Newly elected Labour West of England Metro Mayor Dan Norris has vowed to raise the profile of the region on the national and global stage while delivering a green recovery from the impact of the pandemic. Mr Norris, pictured, won on the second round of the election, beating Conservative candidate Samuel Williams by 125,482 to 85,389. The former MP for Wansdyke (now North...
Bath businesses are being urged to join hundreds of employers from across the UK by taking part in the country’s largest survey of race in the workplace. City-headquartered international engineering practice Buro Happold has already signed up to complete the survey, which is being staged by Business in the Community (BiTC), the organisation dedicated to...
One of the world’s first all-electric refuse vehicles will soon be collecting commercial waste from Bath firms following a £500,000 investment by waste management and civil engineering firm MJ Church. The pioneering truck, pictured – the first on the UK’s road – has been built to the Marshfield-based firm’s strict zero emission specification. That...
The Covid-19 pandemic has been affecting us all for more than a year now. My fellow regional agents and I know that those businesses that rely heavily on being able to have customers visit them in person – for instance, the hospitality and tourism sectors right across the South West – have been particularly...
The South West is England’s top region for business innovation, according to a new report by the CBI – but it faces challenges over its low productivity and skills gap. The CBI report also reveals that low levels of unemployment and short commuting times compared to other parts of England gives the South West...
The Western Gateway, the cross-border economic partnership of eight cities either side of the River Severn including Bath, has appointed three new members to its board. They include former Institute of Directors Bristol chair Lhosa DalyLhosa, pictured, who has also been chair of Bristol art gallery Arnolfini. The partnership was launched in November 2019 as the UK’s...
Five firms from the Bath area have been honoured by the Queen in her Awards for Enterprise scheme, with three of them - sex toy firm Lovehoney, digital science publisher SelectScience and specialist chemicals firm Glentham Life Sciences – gaining the accolade for the second time. Lovehoney, Europe’s largest manufacturer and online retailer of pleasure products, landed...
Global trading conditions are steadily improving for Bath-headquartered global manufacturer Rotork, it said today, despite continuing uncertainty over the impact of Covid-19. The group, which makes specialist valves for the global oil, gas, water and chemical industries, suffered a 9.7% fall in sales last year to £604.5m as coronavirus shut down large swathes of...
Shares in Somerset-based upmarket fashion brand Mulberry have risen to their highest level for more than two years after its sales bounced back over recent months. In a trading update, the group, best known for its luxury bags, said there had been strong growth in its important Asian markets while online sales had also...
Business West, the region’s largest business group, has used the ratification of UK-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) to renew its plea for help for firms hit by Brexit-related red tape. The TCA, the blueprint for free trade between following the UK’s departure from the EU, had been signed on December 30 last year...
