Regional alternative finance lender South West Investment Group (SWIG) has made two appointments to its growing team while also saying farewell to Brian Steer, one of its longest-standing employees, who has retired. Nicki Kimberley has joined as start-up loans officer, a role that involves supporting applicants to the Start...
South Bristol residents looking to start a business and existing companies looking to grow are to get expert advice from a new scheme launched this week. Bristol City Council is leading the partnership behind South Bristol Enterprise Support (SBES), which is offering access to expertise in a range of...
Bristol-based training consultancy Hewlett Rand has teamed up with a Chinese counterpart to launch an online programme to help companies navigate their way through what is being viewed as ‘the new normal’. With businesses across the globe facing enormous challenges – from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic to seismic shifts in...
Most firms in the South West remain cautious about their prospects as the coronavirus lockdown eases, according to the results of three business surveys released this week – but the region’s small manufacturers appear to be leading the bounce back. The surveys paint a mixed picture of the outlook...
Businesses based at UWE Bristol’s Future Space science and tech hub are celebrating securing more than £2m in funding – most of it targeted at helping them continue to innovate through the coronavirus crisis. Some £1.3m of the money has come from Innovate UK, the government’s innovation agency, over...
The coronavirus pandemic has pushed up the number of profit warnings issued by South West listed businesses to a 20-year high, with those in the travel and leisure sector hardest hit. According to new figures from accountancy group EY, profit warnings soared by 73% year-on-year in the first half of...
Government figures showing another monthly fall in corporate insolvencies are hiding the true picture of the damaging effect of the coronavirus pandemic on businesses, according to the South West branch of insolvency and restructuring trade body R3. Insolvency Service statistics for June show 732 company insolvencies in England and...
The Future Leap, Bristol’s sustainable business hub, has reopened from lockdown with a new co-working space offering a home to businesses, freelancers and charities interested in developing the green economy. The Future Leap, operated by Bristol’s Future Economy Group, opened on Gloucester Road last year as a UK first,...
Practical ideas on how businesses can continue to support charities during the coronavirus pandemic are to be aired at a webinar hosted by Quartet, the community foundation for the West of England. The third sector is facing its toughest time for a generation with hundreds of thousands of people...
A £10m innovation project to help Bristol businesses make products that are lighter, more fuel efficient and have less waste and so reduce carbon emissions has been officially launched. The Digital Engineering Technology & Innovation (DETI) initiative will play an important role in driving innovation and digitally enabled recovery...
Bristol law firm Gregg Latchams and regional chartered accountants Milsted Langdon have teamed up to launch a ‘Bristol Bounce Back’ initiative to help firms recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. The project is supported by an expert panel made up of individuals some of the city’s leading businesses including the Bank of England’s South...
A Bristol refrigeration firm that has helped keep food retailers operating safely during the coronavirus crisis has secured a £2m finance facility from HSBC. A1 Engineering, which works predominantly for large supermarkets, has used the funding to continue operating its service and repair service for them while other parts...
The CBI said Chancellor Rishi Sunak was “absolutely right” to prioritise jobs in his summer statement. Director-general Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, pictured, said: “Flattening the daunting unemployment curve about to hit our country could not be more important. Joblessness scars lives and hits the young and most disadvantaged hardest. “The...
