More than 200 business and organisation leaders from across the West Midlands region gathered in Birmingham city centre for a prestigious Coventry & Warwickshire Champions meeting.

The Coventry & Warwickshire Champions scheme unites businesses, organisations and individuals across the area in a powerful network to help develop and promote Coventry and Warwickshire and raise its profile.

This event celebrated five successful years of Champions by outlining its achievements and highlighting its work to a regional audience, as well as exploring the new opportunities for future collaboration across the West Midlands including working with the WMCA.

Councillors John Clancy and Bob Sleigh welcomed guests to Birmingham before keynote speakers Martin Reeves, Chief Executive of West Midlands Combined Authority, Professor Stuart Croft, Vice-Chancellor and President of University of Warwick, and Nick Blofeld of Merlin Entertainment took the stage.

The meeting was closed by Coventry & Warwickshire Champions Chairman, Les Ratcliffe of Jaguar Land Rover, who was recently awarded an MBE for his work with the NSPCC.