Bristol-based communications and marketing firm Purplefish has become the city’s first PR agency to be owned by its employees. Director Joanna Randall, who formed the business in 2012, has sold 100% of its shares to a new employee ownership trust (EOT). As part of the transition, a new board...
Bristol-based Empica, one of the South West’s longest established public relations agencies, has appointed a new managing director. Natalie Birrell, pictured, who has been working with the agency as client services director since 2019 takes up the role from its founder Martin Powell, who moves to the newly-created role...
Lawyers from the Bristol office of international legal practice Osborne Clarke have advised on the introduction of a $250m (£189m) fund aimed at backing purpose-driven technology founders. Some $100m of the total will act as a seed fund to back 25 early-stage companies while $150m will be a climate-focused...
The world’s first ‘amazement park’, Bristol’s Wake The Tiger, today opened its long-awaited second phase to the public, promising a unique addition to the city’s creative and tourism offerings. The extension, described as mind-bending, adds an extra 1,000 sq m of walk-through fantasy to its existing experience, which has attracted...
Two Bristol firms have joined forces to help break menstrual and menopause stereotypes in the workplace. The link-up between Independent Health and Wellbeing Group (IHWG), which provides businesses with women’s healthcare services, and sustainable period product company Grace & Green puts them on a mission to dismantle the taboo...
The South West’s small firms are the least confident in the UK about their prospects for this year as they continue to struggle against the state of the economy, high labour costs and the lack of available staff. Worryingly, one in five say they may have to cut their...
Highly experienced venture capital and innovation specialist Kevin Simmons has been appointed to the entrepreneur in residence team at acclaimed tech incubator SETsquared Bristol. A general partner of a $50m (£39.4m) early-stage pan-African venture capital technology fund, Kevin, pictured, has helped launch several successful angel networks and has invested...
VWV, the Bristol-headquartered national law firm, has continued its growth with the appointment of two new directors. Emma Herbert has joined as director of business development and marketing while Dave Bloor is the firm’s new director of digital, data and technology. VWV, which has 90 partners and employs 500-plus...
Nearly 4,000 companies in the Bristol area are in ‘significant’ financial distress as the economy continues to teeter on the brink of recession, according to a new report. The 12% increase on the previous quarter shows stubbornly high interest rates and inflation alongside weak consumer confidence and rising and...
Three Bristol production companies have been named among the UK’s Best Places to Work in TV by industry bible Broadcast magazine. Animation production firm A Productions appears in the list for the second time along with natural history TV production company Silverback and documentary maker Drummer TV. The prestigious...
Private equity and investment firm Maven Capital Partners has strengthened its presence in Bristol to support its delivery of the £200m South West Investment Fund (SWIF). Launched last July by the British Business Bank, SWIF aims to boost the supply of finance to small and medium-sized businesses across the...
A brewery on Bristol’s outskirts has installed hundreds more solar panels on its roof to harness as much renewable energy as possible for beer production. Hare Brewery at Warmley, which is owned by Cornish brewing and pub group St Austell, will now be able to generate an additional 230,511kWh...
Three Bristol firms in the fast-growing education technology sector are in the running for awards that celebrate innovations transforming students’, teachers’ and parents’ lives worldwide. The Soundbeam Project, Learning with Parents and Best Practice Network line up against other pioneering businesses across a range of categories in the Bett Awards. ...
