2EPB-E01-S3

www.bristolpost.co.uk

BUSINESS SOS

How to recover when it all goeshorribly wrong – pages 8&9

HAPPY WORKERS

The company where everyonehas a career coach – page 3

BRIGHT YOUNG THING

Meet the rising star ofPark Street – pages 6&7

212015JAN

UPWARDLYMOBILETech firm’s about to hit the big time with a cheaperway of solving 4G reception woes – see page 5

WIRELESS

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2 We d n e s d a y, January 21, 2015 3We d n e s d a y, January 21, 2015 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

EVERYONE at digital techno-logy business Kainos hastheir own career coach to actas a guide and mentor to helpthem move up the ladder.

It’s one of the reasons the firm hasbeen named among the SundayTimes’ Top 100 Places to Work.

It’s not the first time it has made thelist, but it is the first since it openedits Bristol office.

Lured by the talent pool and grow-ing tech hub in Bristol, Kainosopened its base in the city last year. Itnow employs 26 people and is lookingto fill a further 24 roles with thepossibility of further expansion.

Head of talent development ColetteKidd said: “If we find the right people,t h e re ’s no upper limit to our recruit-ment.”

Kainos, which is Greek for “f re s h ”,provides digital solutions in threemain markets, government, health-care and financial services.

For example, it has been developingthe system used by the Departmentfor Environment Food and Rural Af-fairs to deliver European subsidypayments to farmers who can nowmanage them online.

It is also developing a system forpeople to check their driving recordsonline such as what categories ofvehicles they can drive, as well as anypenalty points they have.

Getting people who fit in to theculture is important to the company.So much so that once it had decided tomove to Bristol, Kainos invited localrecruitment agencies over to its Bel-fast HQ to show them its culture inaction to them find the right people.

“We are looking for innovativepeople who have ambition, peoplewho are flexible and have a real desireto learn and like to work in a col-laborative environment,” saidC o l e t t e.

“We ’ve worked very hard to makesure the Kainos culture happens inall our offices.”

As well career coaches, that means

using private social network Yammerfor internal communications – al-lowing people to easily work on pro-jects across offices.

And the firm runs an annual Ap-

pcamp for first year undergraduatesand CodeCamp for school leavers.

“It works for us and them,” saidColette. “We are able to spot the talentfor the future and we give them valu-able work experience.”

The first graduates for the BristolAppCamp last year will be comingback for longer placements this year,keeping the talent production linem ov i n g .

Colette said it was the local talentwhich convinced the firm Bristol wasthe right location for its expansion.

“The 26 people we have recruited todate is testament of the talent we cansee in Bristol,” she said.

Now it is here, the firm wants to

� One Victoria Street and, inset, Cubex director Gavin Bridge

Business rates Digital technology

Firms ‘in limbountil after thenext election’� BUSINESSES are facing “astate of limbo” over businessrates until the outcome of thegeneral election, a property experthas warned.

Paul Stevens, below, director ofrating at Lambert SmithHampton’s Bristol office, said thegover nment’s decision to delaythe revaluation process, whichwas due to take place at the endof March, by two years hadcreated myriad problems.

“The delay has significantimplications for ratepayers, withmany in the South West nowpaying higher ratesbills as a result,”he said.

“It will notbe resolveduntil theoutcome ofthe electionis known inMay andwhicheverparty or partiesare in power maketheir intentions for business ratesc l e a r. ”

Revaluations reflect changes inthe rental market and have takenplace every five years since 1990.

The last one was in 2010 andwas based on values at April 1,2008 – the peak of the rentalmarket, before values in manyareas experienced dramatic falls.

The next revaluation was due totake place this year and wouldhave been based on rental levelsat April 2013, which would haveseen ratepayers who had seen thevalue of their properties fallbetween 2008 and 2013 enjoy areduction in rates bills.

But it has now been confirmedthat the 2017 revaluation will bebased on rental values as at Aprilthis year. This could have animpact for Bristol businessesbecause a lack of newdevelopment combined with goodlevels of take up of “grade A”space has led to increases inprime rents which will onlyaccelerate during 2015.

Paul added: “In the meantime,ratepayers need to be proactive toensure that their rate liabilities aremanaged to keep bills to aminimum. Complexities resultingfrom stop-gap tinkering with thesystem mean that the system isnow needlessly complicated andopportunities can easily bemissed.”

I n s u ra n ce

Buoyant market Riverside officespace snapped up by Spanish firm

A SPANISH insurance firm isopening a new base in Bristolafter letting a landmark citycentre office on a 15-yearl e a s e.

MAPFRE, which specialises in thecar sector and also owns the InsureAnd Go travel insurance brand, ismoving to the city centre from itsAlmondsbury base.

The firm has been looking for a newoffice since 2011 and finally found theright location, letting One VictoriaS t re e t .

The 46,500 square foot building has

room for up to 600 staff. The firm willbe relocating its MAPFRE Abraxas,MAPFRE Warranty and Home3 op-erations from its Almondsbury basebut a spokesman said it may moveother arms to the city in future.

“There will be new hirings both inBristol and overall in the UK, but wecan not quantify them at the mo-ment,” he said.

“We ’ve chosen Bristol for its dy-namism and communications infra-structure, the quality of itsprofessionals and its proximity toLondon. We are also attracted by Bris-tol’s quality of life.”

The building has been remodelledby local developer Cubex and ownerM&G Real Estate.

Cubex director Gavin Bridge said:“This is a great achievement for us to

have let the entire building in under ayear after completion. It’s an indic-ator of positive movement in the Bris-tol office market and demonstratesthe requirement for sustainable, en-ergy efficient commercial space inthe city.”

The move comes as the OfficeAgents Society released figures show-ing office take up across Greater Bris-tol passed the one million square footmark in 2014, the first time since2008.

Take-up reached 1,266,535 squarefoot with a very strong fourth quarterpushing it past the landmark tally.

City centre activity in the fourthquarter totalled 401,235 sq ft, com-pared with the 2013 figure of 76,835 sqft. While the out-of-town figure for thethree-month period was 91,649 sq ft

compared with 51,163 sq ft at the samepoint in 2013.

Andrew Hardwick of Clifton-basedproperty firm WGH said: “M a rke tconditions have significantly im-proved over the last 12 months withheadline rents increasing and incent-ive levels reducing.”

Catherine Collis from office agencyAlder King, also based in Clifton,added: “We saw a dramatic jump intake-up in the final quarter of 2014with a number of high-profile let-t i n g s.

“This was a great way to end 2014and we expect this level of activity tocontinue into 2015.”

The Victoria Street deal suggests2015 is starting strongly too, althoughlack of supply could slow the pace asthe year continues.

To u r i s m

Park invests £100,000 in facilities

Revealing the risersand fallers in region� BRISTOL-BASED companiesmake up almost a third of thebiggest businesses in the West,according to a new guide.

The Western Daily Press AnnualBusinessGuide ispublished inour sisterpapert o m o r ro w,highlightingthe biggestcompaniesbased in theregion bytur nover.

As youwould expect, Bristolis home to many of the powerhouseperformers, including Airbus,Imperial Tobacco, HargreavesLansdown and Mitie.

To see which company is top ofthe pile and who is up and down on2014, pick up a copy of tomorrow’sWestern Daily Press.

Eco n o my

Business Guide

Top place to work Kainos focuseson helping staff move up ladder

A TOURIST attraction has unveiledplans to invest £100,000 in new fa-cilities to bring in more visitors.

Puxton Park, outside Wes-ton-super-Mare, will introduce a newlake, horse and barrel carousel and a“lumberjacks dash”, where childrenwill try climbing and balancing ex-ercises while learning about differ-ent timbers.

The adventure park also wants toopen 120 holiday log cabins so vis-itors can stay at the site, which ithopes will be approved later thisye a r.

The park is also investing in con-servation by planting 2,000 newshrubs and trees to encourage morew i l d l i f e.

Managing director Alistair Mead

said: “Puxton is widely becomingknown one of the most popular ad-venture parks in the region andthrough our continued investmentwe hope to maintain this position.

“We are thrilled to announce weplan to invest another £100,000 intonew attractions this year, followingthe huge success of our bumper boatsin 2014.

“We would like to thank everyonefor their continued support, whichwithout we would not have been ableto achieve all that we have to date.”

Assistant Editor (Business)Gavin Thompson

Call 0117 934 3336Email gavin.thompson

@b-nm.co.ukTwitter @gavin_thompson1

Get in touch

Advertising RobertRodgersonCall07828 941469Email ro b e r t . ro d g e r s o n@b-nm.co.uk

Advertising JaneChapman

Call 01179 343025Email jane.chapman

@b-nm.co.uk

keep and nurture that talent.She added: “We let our people

shape the environment, we listento feedback that we are given fromour staff. We have quite a relaxedwork environment, flexible work-ing hours and casual dress.

“We have programmes in placeto drive the development of toptalent in the industry, at everystage of experience.

“Appearing once again in theSunday Times Top 100 list is agreat honour and a tribute to ouramazing career ladder, creativecoaching and community camps.

“I’m very proud of our team thatmakes these things happen.”

Growing First bids tohire 70 bus drivers� BUS operator First haslaunched a brand new recruitmentcampaign as it seeks to hire atleast 70 new bus drivers forpositions in Bristol and Bath.

With an expanding businessand increasing demand for busservices across the region, thecompany’s demand for drivers hasnever been higher.

James Freeman, managingdirector of First West of England,said: “The bus business gets inyour blood. People who join ourbusiness as drivers will find theyhave an exciting and rewardingjob, which helps to keep ourtowns and cities moving. Morepeople travel by bus in the UKthan any other form of transport.”

Transpor t

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

Engineering

Laser specialist sees bright future at new siteA COMPANY which makes preci-sion engineered parts and compon-ents has opened a new factory inYat e.

SSC Laser specialises in laser cut-ting, an accurate way of shapingmetal sheets to make manufacturingpar ts.

The factory is the latest in theexpansion of a company whose am-bition is to open a laser cuttingdivision in every major city in theUK over the next 10 years.

SSC Yate started trading thismonth with a full order book.

Sales manager Ben Cliss said:“Our growth in the area is unpre-cedented.

“We worked in an office at AztecWest for two years before expandingto the factory in Yate.

“We are determined to be number

one when it comes to service andquality”.

He said the company had installedthe latest equipment at the new site,

and added: “We are up and runningwith a new Bystronic 6kw flat bedlaser and a pressbrake to fold the flatprofiles we produce on the laser.”

The 18,000 square foot factory atStover Trading Estate has plenty ofroom for growth and the companyplans to add to the existing capacityin a short space of time.

Managing director Andy Evanssaid: “It’s fantastic to see the factoryopen.

“We have spent the last fourmonths upgrading the building towhat is now a showpiece manufac-turing unit with the very latest inlaser cutting technology.

“It’s our mission to give the verybest quality and service to our cus-tomers in the South West.”

The factory employs an initial 12staff, all of whom have a wealth ofexperience in the laser cutting in-d u s t r y.

The firm also has manufacturingdivisions in Stafford and Derby.

� From left, AlistairMead, Luke Patrick

and Lee Sargent

Interest rates ‘biggestcause for concern’� COMPANIES in Bristol areworried about how even a small risein interest rates would affect them.

Research from insurancespecialist QBE found more than onein five (22 per cent) citing interestrates as their biggest concernregarding the economy.

Thirty-nine per cent said a rise ofup to 1.5 per cent would have atangible impact on their business.

Of the 51 firms surveyed, 48 percent would have to raise scrutiny onlevels of working capital and cashflow while 38 per cent would expectincreased trade credit risk withintheir customer base. Thirty-sevenper cent would take a more cautiousapproach to spending.

Trevor Williams, head of credit andsurety in Europe at QBE, said: “Ourresearch reveals a markedsensitivity among Bristol businessesto even the smallest increase ininterest rates. In particular,companies expect their workingcapital and the credit worthiness oftheir customers to be impacted.

“The closing of 2014 and the firstdays of 2015 have seen a number ofhigh profile business failures andprofit warnings.

“Margins continue to be squeezedand payment terms extended,leaving businesses susceptible tobeing starved of cash. Companiesoffering unsecured trade credit totheir customers would be prudent toexplore the benefits and protectionthat credit insurance can deliver.”

1W

DP-E01-S1

Western Daily PressWestern Daily Press

BusinessBusinessBusinessBusinessBusinessBusinessBusinessguide2015

“Family businesses arethe backbone of thenation’s economy – theyare our unsung heroes –and they make a massivecontribution to our GDP.

� John Clapham, coach, with staff at the Kainos office Pic: Dave Betts

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2 We d n e s d a y, January 21, 2015 3We d n e s d a y, January 21, 2015 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

EVERYONE at digital techno-logy business Kainos hastheir own career coach to actas a guide and mentor to helpthem move up the ladder.

It’s one of the reasons the firm hasbeen named among the SundayTimes’ Top 100 Places to Work.

It’s not the first time it has made thelist, but it is the first since it openedits Bristol office.

Lured by the talent pool and grow-ing tech hub in Bristol, Kainosopened its base in the city last year. Itnow employs 26 people and is lookingto fill a further 24 roles with thepossibility of further expansion.

Head of talent development ColetteKidd said: “If we find the right people,t h e re ’s no upper limit to our recruit-ment.”

Kainos, which is Greek for “f re s h ”,provides digital solutions in threemain markets, government, health-care and financial services.

For example, it has been developingthe system used by the Departmentfor Environment Food and Rural Af-fairs to deliver European subsidypayments to farmers who can nowmanage them online.

It is also developing a system forpeople to check their driving recordsonline such as what categories ofvehicles they can drive, as well as anypenalty points they have.

Getting people who fit in to theculture is important to the company.So much so that once it had decided tomove to Bristol, Kainos invited localrecruitment agencies over to its Bel-fast HQ to show them its culture inaction to them find the right people.

“We are looking for innovativepeople who have ambition, peoplewho are flexible and have a real desireto learn and like to work in a col-laborative environment,” saidC o l e t t e.

“We ’ve worked very hard to makesure the Kainos culture happens inall our offices.”

As well career coaches, that means

using private social network Yammerfor internal communications – al-lowing people to easily work on pro-jects across offices.

And the firm runs an annual Ap-

pcamp for first year undergraduatesand CodeCamp for school leavers.

“It works for us and them,” saidColette. “We are able to spot the talentfor the future and we give them valu-able work experience.”

The first graduates for the BristolAppCamp last year will be comingback for longer placements this year,keeping the talent production linem ov i n g .

Colette said it was the local talentwhich convinced the firm Bristol wasthe right location for its expansion.

“The 26 people we have recruited todate is testament of the talent we cansee in Bristol,” she said.

