Area Focus: Coventry - Mid Warks - North Warks - South Warks - Rugby
Coventry & Warwickshire in business
West Orchards appoints Piece of Cake Marketing Coventry-based marketing agency, Piece of Cake Marketing, has been appointed by West Orchards shopping centre.
As part of this we will look to showcase our existing and new retail and food outlets to the people of Coventry.”
Based in the heart of Coventry, West Orchards will be working with Piece of Cake as the company looks to expand its retail and food destination offering.
Piece of Cake Marketing said: “We are over the moon to be working with West Orchards. There is going to be so much exciting news to share over the next six months as the centre expands its offering. We are really looking forward to developing our relationship with the team at West Orchards.”
Piece of Cake Marketing is the agency of choice for West Orchards. It has been appointed to handle all aspects of the shopping centre’s marketing as it looks to announce new concepts and tenants to the centre, as well as supporting the growth of existing retailers and food outlets. Senior asset manager at the shopping centre, Andy Talbot, said: “We are extremely excited to be working with Piece of Cake Marketing as we work through our exciting growth plans. Piece of Cake Marketing will be leading on all of our marketing activities centred around the growth of our shopping destination.
With some exciting plans in the pipeline, it’s going to be a busy time for this shopping centre. With the help of Piece of Cake Marketing, the centre will be working hard to attract new visitors from both in and out of Coventry to this fabulous food and retail destination. For more information visit https://pieceofcakemarketing.co.uk and https://www.westorchards.co.uk
Coventry City Council secures occupier for investment asset In August last year Coventry City Council acquired Oak House on Binley Office Park for refurbishment and investment purposes. Some nine months on, following extensive strip-out and upgrade of the accommodation, Bellway Homes has been secured for 7,000 sq. ft. of this prestigious office building. Oak House had been marketed for some time by the previous owners for a new tenant, without success. This gave rise to the opportunity of the city council purchasing the long-leasehold interest at the right price, to merge with the existing freehold ownership. Recognising the potential, Drake Howard Property introduced the office building and entered acquisition negotiations.
Following acquisition, the 9,200 sq. ft. building was placed on the market in January this year, for occupation as a whole or by way of floor plates. Limited strip-out work was undertaken by the new owner, preferring to offer a ‘wish list’ of upgrades to the market, within the scope of capital input envisaged on purchase of the investment. The marketing strategy produced the desired result with Bellway Homes quickly confirming an interest in half of the ground floor and the whole of the first floor. Detailed negotiation was needed to bottom out the extent of strip of internal divisions and landlord category A fit-out works, to go into an agreement to lease. This was together with plans and a specification for tenant fit-out works, to be included in a Licence for Alterations.
The new five-year term lease will be completed shortly and is drawn on tenant full repair covenant and cost liabilities, including service charge for maintenance of the structure, shared service media and external parking and landscaped areas. Drake Howard Property has moved to market the remaining ground floor self-contained office suite, measuring 2,200 sq. ft. with exceptional 12 parking spaces, on similar lease and rental terms.
Plasterer calls for apprenticeship support
Stuart Roberts, right, with Curtis Taylor, who took part in a Coventry College traineeship
A Coventry plasterer has called for more support to help small business owners take on apprentices. Stuart Roberts, of SD Roberts Plastering, says some small businesses are being put off employing trainees due to insurance costs and having to cover wages. Mr Roberts recently took on a trainee as part of a Coventry College traineeship, which is fully funded by the government.
www.cw-chamber.co.uk
But he said that if more traineeships such as this were on offer, more young people and traders would be able to benefit. Curtis Taylor, 17, completed an eightweek Coventry College plastering traineeship with Stuart at SD Roberts Plastering last month. Following a successful traineeship, Curtis will start a two-year apprenticeship from September with the company. Curtis, from Coventry, said: “I decided to do a traineeship in plastering to see what it was like, and where it might take me. “I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do, so I thought I would try this to see how it went. “I’ve really enjoyed working with Stuart on a lot of different jobs and I’m so pleased that I will be able to continue now as an apprentice.”
Stuart said the traineeship has helped the business on a range of plastering and renovation jobs. He said: “We were looking for an extra pair of hands to help us out as we have been very busy. Curtis took to it like a duck to water and he has been a great help. “The traineeship has provided a good insight into the plastering trade, and Curtis will now be trained in all aspects of plastering to become a fully qualified plasterer.” Stuart said he would encourage other small business owners to take part in similar schemes. “The traineeship provides an opportunity to see if the job will be a good fit and it covers the cost of the wages during the scheme,” he added.
For more information visit www.coventrycollege.ac.uk/employers/traineeships/
Helen Peters, chief executive of Shakespeare’s England
£5m boost for tourism and hospitality firms
Nearly £5 million of grants have been awarded to tourism and hospitality businesses in Coventry and Warwickshire in the last nine months to help provide support from the ‘perfect storm’ affecting companies in the current economic climate. Tourism and hospitality is the focus of the latest Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) Growth Hub SmartRegion report, which gathers information from its business engagements as well as statistics and data from Warwickshire County Council, Coventry City Council, the CWLEP and other organisations. Coventry and Warwickshire’s business support organisations have provided a wide range of financial support including almost £1.5 million from Warwickshire County Council’s Adapt and Diversify scheme. Almost £200,000 was allocated quickly to businesses in the visitor economy from the European Regional Development Fund Specialist Grants awarded through the CWLEP Growth Hub, with Coventry City Council acting as the accountable body. More than £3 million was lent to businesses in the sector by the Coventry and Warwickshire Reinvestment Trust. The government has launched the Tourism Recovery Plan to encourage greener, innovative, and more resilient hospitality and tourism businesses with measures including reducing VAT, business rates relief, introducing a spending voucher scheme, and domestic tourism rail products to increase demand. Helen Peters, chief executive of Shakespeare’s England, the destination management organisation for South Warwickshire and the surrounding areas, said: “The hospitality industry was the first to be forced to close and has been the last to re-open. “International visitors had represented roughly 30% of our visitor base. We are unlikely to see many international visitors back until 2022, but VisitBritain anticipate it being 2024 before we realistically return to prepandemic levels. “Increases in domestic visits via ‘staycations’ and ‘daycations’ will help, but international visitors on average spend three times that of a domestic visitor, so the negative economic impact will still be significant.”
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