology in education by providing Teacher Apprentices who support the use of IT in lessons and maintain technology in school.

Our unique programme has been developed with the support of Head Teachers to meet specific requirements of schools and Ofsted.

A Teacher’s Apprentice will receive training and ongoing support from the Tablet Academy, a leading provider of teacher training to focus on the use of IT within the curriculum and will receive technical training and support from an IT provider, which could be the school’s current provider, or a new provider.

For further information contact Primary Goal on 0247 771 7487 E: info@primarygoal.ac.uk W: www.primarygoal.ac.uk

PET-Xi Offers Free Apprenticeship Levy Advice PET-Xi is offering a free consultancy service to help local employers understand how the new Apprenticeship Levy will impact their organisation and how they can start their own apprenticeship programme.

Launched in March 2016, the PET-Xi Apprenticeship Programme has seen significant growth with the department doubling in size and learner numbers quadrupling.

The company has its own extensive inhouse apprenticeship programme and over 20% of PET-Xi’s full-time staff are in their in-house apprenticeship scheme.

PET-Xi has a unique insight into the use of Apprenticeships and understands the demands placed on SME’s within the local geographic area. PET-Xi is a committed employer of Apprentices and as a training provider has designed its Apprenticeships programmes to fit the modern business world.

Interested businesses can contact Gary Drake at PET-Xi GDrake@Pet-Xi.co.uk or at 024 7642 0310. www.pet-xi.co.uk

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Businesses all across the region are waking up to the fact that, now more than ever, there really is something for everyone in the government’s new approach to apprenticeships.

The key is greater flexibility in several crucial areas including how you use apprenticeships and who you can use them for.

WCG’s Director of Work Based Learning, Melanie Shaw, explains: “You can now use apprenticeship funding to retrain your existing staff – irrespective of age - so that they’re able to take on higher level roles within your company. That way you retain

all the experience they’ve gained while working for you. You can also tailor each apprenticeship to individual members of your staff, choosing only the parts of the framework that you need. That saves you time and money and motivates your staff.”

The new scheme is a great way of making your staff development budget go further.

Existing staff who need retraining or upskilling, can be developed (and funded) through the levy scheme. New vacancies that arise, can be funded through the new scheme too - you simply turn those roles into apprenticeships - so you can grow your own talent and have your investment

enhanced by the levy funding pot. So it makes sense to rethink your entire approach to staff development and filling new vacancies.

WCG’s work on apprenticeships is highly respected and gained ministerial approval recently when Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP, Minister of State for Apprenticeships and Skills, visited Warwick Trident College to meet apprentices and employers from Aston Martin, BT Fleet, AGCO and Jaguar Land Rover.

The Minister commented: “I have been extremely inspired by the work Warwick Trident College and WCG have been doing to ensure people are getting the highest quality education and training. I hope other colleges and providers will be able to follow WCG’s lead.”

In order to help businesses benefit from the most recent changes, WCG is continuing to run its highly successful roadshow of apprenticeship events till the end of April. WCG guarantees that employers will not leave the events without understanding what the benefits are for them.

You can book your place at the Rugby College event (30 March) or the Warwick Trident event (27 April) by calling 0800 677 611 now or visiting www.wcg.ac.uk.

Stepnell apprentice wins top national construction award

Daniel Young, trainee computer-aided design technician for Rugby-based construction specialist Stepnell, was named Apprentice of the Year at the National Federation of Builders (NFB) Annual Awards.

Daniel, 17, who lives in Rugby, received the accolade in recognition of his exceptional performance since joining

Stepnell, with the company already singling him out as a potential future leader.

He joined the firm in August 2015 after impressing bosses during a week-long work experience placement while he was still at school. Instead of going to university, Daniel chose to start a Higher Apprenticeship in the Stepnell design office working as a trainee computer-aided design technician, gaining vocational experience while studying on day-release for a BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Construction and the Built Environment and an NVQ Level 3 Diploma in Construction Contracting Operations at South and City College Birmingham.

Karen Ryan, best practice manager of Stepnell, said: “Daniel’s high levels of maturity, innovation, competency and leadership impressed us from the beginning.

“Throughout his short time with Stepnell, Daniel has made an exceptional contribution to the business and the wider industry. He has not only been instrumental in our own company’s initiatives, but also the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB)’s Go Construct campaign. He has given promotional and motivational speeches at career events, actively encouraging other intelligent young people to consider them and highlighting the benefits over traditional university routes.

“What he brings to our team is immeasurable, constantly challenging colleagues to think in a different way and helping improving the service we give to clients. We are delighted that Daniel’s hard work and commitment has been recognised.”

Award winning restaurateur gives aspiring chefs a boost An award-winning Warwickshire chef and restaurateur is determined to provide greater employment opportunities for young people in rural communities, and has recently rewarded one of his own former apprentices with a much-soughtafter full-time post.

Nick Deverell-Smith, Head Chef and proprietor of boutique Cotswold pub The Churchill Arms in the village of Paxford, decided to hire a Professional Cookery Apprentice through Stratford-upon-Avon College in October last year.

Wanting to offer greater opportunity to aspiring chefs in rural communities, Nick explained, “I was an apprentice myself.

I had the opportunity to train at Simpsons in Kenilworth, in my opinion the best restaurant in the area, under some fantastic chefs such as Glynn Purnell. I think there’s

no better way than learning on the job.

“I always wanted to own my own restaurant. When I left school I wasn’t very confident at all but here I am now. To be able to give that opportunity to other young people is hugely rewarding.”

Nick, who won Junior Chef of the Year in 2000 and has worked under both Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre White, turned to the College’s Work-Based Learning Team to arrange and advertise the apprenticeship.

He said: “When I opened The Churchill Arms, I got in touch with Stratford College to perform some catering demonstrations for the students, and I was very impressed with the standard of chefs they were producing. They were the obvious choice when it came to choosing an apprenticeship training provider.”

