I look forward to welcoming a large number of businesses for our annual conference, taking place this Friday, 4 November at the Chateau Impney, Droitwich. The event will be hosted by business author, journalist and ‘Outrageously Optimistic’, Guy Browning and really is a fantastic opportunity for businesses to hear from high-profile local businesses and futurist experts, as well as Rt. Hon Sajid Javid MP. Registrations are still open with a few spaces remaining, however, if you are unable to attend our Conference, please do stay up to date with the proceedings via Twitter, using #WLEP16.
We will be providing all attendees at the Conference with our newly published 2016 Annual Report. Introduced by Rt. Hon Sajid Javid MP, our report reviews another 12 months of success for the local business community and County as a whole. The Report will be available for download after the event and I would encourage you all to download your digital copy or contact us via email, enquiries@wlep.co.uk for a physical copy.
A large number of businesses will also be present at the Worcestershire Apprenticeship awards this month, on 17 November. I will be introducing the awards this year and I am proud to be a part of such a fantastic celebration of the County’s apprentices, apprentice employers, training providers and schools. With over 10,000 apprenticeships in Worcestershire, it really is a remarkable achievement to be a finalist in the 10 award categories. I am pleased to say that this newsletter also includes details of how Worcestershire has also been well represented at the West Midlands Apprenticeship Awards, with a total of three local businesses and an apprentice being announced as winners and highly commended. Local apprentices have even more reason to celebrate as following our investment from the Government’s Growth Deal, work is now underway on the new Centre of Vocational Excellence. Do take a look at how this specialist training facility will create a number of new jobs and provide training for several hundred learners each year.
Finally, there are a number of updates from your local Chamber of Commerce in this edition, for example, a record number of people attending the Chamber Expo, Worcestershire companies being well represented as regional winners in the British Chamber of Commerce Awards as well as the latest results in the Quarterly Economic Survey (QES). Finally, Mike Ashton will be retiring as CEO of H and W Chamber of Commerce after nearly 10 years in this role. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mike for all of his contributions in shaping the County’s economy and his support to the partnership as well as sending him our very best wishes for his retirement.
