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12 December 2023
Our cross sector dinners returned, almost all our First Friday networking lunches were at capacity, and with our summer social and quiz firmly establi…
30 June 2023
Click here to listen to Professor Trevor Williams, former Chief Economist at Lloyds Bank who addressed our members and guests before a busy Q&A se…
15 December 2022
It’s been a busy year with a packed schedule of networking opportunities including a capacity relaunch event for our Young Professionals network. …
09 December 2021
Our Chairman Ian McKinney summarises a year in which we’ve returned to in-person networking following a strong programme of online FirstTalk speakers….
18 May 2021
Click here to read Ian’s introduction and a note from our immediate past Chair, Jon Wilby
11 December 2020
There’s been a mix of the familiar and the new, with a fun, well attended FirstPro and regular new online Q&A’s with influential and high profile …
19 November 2020
We are delighted that the four star boutique Telegraph Hotel is offering members of Coventry & Warwickshire First one night’s free bed and break…
19 November 2020
… and congratulations again to all the winners! The FirstPro Awards ended on an extra high note with an exclusive offer from the Telegraph Hotel f…
19 November 2020
The FirstPro 2020 Awards might be over but join us in looking back at the online announcements which, thanks to our host Dave Sharpe, we delivered at …
13 November 2020
Over 140 of the region’s business community joined us online yesterday to hear the FirstPro winners being announced, read all about them here.
23 October 2020
We are delighted that the guest speaker at our next online Q&A is Nadhim Zahawi MP, Member of Parliament for Stratford upon Avon and Minister for …
02 October 2020
We are busy making plans to announce the winners of the FirstPro Awards, postponed from the spring, at a new informal online webinar style event. …
17 September 2020
Covid rent relief to commercial tenants extended by 3 months to year end. The moratorium preventing landlords from exercising rent recovery or evict…
01 September 2020
We are delighted that the guest speaker at our next online Q&A is Professor Andrew Hardy, CEO of University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire …
05 August 2020
In a deal led by Lodders Solicitors’ Corporate and Commercial team, Hastings House Medical Practice, Wellesbourne, has purchased a half share of the…
27 July 2020
We are delighted that the guest speaker at our next online Q&A is Martin Sutherland, Chief Executive of Coventry City of Culture Trust. Martin…
27 July 2020
Watch the webinar from Dafferns here
21 July 2020
The current economic climate is understandably taking its toll on many industries. While the coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has eased the pressure m…
21 July 2020
Read the article by our chairman Jon Wilby here which will be followed up when the judgment is available at the end of July.
20 July 2020
Read Dafferns’ guidance here about deferral of Payment on Account due on 31st July 2020.
20 July 2020
Wright Hassall’s series of guides designed to offer practical advice to support your business are available here.
17 July 2020
Simply giving notice that a force majeure event has occurred is not enough for a party to make use of it. If a business does decide it needs to invo…
17 July 2020
Click here to see all the support packages available and how the Bank says businesses should react to the Pandemic.
16 July 2020
Click here for a guide to employment, contracts, real estate, health and safety and corporate law.
14 May 2020
Tracey Hudson, one of our Board members and Executive Director of The HR Dept South Warwickshire is sharing coronavirus related employment updates –…
23 March 2020
This newsletter is a round up of some of our Board members’ Coronavirus related articles which we hope our readers will find useful and informative in…
18 March 2020
The 2020 FirstPro Awards have been rescheduled and will take place on Thursday 12th November at Coombe Abbey. Click here to book your tickets.
26 February 2020
It’s all change this year with several new categories and plenty of excellent submissions so the judges had their work cut out. Congratulations to a…
22 January 2020
Read about our packed events programme and new diary dates here.
08 January 2020
A whole new raft of sponsorship opportunities have been created for our annual events programme, bi-monthly newsletter and showcase annual Awards, Fir…
16 December 2019
It’s been another busy year with lots happening and plenty more planned for 2020, see our Annual Review 2019 for all the details.
Coventry & Wa…
21 November 2019
Read all our autumn news and details of events for early next year here.
24 September 2019
Meet our new chairs, see our Board vacancy and diary date announcements here
22 July 2019
Read about our summer news and some early FirstPro 2020 announcements here!
