Jelf is on the look-out for bolt-on acquisitions. The Yate-based financial services consultancy specialising in insurance, employee benefits, healthcare and financial planning, reported a 49% rise in operating profits in what it described as a challenging climate during the six months to March 31. Revenue was flat at £35m...
Three Bristol firms are among the finalists in the prestigious West of England Business of the Year awards. Insurance brokers Brightside Group and Bristol Airport line up against four other businesses in the large business category while Magmatic, maker of the Trunki children's ride-on suitcase, is competing against three...
The Von Essen chain of country house hotels has been put up for sale for around £200m and is already attracting ‘huge’ interest, according to agents Christie & Co. The firm has been appointed to sell the 27 prestige hotels either as a portfolio or as individual assets. The...
Staying ahead in an ever changing world is the theme of the South West Communicators Conference on Tuesday June 14 at the Bristol Hotel on Harbourside. Business journalist and BBC broadcaster Declan Curry will chair a roundtable discussion on the changing media landscape, with contributions from regional BBC, ITV...
Bristol is on track to lead the rebalancing of British manufacturing over the next 20 years as an advanced manufacturing super-city, says HSBC in its third annual authoritative assessment of the British economy. Its Future of Business Report, published today, identifies Bristol – and its dynamic high-tech industrial base...
Bristol Water pre-tax profits plummeted from £23.1m to £7.6m in the year to May 31 following what chairman Moger Woolley described as "one of the most unusual years in the company's long history". Not only had the company faced one of the severest Decembers and driest years in...
Bristol-based Charles Francis has a chance of winning one of nine £50,000 prizes in Take One Small Step, a business idea contest sponsored by Barclays Bank. Charles, whose business dream is to set up Bristol's first liquid nitrogen ice cream creation parlour, has made it through to a...
The UK M&A market is showing signs of recovery with the value of deals rising by 63% in the first quarter of 2011, according to the eighth edition of UK Deal Drivers – a comprehensive view of the UK M&A landscape published by PKF in association with mergermarket. Deals...
The nine Bristol-based partners of property consultants King Sturge could potentially each be at least £1m better off today as a result of a £197m takeover of their firm by rival Jones Lang LaSalle, the global commercial real estate consultancy. New York-listed Jones Lang LaSalle announced the merger on...
Call Centre Technology (CCT), the Bristol-based Avaya specialist in business communications, has been acquired by Capita Group for £15m on a cash free, debt free basis. CCT, which employs 130 staff, made an operating profit £1.7m on a turnover of £18.7m last year. Its clients include 118 The Number, Strathclyde Police...
Bristol law firm Clarke Willmott have been appointed to a panel which will provide public law and procurement and property services to the four authorities which used to form Avon. North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Bristol and Bath & North East Somerset will share the services in a bid to...
SlingShot, the Bristol-based firm behind Igfest, the world’s biggest Pervasive Games Festival which is taking place in the city this weekend, is expecting to double turnover next year as it capitalises on significant commercial opportunities. Having started life in 2008 with a £9,000 development grant from the publicly-funded Media...
EasyJet, which flies more passengers through Bristol Airport than any other airline, is “cautiously optimistic” about prospects for the summer although it expects the following 18 months to be tougher. Carolyn McCall, the budget airline’s chief executive, said yesterday: “We have over half of all seats sold now...
