Two schoolfriends who started their online furniture business aged just 18 are looking for a new phase of international growth after its sales soared to nearly £17m within seven years. Monty George and Dan Beckles launched Furniturebox when they saw a gap in the market for selling furniture online. It expanded rapidly during Covid...
Bath businesses can benefit from free soft skills training following new research showing their importance in the modern workplace. Business West, the regional business group that runs Bath Chamber of Commerce, has worked with the West of England Institute of Technology (WEIoT) to launch a new soft skills certificate with modules including digital skills for...
A Bath firm developing innovative bioplastic food packaging from seaweed has secured more than £3m to take its technology another step closer to everyday use. Sustainable biotech business Kelpi invented the unique compostable material to replace single-use fossil fuel plastics, which take hundreds of years to decompose. The seed round, led by Bristol-based specialist...
A new way to make money from dairy farm waste is to be commercialised by a start-up business founded by a former University of Bath mechanical engineering student. Frome-based BioFactory secured funding from Innovate UK and Defra for a 12-month feasibility study via the Farming Innovation Programme after developing a modular anaerobic digester (AD). ...
A spin-out company from the University of Bath is set to develop ultralight and low-carbon next-generation materials for the aerospace and automotive industries. Aerogel Core has been set up by engineers from the university to specialise in products containing innovative and environmentally friendly aerogels for use in soundproofing and heat shielding. The team’s research...
Bath-based education technology company DoodleLearning has been championed in a prestigious US awards scheme for its revolutionary maths app. Designed to be used for just 10 minutes a day by children aged from four to 14, the DoodleMaths app uses the latest advances in learning and motivational psychology to raise attainment and boost confidence...
Confidence among the South West’s small businesses has plunged to the lowest level since the country emerged from Covid lockdowns, according to a new survey. The latest quarterly confidence report from the FSB (Federation of Small Businesses) reveals that fears of inflation, falling consumer demand and the general cost of doing business left optimism...
Bath-based broadband provider Truespeed has extended its price freeze and introduced a new ‘basic’ package to support financially vulnerable customers in a move it says will provide some respite from the cost of living crisis. The firm, which is investing heavily to expand its network across the West of England, announced the price standstill last...
A series of new bootcamps is being introduced by Bath Spa University to help close the biggest skills gaps in the region. The five short courses in areas such as environmental data science and digital skills within the education sector follow an earlier series staged by the university from September 2021 onwards. More than...
The University of Bath and Bath Spa University have teamed up on a world-first research project to find out why live theatre can trigger strong emotions in an audience. The pioneering analysis will monitor theatre goers at Bristol Old Vic to reveal the hidden responses their bodies have to the drama unfolding on stage. ...
