The annual search for the region’s best companies has started with the launch of accountants PwC’s widely-respected West of England Business of the Year Awards 2015. Now in their 27th year, the eagerly-contested awards are the most prestigious in the region by far – previous winners read like a...
Exports by South West firms have risen slightly over the past year despite turmoil in the key eurozone market, new figures show. And more companies are following the Government’s advice and selling overseas as a way of strengthening their business. Regional trade boss Russell Jones welcomed today’s figures with...
Hi-tech start-ups incubated by SETsquared, the innovation hub backed by the University of Bristol, have created 9,000 jobs and contributed a staggering £3.8bn to the UK economy, research released today shows. The figures, which emerge from a study commissioned from Warwick Economics & Development, are based on the 1,041...
The Chancellor produced a balanced Autumn Statement that addressed business concerns around rates reform and finance, according to Bristol business leaders. James Durie, executive director of Bristol Chamber of Commerce at Business West, described it as a “crowd-pleasing” set of proposals for business, particularly its pledge for a major...
Bristol is to be a test-bed for driverless cars after funding was secured by a consortium made up of the city council, universities and businesses. The Bristol trial, which will start next January, will look at how the public reacts to so-called autonomous vehicles along with the legal and...
Bristol’s pioneering use of digital technology to improve the lives of its residents has earned it a major international award that places it among the world’s most-innovative cities. The International Award for Urban Innovation was presented to Mayor of Bristol George Ferguson at an event hosted by the municipal...
Export chiefs hope that a former shipping container covered with colourful street art will hold the key to getting more Bristol firms to take their business to the world. Launched this week outside the city’s Engine Shed innovation hub, Business West’s #GetExporting campaign highlights the benefits of exporting in...
Economic development in the Avonmouth and Severnside areas has been given a massive boost after the Government today finally gave the go ahead to a new junction on the M49 near Bristol. South Gloucestershire Council and the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership first made a plea for the...
Innovation incubator SETsquared, which is backed by the University of Bristol, has unveiled two new projects – a £3.2m programme to speed up the commercialisation of university research and a partnership with academic health science networks to help NHS patients. The double boost was announced as it staged a...
Energy sector experts from Bristol-based law firm Burges Salmon have advised project company Mersey Bioenergy on a new £110m project to construct a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant on Merseyside. The project in Widnes will be the largest waste wood renewable energy plant in the North West and...
National multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy Clarkebond, which has an office in Bristol, has been ranked as the UK’s second-fastest growing consultancy. The firm leapt 31 places in the recently published 2014 Building Magazine’s Top 150 Consultants list to the number two position as a result growth in its offices in...
Stands for The Business Showcase South West – the major business event which celebrates the best of the region’s innovation, creativity and enterprise – are now on sale and pre-registration for delegates has also gone live. Following the huge success of the inaugural event in April this year, The...
The UK’s first bus powered by human waste has taken to the road in Bristol in a move its Avonmouth-based engineers believe could provide a sustainable way of fuelling public transport by cutting emissions in polluted towns and cities. The 40-seater Bio-Bus runs on gas generated through the treatment...
