Former Chair and current Deputy Chief Executive reflect on why CW Growth Hub is helping to boost the economy

Martyn Hollingsworth stepped down this month as Chair of Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub’s Board, while CW Growth Hub Deputy Chief Executive Phil Peak has celebrated ten years’ service.

In this blog, first of all Martyn and then Phil outline why they think the business support organisation has a vital part to play in boosting the sub-region’s economy.

The reason the Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub is successful is two-fold. Firstly, it is led by Craig Humphrey, who is a very, very capable CEO and secondly, it came along at just the right time to bridge a gap with access to finance and planning, to help businesses know where to go for help and advice.

Advantage West Midlands had ceased to exist two years earlier in 2012 as part of the wider closure of Regional Development Agencies and then the David Cameron/Nick Clegg Government brought in Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), which led to Vince Cable and then Greg Clark having responsibility for Growth Hubs.

Our Growth Hub has achieved so much even though it has changed in recent times with Coventry City Council and Warwickshire County Council now being the main shareholders since the closure of the LEP, but the fundamentals of its activities remain the same to serve the business community to a very high level.

I’ve decided that now is the right time to retire after six or seven years as Chair but I have found the work to be stimulating and interesting.

Craig has guided the Growth Hub through some rocky times such as the pandemic – which wasn’t easy for anyone or any business – and then again when there was uncertainty over Growth Hubs’ future when the Government decided to end funding for LEPs, which is a real tribute to him and the team who are consummate professionals.

While Martyn has retired from the Growth Hub Board, Phil remains an integral part of the organisation as Deputy Chief Executive and he has seen many changes over the years.

When I arrived at the Growth Hub, the organisation was very much in its infancy with no real plan, vision or identity.

When I sat down with Craig, we started talking about where we wanted to take the Growth Hub and establishing a vision which we then took to CWLEP’s board and gained the necessary buy-in from the local authorities. That support has been critical ever since, and is even more important now.

We didn’t want to just supply a triage service but, instead, to provide meaningful, relevant and targeted business support from account managers who had experienced the commercial world. Craig has stuck to that vision ever since.

We have achieved a great deal over the last ten years. Craig’s central ability has been to build a team that’s loyal - many of us have been here a long time. Some have left obviously but the core spine of the team has stayed here despite the fact that, for many years, we have been on time-limited contracts.

That continuity has been vital to our success because we have been able to build year-on-year, and create long-term relationships with businesses and understand the dynamics of each company.

That has been critical to our success and we have reached a tremendous number of businesses across Coventry and Warwickshire, far more, to my knowledge, than any other Growth Hub in the country.

There is a lot more to do and more people to reach but I think we are generally acknowledged in Government as an exemplar Growth Hub.

It’s nice to have the plaudits, but Craig and I have always been of the view that we don’t rest on our laurels and are always looking to improve.

In terms of the future, we want to build up the commercial side of the business which has been critical in recent times because it has given us counter-balance to public funds so that we have a certain level of control over our own destiny.

Our future is very much focused on working with the local authorities, the West Midlands Combined Authority and Government to secure long-term stability and funding for Growth Hubs nationally.  

Craig is increasingly at the centre of that discussion and taking the lead nationally by working on a new prospectus and if that becomes a reality, with a Government that is listening, that would be a major success.

At the moment, we’re still building on our relationships with our local authorities, and identifying our own commercial opportunities, to continue our track record so we have done a lot, achieved a lot, but there’s still more work to be done.