New Coventry & Warwickshire Business Festival to take centre stage
Coventry & Warwickshire is set to have a new ‘festival of business’ added to its annual business calendar from November this year.
Taking place for the first time from 20th November to 1st December, the Coventry & Warwickshire Business Festival will stage an exciting two weeks of inspiring business events across the entire region.
The Festival has been developed by the Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and the Coventry & Warwickshire Growth Hub with the intention of stimulating business growth in the area. The fortnight of events will create opportunities and time for topical discussion, enabling the region to come together once a year to interact, engage, promote, support, learn and discuss business under one branded banner – The Coventry & Warwickshire Business Festival.
Announced on Thursday 25th May at a prestigious launch event at Warwick Castle, business and political leaders from across the region heard how the two-week Festival will put Coventry & Warwickshire’s business on a national stage on an unprecedented level.
Being run by business for business, the Festival aims to show Coventry & Warwickshire’s place as the centre for knowledge, commerce, culture and innovation and a fantastic area for new companies to invest.
Jonathan Browning, chair of the Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), said: “The Business Festival aims to raise the profile of Coventry & Warwickshire to a local, regional and national audience in a way that’s never been done in this region before.
“It will provide a spectacular platform to show how our businesses can unite to be a driving force in commerce, innovation and culture. We want to use the Business Festival to demonstrate how Coventry & Warwickshire is the ‘Knowledge Capital of the UK’ and show the rest of the UK Coventry & Warwickshire’s strengths, opportunities and potential as a beacon for investment.”
Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “We are very keen to be part of this exciting development in the annual business calendar and we want to involve as many businesses in our network as possible - from SMEs right through to the many global brands that are based here.”
Craig Humphrey, managing director of the Coventry & Warwickshire Growth Hub, said: “The Growth Hub is delighted to be at the forefront of this brand new initiative that will stimulate local business and economic growth.
“With an expected market reach of around two million in year one alone, we expect 50-75 seminars, lectures, workshops and conferences to all take place within the two-week window. Importantly, we anticipate an attendance of around 5,000 - 7,500 visitors, with around 15-18% of these being from outside of Coventry & Warwickshire.
“Collectively, this presents a fantastic opportunity to ‘play’ to a world stage of investors and showcase the region’s changing and continually developing strengths – large and small - under one united banner.”
Any business or organisation of any size can apply to run an event.
Events can take any shape from a small networking meeting, workshop or seminar to a large trade show or a national conference.
Events will be structured into sectors to drive the region’s position as a global hub of knowledge-based industry. With strengths in many different sectors such as advanced manufacturing, engineering and technology and gaming, many local and nationally recognisable brands and speakers from global blue-chip companies to SMEs will be involved.
The Coventry & Warwickshire Business Festival will have something for everyone and will truly be a reflection of the region, its enviable position and its success.
For more information, or to get involved - including applying to run an event, visit www.cwbusinessfestival.com (from 14th June) or contact hello@cwbusinessfestival.com.
