The government has been urged to do more to help the UK’s ‘forgotten army’ of medium-sized businesses. The plea has come from the CBI, which today said new measures should be brought in to improve access to finance, especially in the bond markets. Businesses turning over between £10m and £100m represent less than 1%...
EXCLUSIVE Foreign ownership of British companies does not matter if they continue to invest in research, development and manufacturing in the UK, the Duke of York said during an official visit to the West this week. Speaking exclusively to Bath Business News, he said many former British businesses had successfully been bought by overseas...
Key figures from the West’s PR industry will be gathering this evening for the prestigious CIPR West of England PRide Awards. The awards are the only ones of their kind to showcase the best PR work in the region and the winners will be announced at a sell-out black-tie dinner in at the Bristol...
In a major step towards northern expansion of its business, Radstock print and mail company CFH Total Document Management has acquired FST Technologies, a print and mail business based in Livingston and East Kilbride, Scotland. FST, which has a turnover of £4m, went into administration last week. It has been bought for an undisclosed sum...
The Institute of Directors (IoD) in the South West has called for stronger backing for Bristol Airport to ensure it develops further, including introducing more flights to European and Middle East business destinations and the return of the direct service to the US. IoD regional chairman Gerry Jones made the call today in response...
Inflation has risen to 5.2%, its highest level for three years, mainly due to soaring gas and electricity bills, new figures released this morning show. The increase will pile more pressure onto hard-pressed households as average wage increases are trailing rising prices. Today’s figures highlight the risk to the Bank of England, which recently...
Business failures are rising faster in the South West than the national average as the tough market conditions and weak economy take their toll. The latest figures from business information provider Equifax show the number of businesses going bust in the region climbed by 22.5% during the three months to the end of September...
More than 610,000 passengers passed through Bristol Airport last month, making it the busiest September on record. The 1.5% year-on-year increase meant the monthly total surpassed the previous high of 601,432 in 2008. And despite the tough economic conditions, 2011’s passenger numbers are expected to be close to last year’s total of 5.7m, with...
UK economic growth has stalled and the Bank of England’s latest £75bn injection is unlikely to kick start it, another downbeat report said today. The respected Ernst & Young ITEM Club, which bases its quarterly report on the Treasury’s models, downgraded its forecast for growth this year from the 1.4% it predicted three months...
Bath is to host this year’s Green Energy Awards and the annual conference of renewable energy agency Regen SW. Speakers at the high-profile event, which takes place on November 9 at the Assembly Rooms, include Alasdair Grainger of the Department of Energy and Climate Change and Juliet Davenport, chief executive of Chippenham-based renewable electricity...
