Lord Heseltine has visited the Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub to see first-hand the progress it has made in its first five months of operation.
He is a big supporter of Growth Hubs which have been set up across England to provide a one-stop-shop for support and advice for businesses.
The Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub was formed by the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) as part of its City Deal bid to Government.
Since it opened in September 2014, the organisation has helped businesses in the area access £1.6 million of capital grants which has led to £10 million in private investment and created over 700 new jobs with 2,500 new jobs in the pipeline.
Around 1,200 businesses in a myriad of sectors have been helped with two-thirds having never received business support before.
Lord Heseltine was welcomed to the Growth Hub in Cheylesmore House, Cheylesmore, by Growth Hub managing director Craig Humphrey, CWLEP vice-chairman Karl Eddy and board director Paul Kehoe, and Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce chief executive Louise Bennett.
Craig said Lord Heseltine was a key figure in the City Deal process and had been keen to visit the Growth Hub to see how it is operating.
“We discussed with Lord Heseltine the progress we have made since we opened in September and our work with the Chamber of Commerce and other partners to provide co-ordinated business support packages to companies of all sizes in Coventry and Warwickshire,” he said.
“He was keen to hear how we contact businesses who have previously not had any tailored business support and he stressed the importance of everyone connected with the Growth Hub working together to avoid any duplication.
“The figures speak for themselves – we are making a real difference in rural and urban areas throughout the area to boost economic activity and create jobs.
“This was a great opportunity to highlight our positive progress so far and the facilities we have here for businesses to use such as our conference rooms and hot-desking which is proving popular with banks, accountants and solicitors.”
Lord Heseltine also met Karl Brough, managing director of Sitel, Jon Freeman, commercial director of CFS Aerospace, Cheryl Bradbury, talent manager at Automotive Insulations, Jason Aldridge, managing director of Arrowsmith Engineering, and Angelo Luciano, managing director of Expert Tooling, to hear the views of Coventry and Warwickshire businesses about the Growth Hub and the help they have received.
Partners involved in the Growth Hub include the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, UKTI, Local Authorities across the sub-region, Coventry University, the University of Warwick and MAS (Manufacturing Advisory Service, which is now part of the Business Growth Service).