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...
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has hailed Bristol’s Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone a success and pledged to devolve more powers to the city to enable it to fund similar economy-boosting measures itself. The minister was in Bristol yesterday to mark the completion of the £40m, 98,000 sq ft, showpiece 2...
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...
Bristol’s standing as a centre for innovation in financial services has been boosted with the decision by fast-growing Blue Speck Financial to relocate to a larger base in the city and nearly double its workforce. The company, acquired last May by South African financial services giant MMI, is to...
Bristol is to become a test bed for hybrid buses that can automatically switch from diesel to electric power to reduce emissions in areas of the city with poor air quality. The vehicles will be piloted on the city’s streets thanks to a £1m Government grant. The trial coincides...
Bristol Airport has acquired an electric van for use by its IT team as the first of a number of initiatives supporting the city’s year as European Green Capital. The Nissan e-NV200 is the first 100% electric-powered vehicle on the 176-hectare site. It has been bought with support from...
Bristol businessman and charity champion Stephen Parsons has been appointed MBE in the New Year Honours list. Mr Parsons, pictured, splits his time between specialist engineering firm Redcliffe Magtronics, where he is chairman, and his extensive charity work. He also chairs the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership’s (LEP)...
Phil Smith, managing director of Business West, the organisation behind Bristol Chamber of Commerce and the Bristol Initiative, looks back at the past 12 months and considers why next year’s General Election is set to be one of the most important in recent memory. “The noise and glare of...
The amount of world-leading research carried out at UWE Bristol has soared by 170%, according to a major new national report. The results of the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) show that 57 % of the research submitted by UWE was judged to be either world-leading or internationally excellent....
Law firm Bond Dickinson’s Bristol-based corporate finance team has advised Countrywide Farmers on the sale of businesses worth £18.4m to a number of buyers. The disposals will allow Countrywide, the UK’s leading supplier of products, services and advice to the rural community, to focus on its retail network of...
Brewery, pub and restaurant operator Bath Ales has been named as a sustainability champion by the Sustainable Restaurant Association (S.R.A.) and awarded a double-star ‘excellent’ rating. The firm, whose interests span the Graze restaurant chain, pubs and bars as well as its range of beers, was evaluated against set...
A competition has been launched to find Bristol’s happiest workplace – and staff working for the city’s forward-looking employers are being urged to enter. The contest is being staged by Bristol-based workplace and interior design consultancy Wylde IA , which wants to know exactly what sets some of the...
Building a fairer and more sustainable society would create jobs and boost the economy, Green Party leader Natalie Bennett said on a visit to Bristol. Speaking to Bristol Business News, Ms Bennett, pictured, said it was a stereotype that her party was anti-business. But it wanted big businesses to...
