A number of city firms have joined UWE as the lead partners supporting Bristol Pride, the week-long celebration of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities. It is the sixth year running UWE has sponsored the event, the largest free Pride Festival in the UK which last year...
Bristol communications agency Purplefish has taken on Fatin Guled as an intern as part of a new scheme to promote diversity in the creative sector. Fatin, 18, pictured, came to Purplefish through Represent, a start-up organisation dedicated to improving inclusion and equality in the creative sector which was launched...
Ambitious plans for a new international automotive research facility at Bristol & Bath Science Park were revealed today. The facility, along with more space for growing businesses and improved training provision for the UK composites sector, were announced by a newly created steering committee set up to deliver phase two...
Bott, the workplace storage equipment firm, and Devon Air Ambulance Trust have won the PWC Business of the Year Awards – the South West’s most coveted business accolades. Bude-based Bott’s CEO Clive Woodward received his trophy for the £30m-plus turnover category from Mark Beard, chief executive of last year’s...
Business leaders across the West of England have turned up the heat on the region’s local councils to work together to gain greater economic powers as the Government’s devolution plans gather pace. They pointed out that Chancellor George Osborne announced in his Budget this week that more autonomy will...
Lloyds Bank’s Bristol-based commercial real estate team has appointed David Willock as relationship director for the South West and Wales. He joins from RBS, where he was a senior director in its Bristol real estate team. During his 10 years with RBS he was responsible for loan origination and...
Two Bristol businesswomen behind a book considered to be pivotal in changing the way small firms across the world market themselves online have launched its second edition. Sonja Jefferson and Sharon Tanton wrote Valuable Content Marketing because of a dearth of information for smaller business owners wanting to harness...
Before the Budget Business West – the organisation that runs Bristol Chamber of Commerce – called for a focus on infrastructure, exports and the skills gap. Managing director Phil Smith said: “Our nation’s roads and apprentices got a cordial mention , international trade was almost utterly absent....
The CBI described the Budget as double-edged for business and branded the Chancellor’s flagship introduction of a National Living Wage of £7.20 next April as “a big gamble”. It also called the apprentice levy “a blunt tool” to force more businesses to take on trainees. Director-general John Cridland said:...
Many of the measures in Chancellor George Osborne’s Summer Budget got a warm welcome from Bristol business figures – particularly support for small businesses. Jeremy Richards, head of office at property agency JLL’s Bristol office, said: “The Chancellor’s continued focus on investment in improving the M4 and the electrification...
Key points from the Budget: New National Living Wage of £7.20 for all workers aged over 25 to be introduced next April and to reach £9 an hour by 2020 Cuts in National Insurance for small firms to help them pay for living wage More devolution to Northern cities...
Confidence among West of England firms remains fragile despite a period of strong growth, according to the latest survey by Business West. The organisation, which runs Bristol Chamber of Commerce and the Bristol Initiative, said the findings showed the need for the new Government to act to encourage sustainable...
Bristol-based Latin American restaurant chain Las Iguanas has been bought by the owner of Cafe Rouge and Bella Italia for £85m. Casual Dining Group acquired the business from its private equity owners Bowmark Capital. Las Iguanas, which opened its first branch in Bristol’s St Nicholas Street in 1991, now...
