Member Article

Co-ordinated business support in Coventry & Warwickshire during Covid-19

The leading business organisations across Coventry and Warwickshire have come together to co-ordinate all the support available to companies in the area during the Covid-19 crisis.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) Growth Hub is working with all its partners across the region to provide guidance and support via a daily updated service on its website.

The CWLEP Growth Hub is working with the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Small Businesses, Warwickshire County Council, Coventry City Council, North Warwickshire Borough Council, Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council, Stratford-on-Avon District Council, Rugby Borough Council, Warwick District Council, Coventry and Warwickshire Reinvestment Trust and Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council.

The Government has announced a series of economic measures to help businesses due to the Coronavirus and the CWLEP Growth Hub will provide the information which companies need to access this support – and a wide range of other help which is available.

Craig Humphrey, managing director of the CWLEP Growth Hub, said the collaborative effort from all the business organisations in Coventry and Warwickshire was designed to make it as easy as possible for companies to access informed information.

He said: “We want to let Coventry and Warwickshire businesses know whatever sector they are in and whether they are a sole trader, an SME or international company that there is support available from experienced business organisations.

“Ourselves and all our partners are directing businesses to the Growth Hub’s website since we are providing daily updates with the current advice and help. All the organisations remain open for business and have advisors on hand to speak to companies.

“This is a global healthcare issue which is affecting everyone and all the regional stakeholders are pulling together to share intelligence and information to support businesses in Coventry and Warwickshire as best as we can.

“Financial grants and loans that were announced by the Government last week were obviously strengthened by the announcement on Friday night but we are still finding out the firmer details on how to access these schemes and this is the kind of information which businesses need.

“There is also more than financial support available because we have updated the Human Resources policy pages, we can give advice on the legal implications and details on planning rules since some have been relaxed in the last few weeks to enable pubs and restaurants to operate as hot food takeaways.

“Every single aspect of business is covered on our website and we don’t want any owner to feel isolated – we’re doing everything possible to make sure businesses stay afloat and remain viable for when this situation ends.

“This unified service will ensure businesses can access all the programmes that are available to help them overcome the challenges that they are currently going through.

“We want the support to meet the needs of people rather than providing what we think they need, and we will also be feeding that intelligence back to central Government.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .