The two University of Bath graduates behind one of the region’s most successful healthy fast food restaurant groups have secured a £65,000 funding deal with Santander to help finance further growth. Economics graduates Griff Holland and Ed Brown started Friska in 2009 in Bristol and it has since grown from one to four restaurants...
Karren Brady, Britain’s most powerful businesswoman and Lord Sugar’s right-hand woman on The Apprentice, has today been announced as the first keynote speaker for the Business Showcase South West 2014. The event will celebrate the best of the region’s commerce, innovation, creativity, enterprise and sustainability. It takes place at Bristol’s Colston Hall on April...
Dozens of redundancies are expected to be announced tomorrow at AudioGo, the Bath-based audiobook publisher which has just gone into administration. The firm, which employs more than 100 people in the city, filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators last Friday after efforts to sell the business as a going concern proved fruitless....
Entrepreneur, tech writer and TV reporter Kate Russell is guest of honour at an event next month staged by Bath’s innovative networking group for female tech workers. Bath Girl Geeks Dinners was set up eight years ago to give women the chance to meet informally for tech talk in a female-friendly environment. Founder Sarah...
Three Bath PR consultancies are hoping to be among the winners at this year’s hotly-contested 2013 CIPR South West PRide Awards. The awards, which this year celebrate their 10th anniversary, showcase the cream of the region’s public relations agencies, in-house teams, individuals and campaigns. They are widely regarded as the most prestigious and rigorous...
Bath entrepreneurs, start-ups and small firms can learn about better financial management at a breakfast meeting next Wednesday. Staged by the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB) as part of National Bookkeeping Week, the free event aims to improve the knowledge and perception of basic bookkeeping principles such as cashflow management. The event, at the...
Bath independent financial advice firm Chase de Vere today warned of ‘unintended consequences’ behind the Government’s plan, announced this morning, to cap management fees charged by pension providers. The Treasury is consulting on limiting fees to between 0.75% and 1%, claiming the move could save tens of thousands of pounds for many people. Pensions...
One of the UK car industry’s most respected figures, former General Motors UK chairman Bill Parfitt, has joined accountants Grant Thornton’s automotive advisory team as a consultant. Mr Parfitt, pictured, is now working with team members including director and automotive manufacturing specialist Neil Barrell, who is based in the firm’s regional office in Bristol. The...
Avon Rubber, the Melksham-based specialist manufacturer best known for its respirators, has won two major contracts as a result of its £3m acquisition earlier this year of VR Technology Holdings. Avon bought VR, a market leader in electronics, computers and life support systems used by professional divers, in April to broaden its reach in...
Bishop Fleming Independent Financial Advisers, part of fast-growing West accountancy firm Bishop Fleming, has appointed Darren Steadman as a financial planning consultant to serve clients across Bath and Bristol. Mr Steadman, who was educated in Bristol, spent 20 years with AXA Sun Life in the city, rising to implementation manager. More recently, he was...
