Nearly 60% of private equity executives are planning significant portolio sales in the next 12 months, according to a survey carried out by chartered accountants Grant Thornton for their Private Equity Barometer. Of 100 questioned, only 10 per cent do not plan to sell any portfolio companies against 57% planning...
Bristol-based Aardman Digital won the BAFTA for New Media for Wallace & Gromit’s World of Invention website at last night’s award ceremony in London. The site was launched as part of the multi-platform campaign for World of Invention, which also included a six-part television series on BBC1 and a...
MPs have “significant concerns” about Kraft’s takeover of Cadbury – including the American multinational’s closure of the Somerdale factory near Bristol, despite promises to keep it open during last year’s bid battle. The concerns are outlined in a report entitled Is Kraft working for Cadbury? by the parliamentary Business, Innovation...
Bristol Airport says it anticipates business as usual despite the approach of an ash cloud from the Grimsvotn volcano in Iceland. Airport spokesman James Gore said: “This is really an airline issue but none of them has said they expect any impact on their schedules. If there is a...
A pre-tax loss of £4.29 million was reported today by Alterian, the Bristol-based marketing software group. This follows two profit warnings last month and the resignation of chief executive David Eldridge. Alterian made an operating loss of £4.4m on a drop in annual revenue from £38m to £37m. Last month’s crisis...
Bristol-based facilities manager MITIE has brushed aside the recession with double-digit growth in revenue, earnings and dividends in the year to March 31. Pre-tax profit in the company’s 23rd consecutive year of growth rose 15.3% to £105.7m on revenue up 10.0% to £1,891.4m. Earnings per share before other items grew 15.9% to 22.6p...
Bristol-based mobile phone group Orange has teamed up with Barclaycard to launch a service that enables customers to make payments over the counter of up to £15 using their mobile phones. Fast-food chains McDonald’s, Subway and Pret a Manger as well as some branches of Boots – together totalling...
Bristol communications and events agency Brandon Hill Communications has been named the most awarded agency in the region by national marketing magazine The Drum. The Clifton-based firm is ranked 39th on the list of 100 marketing services agencies outside London, earning the top spot in the South West. The...
Bristol-based UNITE, Britain’s leading developer and manager of student accommodation, has dismissed the impact of higher university tuition fees after reporting a strong first half performance. Reservations across its managed portfolio of 41,000 beds for 2011/12 are 73% compared with 71% at the same time last year and the company...
Consumers grew more pessimistic about the outlook for the economy and spending last month, according to Britain’s biggest building society. Swindon-based Nationwide’s index of sentiment fell two points, slipping to 43 from a revised 45 in March. Its gauge of whether now is a good time to make major purchases...
Trade links between Bristol and Kenya are being boosted today with the visit to the city of 175 business people from the East African country. The event, which has been organised by the government’s trade-boosting body UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) and Barclays Bank, includes a ‘meet-the-buyer’ session when 15...
Nighthawk, the Bristol-based oil and gas production and development business with assets in the US state of Colorado, blames “worse than average winter weather” and a decline in output from its wells for a fall in production of around a third in the three months to March 31. The firm’s second-quarterly production...
Construction company Willmott Dixon has created a new role in its Bristol office to promote environmental and sustainable innovation across its sites in the South West and Wales. Jo Rock has been appointed senior environmental manager to lead the firm’s ambitious policy so it is embedded within the job...