The apprenticeship was eagerly snapped up by 17-year-old Matthew Young. Under the expert guidance of Nick and his team, Matthew’s skill and confidence grow by the day and he has developed into a first-class commis chef.

Head Chef and proprietor Nick Deverell-Smith with newly-appointed commis chef Matthew Young

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Coventry & Warwickshire in business

Education and Training

David

07387 266 668

daviddocherty@jbcmail.com

Develop new and existing staff in your business with our TECHNICAL IT & SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

APPRENTICESHIPS

We’re your local, specialist technical IT and software development apprenticeship training provider. We can help your business benefit from the new apprenticeship reforms and levy.

Get in touch with our Employer Engagement Team to find out how your business can benefit.

www.cw-chamber.co.uk

Marcus

07387 266 670

marcusroddy@jbcmail.com

www.jbctraining.co.uk

JBC Skills Training Ltd, Stoneleigh House 66-70 Earlsdon Street, Coventry CV5 6EJ

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Retirement

Healthy and happy downsizing - a solution for old and young?

A 2016 report put the spotlight on older people downsizing, suggesting that millions of under-occupied homes would be freed up and those moving would gain health and quality of life benefits.

According to the report, part of the “Housing our Ageing Population: Positive Ideas” series from the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Housing and Care for Older People, there are eight million people in the UK interested in downsizing. This, according to the APPG, could free up 3.5 million homes, including two million three or four-bedroom homes.

ExtraCare has been a registered charity based in Coventry for nearly 30 years and

have helped thousands of older people downsize successfully. We know how the practice – when combined with a range of measures to encourage independent living – has positive impacts on people and communities.

Indeed, compared to building starter homes, constructing retirement properties effectively generates up to two homes for one, as people downsize into them and free up their previous home for sale or rent.

Take our work in Coventry where we have opened our 262 home Earlsdon Park Village, a successful partnership with the City Council. As a direct result of our efforts to help older people downsize, already over

100 family-sized homes have been released back into the community and many more are freeing up as the Village is fully occupied.

But there’s more. The Village also incorporates 18 community facilities, from a café bar to a hairdressing salon and fitness suite. The development offers 300 residents a holistic approach, integrating their lifestyle, homes and care. In fact a third of residents receive help with their care, including dementia support, ensuring that they can maintain and enjoy their independence within the community.

Villages like Earlsdon Park support local health and well-being board targets and the public purse. For example, NHS costs have been reduced by 38%, including a decrease in regular and routine GP visits and unplanned hospital admissions. Recent independent research by Aston University shows how health benefits for residents soar while care costs are cut by over a third.

As well as improvements to health and quality of life, residents are no longer isolated. Meanwhile, our Village-style developments also support the city’s integrated housing strategy. Recently, Coventry City Council approached us to provide our award winning dementia services in the wider community, helping people with the condition remain independent in their own homes.

Such work played a role in ExtraCare winning the Outstanding Approach to Innovation award at the UK Housing Awards, which recognises innovative methods, the creation of cost savings and the delivery of better outcomes for people.

Nationally, however, older people sometimes feel invisible in property and housebuilding strategies. Yet ignoring their housing needs – and in particular, failing to combine their living requirements with their care and well-being support – is inefficient and means potential social, health, care and public finance benefits remain untapped.

Coventry City Council has been both supportive and innovative in helping our charity develop the Earlsdon Park Village model, along with the Homes and Communities Agency who provided 1.456m to support social housing in the Scheme; in Birmingham we have had similar success with five villages spread across the city.

Healthy and happy downsizing works perhaps it’s an approach others should follow?

Mick Laverty is Chief Executive of The ExtraCare Charitable Trust. For more information about Earlsdon Park Village, please visit: www.earlsdonparkvillage.co.uk Phone: 02477 718000

Peace of mind as we grow older HELPING YOU EVERY STEP OF THE WAY

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of mind for us and our family. You need a personal service at a fair price from a local solicitor with almost 20 years experience.

Murgatroyd Solicitors is dedicated to YOU and offers professionalism.

We offer a will writing service and will also apply for probate and the administration of your estate when the time comes.

Murgatroyd Solicitors provide a confidential and efficient service on

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VILLAGE, WE CAN ARRANGE VISITS TO HELP YOU AND YOUR FAMILY OBTAIN PEACE OF MIND.

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Sandra Murgatroyd is the founder and sole practitioner of Murgatroyd Solicitors.

Murgatroyd Solicitors was set up on the 9th August 2016 and is based in Rugby.

Murgatroyd Solicitors provides legal services in Wills and Probate, Family, Conveyancing, Landlord and Tenant and Criminal matters. Murgatroyd Solicitors offers a quality one to one service to the public and businesses, providing a personal service at a fair cost.

Murgatroyd Solicitors provided a confidential and efficient service on all aspects of Wills and Probate including:

• Will writing • Probate and estate administration • Elderly Client • Non-Contentious Probate • Lasting Powers of Attorney Sandra Murgatroyd is a qualified solicitor with over fifteen years legal experience. She has worked as a public sector lawyer and in general practice law firms, predominately in the West Midlands. She offers a friendly personal touch with professionalism.

Address : 244 Hillmorton Road, Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 5BQ Telephone : 01788 535000 Email : Sandra.Murgatroyd@murgatroydsolicitors.co.uk Website : www.murgatroydsolicitors.co.uk

Live life to the full at Inspired Villages Idyllic surroundings, a tailored service when you need it the most… everybody has a vision of their perfect retirement.

No matter what you want from life beyond 65, good health and a sense of wellbeing is something that we all hope for.

At Inspired Villages, residents will be able to live their lives to the full, with all the trappings of a luxury and comfortable retirement. The new village under development in Warwick, will offer everything from hotel-style room service to on-site transport provision, as well as a range of recreational facilities.

