Bristol's hotels had a quiet April despite what should have been a winning combination of three Bank Holidays, warm weather and tourist interest in the royal wedding. Figures released by accountants PKF show occupancy was up just 0.3% to 67.4% compared with April, 2010 but rooms yield fell...
Cider makers Thatchers have taken another step towards growing volume sales by a remarkable 25% this year following the installation of one of the most advanced bottling and packaging facilities in the UK. The North Somerset company has invested £2.5m in cutting-edge Krones machinery to fill, cap and label...
Ultimate Finance, the Bristol-based factoring specialist which helps small to medium size enterprises (SMEs) manage their cash flow, today dismissed any thought of a takeover developing following the Stock Exchange announcement this morning that Helium Special Situations Fund has increased its stake in the company to 19.4%. Chief executive...
Thai Airways, which has ambitions to become one of the world's top five airlines, has unveiled plans ahead of the Paris Air Show to acquire a combination of 37 Airbus and Boeing aircraft worth £2.4bn ($3.9bn). It plans to buy 15 aircraft and lease 22. The planned purchases include six...
Japanese trading conglomerate Mitsui and Wessex Water are both in the frame today as possible suitors for Bristol Water. The company, which has 1.1m consumers on its books, was put up for sale earlier this month – with bids due in three weeks. It was snapped up five years...
Two Bristol directors won accolades last night at the IoD South West Director of the Year Awards. Neil Douglas, managing director of control systems specialist Viper Subsea, collected the director of the year award while St Peter's Hospice chief executive Sandie Foxall-Smith was named public sector director of the year. IoD...
TLT signs up more young legal beagles Top 100 law firm TLT – which has offices in Bristol and London – has offered roles to almost 90% of its trainee solicitors qualifying this month. Being retained by the firm after completing their two-year training contracts are Duncan Coats,...
The Bank of England has kept interest rates at their record low following a flurry of recent data showing the fragile nature of the UK's economic recovery, Rates have been pegged at 0.5% for 27 consecutive months despite spiraling inflation. The move will be welcomed by homeowners and small...
Bristol Water's Spanish owners, Agbar, have called in US bank Citigroup to advise on a possible sale of the company, according to the Financial Times. The Spanish company, which is majority-owned by France's Suez Environment, could expect to get around £370m from a sale compared to the £362m – including...
Shares in Bristol-based marketing software company smartFOCUS have been traded for the last time following its £25.3m acquisition by Emailvision Holdings. The deal, agreed on April 11, saw smartFOCUS shareholders receive 25p a share, representing a premium of 61.3% to the latest closing price. Separately, smartFOCUS reported an...
The West of England Local Enterprise Partnership has named a largely derelict area covering 173 acres behind Temple Meads station as the area's first official Enterprise Zone to act as a magnet for inward investment and create thousands of new jobs. It is estimated more than 250 businesses can be...
Some 82% of wealthy individuals aged 45 or under deliberately avoid information about how the market or their portfolio is performing – that's one of the quirkier findings to emerge from Risk and Rules: The Role of Control in Financial Decision Making, a survey commissioned by Barclays Wealth of 400...
The UK’s best tax team in a law firm is based at Burges Salmon in Bristol – according to Taxation magazine’s national Taxation Awards 2011. Teamwork, innovation and service excellence were all major factors in the team's success. Led by partners Nigel Popplewell and John Barnett, it was singled out for...
