Monahans, the west accountancy firm with offices in Bath, Chippenham, Glastonbury and Trowbridge, has promoted Shelly Smith to senior manager in its business recovery and insolvency team. Shelly, pictured, who has more than 18 years’ experience, started her career with Solomon Hare in Bristol before moving on to manage the insolvency team at Robson...
Bath area firms are being urged to tell the Treasury how it could change the business tax system to make the UK more competitive. The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) is seeking ideas for an initial report on tax simplification to be presented ahead of next month’s Budget. Andy Richens, technical tax director at...
Business West, which runs the Bath Chamber of Commerce, has welcomed the fall in inflation to 1.9% – the first time it has been below the important 2% level since 2009. The rate, as measured by the consumer prices index, was down from 2% in December. The surprise fall – most economist expected it...
HSBC has appointed James Jordan as area commercial director for Bath and Bristol with responsibility for supporting businesses turning over between £500,000 and £30m. The appointment marks a return to the region for James, who has spent the past two years as area commercial director for HSBC in Central London. James, pictured, has spent his entire career with HSBC,...
Specialist charity fundraising services provider The Woods Group, which works with major organisations such as RSPB, National Trust and Motability, has been bought by its management team. The Chippenham-based firm stages raffles, weekly lotteries, response handling and fulfilment allowing its charity clients to concentrate on core fundraising campaigns. The deal, financial details of which...
Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, the division that supports mid-market businesses and large corporates, has further strengthened its West operation with the appointment of Daniel Tregunna as relationship director. Daniel will be part of the bank’s 25-strong mid-markets team, which supports a wide network of businesses with annual turnover in excess of £25m, providing financial...
Innovative businesses in the Bath area working on pioneering research and development projects can apply for financial help through a £4m innovation fund launched today by the University of the West of England (UWE). Grants of between £25,000 and £150,000 will be available to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as large companies...
Accountants and financial planners Old Mill have recruited their first IT director in a move that reflects the firm’s significant on-going investment in its IT systems and infrastructure. Highly-experienced IT specialist James, pictured, will head Old Mill’s existing three-man IT team across its five West Country offices, including Wells and Melksham. The 41-year-old previously...
Six Bath hi-tech firms have received investment totalling nearly £400,000 from a regional growth fund to help them develop their pioneering products. The businesses – Neighbourly, Clean Energy, Citeab, Tivarri, Envolve Technologies and CloudFind – are based at the city’s SETsquared centre, which supports small, fast-growing innovative businesses, mainly in the hi-tech sector. Centre...
Nearly two thirds of West firms plan to increase wages this year as the region’s economy bounces back from recession, new research shows. This is despite half of the businesses taking part in the Barclays Employers Survey 2014 saying wage pressure from employees was not an issue. However, some 29% said it is a...
