The Coventry and Warwickshire area includes a vibrant city, market towns, industrial estates, enterprise parks and the countryside. It is home to a wide range of businesses.

One of the areas strengths is its excellent transport links to other parts of UK and beyond - which is why a number of companies choose to locate here.

Around 838,100 people live in Coventry & Warwickshire, with about 386,000 people working for around 35,000 employers.

The area is made up of six local authority areas: North Warwickshire Borough, Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough, City of Coventry, Rugby Borough, Warwick District and Stratford-on-Avon District.

The current recession is affecting all sectors of the local economy and it is difficult to predict the future. Although there may be fewer jobs around at the moment, in the future it looks likely that there will be job opportunities available for people with the right skills in most industries - even in those industries that are fairly small or even declining. This is because there is a need to replace workers who retire or leave. So it is important people prepare by improving their skills in preparation for when things get better.

Updated 06/08/2009