25 June 2019
For the first time, Coventry & Warwickshire is featuring in Professional Services Week.
A campaign to help demystify the largest and fastest gr…
22 May 2019
Read about our news and a FirstPro & YoungPro sponsorship opportunity here
10 April 2019
Click here to hear from our sponsors and link through to this year’s photos.
05 April 2019
The winners, announced at a gala dinner at Coombe Abbey attended by Coventry & Warwickshire’s business leaders can be found here
05 April 2019
Congratulations to Kathryn Adams who won Apprentice of the Year 2019 at the Young Pro Awards!
Kathryn started her role as Office Administrator for …
21 March 2019
Call out for Professional Services Week: read our latest news here
11 March 2019
Patrick McCallum recently won the Legal Professional of the Year award. Patrick has worked for Wright Hassall for almost 7 years. He started his caree…
07 March 2019
With so many excellent nominations the judges had a tough job shortlisting, congratulations to all our finalists! Click here to see the full list…
04 February 2019
Click here to see the four winners who are going through to the FirstPro Awards on 4th April when the overall Young Professional of the Year will be a…
28 January 2019
Meet our new chairs and read our latest news here
09 January 2019
Congratulations to this year’s finalists for the Young Professional of the Year Awards! To see the full list click here
07 January 2019
The FirstPro Awards have launched – the theme and speakers are announced, nominations are open and sponsorship is available. Oh yes, and ticket book…
13 December 2018
It’s been a packed year for Coventry & Warwickshire First with a successful FirstPro, a celebration of the region’s young talent and an expande…
11 October 2018
Molly joined the Young Professionals Leadership team in late 2017. “I joined the YP team after realising there were no support groups for Young Prof…
20 September 2018
The autumn events programme and YoungPro timetable.
Click here to read our September newsletter
18 July 2018
Storytelling for your business and dates for your diary.
Click here to read the newsletter.
26 June 2018
How does it feel to have won Young Pro?
“It’s a great feeling, something that I’m really proud of. When you look at all the other finalists and e…
20 June 2018
Forthcoming events and news from our members.
Click here to read the full newsletter.
25 April 2018
The winners of Coventry & Warwickshire First’s FirstPro 2018 were announced at a gala dinner held at Coombe Abbey on Thursday 19 April.
In th…
18 April 2018
We are delighted to announce that Paige Howitt has taken over as Chair of the Young Professionals network for the next 12 months. Paige takes over fro…
20 December 2017
2017 has been another great year for the Young Professionals group with plenty of events, fundraising and networking opportunities.
We started the …
05 December 2017
A successful FirstPro, a wonderful celebration of the region’s young talent and an expanding events programme; a packed year for Coventry & Warw…
20 November 2017
Communication specialist Cathy Connan is taking over as Chair of professional services membership organization, Coventry & Warwickshire First, fro…
30 October 2017
Introducing a new category to celebrate talented apprentices.
The search for the YoungPro 2018 was launched at a Gala Reception for leaders of Cove…
19 October 2017
Coventry Business Improvement District (BID) has been announced as the headline sponsor for YoungPro 2018.
Trish Willetts, Manager of Coventry BID …
25 July 2017
We are delighted to announce that the Young Professionals have raised around £650 for local charity Molly Olly’s Wishes during the past tax year.
…
19 July 2017
New board members + Congratulations Coventry City of Culture Trust: news from Coventry & Warwickshire First in July.
Click here to …
13 July 2017
We’re delighted to announce that this season’s online Fantasy Football League was won by Nathan Lapsley of Wright Hassall. That means the trophy h…
22 June 2017
Fearsome craftsmen and £6,000 for Heart of England Community Foundation.
To read the full newsletter, click on the link [http://mailchi….
12 April 2017
Sarah Perry, Managing Partner of Wright Hassall Solicitors, was named FirstPro 2017, at a gala dinner held at the Ricoh Arena on Thursday 6 April.
…
09 January 2017
Before we get too stuck in to 2017, let’s take a moment to look back at some of the highlights of being a member of Coventry and Warwickshire First …
19 December 2016
Reflections on a successful 2016.