Residents at the Inspired Village in Warwick will also benefit from an exclusive membership to the on-site wellness centre – which includes a rejuvenating spa pool and a gymnasium offering specially tailored classes.

For more information please drop into the sales suite on Gallagher way, Heathcote, Warwickshire CV34 6AF, call on 01926 680 024, email warwick@inspiredvillages.co.uk or visit www.inspiredvillages.co.uk

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Coventry & Warwickshire in business

News

Lifestyle change makes for good business

Anne Gwilliam with Tanya King (right)

A Warwickshire woman has been given a new lease of life after launching a new business – and she is hoping it will do the same for others.

Anne Gwilliam was a very successful management accountant but felt overworked, stressed and unhealthy.

And when she studied and qualified in nutrition and fitness, Anne decided it wasn’t just a healthier lifestyle that she needed but a change of career which saw her launch Solis Lifestyle – her own nutritionist and personal trainer business.

The company, based in Barford, offers fitness, nutrition and lifestyle coaching to create healthier, happier individuals and was given start-up support by the Coventry

and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce as part of the Coventry and Warwickshire Business Support Programme.

Anne said: “I had a background in accountancy and was comfortable with a lot of the aspects involved in setting up a business, however lacked experience in marketing and sales.

“I resigned from my day to day job and set about building Solis Lifestyle. I worked from home but soon came to realise there were too many distractions and things weren’t getting done.

“I was recommended to speak to the team at Venture House Business Centre located in Stratford upon Avon, which provides flexible office space in creative environment and offers an exciting

alternative to traditional office space, offering ease-in-easy-out terms to suit business needs.

“Having started working from Venture House, I was introduced to Tanya King, a business coach with the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce.

“The support exceeded expectations and is of the same standard as any business courses that I have paid for professionally. The support does not just cover general concepts it is tailored to my specific requirements ensuring I have tangible outcomes.”

Anne delivers group personal training sessions and provides one to one personal training, nutrition and lifestyle coaching.

“I work with anyone looking to improve their health and wellbeing but also has a keen interest in health issues, mobility problems and weight loss particularly with the over 50 sector who sometimes forget their own importance,” she added.

Anyone setting up a new business or within the first 12 months of setting up is entitled to free business support through the Chamber. Through this, Anne was able to receive one to one mentoring and attend a number of events aimed at helping people set up or develop a new business.

Tanya said: “Working with Anne has been really rewarding, it is great to see a business go from strength to strength and using the facilities and services that are available to people in the region.”

The facilities at Venture House and the coaching provided by the Chamber of Commerce are supported by Stratfordon-Avon District Council, The Growth Deal, Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, Warwickshire County Council and European Regional Development Funding.

Autins poised for growth Autins Group Plc, a leading UK designer, manufacturer and supplier of acoustic and thermal insulation solutions for the automotive sector, including Bentley and Jaguar Land Rover, is set for growth after successful AIM listing and securing a £10.5 million HSBC finance package.

HSBC’s financial support comprises £4.5m in asset finance and £6m in invoice discounting facilities. The financing will enable Autins to invest in new machinery.

HSBC has worked alongside Autins during its listing on the AIM market, with the Rugby-headquartered business being the first UK manufacturer to list on the AIM market following the UK’s vote to leave the European Union.

James Larner, Chief Financial Officer of Autins Group Plc, said: “HSBC provided us increased finance facilities for growth and will provide a cross European banking solution to support our subsidiaries in Germany and Sweden. We’re at a really exciting time for our business and are looking to invest further to streamline our manufacturing process and expand our client portfolio.”

Markus Keller, HSBC’s Area Director for Corporate Banking in the West Midlands, said: “This deal is a great example of the support we’re able to provide to businesses in the region, helping rebalance the UK economy outside of London and provide financial support post-Brexit. This funding will help strengthen our relationship and we look forward to assisting Autins to realise their ambitious growth plans.”

Autins specialises in the design, manufacture and supply of acoustic and thermal insulation solutions primarily in the automotive sector but with an increasing focus on other sectors. This includes white goods, power generation, marine, apparel, rail, commercial vehicles and industrial sectors.

The funding was arranged for Autins

by HSBC Relationship Director Joanne Yapp-Pennino.

Kate sets up in business to help with the admin A Warwickshire woman has returned from Asia and has set up her own business to help other firms manage the mundane.

Kate O’Donnell spent eight-and-a-half years in both Shenzhen, Southern China, and then Singapore due to her husband’s work and is now back in Tanworth-inArden.

She has launched The Virtual Pod, which covers all aspects of administration including finance, diary management, database management, transcription services and marketing.

The service is being offered to small, local businesses either remotely or in-house.

Kate was assisted by Emma Sharman, of Marketing Hat, who introduced her to the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber gave Kate support in starting the business providing places at workshops, networking opportunities and mentoring through the Coventry and Warwickshire Business Support Programme.

This project is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund, forming part of the Coventry & Warwickshire Business Support www.cw-chamber.co.uk

Programme. It is also funded by Warwickshire County Council and the district & borough councils.

Kate said: “I’m thoroughly enjoying being a significant part of several, diverse working teams, dropping in, working hard yet still being able to juggle all the numerous family commitments. It’s a wonderful new lease of life, meeting new people in new businesses and helping to make a difference for them as well as for myself.

“I hope to be the missing cog for businesses to allow them to increase productivity and run multiple projects smoothly, efficiently and with minimal stress.

“I enjoy picking up the pieces, running with the day-to-day chores, organising and working hard. In this way, I can free up valuable thinking space and resource for the company to focus on other important aspects of the business.

“My marketing background also successfully lends itself by offering additional services which a small business might not have even considered possible at a particular stage of their growth.”

She added: “The Chamber of Commerce has provided me with valuable advice and

support when setting up my business in order to help make it a success.

