More than £11m has been lent to start-up firms across the South West ranging from a sewing café to a mobile cocktail bar over the past year under a programme run by the British Business Bank. Since its launch in 2012, the Start Up Loans scheme has supported more than 9,000...
Funding secured from growth finance group BGF’s Bristol team is powering major international expansion at a UK-based clean-energy engineering company. Severn Drives & Energy (SDE), which BGF supported last year with a ‘significant’ investment, has set up a manufacturing plant in the US to meet rising customer demand for...
A Bristol firm aiming to revolutionise the way crops are grown without increasing greenhouse gases has been named South West and Wales Innovator in a contest to find the UK’s most exciting tech businesses. Glaia, which was founded in 2019 by two former University of Bristol scientists, is developing...
Measures included in the King’s Speech aimed at boosting housebuilding and devolving more powers from Whitehall to the regions have been widely welcomed by key business figures. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill – one of the 40 included in the speech that will shape the first year of the...
The West of England’s economy is forecast to grow faster over the next five years than any other part of the UK outside London, according to two new reports. The region, along with South Wales, will achieve economic expansion of 1.4% a year between now and 2029, according to...
South West accountancy firm, Albert Goodman has boosted its backing for the region’s sport by extending its sponsorship deal with Bristol City Women. Building on its squad sponsorship deal, which was launched 18 months ago, Albert Goodman has now elevated its support by becoming the back-of-shorts sponsor for the 2024/25...
ARAG, the specialist legal insurer with its UK head office in Bristol, has made three key senior manager promotions as it advances its plans to develop a new generation of products. Helen Futter, Anne Wienand and Marc Willett all joined ARAG earlier this year when it acquired DAS UK,...
Triodos Bank UK, the Bristol-based sustainable banking group, has strengthened the wellbeing sector of its business banking team with the appointment of Tony Kear as senior relationship manager. Triodos said the appointment continued its work in assisting businesses to deliver positive social and environmental impact across the UK, with...
Bristol’s top tech talent has again won big at the West of England’s most prestigious awards scheme for the sector. Firms and individuals from the city triumphed in 12 of the 17 categories of The SPARKies, the annual awards that champion the best of the region’s tech and digital...
The new government’s pledge to devolve more powers from Whitehall to the West of England offers “a really exciting opportunity” for the region, according to the organisation behind Bristol Chamber of Commerce. Business West, the region’s largest business organisation, said the move could trigger more jobs, homes and infrastructure...
More than 6,000 jobs were created in Bristol and across the South West last year as investment by overseas firms in the region recovered to its strongest for six years. The South West attracted 43 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects in 2023 – a 23% increase on the previous...
South West accountancy firm Albert Goodman is celebrating a strong 2023/24 financial year, which started with the opening of its new Bristol office and concluded with it posting a 17% increase in annual turnover. The firm also recruited 41 new staff during the period, including 32 trainees. The 158-year-old,...
A team from the Bristol office of global law firm Osborne Clarke has acted for an international consortium of businesses specialising in public-private partnerships on a major UK student residential scheme. Staffordshire Campus Living, which includes Hochtief PPP Solutions and Plenary Group, secured the contract to design, build, finance and...