Click here to download and read the review of Coventry & Warwickshire First in 2016.
13 December 2016
On Friday 2 December we held the annual Young Professionals Christmas party.
This year we took over a section of the White Horse in Leamington Spa …
07 December 2016
Coventry Business Improvement District (BID) has been announced as the headline sponsor for Coventry & Warwickshire First’s FirstPro 2017 and th…
15 November 2016
Mike Durkin, Relationship Director at Santander Corporate & Commercial Banking, has outlined his priorities for his year in post as Chair of professio…
27 October 2016
Well known and respected through Coventry and Warwickshire, Phil Ewing has helped lead his firm, Harrison Beale & Owen, through a sustained period…
27 October 2016
The hunt for Coventry and Warwickshire’s top young professional is now on, with the launch of the first ever YoungPro.
Run by the network for pr…
10 October 2016
At the end of September the Young Professionals held a new event for this year – the Historic Warwick Charity Trail.
Participants had to follow t…
07 October 2016
A solicitor at Wright Hassall, Jeremy advised on acquisitions, disposals, investments, joint ventures, turnarounds and restructuring.
An ambitious …
28 September 2016
Chrissie works in marketing, student recruitment and student experience for the Department of Economics at the University of Warwick. Chair of the C…
20 September 2016
Richard Hardy was one of three individuals deemed by the judges to have made an Outstanding Contribution to the professional services sector in Covent…
31 August 2016
Hannah Bates’ legal career started when she was awarded a Sports Scholarship to attend Coventry University and chose to study law and business. Sh…
23 August 2016
Rachel Horner is Director of SFB Tax Solutions, part of the SFB Group. She set up the business unit in 2014 in response to a localised need for spec…
11 August 2016
Larry Coltman is a long-standing and highly respected litigation lawyer with his own Coventry-based practice.
We asked him about his win and his ca…
04 August 2016
Business Development Director at Santander Corporate & Commercial, Ravinder Bagri has worked tirelessly to promote the bank’s commercial busines…
03 August 2016
On Tuesday 26 July we held the Young Professionals Summer Networking at The Moorings at Myton.
It was great to see some new faces including Raymond…
02 August 2016
Emma is an outstanding contributor to Shakespeare Martineau, her team and the community. She has climbed the ladder to partnership through hard work…
22 July 2016
July’s First Friday was a delicious high tea followed by a tour of the facilities at the Heart of England Conference Centre, which included a little c…
18 July 2016
On 30th June we held our annual joint event with the Warwickshire Young Lawyers. As usual this took the form of a game of rounders followed by pizza a…
05 July 2016
This was the message of Martin Reeves, Chief Executive of the West Midlands Combined Authority, who addressed a full house at the Belgrade at our qua…
05 July 2016
Cllr Jim O’Boyle, Cabinet Member for Jobs & Regeneration addressed our First Friday, held at the Charterhouse.
His message was positive and h…
28 June 2016
It’s easy to see why Jenny Simpson, of SFB Group won FirstPro 2016.
At just 23 years old she is already a fully qualified Chartered Accountant, wit…
23 June 2016
Coventry and Warwickshire’s professionals raised £2,900 for the Cystitis and Overactive Bladder Foundation (COBF).
The region’s professional s…
05 May 2016
We’re delighted to announce that the Young Professionals charity of the year for the next 12 months is Molly Olly’s Wishes.
Molly Olly’s Wishes aim…
22 April 2016
Jenny Simpson, who carried the Olympic Torch in 2012 in regcognition of her contribution to the local community has just received another ac…
13 April 2016
Over the past 12 months the Young Professionals have been raising money for Myton Hospice.
We’re absolutely delighted to announce that ou…
04 April 2016
The shortlist for each of category of Coventry & Warwickshire First’s FirstPro Awards 2016 has now been announced.