“The workshops that the Chamber has put on have served as an excellent ‘refresher’ course on how to do business after living in Asia for the past eight years.

Furthermore, it’s given me the renewed confidence and motivation to grab the bull by the horns and get well and truly stuck in!”

For more information or to book on to the Business Support programme call the Chamber on 024 7665 4321 or log onto www.cw-chamber.co.uk If you would like to contact Kate to find out more about how The Virtual Pod could help you and your business, please contact her on kate@thevirtualpod.co.uk

Tanya King (Chamber) with Kate O’Donnell

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Business Services

Insolvency in Numbers The number of corporate insolvencies in England and Wales continues to remain at a low level (save for a blip to the statistics in Q4 of 2016 where 1,796 connected personal service companies (PSCs) entered liquidation following changes to expense rules).

Personal insolvencies are on the rise for the first time since 2010. This is due to a greater number of Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) and Debt Relief Orders (DROs) (like mini bankruptcies) albeit offset by a fall in Bankruptcies.

In 2016, 1 in 215 companies entered liquidation (1 in 266 in 2015).

Excluding these PSCs, 14,706 companies entered insolvency in 2016, a rise of 0.3% on 2015. This was driven by a 1.1% rise in the underlying number of creditors’ voluntary liquidations (CVLs) and a 0.7% rise in compulsory liquidations.

Administrations in 2016 fell by 3.8% compared with 2015, company voluntary arrangements by 6.9% and receiverships by more than half.

The main reasons for the low number of corporate insolvencies were: • Interest rates remain low (and debt, therefore, more affordable) • Higher court fees are creating more costly litigation and putting off claims/petitions to wind up.

• The old adage that you can’t get blood out of a stone (companies simply aren’t chasing their losses) In 2016, 1 in 506 adults became insolvent (1 in 567 in 2015).

The number of people who became insolvent in England and Wales in 2016 was 90,930, a 13.1% rise on 2015 but still lower than the figure each year from 2006 to 2014.

There were 49,745 IVAs in 2016. Having fallen in 2015, IVAs rose by 23.2% in 2016 to return to the level seen from 2009 to 2014.

The main drivers for the increase in personal insolvencies were: • Availability of credit (consumer borrowing is on average £13,000 per household according to the TUC and the highest since December 2008).

• The criteria to qualify for DROs has been relaxed meaning more people now qualify.

The sharp rise in IVAs makes sense given the comments above and the fact that most IVAs are in relation to consumer credit i.e. credit cards, personal loans etc. rather than business debt.

Whether you are in business or not we recommend that you consider your decisions carefully and look at the best ways to recover unpaid debts and/or deal with your own debts so that you don’t become part of the statistics.

The team at BRI Business Recovery and Insolvency provide advice to directors, shareholders and individuals. If you feel that you are struggling to pay your debts then act now and talk to someone who knows the facts about the options available to you. There are always options but understanding the implications and benefits of each can be a minefield. If you want someone to help you through those difficult times then please do contact one of the team at BRI.

For a no obligation, confidential and free discussion, please visit our website at www.briuk.co.uk or contact John Rimmer or any other member of the team on 024 76226839.

The human side to cyber security

By Anna Walters, Customer Relationship Manager here at Zenzero

Cyber security, two small yet powerful words that we hear increasingly often.

But what do these words actually mean?

What does it mean to your business, your customers or even to you? We hear them so often that I think we have almost become immune to their meaning.

If you are responsible for managing IT, some of the things you are likely to think about are firewalls, access controls, malware and virus protection and system monitoring. All of which are absolutely appropriate tools to deploy within your business to protect what you see as your most valuable asset- your data; and along with it your business operations and reputation.

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But what about your organisation’s other equally important asset – its people?

However robust and resilient the technologies that you deploy are, they can be rendered virtually useless if you do not consider and engage with the people working in the business.

As a friend recently said to me, “the human element is the most fragile component of any IT environment”.

Whilst many cyber-attacks exploit basic weaknesses and vulnerabilities in your IT systems or software, many of them are specifically designed and engineered to exploit weaknesses in people; our trusting nature, our time-pressured lives and our resulting lack of diligence, poor working

practices and business processes or just plain human error.

The most recent data from the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) illustrates just how critical the engagement of people is in the quest to keep your business secure. In the first nine months of 2016, more than 50% of reported incidents were down to human error; this included 285 incidents of data being posted to the wrong recipient, 173 incidents of data being sent via email to the wrong recipient and over 300 incidents of loss or theft of paperwork or devices. And these are just the occurrences that we know of.

So what can you do to mitigate this ‘human element’? Cue common protestations of “All this stuff is so complicated, our people just don’t understand it!” While the technical elements can be complex, the principles are often very simple. Learning how to recognise a phishing or scam email, learning the principles of online safety, taking extra care when sending out data, adopting the simple process of picking up the phone to someone who has emailed you an “invoice for immediate payment”.

All these things are really simple steps that everyone can be taught.

Make your people the strongest element.

Engage with them, at every level of your organisation; make sure they’re aware of how their actions impact the security of your business. Embed cyber security training into your 2017 workforce development plans (and indeed every year’s plan) or performance plans and reviews.

You don’t have to spend a huge amount of money, there are some excellent free resources out there. A great place to start is the Governments portal “Cyber security training for business” where you will find many free online training resources https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ cyber-security-training-for-business. But you do have to spend the time – invest the same amount of time with your people that you did when you considered the technology.

By truly engaging with them and training them, you are giving them knowledge and awareness that will protect your business, your data and your reputation.

Trust me, you’ll reap the rewards.

“Make your people the strongest element. Engage with them, at every level of your organisation; make sure they’re aware of how their actions impact the security of your business.” www.cw-chamber.co.uk

Coventry & Warwickshire in business

News

Kings Norton businesses get superfast broadband boost fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) and Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) technology.

