Food and agriculture sector specialists at the Bristol office of Smith & Williamson have acted as financial advisers to Openfield, the UK’s leading farmer-owned grain marketing co-operative, on its acquisition of Countrywide Farmers’ grain business. Openfield collects, stores, distributes and markets more than 4.5m tonnes of grain every year...
Ultimate Finance Group, which provides funding to small and medium-sized firms, has welcomed back Mark Bennett to its Bristol head office. Mark, pictured, returns as a regional director having left the company in January 2010 to join a rival. With almost 20 years’ experience within the industry he specialises...
Bristol-headquartered law firm TLT has advised BGL Group, one of the UK’s largest consumer insurance groups, on the sale of the country’s number one specialist motorbike insurer Bennetts. Saga is paying £26.6m to acquire Bennetts, which covers more than 200,000 motorbike enthusiasts – almost half over the age of...
Bristol digital entrepreneur Mark Mason has joined the leadership team of city-based research and development tax credit consultancy ForrestBrown to help it continue to grow. He will also seek to improve access for tech firms to the high levels of tax relief they may be eligible to claim against...
The Bristol office of accountancy and investment management group Smith & Williamson has made two senior promotions. Rebecca Tippet, who works in the assurance and business services team, and John Davies, a private client and charities investment specialist, have been promoted to associate director. Rebecca has been with Smith...
Bristol’s standing as one of the UK’s most innovative cities has been recognised in a major new report which also highlights the strength of its economy. The latest report from respected urban think tank Centre for Cities places Bristol ninth in the table of the leading UK cities for...
Innovative Bristol microfinance charity Deki is calling on businesses in the city to help it fight poverty in Africa by joining it in a unique partnership. Deki’s crowdfunding website deki.org.uk offers long-term solutions to poverty by giving entrepreneurs in the developing world access to small loans and business training....
Bristol social enterprise Represent has kicked off its crowdfunding campaign to support its mission of improving diversity, inclusion and equality in the region’s creative sector. It has set a target of £15,000 and is offering a range of rewards for supporters with pledges of support starting from as little...
Big Four accountancy firm EY has appointed Karen Kirkwood as a partner to lead its Bristol tax practice as it continues to expand the team in the region. Karen, pictured, has 20 years’ experience providing tax advice to a broad range of companies and private equity backed businesses. She...
Specialist restructuring firm Quantuma has expanded into the South West by opening an office in Bristol headed by former BDO practice head Graham Randall. The firm, which operates from bases in Southampton, Marlow, London and Brighton, provides specialised restructuring advice on all forms of insolvency procedures. Until recently Mr...
The former managing director of Bristol-based chocolate manufacturer Elizabeth Shaw has been appointed by alternative finance provider South West Investment Group (SWIG) Capital as a non-executive director to the board of its fund-holding arm. Malachy McReynolds, pictured, join the group, which since 1996 has invested £15m in to more...
Businesses are increasingly falling victim to fraud – most of it committed by their own employees, new figures show. The number of cases in the South West soared by 136% last year to 33, from 14 in 2013, according to accountants KPMG’s latest Fraud Barometer. Thirteen firms in the...
Confidence among West of England businesses petered out at the end of 2014 and has started the new year lower than at any time over the previous 12 months, new research shows. Domestic sales, cashflow and recruitment expectations all fell during the fourth quarter, according to results of the...