From more than 80 nominati…
23 March 2016
Last night (22 March) around 30 of Coventry and Warwickshire’s young professionals got together for a curry night at The Stag and Pheasant in Covent…
29 February 2016
We are delighted to announce that earlier this month our very own Young Professionals Charity Officer, Paige Howitt, won the Charity Fundraiser of the…
16 February 2016
“Winning FirstPro Young Professional has brought new and exciting opportunities my way,” said Carl Malcolm, then of Dafferns Chartered Accountants…
16 February 2016
Firstpro 2015’s Business Services Professional
“I was surprised and chuffed in equal measure when my name was read out on the evening,” said Vikk…
09 February 2016
February’s young professionals Thirsty Thursday event took place at the Standard Triumph Club in Coventry and was followed by the Insurance Institute …
02 February 2016
FirstPro 2016: Nominate Now!
James Walton of Sheldon Bosley, FirstPro 2015’s Property Professional of the Year says “go for it!”
“I was st…
29 January 2016
Role on Young Professionals Committee – Mentor Scheme Coordinator
Age – 25
Company – Wright Hassall
Kelly joined the Young Professionals Comm…
29 January 2016
The search for FirstPro 2016 is now on!
Coventry & Warwickshire First’s FirstPro recognises exceptional professionals in Coventry and Warwick…
04 January 2016
Before throwing myself into 2016 I paused to take a look back at some of the highlights of being a member of Coventry and Warwickshire First Young Pro…
08 December 2015
The Young Professionals annual Christmas party took place last Friday 4th December at Le Bistrot Pierre in Leamington Spa. We started at The Royal Pug…
20 November 2015
“In April this year Maria Thomas, Relationship Manager at Barclays Bank was named FirstPro 2015.”
What did it feel like to win FirstPro2015?
“It…
09 November 2015
On bonfire night we held this month’s Young Professionals ‘Thirsty Thursday’ networking event. This month we were delighted to hold it at former…
04 November 2015
On Tuesday 3 November we held a Halloween themed quiz in aid of our chosen charity, Myton Hospice.
We’re delighted to announce that with the team…
04 November 2015
Role: Relationship Director, Corporate & Commercial Banking.
Business: Santander Corporate & Commercial Banking. Santander is one of the la…
22 October 2015
Explaining why she became a mentor in the spring this year, Debbie Harper, Area Director of HSBC Bank plc, talked of the way in which she had benefitt…
14 October 2015
Cheryll Rawbone, Chair of Arthur J Gallagher in Coventry, began mentoring a young PR professional in April. Speaking about our mentoring scheme she …
02 October 2015
Andrew Smith is the new Chair of Coventry & Warwickshire First. We put him in the spotlight – read on to find out why he was on the radio when a…
30 September 2015
“I joined the mentoring programme for two reasons; to improve my networking skills and get an independent perspective on how I can develop in my cur…
28 September 2015
“Being a mentor, helping a young professional develop their skills, is very rewarding. As well as sharing my own insights and experience I’m also …
25 September 2015
Role on YP Committee – CPD Co-ordinator
Age: 37
From: Coventry
Gus is the longest running member of the Young Professionals committee. He…
24 September 2015
Andrew Smith, partner at Shakespeare Martineau and the incoming Chair of Coventry & Warwickshire First, has set out four principle objectives for…
23 September 2015
Talent development and a clear voice for the region’s professionals: Coventry & Warwickshire First’s agenda for 2015 / 16
“One of the rea…
22 September 2015
During his year in office as Chair of Coventry & Warwickshire First (2014-2015) Martin Gibbs, Managing Partner at Dafferns Chartered Accountants h…
18 September 2015
Over the past two weeks the young professionals have completed both the Wolf Run and Myton Moonlight Walk in aid of their chosen charity for 2015, Myt…
17 September 2015
Making new contacts through networking is important in my job: to raise the profile of The HR Dept (South Warwickshire).
Our business has grown rap…
16 September 2015
“Membership of Coventry & Warwickshire First provides excellent opportunities to interact with the wider professional community in the region.