Founded by Ben King, WarwickNet is one of only five ISPs across the country to be deploying PIA commercially, allowing them to build their own infrastructure faster and more efficiently, without seeking permission from BT’s Openreach.

Mr King said: “We have already connected hundreds of businesses across the West Midlands which have seen firsthand the difference high-speed internet can make to their day-to-day operations.

We are delighted to be able to offer firms at Kings Norton the opportunity to enjoy all the benefits of business-grade broadband.

“We have ambitious plans going forward and I believe we are uniquely placed to grow rapidly in the business connectivity solutions arena.”

Firms at a thriving Birmingham business park are set for major boost with the introduction of high-speed broadband connectivity thanks to WarwickNet. Kings Norton Business Centre, in Birmingham, is the latest site in the West Midlands to have business-grade connectivity courtesy of the rapidlygrowing national provider.

Home to more than 80 companies, Kings Norton will benefit from the installation of two dedicated cabinets on the estate, providing broadband download speeds of up to 100Mbit/s.

WarwickNet will also be providing uncontended services including Premium Internet Access and dedicated leased lines of up to 1Gbit/s to businesses at the site by deploying fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC),

Rebrand is carried out

QPL talent started 2017 with a rebrand. The name change is a result of an extensive effort designed to mirror the success and transformation of the company.

The name QPLtalent provides the ability to expand the organisation’s offering helping them to fulfil their goal of

becoming a local generalist recruiter also operating in specialist markets. Over the past few years, the company has evolved within a dynamic, ever-changing recruitment industry.

During that time, they have experienced company growth allowing them to further develop invaluable new capabilities across all spectrums of their service while

continuing to embrace a customer-centric approach in their everyday operations.

While enhanced local capabilities and an expanded suite of products and services define the strategic direction of QPLtalent/Quorum People Ltd, the character of the company is still epitomised by their unrivalled commitment to their customers.

Exhibition moves A manufacturing exhibition is moving to the Ricoh Arena following recordbreaking growth.

The Made in the Midlands exhibition connects manufacturing businesses across the region and will host 200

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exhibitors this year for the first time, with more than 2,000 representatives from the region’s manufacturing sector also expected to attend.

The show will take place on Thursday, 25 May and after experiencing 25 per cent growth in each of the eight years it has been running, the show will move from the GTG Training Academy in Wolverhampton to the Ricoh Arena’s 6,000 square metre Ericsson Exhibition Hall.

This year’s show will host various manufacturing supply chains from automotive and aerospace to rail, defence and medical, including famous names

such as Jaguar Land Rover, Aston Martin and Sertec.

The combined turnover of industryleading manufacturers and figures who attend the event is over £4 billion.

Made in the Midlands also welcomes a range of leading educational institutions, engaging with local schools and universities to give young people an insight into a career within the manufacturing industry.

The exhibition is just one part of Made in the Midlands, which is a peer group made up of more than 345 managing directors of manufacturing firms.

John Nollett with Louise Bennett

John looks forward to the challenge A man who started life as an engineering apprentice is the new president of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce.

John Nollett, who has a deep-rooted background in manufacturing and engineering in the region, takes over from previous President Paul Carvell of the SFB Group.

John began his career with Pailton Engineering in 1987 as an apprentice and climbed the ranks to be Group Managing Director.

During that time, he has also played a key role within the Chamber as well as launching his own business consultancy and also recently became CEO of Pressmark Pressings in Atherstone.

John said: “I am absolutely delighted and proud to be the new president of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce.

“For many, many years, I have been involved with this great organisation and have seen first-hand the support that it gives to businesses across this wonderful region.

“That’s everything from getting businesses started, right through to helping them trade overseas through the International Trade Hub at Chamber House.

“I also look at some of the great names that have preceded me in this role and realise I have some huge shoes to fill – but it’s a challenge that I am very much looking forward to getting my teeth into.”

Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Chamber, said: “We welcome John as our new president and we know he will be a great champion for the region.

“He has a rich knowledge of the manufacturing and engineering sector in this area and is a fantastic advocate and example of the benefits of exporting – which is key to helping businesses across this patch grow.”

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President & People

New bar manager joins growing team at Polo Club Getting down to business

Dear member, Time really does fly when you are having fun and I am enjoying every minute of being president of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce.

I am a passionate believer in the businesses of this great city and county, and I see first-hand the work that the Chamber undertakes both directly on behalf of individual companies and also for the ‘greater good’ in raising issues that matter most to businesses across the patch.

Through the branch network, we get to hear what’s affecting businesses on the ground and also have direct access into local authorities and MPs so we can put the views of business straight to decision-makers.

Since the turn of the year, our branches have met key personnel at Coventry City Council to discuss budgets; Marcus Jones MP came to our North branch; Mark Pawsey MP met the Rugby branch; and Jeremy Wright MP came to our Mid-Warwickshire branch.

A whole host of topics were covered – particularly the shortage of employment land that has been set aside in the Local Plans that cover the region.

It’s a matter that the Chamber has written directly to Government about and have also raised with MPs and local authorities, such is the significance of the issue.

Jeremy Wright spoke at length about the processes behind Brexit at our Mid-Warwickshire branch meeting.

Brexit is not an issue that is going to go away any time soon so it’s important that businesses are fully informed about what the facts are and what they can do to mitigate any adverse effects, as well as take advantage of opportunities.

That’s why the Chamber has launched a Brexit Club to ensure that we can provide as much clarity as possible to our members and to help make sure we continue to grow our regional economy.

Further to this, I also had the opportunity to sit privately with both Marcus Jones MP and Craig Tracey MP at a joint 2 hour meeting to discuss the issues that face North Warwickshire too.

Our Chamber is more than 100 years old and has assisted businesses during war, recession and depression, so it is perfectly placed to advise and help our members through the current uncertainty.

As I write this, we are gearing up for our Business & Trade Expo at the Heart of England Conference Centre – another great event in the Chamber calendar that gets companies from across the region in a room together, networking and doing business.

