West firms are being urged to tell the Treasury how it could change the business tax system to make the UK more competitive. The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) is seeking ideas for an initial report on tax simplification to be presented ahead of next month’s Budget. Andy Richens,...
Inflation in January fell to 1.9%, official figures released this morning show – the first time it has been below the important 2% level since 2009. The rate, as measured by the consumer prices index, was down from 2% in December. The surprise fall – most economist expected it...
Bristol-based property refurbishment and maintenance firm Matrix Solutions UK has gone into administration after a significant drop in business. Accountancy firm Grant Thornton, which has been appointed administrator, today warned of ‘numerous’ redundancies among Matrix’s 30-strong workforce. Grant Thornton said it waspotentially looking to sell the firm, which dealt...
HSBC has appointed James Jordan as area commercial director for Bristol and Bath with responsibility for supporting businesses turning over between £500,000 and £30m. The appointment marks a return to the region for James, who has spent the past two years as area commercial director for HSBC in Central London. James, pictured, has spent his...
Bristol’s Aardman Animations have teamed up with NatWest to launch a children’s smartphone and tablet app to help them learn about saving money. The free-to-download app, the first produced by a UK bank, includes a game that allows the player to be a boy or girl pig character running...
Bristol corporate advisers have helped the management team of a Wiltshire specialist charity fundraising firm complete their acquisition of the business. Chippenham-based The Woods Group stages raffles, weekly lotteries, response handling and fulfilment for major clients such as the RSPB, National Trust and Motability. The buyout, financial details of...
Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, the division that supports mid-market businesses and large corporates, has further strengthened its West operation with the appointment of Daniel Tregunna as relationship director. Daniel will be part of the bank’s 25-strong Bristol-based mid-markets team, which supports a wide network of businesses with annual turnover...
Innovative West businesses working on pioneering research and development projects can apply for financial help through a £4m innovation fund launched today by the University of the West of England (UWE). Grants of between £25,000 and £150,000 will be available to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as...
Bristol corporate expertise has helped the successful management buyout (MBO) of a Welsh specialist handling equipment firm. Accountants Grant Thornton’s Bristol-based corporate finance team and lawyers from Bristol law firm Osborne Clarke advised on sale of Mangar International, a world leader in inflatable lifting and handling equipment for the...
Fast-growing London-based cocktail bar group Be At One, which is backed by Piper Equity, is to open an outlet in Bristol – its 22nd venue and third outside the capital. The bar, in a unit on the Clifton Triangle formerly occupied by Hermanos, will open on February 26 and...
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...
