Confidence among South West businesses has surged as the fall in sterling opens up new export opportunities, according to a survey out today. The bounce back in optimism in the region – the second strongest across the UK – is in marked contrast to the position last September when South West firms, along with those based...
By Phil Smith, managing director, Business West It’s always difficult making predictions about what the next 12 months will have in store for businesses, and for sure the forecasts for 2016 would have been way off beam! But if one thing’s for certain about 2017, it presages a new era in the UK economy,...
Bath Business News wishes its readers, subscribers and advertisers a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year. We will continue to provide the city’s most authoritative business news, information and analysis throughout the festive period. Our next weekly Bath Business News e-bulletin will be published on Friday, January 6.
A new inhaler developed by Chippenham firm Vectura to treat lung disease has been shown to be an effective alternative to traditional devices in a large-scale trial. Patients using the Ultibro Breezhaler in the trial improved lung function and COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) symptoms after switching from their previous treatment, Vectura said in...
Business confidence has bounced back after being hit by the Brexit referendum result, according to the latest Business Barometer from regional accountancy firm Bishop Fleming. However, 56% of business owners remain doubtful about the year ahead and half have no plans to take on additional staff next year. In another sign of an impending...
Business printer Integrity Print has acquired a small label printing company that works with toy makers Lego and Hasbro UK. Cardiff-based Alliance Labels now becomes a trading division of Integrity Print, which employs more than 300 people and operates more than 50 presses on its 16-acre site on Midsomer Norton’s Westfield Trading Estate. The...
Profits at Rotork, Bath’s largest manufacturing company, will be 10% higher than expected thanks to the weak pound, it has told shareholders. The advanced engineering firm, which makes sophisticated valves and actuators for the dollar-denominated global oil, water and gas industries, said the fall of sterling since the EU referendum meant its financial results would be...
Regional accountants Bishop Fleming, which has an office in Bath, said Philip Hammond’s first Autumn Statement was a clarion call to industry to be more productive and to make the UK ‘match fit’ for a bumpy Brexit ride ahead. It said the Chancellor’s first fiscal statement promised billions of government money for houses, roads,...
Bath businesses will welcome Chancellor Philip Hammond’s focus on investment in the Autumn Statement, particularly in areas where growth pressures are highest, according to Business West, the organisation that runs Bath Chamber of Commerce. Phil Smith, pictured, managing director of the region’s largest business organisation, described the statement as “a sombre, not flashy, affair”...
Business organisation the CBI “warmly welcomed” Chancellor Philip Hammond’s commitments to boost research and development, housing and infrastructure. But it said these must be acted on. Director-general Carolyn Fairbairn, pictured below, said: “The Chancellor has prioritised a pragmatic down payment on future productivity growth. “His emphasis on R&D, housing and local infrastructure will help...