On the topic of networking, I am very pleased that the Chamber has reinvigorated its sector networks. Of course, manufacturing and engineering are very important to me and my business interests and I believe it’s important to get people from this sector together as often as we can – as much to share information as well as looking to do business with one another.

We are also very supportive of companies pursuing awards and looking to raise their profile and, to that end, I was delighted that the Chamber not only sponsored the Business Person of the Year Award at the Pride of Stratford Business Awards recently, but I was also delighted to be able to present it too.

Finally, I would like to wish the team behind the bid to be UK City of Culture in 2021 every success in their attempt to bring this prize to Coventry.

The city – and the region – has a great story and it would be great if the City of Culture platform could help us to tell it to the world.

John Nollett

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New bar manager Cameron Whitehouse has joined the growing team at the Dallas Burston Polo Club as part of the venue’s expansion plans.

The 29-year-old from Leamington has taken over the daily running of the club’s new £1.5 million bar and lounge, The Millstone Hare.

Cameron, who has worked in the pub trade for four years, is also responsible for managing all bar and serving staff within the IXL Events Centre and helping to organise the many events held throughout the year.

The new recruit has set his sights even higher with plans to manage the club’s upcoming hotel, which forms part of the DBPC’s £122 million development.

The planned expansion on the 600-acre site in Southam also

includes 100 luxury lodges and a local centre featuring a neighbourhood store and office space.

Cameron said: “These are exciting times at the club and I am thrilled to play a part in these new

developments. Looking to the future I would like to oversee the daily operations and manage the hotels and other accommodation on the site, as well as one day opening an exclusive fine dining restaurant on site.”

Legal appointments made The partners at Cocks Lloyd have announced two senior appointments to join their legal team in Nuneaton.

Gary Storer has joined the partnership as Practice Manager and Cormac Glynn as Head of Commercial Property.

Gary started his career in banking before moving into law in 2001, working for law firms in Birmingham City Centre and the Black Country. He brings more than 15 years’ experience in legal practice management to the firm.

Cormac has joined Cocks Lloyd as Head of Commercial Property, having previously worked at Eversheds LLP in Birmingham.

Over the years, Cormac has gathered significant experience acting for a variety of clients including large Corporate Occupiers, High Street Banks and most recently a national developer in the purchase of development land.

Andrew Mathie, Partner (pictured with Gary & Cormac) said “We are all very pleased that Gary & Cormac have joined us, and we are sure their skills and knowledge will have a positive influence and contribution towards the continuing success of Cocks Lloyd.”

Experienced VAT director joins Moore Stephens A highly experienced VAT consultant has become the latest addition to Moore Stephens’ growing tax team in the Midlands.

The leading accounting firm has appointed Terri Bruce as VAT director – following on from the addition of Debbie Ince as tax director and the promotion of Ross Northall to partner.

Terri has more than 25 years’ experience in advising businesses on VAT matters acting for Big Four and mid-tier accounting firms, and has specific expertise in the education, charity, real estate and retail sectors.

She joins Moore Stephens from RSM in Milton Keynes.

www.cw-chamber.co.uk

Coventry & Warwickshire in business

President & People

Partnership makes new appointments

Jonathan Browning, Nick Abell and Mike Crone

A senior figure at Jaguar Land Rover has been appointed to the board of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP).

Mike Crone, Purchasing and Property Director at Jaguar Land Rover, has joined the 16-strong board of the partnership, which is responsible for driving forward the local economy, while Nick Abell, a property expert and chairman at law firm Wright Hassall, has become its vice-chairman.

He leads all purchasing activities relating to Jaguar Land Rover’s international business expansion programme and has operational responsibility the company’s global property function.

Jonathan Browning, chairman of the CWLEP, said: “Mike has a role crucial to the success of Jaguar Land Rover as it drives forward its expansion both in the UK and across the globe, and therefore has a huge interest in the region achieving its economic potential,” he said.

“I am certain he will bring a great deal of expertise – both generally and also in field of advanced manufacturing.

“Nick has been an invaluable member of the board over the past few years and I am delighted that he has agreed to be vice-chairman.”

Nick Abell is a Stratford-upon-Avon resident and a trustee of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. He replaces Karl Eddy, who has stood down as vice-chairman but remains on the board.

Formation Media strengthens its marketing team

Creavo appoints new CFO Creavo Medical Technologies, a UKbased, privately held medical devices company, has announced the appointment of John von Benecke as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to help the company with its next phase of growth as it nears the commercialisation of its first device.

Mr von Benecke’s previous experience spans CFO roles at medical technology start-ups, including Veryan Medical, Cellnovo and ApaTech, and senior finance roles at blue chip healthcare companies like Abbott Laboratories.

He has more than 15 years’ experience in the healthcare industry and a decade of experience working for start-ups and venture capital and private equity-backed businesses, during which time he has raised a total of more than $100 million of equity and debt and taken companies through to successful exits.

Creavo Medical Technologies, which has facilities in Coventry, was formed in 2014 to bring to market technology developed

by Professor Ben Varcoe at the University of Leeds. The first application of this technology is Vitalscan, a device that meets an urgent clinical need in global cardiology to rule out heart-related problems at point of admission to emergency departments, ensuring patients with chest pain access the right treatment faster.

Steve Parker, Chief Executive Officer at Creavo Medical Technologies, said: “John brings with him a wealth of experience in both the medical industry and private equity backed businesses which makes him the perfect fit for us.”

Mr von Benecke said: “Creavo is forwardlooking, innovative company with a product that could drive real change in healthcare markets globally.”

Warwick-based digital development agency, Formation Media, have strengthened their marketing department with the recent appointment of Joe McGurk (Marketing Manager) and Faith Plevin (Brand Manager).

