The cafe and bar chain behind Bath’s Cosy Club has secured a £16m investment to help more than double its outlets to 50 over the next three to five years. Loungers opened its first site in Bristol in 2002 and now has 20 Lounges – five in Bristol – and three Cosy Clubs in...
Interest rates have been pegged at 0.5% by the Bank of England for another month. The Bank also said there would be no change to its quantitative easing (QE) programme which aims to get money into the economy. Rates have been at 0.5% since March 2009 as the long hoped for economic recovery fails...
Jelf, the independent consultancy which provides a broad range of insurance, financial services and employee benefits to corporates and individuals, says it "has enjoyed a positive start to the year" and is trading in line with expectations. The Yate-based consultancy has a major office in Bath and more than 30 branches throughout England and...
Bath-based architects Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios have been chosen to design the new home for The British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA). The new museum and archive centre in London will give access to the BPMA’s unique collections of 400 years of postal, social and design history, including photographs, posters, vehicles, pillar boxes, employment...
Work has started on the largest-ever scheme to modernise signalling on the Great Western railway line through Bath. When completed, the four-year £350m improvements to the 1960s signalling infrastructure could help cut delays by 50%. The upgrade is vital to prepare for electrification of the line between London and the West and forms part...
Regional renewable energy group Regen SW has hit a new milestone – 200 organisations have joined within just 15 months to support its mission to enable ground-breaking renewable energy projects and low carbon jobs. This achievement comes as new figures show renewable energy share of electricity generated jumped from 7% to 9.5% across the...
Chartered accountants Monahans, which has offices in Bath, Swindon, Chippenham, Trowbridge and Glastonbury, has recruited Caroline Bee as manager in its fast-growing forensic services team. Caroline is returning to the practice having originally qualified with Monahans after leaving university and working in corporate finance. She returns after working within senior management at Wiltshire Council,...
The Youth Contract, the Government scheme announced today to lift 16 to 24 year olds out of unemployment and into work, has been welcomed by Business West. The scheme aims to create at least 410,000 new jobs over the next three years by offering firms £2,275 ‘wage incentives’ to take on up to 160,000...
Bath area firms are being urged to take a fresh look at corporate responsibility to society and social change by attending Bristol Chamber of Commerce’s annual dinner tomorrow evening. Responsibility will be the main topic with guest speaker Big Issue joint founder John Bird MBE unlikely to pull any punches. Mr Bird was born...
Business West has welcomed the Government’s simplified National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The new framework aims to make streamline the planning process, allowing sustainable developments to go ahead quicker and so trigger much-needed economic growth. Phil Smith, managing director of the lobbying and business services organisation, which includes Bath Chamber of Commerce, said: "There...
