More than 140 people from businesses across Coventry and Warwickshire attended a major networking event at Warwick Trident College. 

Coventry and Warwickshire Champions, which is part of the CW Growth Hub Group, held its first bi-monthly meeting of the year at Warwick Trident College, which is part of WCG.

The major regional event saw plans introduced for a new peer networking initiative which will support businesses in Coventry and Warwickshire.

The breakfast meeting heard from a programme of speakers, including Craig Humphrey, CEO of the Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub, who introduced the new initiative being launched under Scale Up CW. 

Scale Up CW aims to boost businesses seeking to grow through a range of peer learning opportunities, including facilitated networking events, roundtable discussions to address business challenges and opportunities, expert-led workshops on topics such as tax, and also events with motivational and industry-leading speakers.

Craig said: “Scaleups contribute £1.3 trillion to the UK economy every year. We want Coventry and Warwickshire to be the ideal location to start and scale a business. 

“Scale Up CW will seek to support people across the region to take their business to the next level and continue their growth trajectory. 

“Coventry and Warwickshire Champions attracts many of the most innovative businesses in the area and it marked the perfect opportunity to reveal the initiative.” 

The meeting was hosted by Adam Dent, a consultant for PR agency PLMR Advent, and Daniel Szor, founder of Cotswold Distillery, was the first speaker on the morning.

Daniel discussed his journey from a 26-year career with a major hedge fund in New York to setting up the distillery in 2014 near Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire. 

Cotswold Distillery now exports to more than 40 countries, is England’s largest whisky producer and saw Berry Bros & Rudd acquire a minority stake last year.

Peter Husband, interim CEO and Principal at WCG, spoke at the event about the role the college group has in providing a pipeline of skilled talent to support businesses in Coventry and Warwickshire.

He also highlighted how the college delivers more than 2,000 apprenticeships, across over 60 occupations, and how Warwick Trident College is at the heart of its engineering apprenticeship delivery.

The event closed with a presentation from Oliver Boakes, Chief Engineer at Jaguar Land Rover, to discuss the company’s Reimagine strategy and how sustainability sits at its core.

Oliver discussed how the company is reimagining its product portfolio and opening the Future Lab, a £250 million state-of-the-art electric vehicle test facility at the engineering centre in Whitley, Coventry.

Nic Erskine, Executive Director of CW Champions, said: “This was another fantastic Champions event. The room was full and it was a great opportunity for businesses from across the region to catch-up for the first time this year.

“As always, we were pleased to be able to put on a wide array of speakers, touching a range of key sectors in our regional economy, including engineering, education and tourism.

“This marked a great start to a big year for Champions, as we continue to expand our proposition as part of CW Growth Hub Group.” 

Peter Husband, interim CEO and Principal at WCG, said: “It was a fantastic morning full of interesting insights and conversations, and the ideal opportunity to showcase the excellent conference and event facilities we have at Warwick Trident College. 

“We also had support from our floristry team at Moreton Morrell College on the day who created a beautiful flower display to greet our guests.

“It’s vitally important that as a college we are fully engaged with the regional business community and that is why we are proud to be members of Coventry and Warwickshire Champions.”