‘Young Champions’ share their inspiring journeys with Coventry and Warwickshire professionals

Three panellists, all under 30 years of age, shared their success stories in a Q&A session at 1 Mill Street in Leamington Spa, for CW Champions Next Generation event.

The fantastic venue, which is a modern flexible coworking and meeting space and is the base for many creative businesses and entrepreneurs, was abuzz with activity throughout the evening and provided the perfect setting for the event.

The first speaker was 28-year-old Chris McTurk, owner of two successful Coventry businesses. In 2019 he took over a family business DRFS Central Ltd and three years later he purchased a lease for the former Scholars Nightclub. Rebranded into 147 Nightclub, it is now a huge success.

Following Chris, came Daniel Wright, freelance game developer who now creates for the Roblox platform. He received his first pay cheque at the tender age of 12 and set up his own business when he was just 20-years-old.

The final speaker of the evening, Sophie Davies, is the Communications and Policy Manager at the Royal Shakespeare Company. She helps to devise and deliver an extensive external and internal communications strategy for the company.

Sophie said: “Champions Next Generation events are a good opportunity for new starters, graduates and people at various stages in their career to get a chance to network.

“I think networking skills are quite difficult to develop and sometimes it can be quite intimidating going into rooms where you don’t think anyone wants to speak to you because you’re quite new to a company or you’re growing in your career.”

“I really like the opportunity to meet new people, develop business networks and talk about the good things that are going on in Coventry and Warwickshire.”

The event, despite the difficult weather, attracted a tremendous turnout and was hosted as part of the bi-monthly CW Champions events line-up, which is hosted at interesting and unusual venues throughout Coventry and Warwickshire and regularly attracts up to 250 businesspeople.

Nic Erskine, Executive Director of CW Champions, said: “We were delighted with the high turnout at the Next Generation event, and the energy in the room, which offered a real opportunity for young people in the region to come together, socialise and make valuable new connections.

“Our three guest speakers offered some extremely interesting and wide-ranging insights from working in Coventry and Warwickshire and running their own businesses, with a strong message that there is no ‘silver bullet’ to achieve success.”

“I would encourage any CW Champions member who has employees under 30, or who are themselves young entrepreneurs, to get involved with the Next Generation events as they are an ideal way to shine a spotlight on our region’s upcoming young talent.

For more information about CW Champions and Champions Next Generation events please visit www.coventry-warwickshire.co.uk.