Now it is here, the firm wants to

� One Victoria Street and, inset, Cubex director Gavin Bridge

Business rates Digital technology

Firms ‘in limbountil after thenext election’� BUSINESSES are facing “astate of limbo” over businessrates until the outcome of thegeneral election, a property experthas warned.

Paul Stevens, below, director ofrating at Lambert SmithHampton’s Bristol office, said thegover nment’s decision to delaythe revaluation process, whichwas due to take place at the endof March, by two years hadcreated myriad problems.

“The delay has significantimplications for ratepayers, withmany in the South West nowpaying higher ratesbills as a result,”he said.

“It will notbe resolveduntil theoutcome ofthe electionis known inMay andwhicheverparty or partiesare in power maketheir intentions for business ratesc l e a r. ”

Revaluations reflect changes inthe rental market and have takenplace every five years since 1990.

The last one was in 2010 andwas based on values at April 1,2008 – the peak of the rentalmarket, before values in manyareas experienced dramatic falls.

The next revaluation was due totake place this year and wouldhave been based on rental levelsat April 2013, which would haveseen ratepayers who had seen thevalue of their properties fallbetween 2008 and 2013 enjoy areduction in rates bills.

But it has now been confirmedthat the 2017 revaluation will bebased on rental values as at Aprilthis year. This could have animpact for Bristol businessesbecause a lack of newdevelopment combined with goodlevels of take up of “grade A”space has led to increases inprime rents which will onlyaccelerate during 2015.

Paul added: “In the meantime,ratepayers need to be proactive toensure that their rate liabilities aremanaged to keep bills to aminimum. Complexities resultingfrom stop-gap tinkering with thesystem mean that the system isnow needlessly complicated andopportunities can easily bemissed.”

I n s u ra n ce

Buoyant market Riverside officespace snapped up by Spanish firm

A SPANISH insurance firm isopening a new base in Bristolafter letting a landmark citycentre office on a 15-yearl e a s e.

MAPFRE, which specialises in thecar sector and also owns the InsureAnd Go travel insurance brand, ismoving to the city centre from itsAlmondsbury base.

The firm has been looking for a newoffice since 2011 and finally found theright location, letting One VictoriaS t re e t .

The 46,500 square foot building has

room for up to 600 staff. The firm willbe relocating its MAPFRE Abraxas,MAPFRE Warranty and Home3 op-erations from its Almondsbury basebut a spokesman said it may moveother arms to the city in future.

“There will be new hirings both inBristol and overall in the UK, but wecan not quantify them at the mo-ment,” he said.

“We ’ve chosen Bristol for its dy-namism and communications infra-structure, the quality of itsprofessionals and its proximity toLondon. We are also attracted by Bris-tol’s quality of life.”

The building has been remodelledby local developer Cubex and ownerM&G Real Estate.

Cubex director Gavin Bridge said:“This is a great achievement for us to

have let the entire building in under ayear after completion. It’s an indic-ator of positive movement in the Bris-tol office market and demonstratesthe requirement for sustainable, en-ergy efficient commercial space inthe city.”

The move comes as the OfficeAgents Society released figures show-ing office take up across Greater Bris-tol passed the one million square footmark in 2014, the first time since2008.

Take-up reached 1,266,535 squarefoot with a very strong fourth quarterpushing it past the landmark tally.

City centre activity in the fourthquarter totalled 401,235 sq ft, com-pared with the 2013 figure of 76,835 sqft. While the out-of-town figure for thethree-month period was 91,649 sq ft

compared with 51,163 sq ft at the samepoint in 2013.

Andrew Hardwick of Clifton-basedproperty firm WGH said: “M a rke tconditions have significantly im-proved over the last 12 months withheadline rents increasing and incent-ive levels reducing.”

Catherine Collis from office agencyAlder King, also based in Clifton,added: “We saw a dramatic jump intake-up in the final quarter of 2014with a number of high-profile let-t i n g s.

“This was a great way to end 2014and we expect this level of activity tocontinue into 2015.”

The Victoria Street deal suggests2015 is starting strongly too, althoughlack of supply could slow the pace asthe year continues.

To u r i s m

Park invests £100,000 in facilities

Revealing the risersand fallers in region� BRISTOL-BASED companiesmake up almost a third of thebiggest businesses in the West,according to a new guide.

The Western Daily Press AnnualBusinessGuide ispublished inour sisterpapert o m o r ro w,highlightingthe biggestcompaniesbased in theregion bytur nover.

As youwould expect, Bristolis home to many of the powerhouseperformers, including Airbus,Imperial Tobacco, HargreavesLansdown and Mitie.

To see which company is top ofthe pile and who is up and down on2014, pick up a copy of tomorrow’sWestern Daily Press.

Eco n o my

Business Guide

Top place to work Kainos focuseson helping staff move up ladder

A TOURIST attraction has unveiledplans to invest £100,000 in new fa-cilities to bring in more visitors.

Puxton Park, outside Wes-ton-super-Mare, will introduce a newlake, horse and barrel carousel and a“lumberjacks dash”, where childrenwill try climbing and balancing ex-ercises while learning about differ-ent timbers.

The adventure park also wants toopen 120 holiday log cabins so vis-itors can stay at the site, which ithopes will be approved later thisye a r.

The park is also investing in con-servation by planting 2,000 newshrubs and trees to encourage morew i l d l i f e.

Managing director Alistair Mead

said: “Puxton is widely becomingknown one of the most popular ad-venture parks in the region andthrough our continued investmentwe hope to maintain this position.

“We are thrilled to announce weplan to invest another £100,000 intonew attractions this year, followingthe huge success of our bumper boatsin 2014.

“We would like to thank everyonefor their continued support, whichwithout we would not have been ableto achieve all that we have to date.”

Assistant Editor (Business)Gavin Thompson

Call 0117 934 3336Email gavin.thompson

@b-nm.co.ukTwitter @gavin_thompson1

Get in touch

Advertising RobertRodgersonCall07828 941469Email ro b e r t . ro d g e r s o n@b-nm.co.uk

Advertising JaneChapman

Call 01179 343025Email jane.chapman

@b-nm.co.uk

keep and nurture that talent.She added: “We let our people

shape the environment, we listento feedback that we are given fromour staff. We have quite a relaxedwork environment, flexible work-ing hours and casual dress.

“We have programmes in placeto drive the development of toptalent in the industry, at everystage of experience.

“Appearing once again in theSunday Times Top 100 list is agreat honour and a tribute to ouramazing career ladder, creativecoaching and community camps.

“I’m very proud of our team thatmakes these things happen.”

Growing First bids tohire 70 bus drivers� BUS operator First haslaunched a brand new recruitmentcampaign as it seeks to hire atleast 70 new bus drivers forpositions in Bristol and Bath.

With an expanding businessand increasing demand for busservices across the region, thecompany’s demand for drivers hasnever been higher.

James Freeman, managingdirector of First West of England,said: “The bus business gets inyour blood. People who join ourbusiness as drivers will find theyhave an exciting and rewardingjob, which helps to keep ourtowns and cities moving. Morepeople travel by bus in the UKthan any other form of transport.”

Transpor t

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

Engineering

Laser specialist sees bright future at new siteA COMPANY which makes preci-sion engineered parts and compon-ents has opened a new factory inYat e.

SSC Laser specialises in laser cut-ting, an accurate way of shapingmetal sheets to make manufacturingpar ts.

The factory is the latest in theexpansion of a company whose am-bition is to open a laser cuttingdivision in every major city in theUK over the next 10 years.

SSC Yate started trading thismonth with a full order book.

