Rugby businesses heading for major Ricoh event

Business leaders from across the region will be heading for a major event at the Ricoh Arena on Friday.

It is the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Economic Conference and, if you act fast, you might still be able to book yourself a place at www.cw-chamber.co.uk

Once again, there is lots to discuss and a great range of speakers from the world of business and politics including broadcaster Jon Snow; West Midlands Mayor Andy Street; and the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Jeremy Wright MP.

There are economic and skills panels which will bring in to focus some of key talking points for businesses in our region.

On the topic of skills, I was thrilled to go along to WCG’s Rugby College campus recently after it launched a new Logistics Hub.

This is a major success story for the college, the region and, indeed, the Chamber and underlines the power of networking and our branch committee’s efforts to make a positive different for companies across the borough.

It was mentioned at one of our committee meetings that there were not enough skilled people in the logistics sector in the area, considering just how important it is for Warwickshire – particularly here in Rugby.

We discussed it with our MP Mark Pawsey and he said he would look into the matter.

Now, thanks to all of those efforts and support from Warwickshire County Council, the Rugby College campus of WCG is now running courses in logistics which will ultimately help companies in the sector to recruit and train staff.

It’s only right that we highlight success stories such as this and I’d urge other businesses in the area to engage with the Chamber if you have an issue that is holding back your growth as we might be able to help.

We are now moving towards the end of a year that has been clouded with uncertainty around Brexit and what course we might take as we leave the EU.

The Chamber has provided strong and up-to-date information throughout the process but, of course, it can only provide clarity when there is enough detail from Government on what may or may not be happening.

Let’s hope that, by the time you are reading this, we have a better idea of the direction of travel that we are taking in order to help businesses plan for 2019 and beyond with some certainty.

Whatever the outcome, I’d encourage you to make the most of the Chamber – especially on the back of the Go For Growth: Trade Local campaign – to see how it can support your business.