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News story

FirstPro 2015 Sponsorship Packages launched

The sponsorship packages for FirstPro 2015 have now been announced.

 

Coventry & Warwickshire First: Professional of the Year 2015

In April 2015 Coventry & Warwickshire First will be holding the region’s premier professional services awards night. The event will highlight and showcase the strength of the local sector while paying tribute to those who have been judged to be exceptional.

Entry is by nomination. Winners will receive a special trophy and license to use the title, “Coventry & Warwickshire First (category name) Professional Of The Year 2015 ”.

The five categories are:

Business Services Professional
Financial Professional
Property Professional
Legal Professional
Young Professional

An overall winner, FirstPro 2015, will be selected from the winners of each category.

 

Sponsorship Opportunities

Exclusive Overall Sponsor £5,000

The exclusive sponsor obtains prime publicity on all public relations announcements and material associated with the awards, including launch material, nomination forms and award ceremony tickets
Your company logo prominently displayed for the whole year on the Coventry & Warwickshire First website
Your company logo prominently displayed at the awards ceremony
Table of 10 at the awards ceremony
Company logo printed on the souvenir menu/programme
Opportunity to give an opening address the awards ceremony
Opportunity to present the FirstPro 2015 prize at the awards ceremony
Invitation to a drinks reception with Coventry & Warwickshire First board members, judges and other sponsors
Invitation to a drinks reception in the week after the gala dinner with Coventry and Warwickshire First board members, judges, sponsors and winners
Media Publicity with the overall winner
First refusal of option to sponsor the awards next year

Category Sponsors £2,500

Company logo displayed on the category section of the awards pages of the Coventry & Warwickshire First website
Your company to be mentioned whenever your sponsored category is mentioned in press releases (subject to newspaper’s editorial control)
Company logo on application forms
Table for 10 at the awards ceremony
Opportunity to present the category winner’s prize at the awards at the ceremony
Your company’s logo displayed at the awards ceremony
Company logo printed on the souvenir menu/programme
Invitation to a drinks reception with Coventry & Warwickshire First board members, the judges and other sponsors
Invitation to a drinks reception in the week after the gala dinner with Coventry & Warwickshire First board members, judges, sponsors and winners
Opportunity for post awards publicity with category winner (not arranged by Coventry & Warwickshire First)
First refusal of option to sponsor the awards next year

Awards ceremony pre dinner drinks reception sponsor £1,500

Your company named the invitation letter to the awards ceremony
Company logo displayed at the reception and the award ceremony
Company logo printed on the souvenir menu/programme

Souvenir menu/programme sponsor £500

Your company logo printed on the souvenir menu/programme
Your company logo displayed at the awards ceremony

 

Driving economic growth in Coventry & Warwickshire

Recognising the professional and financial services community’s unique position as advisors to the region’s businesses, Coventry & Warwickshire First is launching a new initiative in 2015: Driving Economic Growth in Coventry & Warwickshire.

The advisory community has an extremely influential role to play helping businesses identify and exploit opportunities for growth and navigate commercial and regulatory challenges. As a result the sub-region’s professional and financial services firms are a true driver of economic growth in the sub-region.

“The strength of the professional and financial services sector is an indicator as well as facilitator of the success of local businesses,” explained Martin Gibbs, Senior Partner at Dafferns LLP and Chair of Coventry & Warwickshire First. “The purpose of this initiative is to define and evidence the issues our members face and use the insights to advocate on their behalf. For example, anecdotally we know that access to skills is a recurring issue. With evidence we can work with local colleges to make sure their students emerge with the skills our members are looking for.

“Creating such an environment to help our members grow will increase the expertise local businesses can drawn upon and in turn drive economic growth in Coventry & Warwickshire.”

Driving Economic Growth in Coventry & Warwickshire combines qualitative and quantitative research. Members will first be surveyed, quantitative data on their size, number of employees, levels of optimism and barriers to growth being gathered. A series of themed invitation-only dinners will provide richer, qualitative data. In the autumn 2015 a report will be published, providing a platform for advocating on behalf of the membership.

Seeking to cut the regulatory burden

The February First Friday focused on Europe. Anthea McIntyre MEP spoke about the need to cut the regulatory burden on business. She welcomed the new Commission, arguing that they have a rational view of regulation and will be good for business.

The search for FirstPro 2015 is on!

The search for the leading professional in Coventry and Warwickshire is now underway with the launch of Coventry & Warwickshire First’s FirstPro 2015.

Coventry and Warwickshire has a strong, vibrant professional services community serving local businesses, large and small. In a glitzy awards ceremony to be held in April at the Ricoh Arena, the very best of the region’s professional talent will be recognised, with the overall winner named FirstPro 2015.

Nominations are now open for the following categories

Financial Professional

Legal Professional

Property Professional

Business Services Professional

Young Professional

“Using their expertise and insight our members help their clients grow their businesses and achieve their objectives,” said Martin Gibbs, Senior Partner of Dafferns LLP and Chair of Coventry & Warwickshire First. “Spanning employment law to advice on deals and transactions of all shapes and sizes, financial services, property consultancy and communication strategy, our members have the skills and expertise to support the economic development of our region. FirstPro is a great opportunity to celebrate this talent!”

The deadline for nominations is 13 March.

The FirstPro organising committee will then prepare the shortlist of nominees, each member of which then being interviewed by the judging panel at the end of March.

Nominate today

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Beat fraud

At our April First Friday a representative from Barclays will give an insight into financial fraud, how it’s perpetrated and how we can make sure it doesn’t happen to us or our clients.

The event will take place on 10 April.  More information will be posted shortly.

Advocating on behalf of the region’s businesses

How confident are local businesses? What challenges are they facing? What are the strengths of the sub-regional economy?

Coventry & Warwickshire First is answering these and other questions by asking its members for their perspective on the local economy.

“Our members advise and support businesses throughout Coventry & Warwickshire, helping them capitalise on opportunities and grow,” said Martin Gibbs, chairman of Coventry & Warwickshire First and senior partner of Dafferns LLP.

“The data we’re gathering will give us the material we need to advocate on behalf of local businesses as well as the professional services sector in the Coventry & Warwickshire.”

First Friday focused on Growth Accelerator

Offering tailored advice and support to help businesses with up to 250 people and a turnover of up to £40 million, the Growth Accelerator is a valuable resource to which you can give your clients access.

Nigel Knapp addressed January’s First Friday audience last week, giving an insight into the Growth Accelerator.  “Our objective is to help businesses grow,” explained Nigel.  One of the particular tools used is the Growth Mapper Survey.  It gets under the skin of the business and shines a light on the issues.

Click here to find out more.