Vectura, the Chippenham-based drug development firm, has extended further extended its global network of blue-chip collaborators by signing a licence agreement with a major US biotech company. Vectura will exclusively develop anti-inflammatory therapies for the treatment of asthma/ chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for Janssen Biotech under the agreement. Vectura said the collaboration would...
Ian Larrard, director of the Swindon & Wiltshire Initiative at Business West, 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 fireworks this New Year must not mask the fact that we...
Vastern Timber, the Royal Wootton Bassett-based sawmill, is using two restoration projects it completed at the Tower of London this year to showcase its use of English oak and to make the case for British timber. The firm supplied wood for the reinstatement of the historic building’s drawbridge as well for furniture for the...
Shares in Good Energy, the Chippenham-based renewable electricity supplier and generator, fell by more than 6% yesterday after it warned that its profits will be lower than expected this year. The fall came despite the firm announcing that it had secured a new £45m debt facility to invest in future generating capacity and customer...
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has hailed an “historic” job-creating £129m boost to the economy of Swindon and Wiltshire. The Government-funded Growth Deal, which was previously announced in July, will help create up to 1,500 jobs, allow up to 2,000 homes to be built by 2021 and generate up to £70m in public and...
The Swindon & Wiltshire Initiative has welcomed another fall in unemployment but warned that “fundamental weaknesses” remain in the economy which threaten to hold back recovery. Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show unemployment across the South West fell by 2,000 between August and October, taking the region’s jobless rate down...
Swindon’s recently-opened University Technical College (UTC) is to be officially opened by The Duke of York next Thursday. His Royal Highness will meet UTC Swindon students, directors, teachers and business partners before unveiling a commemorative plaque to officially open the college. The event will be attended by directors from UTC sponsors Johnson Matthey Fuel...
Exports by South West firms have risen slightly over the past year despite turmoil in the key Eurozone market, new figures show. And more companies are following the Government’s advice and selling overseas as a way of strengthening their business. Regional trade boss Russell Jones welcomed today’s figures with cautious optimism and pointed to...
The annual search for the region’s best companies has started with the launch of accountants PwC’s widely-respected West of England Business of the Year Awards 2015. Now in their 27th year, the eagerly-contested awards are the most prestigious in the region by far – previous winners read like a who’s who of the West’s...
Nearly 50,000 jobs will be created in the UK automotive industry over the next two years as manufacturers bring production back to Britain, according to a major report published today. The upbeat Lloyds Bank report, Fuelling Growth, which surveyed manufacturers from across the automotive supply chain, found that 70% are looking to ‘on-shore’ some...
