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...
Aria Networks, the leading-edge Chippenham-based tech firm, is planning to strengthen its lead in the fast-growing Software Defined Networking (SDN) market after securing further investment. The firm, whose customers include major US and European telecoms companies, cloud and datacentre operators, and social network providers, is already ahead of its SDN rivals. Its products, developed...
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...
Thrings has become the first law firm in Bath to include an interactive, 3D virtual tour of its office in the city on Google – a move it believes gives it a commercial advantage over its rivals. Anyone searching for Thrings on Google will see high quality, 360-degree photographs of the firm’s main client-facing...
Chippenham-based specialist IT group SciSys is expanding into the retail industry following the acquisition of a small software application development firm. SciSys, which works in sectors spanning space, defence, media and government, is paying a maximum of £3.2m for Leicester-based Xibis, which it expects to be immediately earnings-enhancing. SciSys said the Xibis has a...
The University of Bath’s standing as one of the UK’s leading centres for industry-related research has been further enhanced by a major new national report which classified 87% of its work as world-leading. The results of the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) place the university 13th in the research quality ranking of UK universities,...
Bath-based digital supply chain management firm Actual Experience has helped telecoms industry regulator Ofcom compile a major report which debunks the view that slow broadband speeds are holding back the economy. Instead, the quality of the broadband is far more important for the majority of users, Ofcom concludes. As a result it has called...
The annual search for the region’s best companies has started with the launch of accountants PwC’s widely-respected West of England Business of the Year Awards 2015. Now in their 27th year, the eagerly-contested awards are the most prestigious in the region by far – previous winners read like a who’s who of the West’s...
Hi-tech start-ups incubated by SETsquared, the innovation hub backed by the University of Bath, have created 9,000 jobs and contributed a staggering £3.8bn to the UK economy, research released today shows. The figures, which emerge from a study commissioned from Warwick Economics & Development, are based on the 1,041 companies that have benefitted from...
Innovation incubator SETsquared, which is backed by the University of Bath, has unveiled two new projects – a £3.2m programme to speed up the commercialisation of university research and a partnership with academic health science networks to help NHS patients. The double boost was announced as it staged a showcase of more than 20...
