Winner – PET-Xi Training
Based at Westwood Business Park, PET – Xi Training delivers a wide range of training programmes at schools and businesses across England and Wales.
The team of almost 500 full and part-time staff works hard to deliver programmes that see learners progress and develop.
Operating in a changeable market, just six years ago the business had to react quickly to a change in government policy which effectively wiped out a significant part of its revenue.
The firm was quick to respond and developed a range of new products to meet the need of its clients.
PET Xi Training was also a finalist in the Contribution to the Community category.
Founder Fleur Sexton said: “I am so proud and so honoured to win this award because I am a Coventry girl and even though we work throughout the whole country, without this city we wouldn’t have been able to build this business as we have.
“Coventry is a great place to build a business and I feel proud to be part of it and want to give back to other building businesses, as I feel we have a responsibility to build the next generation coming up behind us.”
Fleur added thats although the company had won another coveted business award recently, this was the one that mattered.
“This is the one I wanted because I am a Cov girl,” she said. “This is the big one.
“This has been our best year yet.
“We have been in business for 23 years and now is the time we can really start giving back because we have the platform from which we can help people.
“I have had help myself, from Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce in particular.
“We wouldn’t have been able to start up without the Chamber.
“Louise Bennett, the chamber chief executive, is still my mentor today.
“We have also been helped by the Coventry Telegraph, Coventry 2021 and Coventry business groups.
“We are so involved in the community and it is the community that both helps build businesses people get in touch with each other.
“Business is all about people and all about getting involved.”
Fleur also praised Coventry for its entrepreneurial spirit and the fact it is well-placed to achieve even more.
“Coventry is just the right size and in the right location,” she said.
“You can get anywhere in the country, it’s a city that’s the right size to get to know people.
“It’s the perfect place to do business and we feel we are very lucky to be a Coventry business.”