The West of England’s small and medium-sized firms are leading the UK for job creation with more than two thirds planning to recruit more staff and SME manufacturers are committed to investing in their workforce over the next 12 months, according to two new surveys. The upbeat findings, from the latest HSBC Commercial Banking...
Business West, the region’s largest business organisation, welcomed this week’s figures showing the South West leading the fall in unemployment – but warned that more needs to be done to get young people into work. Phil Smith, managing director of Business West, which runs Bath Chamber of Commerce, also said the figures masked a...
SciSys, the Chippenham-based specialist IT firm, this week said it had ended a major contract which plunged it into the red last month and is now predicting a brighter future. Problems with the major fixed-price development project for an unnamed client pushed SciSys into a £1.1m half-year loss. In June millions of pounds were...
The BBC must evolve to meet the challenges of an increasingly digital media landscape but must also be valued for future generations, one of its senior managers told West business leaders at the annual CBI regional dinner. Jenny Baxter, pictured, who as chief operating officer, BBC England, is in charge of the BBC’s Bristol...
Historic Somerset aggregates and asphalt firm Wainwright is to extend its reach across the South West with the construction of an £8.5m state-of-the-art plant. The asphalt production facility on a 4.5-acre site at Avonmouth, near Bristol, is set to launch early next year. Funded through finance from Barclays, it will give Wainwright, based at...
The region covered by the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has been rated as the best of the 39 LEP areas across the country for its record on business start-ups. Research by information agency BankSearch shows 5.7% more businesses were launched in West of England during the first eight months of this...
Specialist manufacturer Avon Rubber has acquired a thermal imaging camera business for £3.5m to strengthen its protection and defence business. Melksham-based Avon said Argus, which it has bought from UK technology firm e2v, would “modestly” boost its earnings this year and lead to longer-term product development opportunities. Argus, based in Essex, designs and manufactures...
More than a third of the South West’s small and medium-sized manufacturers are having their growth plans jeopardised by skills shortages, according to a new survey. The annual Manufacturing Survey by MHA – an association of independent regional accountancy firms – reveals that recruitment issues are acting as a “significant barrier” to expansion for...
Intellectual property law firm EIP has been named as a ‘national champion’ for the UK in The European Business Awards 2015/16 in recognition of its growth strategy. The firm, which has a base in Bath, was one of only 54 UK companies and 678 throughout Europe chosen as national champions from more than 32,000...
Shares in Vectura rose today after the Chippenham-based specialist drug developer announced it will receive multi-million pound cash payments as two of its projects reach development milestones. The firm is to receive €5m (£3.6m) from the development of a treatment for serious lung disease by an unnamed partner firm. The VR876 programme uses one...
