Samantha O’Sullivan, a solicitor with more than 25 years’ experience in private client and charity law work, has joined Wiltshire law firm Withy King as a consultant. Samantha, pictured, joins Withy King’s expanding private client practice from Bath law firm Mogers, where she was a partner. Based in its Swindon and Marlborough offices, the...
Good Energy, the Chippenham-based renewable electricity supplier, has appointed experienced insurance industry finance director Denise Cockrem as its chief financial officer. Ms Cockrem, who takes up the post on May 1, is currently UK & Western Europe Finance director at multinational insurance group RSA. Prior to joining RSA in 2006 she was finance director...
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 the Initiative in Swindon & Wiltshire, said while it welcomed the announcement, it amounted to little more than “a sticking...
Legal practice director Jane Bishop is the new chair of the Bath and Wiltshire branch of the Institute of Directors (IoD). An existing committee member, Jane, pictured, joined law firm Bonallack and Bishop’s Salisbury office in 2003 in after 13 years in senior management in the health service, latterly as directorate manager for surgery and cancer care at Salisbury District Hospital....
Business organisations across the West welcomed today’s GDP figures showing that the UK economy grew by 0.7% in the last quarter – bringing the annual growth rate to 1.9%. But there were warnings that much more needs to be done to ensure the recovery stays on track so that firms in the region can reap...
Swindon’s commercial property market bounced back strongly last year, leading to a shortage of large industrial buildings for expanding or relocating businesses, according to agents Alder King’s latest Market Monitor. The report highlights resurgence in all sectors of the market in Swindon in 2013 – offices, industrial, retail and investment – as businesses in...
The graduate scheme operated by Swindon-based specialist distribution group Smiths News has gained accreditation from the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) for its newly-launched supply chain placement. Places on the scheme, now in its seventh year, are highly sought after and, for the first time this year, will include a placement dedicated...
Swindon businessmen Paul Burrows and Jason Roberts have become franchisees of national van leasing specialist Vanarama. The pair, with more than 25 years’ experience in the motor, and will use their specialist commercial vehicle knowledge to advise van owners in Swindon and the surrounding area, from delivery firms to builders, gardeners to farmers. The...
Automotive sector learning and development agency RTS is about to break into the lucrative Chinese market to satisfy a soaring demand for finance expertise in car dealerships. The Chippenham-based firm, which already trades across Europe, South Africa and the Middle East, specialises in helping car manufacturers such as Ford, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota develop...
Carbon dioxide emissions from car giant Honda’s Swindon plant have fallen by almost 2,000 tonnes since it installed a solar array. The Japanese group said the 21,000 ground-mounted panels covering 32 acres generated 4.5 gigawatt hours (GWh) of renewable energy in its first year, equivalent to 4.4% of the site’s total annual electricity requirement....
