Half-year profits at West advanced engineering group Renishaw plunged by 65% to £25.6m yesterday due to lower orders in the Far East. Revenue was also down from £174.2m to £164.0m. The Wotton-under-Edge-based group, one of the region’s most successful manufacturers, said the figures for the six months to December...
Plasterboard manufacturer and supplier Siniat has opened a £250,000 state-of-the-art laboratory at its flagship Portbury manufacturing plant. The lab – the latest step in a long-term vision to improving the site, formerly owned by Lafarge Plasterboard – provides a modern, high-spec environment for Siniat’s production, maintenance and quality assurance...
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...
GKN Aerospace, the advanced engineering firm, is to increase its intake of apprentices as production is stepped up at its two major plants in Bristol. The firm, which produces wing parts for aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus and Lockheed Martin at the plants at Filton and Western Approach, Severnside,...
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...
European aerospace giant Airbus could find itself in second place again behind US rival Boeing for aircraft deliveries and orders in 2013 when it releases its annual figures on Monday. Earlier this week Boeing revealed record deliveries and orders for last year, putting it on track to claim the...
Some of Bristol’s best-known business figures have been recognised in the New Year’s Honours list. Peter Hargreaves, the co-founder of Bristol-based investment services provider Hargreaves Lansdown, has been awarded the CBE for services to business, innovation, financial services. Don Cameron, founder of Bristol-based Cameron Balloons and figurehead for the...
Airbus has landed a significant pre-Christmas boost for its long-established A330 long-haul aircraft with a firm order for 25 from fast-growing low-cost carrier AirAsia X. The £3.67bn contract, the largest one-off order for A330s order received by Airbus, is good news for the 5,000 workers at Airbus’s Filton engineering...
Business confidence is running at its highest level for more than three years as the recovery gathers pace and firms put austerity behind them at last. Manufacturers in particular are upbeat about their prospects going into the new year, according to the latest Business Trends report by accountants BDO....
Ideas on the best way to create sustainable jobs and growth across the West of England are being invited from Bristol firms. The Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) today launches a six-week public consultation on its Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) – a blueprint for growth over the next six years....
Bristol’s world-leading supercomputing centre, which is used to tackle major industrial and social problems, has officially started work in its new base. The massive computing power at the state-of-the-art Centre for Modelling and Simulation (CFMS) allows it to solve highly-complex calculations – making it possible to explore and test...
Bristol’s newly-opened Engine Shed, which houses the University of Bristol’s business incubator SETsquared, has gained recognition in a national awards scheme for its highly-connected location and the entrepreneurial heritage of the building. The Engine Shed, part of Brunel’s original station at Temple Meads, was also praised for the ‘oxygen...
The Manufacturing Advisory Service has appointed a supply chain specialist in the South West to ensure that manufacturers gain a significant share of the lucrative opportunities presented by the UK’s burgeoning offshore wind market. Nick Kirsop-Taylor, pictured, will help firms tap into the recently-launched £20m GROW:OffshoreWind service that supports...
