The South West office of BGF, the business growth fund set up to help the UK’s growing smaller and medium-sized firms, has appointed Sarah Ledwidge as an investment manager. Sarah, pictured, will be responsible for identifying investable businesses in Wiltshire, Hampshire and the Thames Valley and working with them to achieve their growth plans....
Strong customer growth, particularly for gas, has helped Chippenham-based renewable electricity supplier Good Energy overcome a reduction in demand caused by the mild winter. Increased marketing and business improvements should also strengthen its position at the forefront of the independent renewable electricity supply and generation sector, it said in a trading update for the...
Chippenham-based renewable power pioneer Good Energy has sold a solar site in Norfolk to Chinese photovoltaic firm Trina Solar for up to £6.8m. The cash sale forms part of the supplier’s strategy of developing a portfolio through a combination of site disposals and building and holding others. The net profit on sale of the...
Bath businesses, along with residents and international visitors, are being urged to take part in a new campaign to combat the scourge of the city – gulls. The Don’t Feed the Gulls campaign, launched this week by Bath & North East Somerset Council and Bath Business Improvement District (BID), builds on previous work carried...
Bath-based innovative social network Neighbourly.com has been officially launched with the ambition of revolutionising corporate social responsibility. The business, which connects community projects with companies, has been developed by entrepreneur Nick Davies and is the first digital platform to be created for the largely unstructured corporate giving sector within the UK, which is worth...
A garden centre business owned by the same family since opening in 1884 is future-proofing itself against spiraling energy costs and enhancing its green credentials after securing £400,000 funding from Barclays. Whitehall Garden Centre at Lacock near Chippenham, which also owns and operates a site near Bristol, is installing three biomass energy cabins using...
Four pioneering Bath firms have showcased their innovation to a large group of senior business and technology directors at Barclays’ global headquarters in London. The four fledgling businesses were among six chosen by SETsquared – the business hub supported by the University of Bath – to represent its groundbreaking innovation. The event was part...
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...
IPL, the Bath-based software and IT services company IPL, has been awarded a £9m framework contract by the Environment Agency to implement a new system to manage the upkeep of its flood and coastal defence assets. The four-year programme, secured with Bristol-based Manhattan Atrium, will enable the Environment Agency to focus more funds on...
The University of Bath is to open an innovative research centre that will play a leading role in developing low carbon construction materials for use in the buildings of the future. The £1m project, called HIVE, will be the first of its kind in the UK. Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research...
