Coventry & Warwickshire in business
Area Focus: South Warks
CPBigwood celebrating growth in Stratford CPBigwood celebrated the doubling in size of its Stratford-upon-Avon office when the Lady Mayor Cllr Diane Walden officially declared the Union Street premises open with a toast to “Business in Stratford”. Stratford office partner Simon Gibbs told guests and staff that the opportunity to double the frontage of their offices only came because of the success of another town business. “The Fourteas tea room next door had become so successful that they took the opportunity to move the business to a larger location nearer to the RSC at the heart of the tourists trail, and their expansion gave us the opportunity to expand as well,” he said. Senior partner Rory Daly said that CPBigwood had a history stretching back over 100 years in Stratford and he outlined how the business had grown, from a merger with Curry & Partners in 2011, with acquisitions of businesses in Leicestershire and Hampshire and the opening of an office in London, which coincidentally had also recently doubled in size. “Despite what many have been described as a challenging time for the property market in recent years, we have continued
Rory Daly, senior partner of CP Bigwood with Cllr Diane Walden, Mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon Town Council, Simon Gibbs and Nigel Curry, both of CP Bigwood.
“We congratulate the Stratford team on the way they have built the business...”
to invest in both people and our businesses.” In the past 12 months, CPBigwood has grown from 135 staff to 185 and is committed to helping its young staff to grow, particularly through the apprenticeship programme run by the firm, he said. “We congratulate the Stratford team on the way they have built the business in recent times – particularly in residential sales, and in residential lettings which is enjoying a boom period in Stratford and Henley. “The story is not over and with these newly refurbished, spacious premises, we see Stratford office as continuing to grow – particularly in property management in which we are now a top ten UK firm,” he said. CPBigwood offers the complete property service including commercial and residential agency, property management, valuations, auctions, agricultural, professional consultancy, building surveys and development and planning. The firm has seven offices in Birmingham, Stratford-upon-Avon, Henley-in-Arden, Shepshed in Leicestershire, Eastleigh in Hampshire, and London.
Guy Salmon Land Rover New Stratford clubhouse takes on Sales Trainees conference and wedding Guy Salmon Land Rover Coventry and Stratford-upon-Avon, part of Sytner Group, have taken on graduate sales Trainees in 2014 as part of a pioneering new training programme in partnership with the National Dealer Academy and accredited by the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI). The Motor Industry has always had a notably high staff turnover rate. This programme which is an industry first, sets out to carefully and slowly develop Sales Trainees from ground level and is designed to help bring not only brand loyalty to Land Rover, but to retain and develop the best employees within Guy Salmon and Sytner Group. The Trainees will complete a 12 month ‘on the job’ training with dedicated Mentor
support, as well as joining up with other Guy Salmon Land Rover Trainees across the country to develop their knowledge. At the end of the programme, they will have all the skills and knowledge necessary to deliver exceptional customer service for these prestigious dealers. The chosen candidates have beaten hundreds of applicants from all walks of life to win their places and after initial training have been able to hit the ground running in both dealerships. The successful candidates are Emily Rudd (Coventry), Amy Bradbury and Oliver Hayden (Stratford) all of whom are very excited to start their new careers. They will be learning not only sales skills but spending time in each department to get a rounded view of the business as a whole.
centre now has global reach
Lodders Solicitors has helped one of the country’s top holiday park businesses clinch a major deal with the NEC Group’s catering arm, Amadeus. Avon Estates Ltd, advised by Lodders partner Alastair Frew, is to operate the new £3.2 million Riverside Clubhouse, in
partnership with Amadeus. The clubhouse was designed by architects Emission Zero, manufactured in Russia and constructed on site by Evesham contractors Desert Oak who are finishing the interior, fitting all internal packages including the windows, ceiling and heating.
Students use their skills to teach kids about internet safety Performing Arts students from Stratfordupon-Avon College have been touring local schools to help teach children about the importance of internet safety through a number of originally devised performances. Working to support the UK Safer Internet Day the Level 2 Acting and Musical Theatre students collaborated on a Theatre-inEducation project to devise and perform a piece to help educate young people about the perils of the internet. www.cw-chamber.co.uk
Themes such as cyber-bullying, identity theft, financial scams and viruses were covered during the short performances which were put on for school children at a number of schools across the district. Nicola Sparkes, the College’s E-Learning Leader, said “The students explored how Performing Arts can be used to pass on the message of how to stay safe online to youth groups and Schools. Our students were rewarded by the response they received from their audiences.”
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