David Cameron has endorsed Bristol's planned Enterprise Zone – giving it a major boost to the city’s drive to position itself as the UK’s leading centre for the creative industries. The Enterprise Zone, announced in the Budget earlier this year and based on 173 acres of mostly disused land...
Aero-engine group Rolls-Royce, whose defence business is in Bristol, achieved a 28% rise in profits and a record order book of £61.4bn during the first half of this year. Underlying pre-tax profits rose from £465m in the same period last year to £595m on the back of a jump...
Imperial Tobacco has assembled a strong Bristol-led team to work on its new corporate headquarters to be built in the south of the city. BAM Construction, which has its regional office in Stoke Gifford, will build the 83,000 sq ft four-storey, concrete-framed building in Winterstoke Road. Bristol-based Eagle Land...
From Bristol 24-7 www.bristol247.com Bristol has won the Outstanding Achievement Award in this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight Awards. The city came top in all three categories entered. The judges said Bristol was head and shoulders above other towns and cities in the way it strategically targeted its audience, brought together...
Hi-tech engineering group Renishaw has brushed aside any thoughts of a global slowdown with record annual pre-tax profits of £80.4m – up 203% on a year ago while basic earnings per share were up 208%. Total revenues for the year at the group, which specialises in metrology and healthcare,...
The Government’s policy of removing empty rates relief on industrial buildings is preventing small and medium-sized companies from contributing to the region’s economic recovery, warns industrial property expert Russell Crofts. Vacant industrial properties with a rateable value of less than £18,000 a year had previously been exempt from business...
With exactly a year to go before the start of the 2012 Olympics, nearly a quarter of businesses in the South West believe they will benefit from the London Games, according to a new study. But the Business Barometer commissioned by Close Invoice Finance, throws into doubt the ability of...
The UK economy grew by just 0.2% in the three months to June 30, adding to pressure on the Government to take action to kick start the recovery. The sluggish growth, which follows a six-month period when the economy effectively flatlined, was blamed on a series of one-off events,...
From Bristol24-7 – www.bristol247.com Land next to Bristol's Temple Meads railway station could be transformed into an upmarket shopping centre similar to Birmingham's Bullring. Known as Plot 6 and now used as a car park, the area could include luxury shops and restaurants as well as a multi-storey car...
Bristol-based Imperial Tobacco today said combined volumes of its Davidoff, Gauloises Blondes and West brands were up 2% in the nine months to June 30 while its Spanish business is now likely to deliver a better performance than expected. “We grew volumes of our global strategic cigarette brands with...
Bristol faces a tough challenge in its attempt to become the base for the Government's planned £3bn Green Investment Bank, with Manchester becoming the latest city to enter the bidding process. Greater Manchester's public sector leaders are expected to formally submit a bid later this week – pitching the...
Bristol’s long-awaited science park, which has been more than 20 years in the making, has reached another milestone in its development with its focal point, The Forum, now ready for occupation. The 11,000 sq ft building will act as the social and collaborative hub of the £300m park at...
Law firms Beachcroft, which has a major office in Bristol, and smaller rival, London-based Davies Arnold Cooper (DAC), are to merge in a move that could lead to new opportunities for Beachcroft's Bristol operation. The merged firm – to be called DAC Beachcrof LLP – will have an annual...