Sales manager Ben Cliss said:“Our growth in the area is unpre-cedented.

“We worked in an office at AztecWest for two years before expandingto the factory in Yate.

“We are determined to be number

one when it comes to service andquality”.

He said the company had installedthe latest equipment at the new site,

and added: “We are up and runningwith a new Bystronic 6kw flat bedlaser and a pressbrake to fold the flatprofiles we produce on the laser.”

The 18,000 square foot factory atStover Trading Estate has plenty ofroom for growth and the companyplans to add to the existing capacityin a short space of time.

Managing director Andy Evanssaid: “It’s fantastic to see the factoryopen.

“We have spent the last fourmonths upgrading the building towhat is now a showpiece manufac-turing unit with the very latest inlaser cutting technology.

“It’s our mission to give the verybest quality and service to our cus-tomers in the South West.”

The factory employs an initial 12staff, all of whom have a wealth ofexperience in the laser cutting in-d u s t r y.

The firm also has manufacturingdivisions in Stafford and Derby.

� From left, AlistairMead, Luke Patrick

and Lee Sargent

Interest rates ‘biggestcause for concern’� COMPANIES in Bristol areworried about how even a small risein interest rates would affect them.

Research from insurancespecialist QBE found more than onein five (22 per cent) citing interestrates as their biggest concernregarding the economy.

Thirty-nine per cent said a rise ofup to 1.5 per cent would have atangible impact on their business.

Of the 51 firms surveyed, 48 percent would have to raise scrutiny onlevels of working capital and cashflow while 38 per cent would expectincreased trade credit risk withintheir customer base. Thirty-sevenper cent would take a more cautiousapproach to spending.

Trevor Williams, head of credit andsurety in Europe at QBE, said: “Ourresearch reveals a markedsensitivity among Bristol businessesto even the smallest increase ininterest rates. In particular,companies expect their workingcapital and the credit worthiness oftheir customers to be impacted.

“The closing of 2014 and the firstdays of 2015 have seen a number ofhigh profile business failures andprofit warnings.

“Margins continue to be squeezedand payment terms extended,leaving businesses susceptible tobeing starved of cash. Companiesoffering unsecured trade credit totheir customers would be prudent toexplore the benefits and protectionthat credit insurance can deliver.”

1W

DP-E01-S1

Western Daily PressWestern Daily Press

BusinessBusinessBusinessBusinessBusinessBusinessBusinessguide2015

“Family businesses arethe backbone of thenation’s economy – theyare our unsung heroes –and they make a massivecontribution to our GDP.

� John Clapham, coach, with staff at the Kainos office Pic: Dave Betts

EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3

4 We d n e s d a y, January 21, 2015 5We d n e s d a y, January 21, 2015 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

THE management team of aBristol based insurancebroker has bought out thebusiness for an undisclosedsum.

It’s the culmination of quite a jour-ney for managing director JamesWoollam, who only planned to stayfor a couple of months when he joinedHayes Parsons after leaving school

Now James, 33, has led the buy-out.

The business which has an insur-ance premium turnover of £11 mil-lion and saw 12.5 per cent growth lastyear, was founded by George Hayesmore than 50 years ago.

It built a reputation as an inde-pendent broker, providing a widerange of insurance products and riskmanagement services for private and

commercial clients.As well working with independent

businesses in Bristol, the firm’sstrategy has been to develop nationalspecialisms in niche markets, such asmarine, education, technology andproperty industries.

It’s a plan that has helped the busi-ness to remain independent itself.

James said: “In an era of consol-idation, I am so pleased we havemanaged to remain independent andtherefore true to the original values

of the business.“We have a great team and a strong

reputation for customer focus andprofessionalism, and our acquisitiongives us the flexibility to meet ouraspirations and really push the busi-ness forward.

“We look to the future with a greatdeal of excitement and I personallyc a n’t wait to get started.”

The company recently moved tonew offices in Colston Tower in thecity centre, meaning it starts a newchapter in a new environment.

Former chairman George Hayesadded: “We have always wished forthe firm to stay independent, butwere acutely aware of the challengesthis brings with it.

“James has led significant growthin the business over the last five yearsand so we know that we are leavingHayes Parsons in great hands, safe inthe knowledge that both clients andstaff will be looked after in the man-ner they have come to expect from thecompany for the last 50 years.”

B ro ke r Boss who joinedfrom school leads buyout

We ’re on the verge of some bigdeals, says Blu Wireless chief

IN the early years, hardly anyoneat Blu Wireless got paid. It’s notthe glamorous life you mightimagine at a cutting edge techstar t-up.

But the hard work and persistenceis finally paying off for the Bris-tol-based company. Founder and chiefexecutive Henry Nurser believes theyare on the brink of some major dealswith “big household names” for theirground-breaking kit.

The company is developing tech-nology that should vastly improve 4Gphone signals without needing to digup roads and pavements to layc abl e s.

Henry said: “It all relates to mobilereception. At the moment 3G is okaybut patchy – but 3G has relativelylarge range from each cell of around1km. When it comes to 4G cells onlyhave a range of around 2-300 metres soyou get spots of good reception andareas of terrible receptioni n - b e t we e n .

“The industry recognises this prob-lem and what they need to do is putlots of little cells around the placewhich are closer together.

“Then the challenge is how do youlink them together? The conventionaltechnology is to use fibre or wiredADSL technology. What we realisedwas if you could do that using verydirectional wireless technology itcould solve a real industry problem.All the big operators are starting towake up to this.”

Earlier this month the firm ex-hibited at CES, one of the world’sbiggest trade shows for technologyand gadgets.

There Henry says they impressedpotential customers and competitorsalike. Now the team is almost readywith demonstration models of itsideas and will be showing them towould-be customers in the comingwe e k s.

But already, 53-year-old Henry islooking beyond those sales to deliv-ery – and that means recruitment.

“We anticipate getting two or threebig deals in next few months,” saidH e n r y.

“My challenge for this year is lessabout selling because we havesomething which is compelling andeveryone wants it.

“It’s all about execution and gettingtalented people on board so we candeliver in the next 18 months.”

The firm, which creates the tech-nology and then licences its man-ufacture, already employs 30members of staff, along with a hand-ful of contractors, but plans to expandthat to 50 in the near future.

It has been growing at a rate of twopeople a month for more than a year.And recruitment might be helped bythe fact that every employee hasequity in the company.

“It’s interesting work,” said Henry.“So a lot of engineers do it becausethey are interested in the technologybut they need to explain to partnerswhy they aren’t at home and that’swhere the equity helps.”

The company was born following a

conversation with Bristol Uni-ve r s i t y ’s Joe McGeehan, who is nowchairman of inward investmentagency Invest Bristol and Bath.

He suggested if someone couldsolve a problem around high-speedwireless communication elegantly,

Service ‘never reallydesigned for business’� BROADBAND has never been fitfor purpose in the commercialworld, according to the managingdirector of a telecoms company thatcounts Bristol Airport, BWOC,auctioneers Bonhams, Cooperativeand Opus among its clients.

The comments from Rob Vivian,pictur ed, come after BT has beencriticised for its slow implementationof super-fast broadband acrossparts of the South West.

They also follow a report by TalkTalk, which revealed that 65 per centof small businesses in Bristolbelieve broadbandconnectivity isfundamental totheir growth.

Rob’scompanyhas been inbusinessfor fiveyears,based inTickenham,near Bristol.

He said:“Broadband has always been bettersuited to homeowners looking touse the internet; as you candownload content at good speedsbut upload speeds have alwaysbeen slower.

