Coventry is an exciting destination, being European City of Sport 2019, UK City of Culture 2021 and a host city for Commonwealth Games 2022.
Coventry is a hub for engineering and manufacturing companies, with major automotive brands such as Jaguar Land Rover, Aston Martin, BMW, Volvo and London Taxi Company based in and around the city. This is the heart of the UK’s main automotive cluster – the Midlands automotive cluster – offering engineering roles as well as business operations, legal and HR positions.
The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), a research and development facility initially for aerospace, has expanded into other manufacturing sectors including medical devices, biotechnology, oil and gas, food and drink, and more. University of Birmingham is a research partner for the centre as well as University of Nottingham and Loughborough University.
Within the ring road around Coventry city centre, there is a concentration of business, professional and financial services companies including Coventry Building Society, NFU Mutual, Wither & Rogers and more. Friargate is an office development, close to Coventry Railway Station. It is set to bring in new company headquarters, establishing a business, professional and financial services hub.
Severn Trent Water, E.on, National Grid, Calor Gas, and First Utility are amongst some of the energy companies based in Coventry. With the growing need for clean technology and low carbon emissions, the Coventry and Warwickshire area is a leading hub in research and development in low carbon, electric and hybrid technology.
Coventry and Warwickshire is the home to a gaming cluster, with big names such as Codemasters, SEGA, Ubisoft based in and around Royal Leamington Spa; earning the nickname of ‘Silicon Spa’. Silicon Spa’s gaming cluster employs highly skilled professionals, accounting for around 10% of the UK games development industry, holding a strong position in development of ‘serious games’ and virtual reality. Additionally, 75% of digital media companies in Coventry are related to gaming industries.
‘Serious games’ and gamification is making an impact on many sectors outside of leisure and entertainment with sectors such as education, retail, marketing and healthcare increasingly investing in interactive and engaging ways to provide their services.
Coventry has strengths in the theatre, film-making and arts circle with Belgrade Theatre, Albany Theatre and the Warwick Arts Centre being in close proximity to each other in the centre of the city. This has proved to be a hub for the arts.
The Herbert Art Gallery run by Culture Coventry, houses a museum, art gallery, records archive and is one of the main learning facilities for creative arts and media. Culture Coventry also manages other local heritage sites which are the Coventry Transport Museum, Old Grammar School and Lunt Roman Fort. This rich mix of heritage creates opportunities for curating, marketing and museum education related roles.