The new president of a leading business organisation in Coventry and Warwickshire, Paul Carvell has made it his mission to get more companies trading overseas.
Paul Carvell, the managing director of accountancy company Stewart Fletcher Barrett – which has offices in Nuneaton, Coventry and Leicestershire – has taken over from Peter Burns as president of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce.
Carvell, who is also the chair of the Chamber’s north Warwickshire branch, said he will use his time in office to encourage more companies to export their goods and services abroad. He said: “I am very proud and honoured to become president of the Chamber. When I look at the names of the people who have gone before me, I realise I have very big shoes to fill.
“Peter has been a great help to me during my time as vice president and I cannot thank him enough for that. He has been a great ambassador for Coventry and Warwickshire and for the Chamber too so I know I have a very tough act to follow.
“But I have to be myself as president and I must have my own aims and aspirations.
“What I really want to use my time as president to achieve is to encourage more companies from this region to export their goods and services. Our business is part of an international accountancy organisation and that gives us insight into the way other countries do things. “In Germany, exporting is not seen as anything out of the ordinary – most small businesses do it and that’s the kind of mentality I want to promote here.
“The world is getting smaller, English is still the common language of the world and there is fantastic support available through the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce’s International Trade Hub. “So when you put all of that together, businesses from right across this area should see exporting as a real opportunity to grow their market and, in turn, that will grow our own economy and create new jobs.” Carvell said he also wanted to see business investment become the norm among companies across the region.
He said: “Another topic that is very important to me is investment. This should, in my opinion, be something that firms look to do every year – invest some of their profits back into the business.
“The Government has done its bit with the Annual Investment Allowance and businesses should look at how they can maintain their growth by investing in technology, equipment and machinery. “This is another area I will look to promote during my time as president and, like Peter, I will look to be an ambassador for the Chamber and promote the fantastic services available to help grow the business.”