“It was never really designed forbusinesses and fast-forward to thepresent and we are sending moreemails and more information isbeing held in the cloud; andbroadband has quickly become notfit for purpose for businesses.”

Rob added that businesses don’toften get the best service levelguarantees and that leased lineoptions, although more expensive,could be more effective solutions forbusinesses, because they don’tincur as much downtime, savingbusinesses more in the long-term.

“It’s not about broadband it’sabout connectivity and the markethas become very confused aroundthis, with many firms not knowing iftheir communications are fit forpurpose,” he said.

“Running your business withbroadband is like buying a MiniMetro and expecting it to do130mph.”

B roa d ba n dOculus gets set forvirtual reality event� A COMPANY leading thedevelopment of virtual realityheadsets will be part of the line-upat a new conference in Bristol.

SouthWest VR Conference,organised by Stokes Croft-basedstudio Opposable Games, willspotlight how virtual reality isshaking up the entertainmentindustry and transforming the waywe interact with film, games, TVand animation.

The one-day event, which couldbecome annual, takes place onFebruary 24 in the At-Bristolscience attraction.

Oculus, which is behind theOculus Rift headset, Aardman andYogscast will be among theguests.

Visitors will be able to try outsome of the latest VR kit,including the Oculus RiftDevelopment Kit 2 and Samsung’sGear VR Innovator Edition.

David Maher Roberts, creativeand digital media specialist atInvest Bristol & Bath, said: “Theregion has a long-establishedindustry in TV, film and animation,coupled with a thriving gamesindustry, meaning that it is wellplaced to host start-ups andestablished brands as they moveinto virtual reality.

“Current estimates indicate aworldwide market of $5.2bn,made up of games, film and TV,visualisation and experientialapplications so this is a hugelyexciting time for the region.”

Visit www.southwestvr.com formore details and tickets.

Grade A city centreoffice building sold� A BIG grade A office building inthe centre of Bristol has been soldfor an undisclosed sum.

The 89,010 sq ft Kings Orchardoffice building has been sold byDTZ on behalf of IVG to AvivaInvestors, represented by BrayFox Smith.

The building, overlooking theFloating Harbour, is let by law firmBevan Brittan on a 20-year leaseand part sub-let.

Mike Luscombe, fund managerat Aviva Investors said: “We areupbeat about the potential for UKreal estate in 2015 and particularlykey office markets outside Londonover the short to medium term.”

there would be big demand as wi-fispeeds were continuing to increase.

Henry and his fellow founders, in-cluding chief technology officer RayMcConnell, got to work. Later theyrealised the same techniques wouldwork for connected wireless infra-structure such as mobile cells.

The journey has been far from easy,h oweve r.

“People survived on nothing forover a year,” said Henry. “Then therewas a little bit of money from someangel investors from Bath of about£100,000 and that helped start thecompany. We got that to last twoyears. We stretched it pretty thin... ifyou don’t pay anybody money goesfur ther.”

Eventually they found more invest-ment in London.

“We ’d love to have been able to getmore money locally but there’s notyet the access to capital locally,” saidH e n r y.

“That takes time, you need suc-cessful entrepreneurs feeding backinto the community.”

Last year the firm, based at theEngine Shed, was the single biggestbeneficiary of the Bristol Post’s Goingfor Growth campaign, in which wehelped the West of England LocalEnterprise Partnership hand out upto £24 million in grants to businesses.It received £1 million in support,without which Henry says they“probably wouldn’t be here”.

But given that the purpose of thegrants was to create job growth, italready looks like a sound investmentof public money.

‘Phone companies stillfavouring London’� A NEW report has found Bristol ispoor for 4G. Although EE, which hasa big local base, pioneered 4G inthe city, Vodafone and O2 havebeen slow to follow.

The report said: “Bristol inparticular showed alarmingcoverage with no access to 4Gacross the city (on Vodafone andO2), despite recently being heraldedthe new tech hub of the UK.

Amy Catlow, director at ExpertMarket which carried out theresearch, said: “These findingsmake it clear that phone companiesare still favouring London, and manyplaces across the UK are receiving apoor service as a result.”

A RECRUITMENT firm working inthe construction sector has enjoyed arecord year thanks to the fast-grow-ing commercial building market.

Despite only being founded threeyears ago by friends Gary Higginsand Ben Milsom, GBRS Recruitmenthas seen revenues hit £2.5 million andis employing new members of staff tocope with demand.

And with the new nuclear reactorat Hinkley Point around the cornercombined with the burgeoning com-mercial property market in Bristol,the pair are confident of good timesahead.

Gary, 32, said: “2014 has been awhirlwind new year for us and thereis no doubt the increasing number ofoffice construction builds has beengood for business.

“We ’re supplying more and morestaff to non-residential build projects,both commercial and industrial.We ’ve definitely seen confidence blos-som amongst developers and in-ve s t o r s. ”

The last JLL and Glenigan’s latestUK commercial Construction Activ-ity Index demonstrated this growthstating that non-residential newbuild activity is increasing rapidly,

with the value of new starts over theyear to Q3 in 2014 amounting to £12.5billion – up 5.4 per cent on the year to

Friends forging aheadafter just three years

Q2. The report also stated that therise in activity has led to supply chainissues and labour shortages, which

Gary and Ben have also noticed.Ben, 32, said: “Skills shortages in

the construction industry are at theirhighest level since 2008 and this isseeing costs rising and leads timesextending.

“We are launching a campaign toencourage young people to enter con-struction and it’s been good to seesome of our clients launching theirown apprenticeship programmes tosolve the problem.”

Gary added: “The faster than ex-pected recovery is bound to bringpressures but we must look at thepositives in the construction sector.

“The industry remains in a strongposition going into 2015 and a 10 percent growth in new project starts in2014 is matching pre-recessionl eve l s.

“And there has been a four per centrise in non-residential starts, withprivately financed sectors faring bet-ter than those backed by the publics e c t o r. ”

I n s u ra n ce C o n fe re n ce

Proper ty

Re c r u i t m e n t

4G

Pe o p l e Te c h n o l o g y

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

UWE hailed forco m m i t m e ntto gay staff� UWE Bristol has beenrecognised for its commitment tosupporting gay employees.

It was the top university in thisyear’s Top 100 annual Stonewall’sWorkplace Equality Index.

Out of the hundreds ofemployers surveyed, UWE climbed24 places to 11th spot overall,from 35th position in 2014.

The index is based on a range ofkey indicators including aconfidential questionnaire oflesbian, gay and bisexual staff,with 9,700 participants nationwide.

This consistently revealed thatemployees from organisationsranked in Stonewall’s Top 100exhibited higher levels of staffsatisfaction and loyalty.

Pro Vice-Chancellor and UWEBristol diversity championProfessor Ron Ritchie said: “Weare delighted to have madeyear-on-year progress in theprestigious Stonewall Workplaceindex and to now find ourselves sohigh up and the top university inthe list. We were aware of thegreater challenge of this year’ssubmission due to a revised set ofcriteria established by Stonewall,so are especially pleased.

“We celebrate the diversity ofour workforce and know it helpsmake the university a creative,dynamic, inclusive and innovativeinstitution. Supporting the LGBTagenda in a variety of ways isimportant to us. A lot of the creditmust go to those at UWE Bristolthat work hard to make it such awelcoming and inclusive placethrough initiatives like staff andstudent networks.”

