Bath Spa University has awarded honorary degrees to two people it has described as inspirational for its community – the former head of MI5 and a renowned music publisher. Lord Jonathan Evans of Weardale and Sarah Liversedge Platz were presented with honorary doctorates in recognition of their outstanding achievements, and excellence, in their respective fields as...
A Bath couple are set to open an artisan bakery and café in a new riverfront community being developed on the site of a former dairy. The Good Loaf Café will be launched by Emma Savage and Alan Bennett, pictured, at Avonside in Melksham – an area that was originally housed a Unigate Dairy. Promising homemade,...
The founder of Bath-based glasses designer and manufacturer Inspecs Group has said it remains on course to become a global brand despite problems linked to the pandemic. Robin Totterman, pictured, the former bond trader who launched the business in 1988, told shareholders in a trading update that its performance last year, despite Covid-19 restrictions,...
Occupiers are poised to move into Bath’s first major new office development in more than a generation as the city’s commercial property market continues to recover from the impact of the pandemic. No.1 Bath Quays, the recently completed 45,000 sq ft scheme at Bath Quays South, has been marketed for nearly two years...
Communications agency founder Natalie Sherman has been named as one of the UK’s most inspirational and dynamic female entrepreneurs. Natalie, pictured, who launched Corsham-based social-first consultancy Naturally Social in 2015, is among the businesswoman in the f:Entrepreneur ‘#ialso100’ campaign. Staged by Small Business Britain, a leading champion of UK small firms, f:Entrepreneur was...
Bath-headquartered utility Wessex Water has retained a top quality standard for its customer service, with the independent assessors describing it as the most efficient company in the industry. The firm, which has its head office at Claverton Down and employs around 2,500 people across the West of England, became the first of its...
Some of Bath’s top hotels, restaurants and hospitality businesses will battle it out next month in the region’s most prestigious tourism awards scheme. The Bristol, Bath and Somerset Tourism Awards, now in their sixth year, will reward excellence and resilience in what has been another difficult year for the sector. Bath area businesses dominate...
A major redevelopment of Bristol Airport’s airside departure lounge is due to start on Monday. The £2.6m, three-month project, which will create dozens of jobs, aims to improve the shopping and dining experience for passengers before they board their flights. The lounge’s retail units will get a facelift while the WHSmith store is to...
Investments by the South West team of growth finance group BGF passed the £100m mark for the first time last year as it continued its strong run of funding ambitious businesses. The team injected £115m of equity into firms in 2021 – a 72% increase on 2020’s total and more than three times that...
More than nine in 10 of mid-market businesses in the South West have adopted hybrid or remote working as a way of overcoming the impact of the pandemic – but many are struggling to make it a success, according to a new survey. Research by accountancy firm Grant Thornton reveals 92% of the region’s...