…
15 September 2015
A trainee accountant with Dafferns Chartered Accountants, Sophie Breeze joined the mentoring programme to gain an insight into how to grow as a young …
08 September 2015
A mentor through the Institute of Enterprise & Entrepreneurs Keith Boxley, Relationship Director at Barclays Bank plc quickly stepped forward to j…
07 September 2015
During the spring and summer of 2015 legal, financial, property and businesses services professionals came together to discuss the issues affecting th…
02 September 2015
Six months on from its conception Coventry & Warwickshire First’s mentoring programme is proving its value, home growing talent as a means of ta…
27 August 2015
Member firm Poppleton & Appleby has just completed an assignment for a client which resulted in the survival of a business, despite difficult circ…
26 August 2015
Next week sees four of the Young Professionals committee take on the treacherous Wolf Run. Rebecca Freeman, Carl Malcolm, Paige Howitt and Phil Ballar…
25 August 2015
Paige Howitt, Senior Accountant at SFB Group talked to us about the benefits of participation in Coventry & Warwickshire First’s mentoring program…
24 August 2015
Susan Hopcraft, Partner at Wright Hassall explained the value she sees in being a mentor for Coventry & Warwickshire First’s mentoring programme.
…
21 August 2015
“I became involved with Coventry & Warwickshire First in 2010 and immediately arranged for Santander Corporate & Commercial Banking to join as…
18 August 2015
Hannah Bates of Band Hatton Button is a mentee on the Coventry & Warwickshire mentoring programme. We asked her what she thought of the program…
12 August 2015
We asked Vikki Whittemore, BD & Marketing Director of Wright Hassall LLP about the benefits to the firm of membership.
“Coventry & Warwick…
11 August 2015
Last Thursday, 6 August, saw the young professionals host a table football tournament in celebration of the start of the new football season.
Doubl…
11 August 2015
Leading business services professionals in Coventry & Warwickshire came together to discuss and debate the sub-regional economy and the factors af…
10 August 2015
Leading property professionals in Coventry & Warwickshire came together to discuss and debate the sub-regional economy and the factors affecting i…
06 August 2015
An acute skills shortage is one of the biggest factors affecting the growth of Coventry and Warwickshire’s professional and business services firms….
04 August 2015
As part of our initiative ‘Driving Economic Growth’ we brought leading legal professionals in Coventry & Warwickshire together to discuss and …
03 August 2015
We asked John Rimmer of BRI Business Recovery why they are members of Coventry & Warwickshire First. He said :
“BRI Business Recovery and Ins…
17 July 2015
Job: Associate at Lodders Solicitors
Age: 30
From: Stratford upon Avon
Rebecca took over as Chair of the Young Professionals following this…
03 July 2015
This month’s TT event was held last night at Saints Bar in Nuneaton. Granted Nuneaton can be a trek, particularly at rush hour, but it was great to …
02 July 2015
– confused, supplier-led funding increasing the challenge –
An acute skills shortage is the biggest barrier to economic growth according to a pane…
15 June 2015
The Young Professionals have been incredibly busy over the past couple of weeks with three spring/ summer events. We started with our annual spring so…
12 June 2015
Business leaders and politicians are coming together on 26 June in Rugby to debate the roadmap to long-term economic recovery at a Question Time-style…
01 June 2015
Introduction
Leading financial services professionals in Coventry & Warwickshire came together to discuss and debate the sub-regional economy a…
28 May 2015
Coventry’s professionals raised £4,000 for Coventry & District Samaritans, a sum that will enable the charity to operate its listening service …
22 May 2015
We’re delighted to announce that young professionals committee members Paige Howitt, Carl Malcolm, Rebecca Freeman and Phil Ballard have all entered…
11 May 2015
At this month’s Thirsty Thirsty (TT) event, which was held at The Almanack in Kenilworth, we were delighted to welcome our newest committee member K…
29 April 2015
Last Thursday we attended the First Pro Awards 2015 at the Ricoh Arena, which this year was themed around the arrival of Wasps to Coventry.
[capt…
24 April 2015
Maria Thomas, relationship manager at Barclay Bank plc in Coventry, has been named FirstPro 2015.
She was named winner of Coventry & Warwickshi…
21 April 2015
Dafferns, Cranfield Business Recovery and HB&O have all confirmed their associate sponsorship of FirstPro 2015.
“Associate sponorship is the pe…
20 April 2015
Samaritans has been named as the official charity of FirstPro 2015.
