The controversial privatisation of Royal Mail delivered a major boost to Bristol-based investment managers Hargreaves Lansdown with 27,000 new investors joining to buy shares in the sell-off, it revealed today. In a trading statement to the London Stock Exchange Hargreaves Lansdown said a total of 77,000 new clients signed...
Nearly two thirds of West firms plan to increase wages this year as the region’s economy bounces back from recession, new research shows. This is despite half of the businesses taking part in the Barclays Employers Survey 2014 saying wage pressure from employees was not an issue. However, some...
Calls for a full-scale shake-up of business rates have continued unabated despite the Government pledging a £415m package of relief for small firms. The West of England’s largest business group Business West, which runs Bristol Chamber of Commerce, said while it welcomed the announcement, it amounted to little more...
Accountants Grant Thornton have been appointed to deliver the Investors In People (IIP) standard across the South of England following a competitive tender process. Grant Thornton, which covers the West region from its office in Bristol, will hold the licence from April 1 for a three-year period. This appointment...
The Bristol office of accountancy firm Grant Thornton has advised on the £117m sale of Wiltshire fuel distribution business Watson to US-based global fuel logistics group World Fuel Services. Family-owned Watson, which employs 670 people, will now be combined with World Fuel Services’ existing UK operations. Watson, based at...
Accountants PwC have launched their annual search for the region’s best companies with the 2014 West of England Business of the Year Awards – the region’s most prestigious business accolades. Previous winners of the awards, now in their 26th year, read like a who’s who of the West’s most-respected...
Business West, the organisation behind Bristol Chamber of Commerce, has called on the Bank of England not to raise interest rates despite a further fall in unemployment across the UK. Welcoming the latest labour market figures – which show the national unemployment rate has fallen to 7.1%, its lowest...
Owners and directors of small and medium-sized manufacturers are being invited to a free workshop in Bristol to gain expert advice on a range of financial issues. Staged by the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) in partnership with business and financial advisors Grant Thornton, the event on January 28 will...
Business West, the organisation behind Bristol Chamber of Commerce, has called on politicians to stay out of any decision to increase the Minimum Wage. The plea, by Chamber of Commerce & Initiative executive director James Durie, pictured, comes after Chancellor George Osborne hinted that he may raise the Minimum...
Accountancy and investment management group Smith & Williamson’s Bristol-based corporate tax specialist Paul Bray has been promoted to partner. Paul, pictured, who has worked for the firm since 1996 and heads its small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) team in Bristol, works closely with owner-managers and family-run businesses locally and...
Bristol financial planning firm Paradigm Norton has launched a service targeting companies that want to support their staff by adopting the Government’s auto-enrolment pension scheme. Called Plan4, it follows a law forcing UK companies to move towards automatic pensions enrolment for most workers over the age of 22. Plan4,...
The corporate team at Bristol-headquartered national law firm TLT has advised the incoming chief executive and management team at heating and cooling equipment business Watkins Hire on a £10.1m private equity investment which backed their acquisition of the firm. Paul O’Kelly joined Watkins as chief executive as part of...
Health and social care consultancy Finnamore, which has an office near Bristol, has been acquired by GE Healthcare, part of the global GE group. Under the deal, financial details of which have not been released, GE Healthcare’s UK consultancy arm, formerly Performance Solutions UK, becomes GE Healthcare Finnamore. Joint...
