Area Focus: Mid Warks Putting the voice of business to MPs Business leaders in Mid-Warwickshire have vowed to continue to put the voice of local firms to the area’s MPs. David Myskow, vice chair of the MidWarwickshire branch of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said Chris White and Jeremy Wright had been in regular dialogue with the branch and believes that will be maintained. He said: “I’d like to congratulate Chris White and Jeremy Wright on their reelection as the area’s MPs. “They have worked with us at the Chamber over the course of the last Parliament and it’s vital that this is continued over the next five years. “Both have attended branch committee meetings and have met with Chamber delegations that have visited Westminster to discuss crucial issues. “It’s vitally important that this is maintained so we can continue to put the voice of business in the area to our MPs.
Warwick students shortlisted in national competition for social media app Two students from the University of Warwick who are behind an innovative new social networking app were shortlisted in a national entrepreneurship competition. Picditto is a professional network for artists and designers which enables them to convey design concepts using photos. Users can gain feedback from other experts to enhance communication within the art and design industry. It was set up by Andre Wang, who is studying an MSc in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Veronica Chang, who is studying an MSc in e-Business Management. The business partners, from Taiwan, are part of the Warwick Incubator, which brings together students from different departments and disciplines to work on setting up a business. They are the first team from Warwick to have been shortlisted in in the Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Awards. Veronica said: “The art and design industry is not only about what you see but, more importantly, what you make others see. Therefore, getting feedback from certain and critical individuals becomes the key to success for artists and designers. This is what Picditto aims to do.” On making the shortlist, Andre said: “There is a real entrepreneurial spirit at Warwick, which has inspired us and helped Veronica and I get our idea off the ground.”
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Scandinavian firm invests in Warwick A Swedish technology company is to create a state-of-the-art business centre in Warwick. Semcon Product Information, part of the Semcon group which employs about 3,000 staff in 10 countries, creates product information with cutting-edge augmented reality and animation to create online technical guides for high technology industries. It has agreed a deal with the CWC Group, which owns and develops Tournament Fields, to move to a bespoke 27,400 sq ft office and research and development complex at the Tournament Fields business park just off the M40. CWC has started fast-track construction works on site with a completion of the main shell in September 2015. The fit-out work, including installing a new mezzanine floor, will allow Semcon to trade from its new location – one of 45 across the world – at the start of 2016. Semcon first moved to Warwickshire seven years ago and employs 140 staff in Kineton, but is now set to grow that number to closer to 200. Torsten Sundin, Semcon's Country manager for Product Information, said the move ended the three-year search for a location that would allow Semcon to continue to grow. "We started in Kineton seven years ago with around 35 staff and have grown throughout that time but we now operate out of four separate buildings and really need to be housed in one,” he said. "We needed a more suitable and efficient building for the work we do and we wanted to create a better environment for our staff and also for our customers. "We predominantly work in the automotive industry and Jaguar Land Rover is a major customer in the UK, so our new centre will be perfectly located between its research and development facilities at Gaydon and Whitley.
"We have been constantly looking for a site and a location which will suit all those needs and at the same time allow us to continue our growth, and Tournament Fields fits all those requirements with the added bonus of giving us great visibility." Much of Semcon's work centres around producing aftermarket information for automotive manufacturers and technicians who work on vehicles. Sundin added: "Growing a workforce as we have is never easy but we have very good links with local universities and colleges and the move to Warwick will allow us to strengthen those relationships. We have allowed space to house around 180-200 staff in the building which will include Semcon Engineering Services, who provide engineering services to automotive manufacturers“. CWC Group Director, Paul Shanley, said: "This move will allow Semcon to continue its impressive growth – and will bring
another leading international company to Tournament Fields. We have attracted a host of high calibre companies drawn by the location and environment we can offer, and that is exactly what has brought Semcon here. "This is exciting news for the Semcon, for Tournament Fields and for the region." Semcon will join Geberit, Eagle Burgmann, Pure Office and West Midlands Ambulance Service at Tournament Fields, which also includes Tournament Court, a 70,000 sq ft courtyard style office development which is now fully occupied. Pic (left to right): Nick Evans (ehB Commercial), Torsten Sundin (managing director of Semcon Product Information UK Ltd), Paul Shanley (CWC Group), Joakim Zetterlund (vice president of Semcon Product Information), Andrew Wall (Wareing & Co).
Charity Fundraising Consultancy moves to new Leamington HQ A specialist consultancy that has helped raise hundreds of millions of pounds for charities and not-for-profit organisations in the UK and overseas has moved its headquarters to Leamington Spa. Working with Leamingtonbased property consultants ehB Commercial, Compton Fundraising Consultants, which employs almost 40 full-time staff at offices in Leamington Spa, London and Manchester, sold its wholly-owned property in Harbury to fund the move to Warwick District Council-owned offices in Hamilton Terrace. Chief executive Andrew Day said that with more than £10 billion donated to charities in the UK last year, there has never been a busier time for Compton Fundraising, which specialises in helping organisations with charitable status to invest in major building projects – clients such as the Royal Albert Hall, the
Globe Theatre, the Black Country Living Museum and numerous hospitals, hospices, schools, universities and churches. He said: “We worked with eHB Commercial because they have advised us on previous occasions and understood our changing requirement for a central location with lower overheads. What we pay for one square metre of office space in Regent Street, London, is more than we pay for our new Leamington premises, which have fantastic links to the town and businesses as well as to the rail and road network.” Simon Hain, a director of ehB, said: “This is a very innovative international organisation looking for offices in Leamington during a boom time for commercial property. Andrew and his team knew what they wanted and we are delighted that we have been able to satisfy their needs to keep such an important consultancy in this region.”
Global Marine Construction Engineers open new headquarters in Kenilworth Proserve, the award-winning international marine construction engineers, has moved to new headquarters in Kenilworth, Warwickshire. The company, whose contracts range from floodgates in Venice to a new container terminal in Haiti, has made the move to enable it to handle larger projects and expand its research and development facility. Martin Hawkswood, director and principal engineer at Proserve, which has just won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation, is now looking to expand its workforce and is seeking civil engineers and ancillary staff to help take the company forward.
HE said: “We are a local company at the cutting edge exporting around the world and we are looking for local people such as civil engineers to help us with our rapid growth.” The purchase of the new offices, on the Princes Drive Industrial Estate in Kenilworth, was handled by ehB Commercial, the Leamingtonbased property consultants. ehB director Simon Hain said the building had previously been owned by the Arthur Rank Foundation who used it as a training centre for young adults and the long-term unemployed.
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