Other employers with local linksin the list included Lloyds BankingGroup (3), PwC (82), HSBC (94)and Bristol City Council (98).

� Gary Higgins and Ben Milsom

Sign uphere forbusinessnews directto yourinboxevery day

HENRY ’S TOP TIP

� ”Don’t start out looking for anexit. Build value in the companyand if at some point in the futuresomeone comes in who thinksyou are valuable and wants tobuy you, that’s fine.

“If not and you want to keep

running the company, you can.“I’m a bit old fashioned. I

believe it’s much better to dosomething difficult withexperienced people and then youcan create something of realvalue.”

James Woollam

In an era ofconsolidation, I am sopleased we haveremained independentand therefore true to theoriginal values of thebusiness.

“

� Hayes Parsons managing director James Woollam has led a buyout of the insurance broker

� Blu Wirelessfounder andchief executiveHenry Nurser

� Anastasios Karakasiliotis at work at Blu Wireless Pictures: Jon Kent

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4 We d n e s d a y, January 21, 2015 5We d n e s d a y, January 21, 2015 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

THE management team of aBristol based insurancebroker has bought out thebusiness for an undisclosedsum.

It’s the culmination of quite a jour-ney for managing director JamesWoollam, who only planned to stayfor a couple of months when he joinedHayes Parsons after leaving school

Now James, 33, has led the buy-out.

The business which has an insur-ance premium turnover of £11 mil-lion and saw 12.5 per cent growth lastyear, was founded by George Hayesmore than 50 years ago.

It built a reputation as an inde-pendent broker, providing a widerange of insurance products and riskmanagement services for private and

commercial clients.As well working with independent

businesses in Bristol, the firm’sstrategy has been to develop nationalspecialisms in niche markets, such asmarine, education, technology andproperty industries.

It’s a plan that has helped the busi-ness to remain independent itself.

James said: “In an era of consol-idation, I am so pleased we havemanaged to remain independent andtherefore true to the original values

of the business.“We have a great team and a strong

reputation for customer focus andprofessionalism, and our acquisitiongives us the flexibility to meet ouraspirations and really push the busi-ness forward.

“We look to the future with a greatdeal of excitement and I personallyc a n’t wait to get started.”

The company recently moved tonew offices in Colston Tower in thecity centre, meaning it starts a newchapter in a new environment.

Former chairman George Hayesadded: “We have always wished forthe firm to stay independent, butwere acutely aware of the challengesthis brings with it.

“James has led significant growthin the business over the last five yearsand so we know that we are leavingHayes Parsons in great hands, safe inthe knowledge that both clients andstaff will be looked after in the man-ner they have come to expect from thecompany for the last 50 years.”

B ro ke r Boss who joinedfrom school leads buyout

We ’re on the verge of some bigdeals, says Blu Wireless chief

IN the early years, hardly anyoneat Blu Wireless got paid. It’s notthe glamorous life you mightimagine at a cutting edge techstar t-up.

But the hard work and persistenceis finally paying off for the Bris-tol-based company. Founder and chiefexecutive Henry Nurser believes theyare on the brink of some major dealswith “big household names” for theirground-breaking kit.

The company is developing tech-nology that should vastly improve 4Gphone signals without needing to digup roads and pavements to layc abl e s.

Henry said: “It all relates to mobilereception. At the moment 3G is okaybut patchy – but 3G has relativelylarge range from each cell of around1km. When it comes to 4G cells onlyhave a range of around 2-300 metres soyou get spots of good reception andareas of terrible receptioni n - b e t we e n .

“The industry recognises this prob-lem and what they need to do is putlots of little cells around the placewhich are closer together.

“Then the challenge is how do youlink them together? The conventionaltechnology is to use fibre or wiredADSL technology. What we realisedwas if you could do that using verydirectional wireless technology itcould solve a real industry problem.All the big operators are starting towake up to this.”

Earlier this month the firm ex-hibited at CES, one of the world’sbiggest trade shows for technologyand gadgets.

There Henry says they impressedpotential customers and competitorsalike. Now the team is almost readywith demonstration models of itsideas and will be showing them towould-be customers in the comingwe e k s.

But already, 53-year-old Henry islooking beyond those sales to deliv-ery – and that means recruitment.

“We anticipate getting two or threebig deals in next few months,” saidH e n r y.

“My challenge for this year is lessabout selling because we havesomething which is compelling andeveryone wants it.

“It’s all about execution and gettingtalented people on board so we candeliver in the next 18 months.”

The firm, which creates the tech-nology and then licences its man-ufacture, already employs 30members of staff, along with a hand-ful of contractors, but plans to expandthat to 50 in the near future.

It has been growing at a rate of twopeople a month for more than a year.And recruitment might be helped bythe fact that every employee hasequity in the company.

“It’s interesting work,” said Henry.“So a lot of engineers do it becausethey are interested in the technologybut they need to explain to partnerswhy they aren’t at home and that’swhere the equity helps.”

The company was born following a

conversation with Bristol Uni-ve r s i t y ’s Joe McGeehan, who is nowchairman of inward investmentagency Invest Bristol and Bath.

He suggested if someone couldsolve a problem around high-speedwireless communication elegantly,

Service ‘never reallydesigned for business’� BROADBAND has never been fitfor purpose in the commercialworld, according to the managingdirector of a telecoms company thatcounts Bristol Airport, BWOC,auctioneers Bonhams, Cooperativeand Opus among its clients.

The comments from Rob Vivian,pictur ed, come after BT has beencriticised for its slow implementationof super-fast broadband acrossparts of the South West.

They also follow a report by TalkTalk, which revealed that 65 per centof small businesses in Bristolbelieve broadbandconnectivity isfundamental totheir growth.

Rob’scompanyhas been inbusinessfor fiveyears,based inTickenham,near Bristol.

He said:“Broadband has always been bettersuited to homeowners looking touse the internet; as you candownload content at good speedsbut upload speeds have alwaysbeen slower.

“It was never really designed forbusinesses and fast-forward to thepresent and we are sending moreemails and more information isbeing held in the cloud; andbroadband has quickly become notfit for purpose for businesses.”

Rob added that businesses don’toften get the best service levelguarantees and that leased lineoptions, although more expensive,could be more effective solutions forbusinesses, because they don’tincur as much downtime, savingbusinesses more in the long-term.

“It’s not about broadband it’sabout connectivity and the markethas become very confused aroundthis, with many firms not knowing iftheir communications are fit forpurpose,” he said.

“Running your business withbroadband is like buying a MiniMetro and expecting it to do130mph.”

B roa d ba n dOculus gets set forvirtual reality event� A COMPANY leading thedevelopment of virtual realityheadsets will be part of the line-upat a new conference in Bristol.

SouthWest VR Conference,organised by Stokes Croft-basedstudio Opposable Games, willspotlight how virtual reality isshaking up the entertainmentindustry and transforming the waywe interact with film, games, TVand animation.

The one-day event, which couldbecome annual, takes place onFebruary 24 in the At-Bristolscience attraction.

Oculus, which is behind theOculus Rift headset, Aardman andYogscast will be among theguests.

Visitors will be able to try outsome of the latest VR kit,including the Oculus RiftDevelopment Kit 2 and Samsung’sGear VR Innovator Edition.

David Maher Roberts, creativeand digital media specialist atInvest Bristol & Bath, said: “Theregion has a long-establishedindustry in TV, film and animation,coupled with a thriving gamesindustry, meaning that it is wellplaced to host start-ups andestablished brands as they moveinto virtual reality.

