The coronavirus pandemic has pushed up the number of profit warnings issued by South West listed businesses to a 20-year high, with those in the travel and leisure sector hardest hit. According to new figures from accountancy group EY, profit warnings soared by 73% year-on-year in the first half of 2020 to 26 – with 85%...
Government figures showing another monthly fall in corporate insolvencies are hiding the true picture of the damaging effect of the coronavirus pandemic on businesses, according to the South West branch of insolvency and restructuring trade body R3. Insolvency Service statistics for June show 732 company insolvencies in England and Wales, lower than May’s figure...
Practical ideas on how businesses can continue to support charities during the coronavirus pandemic are to be aired at a webinar hosted by Quartet, the community foundation for the West of England. The third sector is facing its toughest time for a generation with hundreds of thousands of people needing support just as charities’...
A retired wheelchair athlete and technology consultant from Bath who developed a fast, low-cost way to protect carers working with Covid-19 patients has received a £100,000 investment. Mat Campbell-Hill, pictured, created the AerosolShield mini-isolation tent, put it into production and took the first orders within just seven days. Staff who have used it say...
A £10m innovation project backed by the University of Bath to help West of England businesses make products that are lighter, more fuel efficient and have less waste and so reduce carbon emissions has been officially launched. The Digital Engineering Technology & Innovation (DETI) initiative will play an important role in driving innovation and...
One of Bath’s oldest firms has bounced back from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its business and is now ramping up production to meet an increase in demand by using a government-backed loan. Hawker Joinery, which turned 100 last year and hand-creates bespoke items such as high-end windows and doors, found itself...
Inspecs Group, the Bath-based eyewear design house and manufacturer, has bought historic UK spectacle lens company Norville for £2.4m after it fell into administration earlier this month. The acquisition of the Gloucester-based firm, which had been in business for more than 120 years, means Inspecs now owns the country’s two oldest and most- respected...
The CBI said Chancellor Rishi Sunak was “absolutely right” to prioritise jobs in his summer statement on Wednesday. Director-general Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, pictured, said: “Flattening the daunting unemployment curve about to hit our country could not be more important. Joblessness scars lives and hits the young and most disadvantaged hardest. “The jobs plan is an important step...
Measures to address the huge economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic announced this week by Chancellor Rishi Sunak have been welcomed by Business West, the region’s largest business group. Matt Griffith, director of policy at Business West – which runs Bath Chamber of Commerce – described them as impressive but also added that the...
Chancellor Rishi Sunak presented his economic statement in the Commons on Wednesday by saying the government would do all it could to help prevent job losses in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The main points were: Government will pay £1,000 to businesses for each furloughed employee they bring back and retain until January....
