Confidence is the key to growing the economy of Coventry and Warwickshire – and taking the region’s quality, excellence and expertise overseas.
They were the overriding messages from the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce’s biggest ever annual economic conference ever Stoneleigh Park.
After being opened by Chamber chief executive Louise Bennett, the conference – presented by Dr Adam Marshall, of the British Chambers of Commerce – heard from economist William Hobbs, of Barclays Wealth.
He said that while the Eurozone, US consumer confidence and the uncertain future in Iran were all ‘risks’, threats to the UK economy were often exaggerated.
“Confidence is the missing piece in the puzzle,” he told the packed conference, which attracted a record 250 delegates including businesspeople, councillors and MPs.
Ask if they were seeing ‘green shoots’ in the economy, two-thirds of the audience agreed that they were.
George Gillespie, the CEO of MIRA, outlined the exciting plans for the company’s technology park which has been backed by the Regional Growth Fund and has been awarded Enterprise Zone status.
He touched on the importance of international trade and said that he wanted ‘every journey made across the globe to be positively influenced by MIRA’.
That was followed by an update and panel debate from Louise Wall, of Warwickshire County Council; Cllr John Mutton, leader of Coventry City Council; Sarah McLean, local McDonald’s Franchisee; Peter Deeley, chairman of the Deeley Group; and Paul Carvell, managing partner of Stewart Fletcher Barrett.
Wall said that the major developments in the region could create up to 80,000 jobs in the next ten to 20 years but questions were raised from the floor as to whether enough new houses were being built in the region.
Minister of State for Trade and Investment Lord Green then told the conference, via video, that they should have the confidence to go global and to tap into the services of the Chamber and UK Trade & Investment (UKTI).
Following his address, the majority of companies in the room said they would be more likely to look at the prospect of export.
That message was reiterated by Professor David Bailey, of Coventry University; Bryan Campbell, of Envisage Group; Nick Fell of Tata Motors; and Doug Mahoney, of WM UKTI, in presentations and discussions surrounding the automotive industry.
The conference was closed by Lord Digby Jones who underlined the message that the UK was seen as a great nation to do business with around the world.
Amrik Bhabra, president of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “We are grateful to all of our speakers for a fantastic conference – our biggest annual conference to date.
“There were several clear messages but it certainly shone through that confidence is key for the region.
“The fact we also launched our new campaign to get more companies from Coventry and Warwickshire exporting was very pertinent as so many of our speakers highlighted the importance of the trading overseas.”