Cloud services company Cloud Direct is poised for further expansion after Bristol-based tech-focused investment bank ICON Corporate Finance helped it secure a £3m strategic investment. The deal gives Oslo Stock Exchange-listed Crayon Group an unspecified minority stake in Bath-headquartered Cloud Direct, one of the UK’s leading Microsoft partners which has grown exponentially over...
Bristol-based serial social entrepreneur and community activist Jaya Chakrabarti MBE has become the new president of city’s Chamber of Commerce & Initiative – the membership and lobbying organisation at the heart of regional group Business West. Having served as vice-president for seven years, Jaya, pictured, replaces outgoing president Richard...
SETsquared, the globally acclaimed, University of Bristol-supported business incubator, has expanded with the addition of Cardiff University. Cardiff has become the sixth member of the partnership, which has been named three times as the world’s number one university business incubator. SETsquared was set up in 2002 by a small...
Pioneering Bristol education charity Ablaze is calling on firms in the city to invest in developing secondary school pupils or face a new generation of employees who lack the skills they need to thrive in the workplace. The pandemic has caused unprecedented levels of disruption to schools and their...
A scheme originally set up by Bristol-based Business West to help food firms from across the South West sell abroad is competing for a prestigious international award. The online platform’s aim was initially to close the exporting gap with other UK regions. Now rebranded as The Great British Food...
Specialist funder Bibby Financial Services has appointed Steve Bentley as head of sales for the South West to consolidate its support for the region’s small and medium-sized businesses. Steve, pictured, has more than 35 years’ experience in the financial services industry, with more than half spent specialising in invoice...
Businesses in Bristol are being urged to seek advice if they are concerned about the lifting of temporary insolvency restrictions. The warning has come from the regional chair of R3, the trade body for restructuring and insolvency professionals, which issued the call after the government decided to begin phasing...
Bristol is the second most innovative city in the UK, according to a new report, coming just behind London. The city scores 82.5 out of 100 in the new UK innovation index, which ranks 60 locations across the country on criteria such as number of start-ups, qualifications of its employees...
Nearly 200 Bristol business leaders and entrepreneurs have been told they will “face uncomfortable truths” on their journey to becoming zero carbon but had an obligation to the planet do it. Keri Andriana, pictured, founder of Bristol-based handbag brand Amschela, told the gathering, part of the nationwide Zero Carbon...
Bristol-based video games studio Auroch Digital has been acquired by a major player in the sector in a deal worth up to £6m. Sheffield-based Sumo Group said acquiring Auroch Digital, best known for its Mars Horizon space game, gave it access to the growing talent pool in Bristol while adding...
Bristol action sports equipment firm Shiner is looking to expanded further into global markets after securing a £8.5m finance package from HSBC. The third-generation family business, which manufactures and distributes lifestyle goods and action sports equipment such as roller skates, skateboards and protective gear, recently expanded into the US and...
Lawyers based in the Bristol office of international legal firm Osborne Clarke have helped secure a £36.3m fundraising for a medical device company specialising in the emerging field of surgical endoscopy. Creo Medical Group, based in Chepstow with satellite offices in Bath and the US, raised the funds through...
Bristol-based invoice finance provider Optimum Finance is looking to grow its business in the Midlands following the appointment of a new regional director. Ewan Clarke, pictured, joins with a background in both insolvency and corporate finance -experience that Optimum Finance said would be invaluable to Midlands businesses seeking additional finance for sustained growth, business...
