Buyout activity in the South West is growing at a “steady rate” with five deals worth £25m completed so far this year and a healthy pipeline waiting for completion, according to new research. The figures, published by the Centre for Management Buyout Research (CMBOR), show growth in completions across the UK as the market...
National business groups welcomed today’s Budget, particularly the measures aimed at boosting manufacturing and lower energy costs. The CBI, which had called it a “make-or-break” Budget, said it “will put wind in the sails of business investment, especially for manufacturers”. Director-general John Cridland, pictured, said it had come at a critical time in the...
Business West has called on Chancellor George Osborne to use today’s Budget to focus on youth employment, training and enterprise – all crucial to securing future growth and avoiding a ‘lost generation’ as the UK economy continues to recover, it says. In its 2014 Budget submission, the business support organisation, which runs the Swindon...
Directors in firms across Swindon and Wiltshire have less than two weeks to enter the region’s top business awards that recognise boardroom excellence and enterprise. The South West Institute of Directors (IoD) Awards 2014 are open to anyone working at director level in any type of business or organisation – they do not have...
Exports by West firms are growing again after going into reverse last autumn in the midst of the euro crisis, new figures show. Total overseas sales shot up by 7.5% to £13.67bn in the year to December 2013 compared to 2012. Exports by value had dropped by 3.3% in the third quarter to £3.32bn,...
Watersheds, the Swindon-based corporate finance specialist, has concluded the sale of Salisbury Caravans to Webbs Motor Caravans, the family-owned Warminster-based firm. Salisbury Caravans owners Pete and Angela Toogood, who bought the business seven years ago, decided to realise their investment and focus on their existing significant property portfolio. All eight Salisbury Caravans staff will...
With more than two-fifths of businesses feeling positive about the economy – 20% more than this time last year – now is the time to build on this momentum, says Chris Elias – Barclays relationship director, corporate banking in Swindon. Speaking with just over a week to the Budget, Chris, pictured, sees it as...
Swindon financial management firm Intrinsic has sold its entire network of 3,000 advisers – the UK’s largest – to Old Mutual Wealth in a move that has sent ripples through the insurance industry. The deal, for an undisclosed sum, comes less than eight years after Intrinsic was launched in Swindon by a group of...
HSBC is to stage a series of breakfast forums in Swindon aimed at the area’s small to medium-sized businesses. The first event, on March 26, will include short presentations by Nigel Scott of Action Coach, the business coaching and mentoring consultancy, and HSBC business specialist team leader Ryan Starr, as well as breakfast and...
Swindon and Wiltshire businesses will next week get a rare chance to meet trade experts from the British Embassies in the US and Canada and explore transatlantic export opportunities on a one-to-one basis. The event, at the Mercure Holland House Hotel in Bristol on Wednesday, March 5, is the latest ‘meet the expert’ event...
