Defence manufacturing group Avon Protection today sought to put a “challenging” 2021 behind it by stressing its revenues were now ahead of the same time last year while it was also tackling its supply chain issues. The Melksham-headquartered group, which specialises in protective gear, masks and breathing equipment for the military and first-responder...
The takeover of a high-profile Bath business helped dealmakers from accountancy firm Deloitte’s regional mergers & acquisitions team complete a record number 17 deals last year. The total number, with a collective value of just under £2bn, was almost double that of 2020, when the team completed nine. Eight of the deals were within...
Investments by the South West team of growth finance group BGF passed the £100m mark for the first time last year as it continued its strong run of funding ambitious businesses. The team injected £115m of equity into firms in 2021 – a 72% increase on 2020’s total and more than three times that...
Bath advanced engineering firm Rotork has ended its six month search for a new CEO by making an internal appointment. Kiet Huynh, pictured, currently managing director of the group’s water & power and chemical, process & industrial (CPI) divisions, has taken on the role with immediate effect. He also joins the Rotork board. Kiet, 42,...
More than three-quarters of manufacturing firms across the West of England have been affected by delays or other disruption when importing supplies or goods, according to the latest economic survey by the regions largest business group. Two-thirds of all importers have also been affected, triggering a fear among many firms that their prospects will...
Bath-based glasses designer and manufacturer Inspecs Group has hit the acquisition trail for the second time in a month with the takeover of a Swedish eyewear firm. The £6.2m deal to buy Stockholm-based Ego Eyewear comes four weeks after Inspecs snapped up German spectacle frame distributor BoDe Design Vertriebs for €1.76m (£1.51m). The...
With the ongoing impact of the pandemic, climate change and Brexit, 2022 will be another tough year for many Bath businesses. Phil Smith, managing director of Business West – the organisation behind Bath Chamber of Commerce and the Bath and North East Somerset Initiative – looks at the needs and challenges for this year? ...
Avon Protection, the defence manufacturing group, is to wind down its body armour business after it failed tests for the US military. The Melksham-headquartered group, which earlier this year rebranded from its historic name of Avon Rubber, said closing the armour division in two years would allow it to refocus as a global...
A BSc Management student at the University of Bath has become the 1,000th to receive business innovation skills training in a pioneering scheme run by SETsquared, the world-leading tech incubator. The Intrapreneurial Knowledge Exchange Enterprise Pathway (IKEEP) was set up nearly a year ago by SETsquared, which is backed by a group of six...
A Bath firm developing biodegradable alternatives to harmful microplastics has won a £425,000 grant which could lead to its pioneering technology being produced on an industrial scale. Naturbeads has received the money from Innovate UK, the government’s innovation body, to explore commercialising the product, which is made from cellulose, a naturally occurring substance...