“Current estimates indicate aworldwide market of $5.2bn,made up of games, film and TV,visualisation and experientialapplications so this is a hugelyexciting time for the region.”

Visit www.southwestvr.com formore details and tickets.

Grade A city centreoffice building sold� A BIG grade A office building inthe centre of Bristol has been soldfor an undisclosed sum.

The 89,010 sq ft Kings Orchardoffice building has been sold byDTZ on behalf of IVG to AvivaInvestors, represented by BrayFox Smith.

The building, overlooking theFloating Harbour, is let by law firmBevan Brittan on a 20-year leaseand part sub-let.

Mike Luscombe, fund managerat Aviva Investors said: “We areupbeat about the potential for UKreal estate in 2015 and particularlykey office markets outside Londonover the short to medium term.”

there would be big demand as wi-fispeeds were continuing to increase.

Henry and his fellow founders, in-cluding chief technology officer RayMcConnell, got to work. Later theyrealised the same techniques wouldwork for connected wireless infra-structure such as mobile cells.

The journey has been far from easy,h oweve r.

“People survived on nothing forover a year,” said Henry. “Then therewas a little bit of money from someangel investors from Bath of about£100,000 and that helped start thecompany. We got that to last twoyears. We stretched it pretty thin... ifyou don’t pay anybody money goesfur ther.”

Eventually they found more invest-ment in London.

“We ’d love to have been able to getmore money locally but there’s notyet the access to capital locally,” saidH e n r y.

“That takes time, you need suc-cessful entrepreneurs feeding backinto the community.”

Last year the firm, based at theEngine Shed, was the single biggestbeneficiary of the Bristol Post’s Goingfor Growth campaign, in which wehelped the West of England LocalEnterprise Partnership hand out upto £24 million in grants to businesses.It received £1 million in support,without which Henry says they“probably wouldn’t be here”.

But given that the purpose of thegrants was to create job growth, italready looks like a sound investmentof public money.

‘Phone companies stillfavouring London’� A NEW report has found Bristol ispoor for 4G. Although EE, which hasa big local base, pioneered 4G inthe city, Vodafone and O2 havebeen slow to follow.

The report said: “Bristol inparticular showed alarmingcoverage with no access to 4Gacross the city (on Vodafone andO2), despite recently being heraldedthe new tech hub of the UK.

Amy Catlow, director at ExpertMarket which carried out theresearch, said: “These findingsmake it clear that phone companiesare still favouring London, and manyplaces across the UK are receiving apoor service as a result.”

A RECRUITMENT firm working inthe construction sector has enjoyed arecord year thanks to the fast-grow-ing commercial building market.

Despite only being founded threeyears ago by friends Gary Higginsand Ben Milsom, GBRS Recruitmenthas seen revenues hit £2.5 million andis employing new members of staff tocope with demand.

And with the new nuclear reactorat Hinkley Point around the cornercombined with the burgeoning com-mercial property market in Bristol,the pair are confident of good timesahead.

Gary, 32, said: “2014 has been awhirlwind new year for us and thereis no doubt the increasing number ofoffice construction builds has beengood for business.

“We ’re supplying more and morestaff to non-residential build projects,both commercial and industrial.We ’ve definitely seen confidence blos-som amongst developers and in-ve s t o r s. ”

The last JLL and Glenigan’s latestUK commercial Construction Activ-ity Index demonstrated this growthstating that non-residential newbuild activity is increasing rapidly,

with the value of new starts over theyear to Q3 in 2014 amounting to £12.5billion – up 5.4 per cent on the year to

Friends forging aheadafter just three years

Q2. The report also stated that therise in activity has led to supply chainissues and labour shortages, which

Gary and Ben have also noticed.Ben, 32, said: “Skills shortages in

the construction industry are at theirhighest level since 2008 and this isseeing costs rising and leads timesextending.

“We are launching a campaign toencourage young people to enter con-struction and it’s been good to seesome of our clients launching theirown apprenticeship programmes tosolve the problem.”

Gary added: “The faster than ex-pected recovery is bound to bringpressures but we must look at thepositives in the construction sector.

“The industry remains in a strongposition going into 2015 and a 10 percent growth in new project starts in2014 is matching pre-recessionl eve l s.

“And there has been a four per centrise in non-residential starts, withprivately financed sectors faring bet-ter than those backed by the publics e c t o r. ”

I n s u ra n ce C o n fe re n ce

Proper ty

Re c r u i t m e n t

4G

Pe o p l e Te c h n o l o g y

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

UWE hailed forco m m i t m e ntto gay staff� UWE Bristol has beenrecognised for its commitment tosupporting gay employees.

It was the top university in thisyear’s Top 100 annual Stonewall’sWorkplace Equality Index.

Out of the hundreds ofemployers surveyed, UWE climbed24 places to 11th spot overall,from 35th position in 2014.

The index is based on a range ofkey indicators including aconfidential questionnaire oflesbian, gay and bisexual staff,with 9,700 participants nationwide.

This consistently revealed thatemployees from organisationsranked in Stonewall’s Top 100exhibited higher levels of staffsatisfaction and loyalty.

Pro Vice-Chancellor and UWEBristol diversity championProfessor Ron Ritchie said: “Weare delighted to have madeyear-on-year progress in theprestigious Stonewall Workplaceindex and to now find ourselves sohigh up and the top university inthe list. We were aware of thegreater challenge of this year’ssubmission due to a revised set ofcriteria established by Stonewall,so are especially pleased.

“We celebrate the diversity ofour workforce and know it helpsmake the university a creative,dynamic, inclusive and innovativeinstitution. Supporting the LGBTagenda in a variety of ways isimportant to us. A lot of the creditmust go to those at UWE Bristolthat work hard to make it such awelcoming and inclusive placethrough initiatives like staff andstudent networks.”

Other employers with local linksin the list included Lloyds BankingGroup (3), PwC (82), HSBC (94)and Bristol City Council (98).

� Gary Higgins and Ben Milsom

Sign uphere forbusinessnews directto yourinboxevery day

HENRY ’S TOP TIP

� ”Don’t start out looking for anexit. Build value in the companyand if at some point in the futuresomeone comes in who thinksyou are valuable and wants tobuy you, that’s fine.

“If not and you want to keep

running the company, you can.“I’m a bit old fashioned. I

believe it’s much better to dosomething difficult withexperienced people and then youcan create something of realvalue.”

James Woollam

In an era ofconsolidation, I am sopleased we haveremained independentand therefore true to theoriginal values of thebusiness.

“

� Hayes Parsons managing director James Woollam has led a buyout of the insurance broker

� Blu Wirelessfounder andchief executiveHenry Nurser

� Anastasios Karakasiliotis at work at Blu Wireless Pictures: Jon Kent

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6 We d n e s d a y, January 21, 2015 7We d n e s d a y, January 21, 2015 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

The Big Interview

I WANT TO G I V E B A C K TO C I T Y THAT’S G I V E N M E SO MUCHNadia Abdullah is working to make Park Street adestination for Bristolians and visitors to the city.But, as Gavin Thompson found out, her own journeyhas been quite a ride too.

My working day

Name: Nadia Maria AbdullaAge: 25Place of birth: CarshaltonSchool: Sutton High SchoolFirst job: When I was 7 I workedin my uncle’s beauty shopselling little hair bands and clips!Hero or inspiration: My dad

Vital statistics

ONE of the region’s majorshopping destinations hasbecome a category sponsorfor the Bristol and BathWomen in Business Awards

for the first time.The Mall at Cribbs Causeway is a

leading shopping and leisure destin-ation with more than 130 stores, cafesand restaurants employing almost4,000 people, a significant proportionof whom are women.

