Business West, the region’s largest business organisation, has joined bodies representing business, education and employment in urging the government to rethink its controversial quarantine rules for travellers arriving in the UK. In an open letter to the home, foreign and transport secretaries, Business West, UK Hospitality, Universities UK and others argue that it was...
An eight-point checklist to help owner-managers deal with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their businesses has been launched by the South West arm of insolvency and restructuring trade body R3. The organisation’s members, who include insolvency practitioners, lawyers, and turnaround and restructuring experts, work with business owners to mitigate and resolve financial...
The coronavirus pandemic has dealt a severe blow to confidence levels among South West firms – with the region now the UK’s least optimistic, according to the gloomy results of another survey. Overall confidence slumped by 16 points during the past month to minus 51% – an unenviable record for Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking’s...
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,...
