NatWest has appointed Andrew Houchin as director of commercial banking for the North Wiltshire and Bath areas. Andrew, pictured, who spent six years in the Army as an Infantry officer, joined NatWest’s parent company RBS in 2011 as a programme manager, overseeing a £2.4m data distribution programme designed to support the improvement of the bank’s...
Expolink, the Chippenham-based contact centre that operates confidential whistleblowing hotlines for major employers, has been acquired from its founders in a management buyout. The firm, which was launched in 1995, employs more than 200 people at its contact centre. Over the past few years it has had an annual growth rate of more than 12%....
Swindon-based accountancy and tax services provider PPS Chartered Accountants has consolidated a near 30% growth over recent months by recruiting four new staff. Joining the firm are accountants Thisara Ranthilake Gedara and Daniele Martini Shayler, bookkeeper Emma Dreano and trainee Lucy Pearce. Thisara is an ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) affiliate and qualified to ACCA P4...
Swindon-based Nationwide building society today vowed to pass on last week’s interest rate cut to borrowers while also locking in rates for savers. The pledge came despite the building society revealing its margins are under pressure as a result of what it called “sustained levels of competition in the mortgage market”. The building society...
By Donna Kehoe, the Bank of England’s agent for the South West of England We are entering what is likely to be a period of significant change for our economy, with the vote to leave the European Union ushering in a new era for the UK’s relationship with the rest of the world. Some of...
An £8m state-of-the-art dementia care home has opened in Swindon supported by a tailored finance package from Barclays. Abbey House, which is expected to create 200 jobs once fully operational, is the latest investment by Milestones Trust – a charity with a long history of providing care and support to vulnerable people with learning...
The Bank of England today cut interest rates from 0.5% to 0.25% – their lowest ever level in the UK – and warned that unemployment will rise by a quarter of a million as Brexit hits the economy. Bank governor Mark Carney described Brexit as “a very large identifiable supply shock” and did not...
Haydn Thomas, NatWest’s South West regional managing director – business banking, has been appointed as the bank’s head of business development – business banking, for the whole of the UK. As well as overseeing the bank’s business development strategy for business banking, Haydn, pictured - who has worked for NatWest for more than 21 years –...
A new office in Swindon’s emerging Churchward business hub has been sold to an overseas buyer for more than its £1.55m asking price. The 7,296 sq ft office in Achilles House was last month let to national accountancy firm RSM, enabling it to relocate from its Swindon base at Westmead. The Swindon office of property...
The Institute of Directors South West regional chairman Nick Sturge has been appointed to the organisation’s national council as it seeks to ensure that a range of voices from across business are heard as Brexit unfolds. Nick Sturge, pictured, the co-founder and director of Bristol’s Engine Shed innovation hub, is one of a number of...
