Businesses feel the buzz of it being Coventry’s time to shine

Businesses in Coventry are being encouraged to be ambitious in order to benefit from the momentum that is being felt in the city ahead of its year as UK City of Culture.

Coventry will hold the title in 2021, although before that it will also be European City of Sport next year.

This cultural recognition is generating a real buzz in the city that is being translated into tangible progress, an audience at TheBusinessDesk.com’s event in Coventry heard.

The panel discussion was held in association with Coventry law firm Band Hatton Button to discuss how the city is changing ahead of 2021.

Fleur Sexton, the founder of PET-Xi Training and Deputy Lieutenant of West Midlands, highlighted how people in the city have “mobilised” in the last year to work together.

She said: “You see it in business, you see it in the amount of restaurants and all the activity that is coming to the city and I just feel it in every aspect of what we do – it is the feeling that it is our time.

“Rather than it being that we’re waiting in the wings, the light is absolutely shining on us. This is our time to really make it happen and I think in terms of investment and decision making, people are really getting behind it.

“Now is the time to be bold and to be really brave and I’m seeing that from from all sectors, which is fantastic.”

Neil Edginton, managing director of EDG Property, is hoping his company’s redevelopment of The Co-operative into a 140,000 sq ft mixed-use scheme will be part of raising the bar in the city.

“There’s plenty to be excited in Coventry,” he said. “I’m extremely excited because in the next 12 months we’re bringing to life one of the schemes we’ve been talking about today, which is the very first top-end city centre living that Coventry has seen.

“Genuinely this is higher quality than anything not just Coventry has seen before but actually outside of the capital has seen before. I think it can do a lot of good for Coventry.”

Martin Reeves, chief executive of Coventry City Council, has been pleased with the pace of progress in continuing the city’s transformation.

“There’s no point in having this game-changing title [City of Culture] if actually your city and its people feel like it’s empty,” he said.

“The fact we’ve done all this redevelopment, regeneration, and we’re physically reimagining the city means it has been a really exciting 12 months.

“My sense is – and this is what’s really exciting – we’re still in the foothills of what’s possible for Coventry.”