Building Our Own Confidence

I have wanted to write this for a few months, and it’s taken a dose of Covid to get me to sit down and put pen to paper - or fingers to keyboard! In November 2021, I was honoured to attend the Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber Annual Economic Conference in person. We’re more used to it now but it felt so good to be there live. The speakers and panellists were incredible and informative as always; but it was a conversation with other delegates about what enables business confidence that inspired me to write this. We often hear about the importance of certainty to make investments or strategic decisions; but if Covid has taught us anything it must be that there is no certainty. We are in that VUCA world you learn about at Business School and the only sure thing is that it is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous.

It feels like I have been at the sharp end of that world for the last few months too. I’ve sold a business and taken a new role with a tech start-up, as well as spending a lot of time learning to navigate the policy vacuum from Central Government regarding Local Enterprise Partnerships. As Chair of an organisation facing an uncertain future; it has been hard to maintain my confidence and ensure everyone else is empowered to remain confident too. But I have learnt that confidence does not need certainty. I have been able to easily point to over a decade of achievements for Coventry & Warwickshire’s Local Enterprise Partnership; a wide collection of engaged stakeholders; and most importantly a future direction.

Confidence is about knowing your strengths and understanding where you are prepared to take informed risks. Both as regional public bodies and as business leaders. Whilst it remains a challenging time for business, areas of the economy are growing and we have key sectors that are or will experience fast growth in the next decade including creative industries, electrification, health technologies, and professional services. How do we support these clusters to reach their potential? Cost-pressures are significantly increasing whilst there is an extra ￡200 billion deposited in the bank across the UK. How do we empower investor confidence in our growth and innovation?

What happens next for us all depends on how we respond now. We must reset our economy in a post-Covid, post EU-Exit, pathway to Net Zero world. We must define Levelling Up for ourselves and ensure equal access to opportunity is a reality and not a buzzword.

And we must continue to build our confidence and the confidence of others. Coventry & Warwickshire is a great place to live, work, study, and invest. Spread the word!?