Global manufacturer Avon Rubber is predicting a positive 2015 as it continues to win new orders for its innovative products. In an update to the London Stock Exchange the Melksham-headquartered group said trading in the first quarter had continued in line with expectations – with its dairy business performing particularly well. As a result,...
Chippenham-based speciality pharmaceutical company Alliance Pharma has appointed tech entrepreneur and experienced businessman Nigel Clifford as an independent non-executive director with immediate effect. Mr Clifford, pictured, is chief executive of Procserve Holdings, a London, Cambridge and Guildford-based company specialising in technology that enables secure transactions online. He is also a non-executive director of Slough...
University of Bath PhD graduate David Liptrot has been listed as one of Forbes’ 30 under 30 scientists for 2015. The list recognises some of the top young scientists from around the world. David, 25, pictured, has an ambition of solving the world’s problems through chemistry. His goal is to find ways to undo...
Bath businessman Graham Miller has been appointed by alternative finance provider South West Investment Group (SWIG) Capital as a non-executive director to the board of its fund-holding arm. Mr Miller, pictured, a non-executive director of Bath-based IT services group IPL, joins the group as it looks to raise its profile in the West of...
Confidence among West of England businesses petered out at the end of 2014 and has started the new year lower than at any time over the previous 12 months, new research shows. Domestic sales, cashflow and recruitment expectations all fell during the fourth quarter, according to results of the latest business survey by Business...
The University of Bath is to play a key role in helping the UK develop a hub to manufacture next-generation advanced semiconductor materials. Along with the universities of Bristol, Sheffield and Strathclyde and industrial partners, it has received £2.65m from the Engineering Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to fund research into advanced manufacturing techniques for nano-engineered...
A competition aimed at inspiring the next generation of inventors in Bath is launched next week. The Bath Young Inventor of the Year Award 2015 is for under-18s who love exploring ideas and coming up with new inventions. It is being staged by Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution (BRLSI) and supported by the...
Vectura, the Chippenham-based drug development firm, has extended further extended its global network of blue-chip collaborators by signing a licence agreement with a major US biotech company. Vectura will exclusively develop anti-inflammatory therapies for the treatment of asthma/ chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for Janssen Biotech under the agreement. Vectura said the collaboration would...
Phil Smith, managing director of Business West, the organisation behind Bath Chamber of Commerce, looks back at the past 12 months and considers why next year’s General Election is set to be one of the most important in recent memory. “The noise and glare of fireworks this New Year must not mask the fact...
Vastern Timber, the sawmill based at Studley, near Chippenham, is using two restoration projects it completed at the Tower of London this year to showcase its use of English oak and to make the case for British timber. The firm supplied wood for the reinstatement of the historic building’s drawbridge as well for furniture...
