The boss of the region’s largest business organisation has again slammed Westminster for “playing political chess” while the health of the economy is in the balance. Phil Smith, pictured, managing director at Business West – which runs Bristol Chamber of Commerce and the Bristol Initiative – said firms were...
Bristol companies that export to Europe are being urged to register for non-EU trade ahead of a possible no-deal Brexit or face potential problems once the UK has left the European Union. The warning has come from Business West, the South West’s largest business organisation, which points out that...
Dozens of businesses from across Bristol have risen to the urgent challenge of raising at least £100,000 to prevent thousands of children in the city from going hungry during the school summer holidays. Almost 50 organisations have pledged around £120,000 in funding in total to support the charity Feeding...
Innovative companies from Bristol are being invited to pitch to investors for financial support from £100,000 up to £2m. PitchFest South West provides ambitious businesses with an intensive expert training and investment programme designed to help them become both pitch and investment ready. They then get to pitch to...
Business West, the region’s largest business organisation, has called on new Prime Minister Boris Johnson to avoid a “messy, disorderly” Brexit on October 31 and urged him to rebuild business confidence. Mr Johnson, pictured, was elected Conservative Party leader on Tuesday with 66% of the vote and officially became...
The first-ever industrial blueprint for the West of England was launched today with the aim of building on the area’s unique creativity, collaboration and ingenuity to secure sustainable growth. Among ideas suggested in the strategy are connecting researchers, businesses and residents through a Global Centre of Innovation Excellence to...
Bristol exporting businesses have the opportunity to shape future international trade advice and support by taking part in a new survey. Business West, the region’s largest business organisation, and the Department for International Trade (DIT) South West have teamed up to stage the survey against a backdrop of increased...
BGF, the UK investment group with an office in Bristol, is celebrating passing the £2bn funding milestone, with £134m of that going to South West businesses. The firm, which is the UK and Ireland’s most active investor in growing businesses, has backed 19 businesses in the South West since...
Former Airbus UK managing director Prof Iain Gray has joined Bristol-based digital engineering specialists The Centre for Modelling & Simulation as chairman. Iain, pictured, is a highly respected figure in UK engineering, having also been chief executive of Innovate UK, formerly the Technology Strategy Board, and Professor and Director...
A workshop promising a hassle-free way to get a business up and running in the US takes place in Bristol next week. Called Land & Expand in the US: America Made Easy, the event, on Thursday July 18, is aimed at ambitious businesses that have considered launching in the...
The Institute of Directors South West Director of the Year Awards celebrated best business practice, with the winners demonstrating the breadth and depth of talent in the region’s boardrooms. Winners ranged from the West of England’s largest bus operator to a recycling firm behind a state-of-the-art waste handling centre...
Bristol has been named as the UK’s second-best city outside London for business in league table that rates major urban centres on their appeal as places to run and grow knowledge-based companies. The ranking of 21 towns and cities, compiled for Management Today magazine, was topped by Manchester with...
Bristol biomedical tech firm Vitamica, which is transforming the way clinicians make decisions about antibiotics, has been crowned as the city’s best up-and-coming technology business. The firm, based in the Unit DX science lab, won the popular vote and was named ‘Best Elevator Pitch’ at SETsquared Bristol’s annual Tech-Xpo. ...
