West of England chartered accountants Monahans’ new, highly-responsive website has gone live with the promise of a step change in the way existing and potential clients interact with the firm. The site – www.monahans.co.uk – offers new functionality and regular features with a greater focus on the sectors that Monahans works in, including manufacturing,...
By Nick Sturge, centre director, SETsquared and Vice-chair, High-Tech Sector Group, West of England Local Enterprise Partnership Having worked with nearly 300 high-tech start-up businesses – some for just an hour, some for several years – and having done a start-up myself, I've watched, very carefully, how leadership develops and evolves over the life...
Wiltshire-based specialist manufacturer Avon Rubber has won an order worth $33m (£19.6m) from the US Department of Defense (DoD) for 135,000 of its M50 protection masks. The order is an extension of an earlier contract with the Pentagon under which Melksham-based Avon has supplied the masks for use by the US armed forces and...
Rotork, the Bath-based advanced engineering firm, has appointed Martin Lamb as a non-executive director and will make a number of boardroom changes later this month. Mr Lamb, pictured, who took up his appointment today, will sit on the Rotork board’s audit, nomination and remuneration committees. He was chief executive of engineering group IMI from...
A new fund focusing on investing in the Bath area’s early stage tech businesses is to be launched by Technology Venture Partners, a new independent venture capital fund manager based in the region. Technology Venture Partners is to start the fund to run alongside YFM Equity Partners’ closed South West Ventures Fund, which it...
Bath branding consultancy The Agency has been appointed by Somerset specialist technology manufacturer Gooch & Housego as its lead planning, creative and digital agency. Ilminster-based Gooch & Housego, a $100m global business producing a range of fibre optic technologies, operates in more than 20 sectors with a high-profile role supplying critical systems and components...
Shares in Chippenham-based specialist software and IT group SciSys, best known for its work in the space sector, dipped today despite it issuing an upbeat statement at its AGM. The group, which supplies highly-complex systems to the global space, defence and media industries, told shareholders it was making further profitable progress and was on...
Specialised pharmaceutical firm Alliance Pharma has told shareholders it is continuing to look for acquisition targets on which to spend some of its £20m-plus war chest. The Chippenham-based firm, which buys underperforming drugs brands and realises their potential through investment, has an acquisition bank facility of more than £20m. In January it acquired thyroid...
West food businesses must embrace innovation and explore new markets for export if they are to succeed, a major conference was told. The topics formed the two key themes at the Future of Food event staged by accountants Smith & Williamson at yogurt maker Yeo Valley’s headquarters in Blagdon, near Bristol. Food production is...
Industrial Phycology, the innovative Bath firm that recently won a major national business competition, has been awarded a coveted place on one of the world’s most prestigious accelerator programmes and the chance to break into the lucrative US market. The firm, based at Bath’s SETsquared innovation hub, is taking part in MIT’s (Massachusetts Institute...
