The West of England’s ambitions to attract more inward investment and boost its level of exports were highlighted this week with the visit of trade and investment minister Lord Francis Maude. Lord Maude met a cross section of small and medium-sized firms and recent investors in the area along with representatives from engineering giant...
Logistics group Wincanton has won a contract with BAE Systems to supply its Military Air & Information (MAI) operations, extending a 10-year relationship between the Chippenham-based firm and defence giant. Under the contract Wincanton will also become the operator of a new purpose-built Defence Logistics Centre, due to be completed next year in the...
SETsquared, the globally recognised innovation incubator with a base in Bath, has been shortlisted for a prestigious award for its work in nurturing a new generation of university entrepreneurs. The partnership of the universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey is shortlisted in the Higher Education Enterprise Champion category of the National Enterprise...
Motion capture technology pioneered by the visual entertainment industry will be harnessed to help improve prosthetic limbs for amputees and training of elite athletes in a new research centre based at the University of Bath. The studio for the new £5m Centre for the Analysis of Motion, Entertainment Research & Applications (CAMERA) at the...
Marshfield Bakery managing director Chris Smith, who last month won a regional Institute of Directors (IoD) award for the second year running, is in the running for a national IoD accolade. Chris scooped the title of Best Small Company Director at the South West Director of the Year awards. Last year he landed the...
Accountancy firm Monahans, which has five offices in and around Bath, is encouraging the area’s manufacturers to have their say on the effect of the engineering skills gap as part of a major industry survey. The firm is backing the survey, which has been launched by MHA, the association of accountancy and business advisory...
Sales have started growing again at Chippenham-based speciality pharmaceutical firm Alliance Pharma, after a slight fall last year, its bosses said this week. The firm, which acquires and develops niche drugs, said in a trading update to shareholders that sales for the half year to June 30 were likely to reach £22.8m – up...
Ambitious plans for a new international automotive research centre led by the University of Bath have been revealed. The facility at the Bristol & Bath Science Park, along with more space for growing businesses and improved training provision for the UK composites sector, have been announced by a newly created steering committee set up to...
Bott, the workplace storage equipment firm, and Devon Air Ambulance Trust have won the PWC Business of the Year Awards – the South West’s most coveted business accolades. Bude-based Bott’s CEO Clive Woodward received his trophy for the £30m-plus turnover category from Mark Beard, chief executive of last year's winner, Swindon construction firm Beard....
Chippenham-based specialty pharmaceutical firm Alliance Parma has appointed Andrew Franklin as finance director. Andrew, pictured, joins the company in September 28 from Panasonic Europe, where he was general manager, European tax and accounting. From 2010 to 2012 he was finance director and company secretary of Genzyme Therapeutics, the UK & Ireland subsidiary of Genzyme...
