The Chancellor produced a balanced Autumn Statement that addressed business concerns around rates reform and finance, Swindon business leaders have said. Ian Larrard, director of the Initiative in Swindon & Wiltshire, part of Business West, described it as a “crowd-pleasing” set of proposals for business, particularly its pledge for a major review into the...
Export chiefs hope that a former shipping container covered with colourful street art will hold the key to getting more Swindon firms to take their business to the world. Launched this week, Business West’s #GetExporting campaign highlights the benefits of exporting in an innovative way. The eye-catching container, spray-painted by a pair of Bristol...
Stands for The Business Showcase South West – the major business event which celebrates the best of the region’s innovation, creativity and enterprise – are now on sale and pre-registration for delegates has also gone live. Following the huge success of the inaugural event in April this year, The Business Showcase South West returns...
Chancellor George Osborne has been asked to play Santa in next week’s Autumn Statement and give Swindon firms three early Christmas presents – action on business rates, infrastructure and apprenticeships. The wish-list comes from Business West, the organisation that runs the Initiative in Swindon & Wiltshire. It wants to see the Chancellor, pictured, build...
Malmesbury-based appliance firm Dyson is to invest a further £1.5bn in research and development to help it launch 100 new products and create more jobs, it announced today. The firm’s founder, inventor Sir James Dyson, said he will donate £50m to an external research programme with British universities and £200m to expand on an...
Manufacturers across the South West are calling for a massive boost to infrastructure and innovation in Chancellor George Osborne’s Autumn Statement to build on the strong economic recovery and lay foundations for longer-term economic growth. The call comes from the EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, in its submission to the Autumn Statement. It focuses heavily...
Investing in innovative new products and technologies while expanding its international markets has paid off for Wiltshire manufacturer Avon Rubber, which has reported a 21% leap in annual profits. Pre-tax profits at the Melksham-headquartered group came in at £16.6m for the year to September 30 despite sales slipping slightly to £124.8m. The group, which...
Staff at SciSys, the Chippenham-based specialist software firm, have been celebrating their role in the historic touchdown of the Rosetta space mission’s lander on the comet 67P some 500million km from Earth. SciSys developed the software for the mission control system (MCS) for the European Space Agency (ESA) project. The software has been used...
Honda’s Swindon-built Civic has won two major accolades for its environmental performance. The car claimed Gold in the smaller family car section of the Green Apple Awards 2014 and was runner up for the overall champion title. The awards, now in their fourth year, are organised by the The Green Organisation, the international, independent,...
Swindon’s recently-opened UTC, which is equipping young people with the modern skills needed by its advanced engineering firms, epitomises the town’s ‘can-do’ attitude, MP Robert Buckland told its first business partnership event yesterday. The £10m UTC (university technical college) welcomed the first students to its state-of-the-art building in September and last night it took...
