Chamber’s Expo was a hive of activity

The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce hosted its business and trade expo at the Ricoh Arena – and what a success it was.

The day-long event attracted businesses of all sizes and from all sectors across the area and it was great to see such a hive of activity. It was so popular that the location for the next expo has already been organised – the Warwickshire Exhibition Centre in October.

Although we live in an increasingly social media world, there is no substitute for face-to-face contact and networking, and our members are certainly aware of this. It was lovely to meet contacts from organisations throughout Mid-Warwickshire and to have the chance to have a proper chat to gauge their views on how they feel their economy is going and talk about the upcoming General Election.

Around 130 exhibitors and 500 visitors attended the event which underlines the importance of holding an event such as this for businesses in Coventry and Warwickshire.

As well as having the chance to meet other businesses, there were workshops, seminars and speed networking and for Chamber members it perfectly summed up the benefits of being involved in the organisation.

At the Chamber we are neutral when it comes to political views but we pride ourselves on acting as a voice for business locally and nationally. A perfect example was our recent visit to Westminster when we met representatives from the Department for Business Innovation & Skills and the British Chambers of Commerce.

Events such as this underline the importance of being involved in the Chamber because whatever the outcome of the General Election on Thursday, May 7, we will be here to lobby those in power on the subjects which are important to local businesses.