Connect Education & Care, the Trowbridge-based firm formerly known as The Consortium, is to be sold for £56.5m – some £18.5m more than its current owners bought it for less than five years ago. The business has supplied books and stationery to generations of schoolchildren across the South West since it was launched in...
By Donna Kehoe, the Bank of England’s agent for the South West of England What should we make of the prospects for the UK economy just over a month into what promises to be another eventful year? On the face of it there’s much to be positive about. Growth has proved surprisingly resilient since...
Business West, the region’s largest business organisation, is calling on Chancellor Philip Hammond to use his Spring Budget next month to bolster confidence amid fears that higher inflation and skill shortages will combine to hit West of England firms hard. While latest official jobless figures show unemployment continuing to fall, the strength of the...
Bath has one of the most vibrant economies in England with a strong creative and cultural scene, according to new analysis published today – but it lags behind many other areas of the country when it comes to inclusion and equality. And while it boasts an entrepreneurial and innovative economy as well as a...
Bath’s ethical firms have until today, Friday, to enter the South West Fairtrade Business Awards following an extension of the deadline. The coveted awards, now in their fifth year, are open to all organisations in the region that use Fairtrade products and prioritise fair trade practices within their business. They are free to enter...
Directors from Bath and across the West of England are being invited to enter one of the region’s top annual awards schemes that recognises excellence and enterprise in the boardroom. The prestigious Institute of Directors’ South West Director of the Year Awards 2017 will showcase outstanding leaders and entrepreneurs as well as focusing UK-wide attention on...
A diverse series of events, with speakers ranging from Sir Salman Rushdie and Mary Berry to Ed Balls, has been announced for The Bath Festival 2017. Bath’s new flagship festival of music and literature, which builds on the heritage of the Bath Literature and Bath International Music Festivals, will boast more than 130 events...
The West of England’s world-leading aerospace and tech sectors have helped strengthen business ties between the area and the Spanish city of Malaga. A delegation from the aerospace systems cluster of the Technology Park of Andalucía has been on a two-day visit to the area this week to explore business collaboration opportunities. The visit,...
Professional services firm PwC has launched its annual West of England Business of the Year Awards – widely regarded as the region’s most prestigious. Now in their 29th year, the eagerly-contested awards attract the cream of the region’s firms with a winners’ roll-call reading like a who’s who of the West’s most-respected companies. The...
A mock castle has been turned into a modern, inspiring office in the latest and most ambitious project for Bath-based workplace design and build specialist Interaction. The firm created what it has called the ultimate workplace for financial comparison website money.co.uk in a £3m, nine-month project at its unique office in Cirencester. Having not...
