Law firm Clarke Willmott, which has a major base in Bristol, has strengthened its social housing team with two appointments that support its growth. James Howard has joined as an associate in the firm’s London office from Batchelors Solicitors, where he was an associate for two years. James, pictured...
Innovative Bristol restaurant group Thali has secured a £100,000 finance package from HSBC to support the launch of its fifth outlet in the city. The company has used the finance to acquire the lease and refurbish the restaurant in the Tobacco Factory in Southville. It is due to open...
Affordable housing provider Knightstone has staged a topping-out ceremony at its head office in Weston-super-Mare as the 40,000 sq ft building nears completion. The state-of-the-art office on Weston’s Gateway Business, close to junction 21 of the M5, is being built by Dowlas UK and Midas Construction. The topping out...
Shares in West luxury leather goods brand Mulberry fell sharply today after it announced weaker-than-expected trading in the post-Christmas period. The Chilcompton-based group, whose bags are regularly photographed on the arms of A-list celebrities, said the fall-off in sales meant revenues and pre-profit for the year ending March 31...
Work is about to start on Bristol’s first speculative office development for four years – a £35m, 100,000 sq ft scheme in the city’s Enterprise Zone. Two Glass Wharf at Temple Quay is being developed by Salmon Harvester Properties, a joint venture between Salmon Developments and NFU Mutual. As...
Thrings, the M4 corridor law firm, has recruited Jane Oakland as a partner in its corporate team. Jane joins from the Bristol office of rival Clarke Willmott, where she was a corporate partner. She brings more than 20 years’ corporate experience in acquisition and disposal, strategic planning, reorganisation, and...
Barclays has appointed Mark Hatcliffe as area director for Bristol. Mark joined the bank five years ago and was until recently head of Barclays telephony for business banking, based in the North of England. Mark, pictured, has extensive experience of working in the financial services industry and his appointment...
Bristol business woman Jaya Chakrabarti has been nominated in the Asian Women Achievement of 2013 awards. Jaya, founder and managing director of digital communication agency Nameless,pictured, has been shortlisted in the best entrepreneur category. Already known in business circles as a key figure in Bristol’s creative sector, she gained a...
Bristol-based ethical bank Triodos is celebrating taking its lending to UK businesses to £500m for the first time. The milestone has been reached less than three months after it notched up total UK corporate lending of £486m at the end of last year – itself a 15% year-on-year increase....
SciSys, the West-based specialist IT group, today blamed foreign exchange movements and a reduction in low-margin resale activity for a fall in annual revenue. However, operating profits at the group, which supplies a range of sectors from space and defence to media with high-end systems, climbed 13% to £2.7m...
While the 1p cut in beer duty and the scrapping of the duty escalator brought some cheer to the hard-pressed drinks industry, producers of the West’s traditional tipple cider were bitter they had been left out. Martin Thatcher, managing director of Thatchers Cider in Sandford, said: “We welcome the...
The Chancellor’s surprise announcement to bring in the Help-to-Buy scheme was welcomed by the property and construction industries – with housebuilders in particular enjoying some rare good news. The property sector in the West picked up on some of the positives – but like most other industries, considered that...
West business figures welcomed some of George Osborne’s Budget measures but many thought much more should have been done to boost small firms, kick start the ailing property industry and increase confidence. Business West managing director Phil Smith welcomed the fact that the Chancellor had not wavered from his...