Accountants strengthen their tax team

SFB’s Tax Advisory Managers Sarah-Jane Statham and Amy Hook

www.cw-chamber.co.uk

A local firm of chartered accountants, wealth managers and business growth specialists have strengthened their tax department with the appointment of Amy Hook.

Amy, who has more than 16 year’s tax advisory experience, has joined The SFB Group, which incorporates chartered accountancy practices Stewart, Fletcher & Barrett and Hayles Leicester Limited.

She joins SFB from the UK’s largest accountancy practice PwC. Amy joins Sarah-Jane Statham as a Tax Advisory Manager. Both are chartered tax advisors and advise across all aspects of personal and corporate taxes, with Amy’s background being with high net worth individuals and private family businesses.

Since joining SFB in 2015, Sarah-Jane has used her 25 years of tax experience in practice and industry, together with her Trust & Estates Practitioner (TEP) status to provide inheritance tax planning and trust planning advice to a portfolio of clients.

Joe and Faith who notch up over 25 years’ experience in a pool of backgrounds including marketing, business development, projects, resource and people management between them have recently joined Formation Media, which incorporates Police Commission Solutions as an imbedded function.

Martin Gordon, Formation’s Managing Director, said “We are delighted to welcome Joe and Faith on board. Their experience and knowledge make them a significant asset to the marketing team. 2017 is going to be an exciting year for Formation and having Joe and Faith on board will go a long way in achieving our plans .”

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New Members

Welcome to new members Strategic Partner

Corporate Members

Coventry University Corporate Partnership Unit Alan Berry Building Priory Street COVENTRY CV1 5FB 02476 236000 pnoon@cad.coventry.ac.uk www.coventry.ac.uk

Utility Team Trading Ltd 1170 Elliott Court Coventry Business Park Herald Avenue COVENTRY CV5 6UB 02476 997901 nadine.saxon@utilityteam.co.uk www.utilityteam.co.uk

August Safety Management 48 Wordsworth Road Rugby CV22 6HZ 07511 218865 helen@august-safety.co.uk www.august-safety.co.uk Bespoke Technical Publications Ltd 115 Leam Terrace LEAMINGTON SPA CV31 1DF 01926 831030 tony.elsip@dial.pipex.com Career-Mums Partnership 35 Alder Lane Balsall Common CV7 7DZ 01217 174728 sally@career-mums.co.uk www.career-mums.co.uk Chic Stone Ltd 20 Hotchkiss Way Binley Industrial Estate Coventry CV3 2RL 02476 638063 roni.chic@hotmail.com www.chicmarbleandgranite.co.uk Digital Caboodle 1 Octavia House Evesham Street Alcester B49 5DS 07434 919026 create@digitalcaboodle.com www.digitalcaboodle.com Help for Heroes 27 Elizabeth Road Hinckley LE10 0QY 01980 846459 dean.williams@helpforheroes.org.uk www.helpforheroes.org.uk I C Wealth Georgia House 6 Augusta Place Leamington Spa CV32 5EL 01926 422020 info@icwealth.co.uk www.icwealth.co.uk

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The Myton Hospices Myton Lane Myton Road Warwick CV34 6PX 01926 838817 Hannah.Morris@mytonhospice.org www.mytonhospice.org

in2ambition Russell House Doctors Lane Henley-in-Arden B95 5AW 01564 332123 enquiries@in2ambition.com www.in2ambition.com Insight Pathfinders Ltd 45 Helmsdale Road Leamington Spa CV32 7DN 07906 789660 insightpathfinders@gmail.com NCP Photography 78 Cawthorne Lane Coventry CV4 9PB 07539964808 neil@ncp-photography.co.uk www.ncp-photography.co.uk Numidia Education & Training Ltd 10 Park Road Coventry CV1 2LD 02476 632942 nasser@numidia.com www.numidia.com One Team Working Limited 8 Portland Place West Leamington Spa CV32 5EU 01926 313066 andrew.boyton@oneteamworking.com www.oneteamworking.com Opt HR Limited 110 Sewell Highway Coventry CV2 3NP 07736 167450 rachelwade@opthr.co.uk www.opthr.co.uk Opus VL Drury House Drury Lane Rugby CV21 3DE 01788 298450 enquiries@opusvl.com www.opusvl.com

Garlands Corporate & Mythe Barn The Mythe Farm Pinwall Lane Sheepy Magna ATHERSTONE CV9 3PF 01827 722123 info@garlandsleisure.co.uk www.garlandsleisure.co.uk

Rob Moon Training Ltd t/a Impact On 122 Springfield Road Castle Bromwich Birmingham B36 0DX 07736 592958 robmoontraining@sky.com www.impacton.co.uk Rybrook Stratford Birmingham Road Bishopton Stratford Upon Avon CV37 0RN 01789 201999 smumford@rybrookmini.co.uk www.rybrook.co.uk Ryebeck Ltd 31 Main Street Rotherby Melton Mowbray LE14 2LP 08006 893216 sales@ryebeckltd.com www.ryebeckltd.com Serco Laburnum House Birmingham B30 2BD 01216 834427 anita.belton@serco.com www.serco.com Shanx Music Art Quinavon Upper Quinton Stratford Upon Avon CV37 8SX 07450 279553 julian_beroser@hotmail.com www.shanxmusicart.com Soft Focus Productions Limited Suite 3 The Georgian House 63 - 73 Saltisford Warwick CV34 4TR 01926 298088 accounts@soft-focus.co.uk www.soft-focus.co.uk

Warwickshire College Group Warwick New Road LEAMINGTON SPA CV32 5JE 01926 318150 pallen@warwickshire.ac.uk www.warwickshire.ac.uk

