Accountants PwC have launched their annual search for the region’s best companies with the 2014 West of England Business of the Year Awards – the region’s most prestigious business accolades. Previous winners of the awards, now in their 26th year, read like a who’s who of the West’s most-respected companies, including Dyson, MITIE and,...
Good Energy, the Chippenham-based green energy group, has been awarded top slot in consumer group Which?’s annual energy company satisfaction survey for the third year in a row. The survey covers customers’ views on service, value for money, accuracy and clarity of bills, complaints and energy saving – and Good Energy scored a five-star...
Construction work has started on the UK’s largest solar power farm, thanks to the latest collaboration between law firm Thrings, which has its largest office in Swindon, and Royal Wootton Bassett-based land agency WebbPaton. Agricultural land specialists at Thrings and WebbPaton acted on behalf of the landowner of the 230-acre site near Didcot, including...
Some of the most influential business people in the Swindon area have been recognised in today’s New Year’s Honours list. Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud, pictured, who chose Swindon for his first pioneering sustainable low-cost housing development, has been honoured for services to sustainable living and energy saving with the MBE. Mr McCloud’s passion...
Car commuters in Swindon are being offered free smartcards to persuade them to try the journey to work by bus in the New Year. Swindon Travel Choices, the organisation that promotes alternative methods of travel into the town centre, is offering the cards for use on Thamesdown Transport and Stagecoach during January and February....
GreenSquare, the Swindon-based social housing group, has been placed among the top five housing associations in the UK. It is the only South West-based housing association to be included in the list, compiled by leading industry magazine 24housing and the Housing Quality Network (HQN). GreenSquare came in at number five in the rankings, based...
Chippenham-based renewable electricity supplier Good Energy is taking legal advice following a challenge to its plans to build a 28 megawatt (MW) solar energy site in East Dorset. The firm, which received planning consent for the project in November, said it understood a claim had been submitted to the Administrative Court for a judicial...
The Government should not overlook the vital role regional airports such as Bristol can play in helping solve the looming gridlock at airports serving London and the South East. The message, from Bristol Airport boss Robert Sinclair, came today as the Airports Commission’s interim report into the capacity constraints at Heathrow and Gatwick was...
The Manufacturing Advisory Service has appointed a supply chain specialist in the South West to ensure that manufacturers gain a significant share of the lucrative opportunities presented by the UK’s burgeoning offshore wind market. Nick Kirsop-Taylor, pictured, will help firms tap into the recently-launched £20m GROW:OffshoreWind service that supports companies looking to break into...
A West of England property expert is warning that Government plans to give communities a greater say over wind turbine proposals are deeply flawed and could scupper many small schemes. James Davis, pictured, who heads the regionally-based planning team at national property consultancy Sanderson Weatherall, fears the changes will make smaller renewable energy schemes...
