A Wiltshire medical products manufacturer behind a world-beating specialist swab has secured a £1.45m finance package from Barclays to help the NHS’s Covid-19 testing. Medical Wire & Equipment (MWE), based in Corsham, is expecting to recruit 30 more staff – taking its total workforce to 120 – as it increases production of its virus...
Business West, the region’s largest business organisation, is launching a series of expert webinars and virtual networking events to help small firms bounce back from the impact of the coronavirus crisis. The webinars will address key practical issues and challenges facing firms as lockdown measures are eased while the online networking sessions will enable...
The Bank of England’s role is to maintain UK monetary and financial stability by keeping inflation sustainably low and ensuring that the financial system can serve the people of the UK in bad times as well as good. To achieve these aims through the Covid-19 crisis we have put in place a package of...
Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s decision to extend the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to October will be a “huge relief” to firms in the West of England, according to the region’s largest business group. Business West, which runs the Swindon and Wiltshire Initiative, said its research showed the scheme, launched by Mr Sunak, pictured, in...
Strong trade links with the US could help the West of England’s small firms recover from the impact of coronavirus, the region’s leading business group has suggested. Business West, which runs the Swindon & Wiltshire Initiative, welcomed the start of formal post-Brexit talks between the UK and US on a future free trade agreement...
Swindon-headquartered regional law firm Thrings has strengthened its private wealth team by appointing Kathryn Bew and Jermaine Smith as senior associate and associate respectively. A specialist in family law, Kathryn, pictured right, has more than 26 years’ experience of advising UK-based and international clients and also offers non-adversarial approaches to the resolution of family...
The devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic on businesses in the West of England has been highlighted again in the results of two more surveys this week – with one showing two-thirds of firms suffered a fall in orders while the second reveals productivity is down at 80% of the region’s small manufacturers. Unsurprisingly,...
A family-owned Wiltshire garden centre group which celebrates its half-century this year is continuing to trade through the coronavirus crisis after securing funding from Barclays under the government’s business support scheme. Whitehall Garden Centres, which has its headquarters at Lacock, near Chippenham, was forced to close its three outlets at what would have been...
Business organisations have welcomed new measures by the government to help small firms survive the coronavirus pandemic, reflecting the fact that around half are being rejected for loans under the existing scheme. Business West, the organisation that runs the Swindon & Wiltshire Initiative, said Chancellor Rishi Sunak, pictured, had listened to complaints from struggling...
Fewer than one in six West of England firms believe they will be able to cope if the coronavirus crisis lasts for more than six months, according to the results of the first major survey highlighting the impact of the pandemic on the region’s businesses. More than 70% of firms have already suffered a...
