I’M delighted to say that a number of business initiatives that Worcestershire LEP is supporting have been recognised on the national and international stage.

First of all, we had the fantastic news that the Worcestershire 5G Consortium has been shortlisted for the 5G Leadership Award at the 2019 World Communication Awards.

It is credit to Worcestershire to be recognised in these prestigious awards, and the county deserves this achievement after switching on the UK’s first live 5G factory trials at Worcester Bosch. The factory trials had a huge impact and have enabled Worcester Bosch to test 5G for improved factory output and explore preventative maintenance.

The World Communication Awards have recognised innovation in global telecoms for the last 21 years, so we’re delighted to be shortlisted for an award and we look forward to hearing the result on October 30.

It has also been a great few weeks for the county’s skills and careers guidance network, as Worcestershire has achieved the Midlands’ highest average and growth for the number of Gatsby Benchmarks achieved by schools and colleges.

These benchmarks are a framework of eight guidelines contained within the Government’s National Careers Strategy that define the best careers provision in schools and colleges. This really is a huge achievement and shows how Worcestershire’s business community is positively helping to create our future workforce.

The Careers and Enterprise Company’s launch of the ‘State of the Nation’ report also showed that Worcestershire has the highest number of schools and colleges engaged with the careers hub, ultimately helping to improve careers guidance for more young people.

I was delighted last week when the Worcestershire Careers Hub was Highly Commended for Careers Hub of the Year at the Careers Excellence Awards 2019.

For further information on these awards and many more of the county’s recent successes, please do visit the Worcestershire LEP website, www.wlep.co.uk