Activity levels among South West firms rose last month, although the rate of expansion due to new business slowed, new figures show. The latest Lloyds TSB South West Business Activity/PMI Index survey, which tracks factors such as output, new orders, employment and prices, shows October’s rate of growth was solid, and stronger than that...
Bath Tourism Plus has welcomed the new flights between Bristol Airport and Zurich. The Helvetic Airways service, which will begin on December 5, aims to attract more leisure and business visitors into the area. Bath welcomes 11,000 visitors from Switzerland a year and it is hoped that the new route into Bristol Airport will...
Jelf, the insurance, employee benefits and financial planning group with a major base in Bath, has opened its first London office as it pursues a strategy to organically build a presence in the capital. The Yate-based group, which has its insurance brokering and financial planning businesses in Bath, has more than 30 branches throughout...
Creating the right culture, communicating effectively with staff and having fun are among the key elements for a successful entrepreneurial business. These points were highlighted by three entrepreneurs – each at different stages in their business growth – at an event last night. The speakers included former University of Bath student Griff Holland, co-founder...
Upmarket clothes store Aubin and Wills this week opened a shop offering cut-price designer clothes to South West customers within former Mulberry boss Roger Saul’s Kilver Court complex in Shepton Mallet The shop is the first independent company to move into the historic centre, housed in a former mill, and on the same site...
Wincanton, the Chippenham-based logistics group, has plunged to a £75.5m half-year loss following the sale of its European operations. It also today revealed plans to sell off its loss-making foodservice division. Revenue fell 5.6% to £1.04bn in the six months to September 30 against the same period last year. The group, which at this...
University of Bath graduate-turned-entrepreneur Griff Holland, co-founder of whole food outlet Friska, joins two other innovators this evening to explain how they have risen to the challenge of retaining creativity in their businesses. The trio will give an insight into the different stages of developing creative businesses at the event jointly staged by the...
Greg Clarke, minister for cities, decentralisation and planning, will be the keynote speaker at a conference in Bath next Tuesday (15th). It has been organised by the Local Enterprise Partnership to discuss what the LEP has been doing since its last event in January – and its planned work, for example. on the Enterprise Areas across...
The economy is at serious risk of contracting before the end of the year as services firms falter and manufacturing declines again, a bleak survey claims today. Accountants BDO’s output index, which measures turnover expectations over the next three months, fell in October to 92.6, the lowest level since the country was in the...
Sentiment has fallen sharply among the UK’s small and medium-sized manufacturers, the CBI has said, adding to the air of gloom hanging over the economy. A slight decline in production over the next three months is forecast by these firms while, worryingly, over the past three months they suffered a 8% fall in export...
