By Colin Skellett, Chair, West of England LEP Since the Government announcement a couple of weeks ago of the local growth deals awarded to England’s 39 Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), there have been a lot of big numbers bandied about. Unless you’re close to the deals, the figures and the fuss may seem a...
Fast-growing Bath-based national veterinary group Independent Vetcare (IVC) is set for further expansion following investment by US and UK equity investor Summit Partners. Summit has bought out August Equity, which backed IVC’s launch in 2011 when three veterinary companies in Bath, Bristol and Hertfordshire merged. It has since taken on more than 40 groups,...
Bath Building Society has chosen its first charity of the year – Bath Gateway Out and About, which provides help and support to people aged 18-plus with a learning disability. It is also one of nine charities and community groups sharing £7,000 from the society’s Annual Charity Awards scheme. A further four organisations have...
West Country accountancy firm Old Mill achieved a record 14.2% growth in business last year, taking total income to £16.2m and enabling it to pay £600,000 in staff bonuses. The firm, which employs 270 people across its offices in Melksham, Wells, Yeovil, Dorchester and Exeter, has grown turnover by at least 10% a year...
Shares in troubled Bath publisher Future fell this week after it admitted its major restructuring and job cuts would not turn around its finances until at least its next financial year. In an interim management statement released to the London Stock Exchange, it said it was making “good progress” with its transformation programme, which...
Zynstra, the Bath-based cloud pioneer, has received funding worth $8.4m (£4.9m) to continue its growth, invest in further innovative products and enter the North American market. The funding takes investment at the firm, based at Bath’s SETsquared innovation hub – which is supported by the University of Bath – to just over $12.5m (£7.3m)...
Construction group Beard has been named as the West of England’s top company in the prestigious Business of the Year awards. The Swindon-based firm, which has recently completed a number of major projects in Bath, beat five other finalists to claim the prestigious title in the annual awards sponsored by international accountants PwC. Beard...
Specialist adhesives firm ALH Systems has been sold to expanding Swedish industrial giant Indutrade. ALH, based at Westbury, has annual sales of £6m and employs 37 staff. It supplies formulated polyurethane and epoxy encapsulants, adhesives, sealants and potting compounds to the gas, construction and electronics sectors. ALH will become part of Indutrade’s Special Products...
Nineteen staff from accountants Old Mill are cycling between the firm’s five offices today and tomorrow to raise money for Somerset charity School in a Bag. Having set out from the Melksham office this morning, they have cycled to the Wells office and then on to the Yeovil – a trip of around 62...
Business West, the organisation that runs the Bath Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the allocation of £86.2m of Government investment to accelerate economic growth and create 5,000 jobs in the area. But it said the city’s business community still needed to make sure future funding was secured under the Local Growth Deal to secure long-term...
