Private equity investment in the South West increased marginally last year to £6.2bn as a near 33% increase ahead of the Autumn Budget overcame a slow first half. Deal volume in the region also remained stable, edging down slightly from 104 to 100 year-on-year, according to a survey by...
Two University of Bristol graduates-turned-entrepreneurs have won major awards for their groundbreaking sustainable technologies. Dr Alicja Dzieciol and Dr Siân Fussell, who both studied for Chemistry PhDs at the university and are now using their expertise to improve the world, have been recognised with Innovate UK Women in Innovation...
Bristol businesses are being asked to help an influential group of MPs and peers from across the West of England and South Wales shape their agenda for change during the year ahead. The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Western Gateway – the partnership covering the ‘super-region’ stretching from...
City of Bristol College has launched a new range of Green Skills courses, reinforcing its commitment to sustainability and preparing students to lead the region’s transition to a greener economy. The move, part of the college’s pledge to reach carbon neutrality by 2030, aims to address the environmental challenges...
Business confidence has risen sharply in the South West as the region’s firms shrug off suggestions that UK economic growth is stalling. According to the latest Business Barometer from banking group Lloyds, optimism among South West companies climbed by 13 percentage points in January. Confidence in their own business...
Investment into small and mid-sized business by growth finance group BGF’s South West office fell last year by around £10m as it came up against what it called “several economic uncertainties”. BGF, the largest and most experienced investor in the UK and Ireland, completed deals totalling £60m during 2024...
The role that cities and regions can play in driving the government’s growth agenda will be explored at a major event in Bristol next week. Festival of Flourishing Regions will bring together policymakers, regional planners, economic development experts, academics and business and community leaders to explore and promote strategies...
Nearly 200,000 jobs in 19,000 South West businesses have been supported by investments made through the British Business Bank over the past10 years, according to a new report. Some 16,000 more jobs are expected to be created as the firms it has backed over the past decade continue to...
Investment group Foresight has appointed an experienced senior investment manager in its Bristol-based private equity team ahead of opening an office in the city this year. Olly Cox, pictured, brings more than 12 years’ deal experience to the role in which he will support the deployment and management of...
Leading figures from Bristol’s business community will celebrate the growing links between the city and China next month at a special banquet to mark the start of the Chinese Year of the Snake. Staged by the Bristol and West of England China Bureau, the annual event brings together firms...
Engineering giant Dyson has abandoned plans to open a £100m research and development hub in Bristol and has told all its staff already based in the city they must now work from its UK headquarters in Wiltshire nearly 30-miles away. The firm, best known for its vacuum cleaners, said...
National law firm Shakespeare Martineau’s Bristol corporate and banking team notched up a best-ever £259m-worth of deals last year, supporting a record-breaking £6.6bn across the whole of the UK. Among the team’s notable transactions in the region was supporting specialist lender Black & White Bridging to secure a new funding...
European intellectual property (IP) firm Withers & Rogers is to encourage more science, technology, engineering and maths students to embark on a career in IP by extending its support for an international internship scheme. The firm is to offer the 10-week, immersive work experience opportunities in its Bristol office...