Across the country Samaritans answers 5.2 million calls for help each year from…
17 April 2015
Philip Ballard, Cranfield Business Recovery
Philip is a driven young man, determined to excel in his career. Since joining the firm Philip has un…
16 April 2015
Gus Bhandal, Warwickshire County Council
Part of the inward investment team at Warwickshire County Council Gus concentrates on helping companies re…
15 April 2015
Mike Divers, Brooks Macdonald
New to Coventry and Warwickshire Mike Divers is establishing the discretionary investment manager, Brooks Macdonald A…
14 April 2015
Rachel Gwynne, Wright Hassall
Head of Wright Hassall’s charities sector Rachel is a senior associate who has already achieved recognition for he…
13 April 2015
Helena Bassett, Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce
Helena is a business coach, specializing in helping owners of small and medium size…
10 April 2015
Just 44% of eligible younger voters took part in the 2010 general election. This is significantly lower than the turnout for the middle-aged and elder…
02 April 2015
After more entries than in any previous year the nominees for Coventry & Warwickshire First’s FirstPro 2015 are exceptionally strong. The FirstP…
30 March 2015
Role at Young Professionals: Chair
Age: 29
From: Port Elizabeth (Nelson Mandela Bay), South Africa
Carl has been the Chair of Coventry & …
25 March 2015
Keith Boxley, Relationship Director of Barclays explained: “FirstPro is a great celebration of the talent in the professional services in the secto…
24 March 2015
Andrew Smith, partner at Shakespeares explained:”Our young professionals are extremely talented, with the drive and determination to take forward the …
23 March 2015
Business Services Professional of the Year 2014
Marie Bawden, Castel Froma
“I was very proud, and a little surprised, to win Business Service…
20 March 2015
Partner Philip Costigan explained: “We work alongside many exceptional finance professionals in Coventry & Warwickshire. Sponsoring the categ…
18 March 2015
“We have a strong commercial property team at Wright Hassall and so we understand the breadth and depth of property talent within Coventry and Warwick…
18 March 2015
“Winning was a complete surprise,’ said Paul Saunders, partner at Shakespeares LLP and winner of Legal Professional of the Year 2014.
“The co…
17 March 2015
Coventry and Warwickshire’s future business leaders can now accelerate their personal development through Coventry & Warwickshire First’s new …
13 March 2015
Myton Hospice is the Young Professionals nominated charity for the next twelve months. They’re a local charity with a presence across Warwickshire. …
09 March 2015
Sackie Somal, Inward Investment Manager at Warwickshire County Council, was the winner of Property Professional of the Year 2014. “It was a real hon…
09 March 2015
This time last year Martin Vickery of Coventry City Council was named Young Professional of the Year and FirstPro 2014. Here he explains why you sho…
09 March 2015
This month’s Thirsty Thursday was held at Altoria in Leamington.
We’re pleased to announce that Michelle Vincent of HCB won the champagne draw,…
05 March 2015
Hear why from Martin Lindsey, SFB Wealth Management Director and Financial Professional of the Year, 2014
“If anyone is wondering whether or not to…
24 February 2015
The sponsorship packages for FirstPro 2015 have now been announced.
Coventry & Warwickshire First: Professional of the Year 2015
I…
23 February 2015
Role at Young Professionals: Joint Charities Officer
Age: 28
From: Coventry
Dan is our newest committee member and has been a great addition …
18 February 2015
Recognising the professional and financial services community’s unique position as advisors to the region’s businesses, Coventry & Warwickshir…
09 February 2015
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 …
09 February 2015
Thirsty Thursday was back in Coventry this month at The Open Arms in Cheylesmore where we launched this year’s charity campaign with a raffle for t…
06 February 2015
The search for the leading professional in Coventry and Warwickshire is now underway with the launch of Coventry & Warwickshire First’s FirstPro…
03 February 2015
Hi there young professionals
Welcome to your new blog page!
I’m Chrissie from the YP committee and I take care of all things marketing so I’…
02 February 2015
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 d…
02 February 2015
How confident are local businesses? What challenges are they facing? What are the strengths of the sub-regional economy?
Coventry & Warwickshir…
20 January 2015
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 valuab…