Stacey's Shabby Shack Unti 1 Sherbourne Arcade Lower Precint Shopping Centre Coventry CV1 1NQ 07780 963920 info@staceysshabbychicshack.co.uk www.staceysshabbychicshack.co.uk The Kenilworth Boutique Hotel 61 Warwick Road Kenilworth CV8 1HN 01926 779473 info@thekenilworth.co.uk www.thekenilworth.co.uk The Leaflet Delivery Co (TLDC) Sherbourne House Rear of 247 Humber Avenue Coventry CV1 2AQ 02476 016500 paul@leafletdeliverycoventry.com www.leafletdeliverycoventry.com The Midlands Training Company (UK) Ltd 69 Mount Street Chapplefields Coventry CV5 8DE 02476 714873 info@themidlandstrainingcompany.co.uk www.themidlandstrainingcompany.co.uk Wholeserv Ltd Soveriegn Building Units 1-3 Arley Industrial Estate Colliers Way Arley CV7 8HN 08000 352486 david.halliday@wholeserv.com www.eurocrate.com Wroxmark Ltd 6 The Leys Stratford Road Wroxton Banbury OX15 6QW01295 738533 info@wroxmark.com

When contacting members listed above, The Chamber request that, in line with the Marketing and Advertising Law, you provide a clear 'unsubscribe' option. Further details can be found via www.gov.uk/marketing-advertising-law/direct-marketing

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Coventry & Warwickshire in business

Training & Events Non-Member Price +VAT £120

Duration

Apr-17

Managing Effective Meetings

Chamber Member Price £110

Half Day-am

4

Succcessful Sales Techniques

£215

£240

Full Day

11

Export Documentation - Getting it Right

£260

£295

Full Day

13

Risk Assessment - Principles & Practice

£175

£195

Full Day

18

Online Marketing

£215

£240

Full Day

20

Finance for Non-Financial Managers

£215

£240

Full Day

25

Professional Telephone Techniques

£95

£120

Half Day-am

9

Business Email Writing

£95

£120

Half Day-pm

9

Developing Effective Presentation Skills

£215

£240

Full Day

16

Microsoft Excel - Intermediate to Advanced

£110

£140

Full Day

17

Social Media Strategy - Facebook, Twitter and Blogs

£215

£240

Full Day

18

Letters of Credit for Exporters - A Practical Guide

£260

£295

Full Day

23

Negotiating to Win

£215

£240

Full Day

6

Effective Communication

£95

£120

Half Day am

6

Conducting Team Briefings / Buzz Meetings

£95

£120

Half Day-pm

6

Microsoft Project (An Introduction)

£110

£140

Full Day

7

Customer Service Essentials

£95

£120

Half Day-am

8

Account Management

£95

£120

Half Day-pm

8

Building the Team

£95

£120

Half Day-am

13

Motivating the Team

£95

£120

Half Day-pm

13

Practical Social Media

£110

£120

Half Day-am

15

Setting Goals & Targets

£95

£120

Half Day-am

20

Training & Coaching the Team

£95

£120

Half Day pm

20

Import Procedures

£260

£295

Full Day

22

Time Management - Get more of the right things done

£215

£240

Full Day

27

Managing Difficult People

£95

£120

Half Day-am

27

Understanding Discipline in the Workplace

£95

£120

Half Day-pm

27

Principles of Manual Handling

£90

£100

Half Day-am

30

C&W Chamber Training Seminar

May-17 Jun-17

Course dates for the quarter are shown above, please contact C&W Chamber Training on 024 7623 1122 or visit www.cwtcov.co.uk for other course dates and further information

Events Meet your Chamber Wednesday 5th April 2017 11.30 am - 2.00 pm Macdonald Ansty Hall, Coventry, CV7 9HZ Free of charge This event will give new and existing Chamber members the opportunity to understand how we can support your business and help you make the most of your membership.

It offers members a fantastic chance to network with local companies and expand their business networks over lunch.

Speed Networking Friday 21st April 2017 8:00am - 10:00am The Chace Hotel, London Rd, Coventry, CV3 4EQ, Members only event – Free of charge Speed Networking will give you the opportunity to speak with over 40 local businesses in the space of 2 hours.

Delivered in cabaret style, each delegate will be given 2 minutes to talk about their business, before moving on to the next group.

After the “ultra-fast” networking you’ll be able to mingle with your fellow delegates, and spend more time with the people you “match” with.

Digital Marketing Masterclass Monday 24th April 2017 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Holiday Inn, M6 J2, Hinckley Road, Coventry, CV2 2HP Member Price: £10 + VAT Non-Member Price: £15 + VAT Have you a digital strategy to the running of your business or just a marketing strategy, or neither?

Find out Formation Media’s somewhat different take on digital marketing, and why integrating a digital strategy into your business is vital to enhancing business growth and secure stability.

The Warwickshire Business Outlook Breakfast Tuesday 25th April 2017 8:00 am - 10:00 am Mallory Court, Leamington Spa, CV33 9QB Free of charge The British Chamber Of Commerce quarterly economic survey is the largest private sector survey in the UK attracting on average 8000 responses

per quarter. Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce has captured information from over 400 local businesses to provide us with a 'barometer' of the exciting growth opportunities in our region.

Join us for breakfast to hear how our region is shaping up during this time of great movement Brexit, WMCA, Midlands Engine, HS2 - all key drivers in our region.

Women in Business lunch & exhibition Friday 28th April 2017 11.00 am - 2.00 pm Holiday Inn Kenilworth, 212 Abbey End, Kenilworth, CV8 1ED Member Price: £30 + VAT Non-Member Price: £35 + VAT Join us at this high profile networking lunch and take the opportunity to share knowledge, raise your company profile and debate the issues around the Women in Business agenda.

This event will provide excellent networking opportunities and the chance to hear from inspiring and motivational speakers over a delicious two course lunch.

As a Chamber member you can exhibit at any of our events for just £50 + VAT. Stand out from the crowd and book your stand today.

Find out more information or to book a place please see the events pages at www.cw-chamber.co.uk or contact events@cw-chamber.co.uk www.cw-chamber.co.uk

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