Alternative finance provider South West Investment Group (SWIG) has appointed two non-executive directors to the board of its fund-holding arm as it looks to raise its profile in the West of England. Malachy McReynolds and Graham Miller join the existing directors at the group which since 1996 has invested £15m in to more than...
Confidence among West of England businesses petered out at the end of 2014 and has started the new year lower than at any time over the previous 12 months, new research shows. Domestic sales, cashflow and recruitment expectations all fell during the fourth quarter, according to results of the latest business survey by Business...
Bristol Airport has acquired an electric van for use by its IT team as the first of a number of initiatives supporting the city’s year as European Green Capital. The Nissan e-NV200 is the first 100% electric-powered vehicle on the 176-hectare site. It has been bought with support from TravelWest, the organisation that promotes...
North Wiltshire businessman and social housing champion David Ashmore and master arrowsmith Hector Cole have been appointed MBEs in the New Year Honours list. Mr Ashmore, pictured, a board member of the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and until January 2013 chief executive of housing group Greensquare, was recognised for “services to housing...
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...
Swindon-based thermal imaging firm Thermographic Consultancy has become the latest business partner of the town’s University Technical College (UTC), which opened in September. Thermographic Consultancy will raise awareness of the UTC’s courses and its achievements. The company’s founder and managing director Stuart Holland is also supporting college representatives at events over the coming year....
More than 100 small businesses across Wiltshire have received grants for expert advice to help their enterprises grow under a new scheme. Some 112 Specialist Business Advice grants of between £500 and £1,500 were paid to a wide range of small businesses. The most popular requests were for specialist web development support, brand enhancement...
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...
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...