A spokesperson for the centre said:“Women are well represented withinthe management team and we have anall-female marketing department.

“Not surprisingly 70 per cent of the13 million visitors to The Mall eachyear are women.”

The Mall is sponsoring the Con-tribution to the CommunityAward, which goes to thebusinesswoman who candemonstrate the differ-ence they have made tothe community in Bris-tol and Bath over thepast year.

The judges will belooking for how nomin-ees have made a differenceas individuals and throughthe company they run or workin.

“We are thrilled to be sponsoringThe Bristol and Bath Woman in Busi-ness Awards 2015 and specifically the‘Contribution to the community’aw a rd ” they added.

“We look forward to championingthe women who make a difference inour local communities and celebrat-

ing their successes.”The Mall’s owners recently submit-

ted plans for a major expansion thatwould create more than 6,000 new jobs

– half during construction andthe rest once it is finished –

and bring an extra £215million into the local eco-n o my.

The £316 million pro-ject would see moreshops, including a newmajor store alongside

current anchor tenantsJohn Lewis and M&S, a

new hotel, apartments andmore cafes and restaurants.

If it secures planning approval, theambitious scheme would be finishedby 2021

The Bristol and Bath Women inBusiness Awards take place on March19. Nominations have now closed butto become a sponsor or book tickets,visit the website w w w. b r i s t o l -p o s t . c o. u k / w i b a .

The Mall backs awardfor community work

My downtimeWhat’s your perfectweekend? Spending somequality time with my girlfriends;having coffee and catching up,travelling to London and seeingmy family, organising a unireunion or big friends meet upin the evening and gettingsome of my own jobs done – Ilike a mix of productivity andre l a x a t i o n .What’s your favourite book orfilm or TV show? When I wasa kid I loved A Walk toRemember, now I don’t findfilms as inspiring, but book…The Alchemist.What are your hobbies (ifany)? Dancing – ballet, lyrical,salsa, most styles really,choreography, the gym – if youcan call that a hobby? Drinkingc o ff e e ! ?

SPONSORED BY

in association with

THE last thing Nadia Abdullahremembers before the acci-dent is the circular badge of aMercedes Benz headingstraight for her. That was

eight years ago. Now, the 25-year-old,described as a “rising star” in the city,d o e s n’t make long-term plans.

“I don’t think that far ahead,” shesays. “My life changed in a day.”

The crash happened back in 2007when Nadia’s mum was driving her toa hockey game.

“There was a car heading towardsu s, ” Nadia recalls. “Mum tried to veerto the side but there was a stream oftraffic coming the other way. The lastthing I remember was the circularMercedes badge hurtling towards me.The entire front of the car came intomy side.”

Still in shock, after crawling fromthe car Nadia went to her hockeygame. “I tried running for the ball andmy legs gave way,” she says. “I triedagain and my legs gave way again. Ihad shooting pains up my spine allthat week but then my grandmotherdied and it just got overlooked ineverything that was going on. I did goto the doctors but I could touch my feet– I was a ballet dancer – and so theyd i d n’t think anything was wrong.”

There was something wrong. It wasfour years later that the real impact ofthe accident was seen.

Nadia was by thennearing the end of aninternship with glob-al brand experienceagency Jack Mortonin London, confidentof landing a full-timejob at the end of it.

But the long hoursat a desk proved toomuch for her injuredback, which gave outtwo weeks before theend of the pro-g ramme.

“I was signed offwork and had to leavemy job which wasd eva s t at i n g , ” shesays. Instead of stay-ing in the familyhome to be lookedafter, Nadia decidedto return to Bristol,where she had been astudent, to build a new life.

“I couldn’t stand my parents seeingme unable to tie my own shoes,” shesays. “I’ve always been the one in myfamily who people turned to and now Ic o u l d n’t do anything. I moved here torecover and to find myself.”

She certainly did. Despite being toldshe should give up dancing, Nadiapersisted and won a place dancing inthe closing ceremony of the London2012 Olympics with Darcey Bussell.

“I nearly bolted at audition,” admitsNadia. “All the girls were standing onone leg pulling the other over theirhead and I was recovering from injuryand couldn’t even touch my toes. Icalled my friends and they said ‘yo uare the Rocky in this story, you’ve gotnothing to lose’. So I went for it.”

After the Games, she accepted dan-cing was something she had to stop. Tomaintain a connection and use herexperience, she formed and ran a

dance company for a year, raisingmoney for charities. While that wasrewarding, it wasn’t going to pay thebills. Nadia needed a new passion and,surprisingly, found it when she took ajob at Jamie’s Italian restaurant inPark Street.

“I attended a Park Street tradersmeeting on behalf of Jamie’s, ” s ay sNadia. “At the first meeting traderskept saying Park Street is no longer adestination point. So at the next one Iwent along and said, it’s going to be along journey but for one day in theyear we can put something on to guar-antee this is a destination point.”

T hat’s how Park On Park Streetcame about. It took six months hardwork by the traders coordinated byNadia to stage the event which saw thestreet turfed over and turned into a

park on summerSunday, attractingthousands of visit-o r s.

It was a tremend-ously busy time forthe budding eventsmana g er.

She joined market-ing and communica-tions agency HarveyDavid, based inQueen Square, afterhearing a talk by oneof the founders at anetworking event, sofound herself in anew job, organising amajor event in herspare time.

“It was mayhem,”she says, laughing.But there’s no hidingthe pride in whatthey achieved.

“We created it to make it a des-tination point and people came. It be-nefitted the business, they did well.

“Did everyone work together to vo-lunteer? Yes! The businesses and com-munity worked together to put it on.Some people thought it was a coun-cil-run event but it wasn’t.

“There are huge learnings we cantake from it. The park wasn’t as goodas we thought it would be but we hadno money and we put it on.”

There was, of course, that otherevent in Park Street last year, artistLuke Jerram’s giant water slide whichmade headlines around the world. Isthere any resentment that he some-what stole Nadia’s thunder?

“It was never about my thunder,”Nadia replies. “At the end of the day, wewere trying to put Park Street on themap and he did exactly that so I’ve gotno qualms with it at all.

“It did make life very difficult be-

cause I couldn’t market anything orapply for sponsorship until he hadfinished because all the focus wastowards his project.

“Also it came out of the blue. But ourmission was to put Park Street on themap and the slide did exactly that.”

Nadia founded Park Street Eventswhich she runs with colleague Re-becca Wall – “we have very comple-mentary skills” – and the pair hope tostage the event again, but “bigger andbetter”.

They applied for a grant from Bris-tol 2015, the company behind theEuropean Green Capital programme,but were unsuccessful.

“Becky is looking at other fundingapplications and I’m looking at spon-s o r s h i p, ” says Nadia. “If it doesn’thappen in 2015 it would be a greatdisappointment but we’ll work tomake it happen in 2016. It will be abigger and better park all the waydown Park Street.”

She has ideas to get all local schoolsinvolved to make it a learning event,with areas looking at food, technology

and a host of other things. She wants toget the traders involved again too.

“We ’ve got lots of plans we just needthe funding behind us,” she says, andadds, “It’s about promoting ParkStreet, yes, but Bristol as a whole too.It’s saying, ‘look what we can do’.”

2014 was a good year for Park Street.On top of the water slide and Park onPark Street, it was a finalist in acompetition to find the UK’s Best HighStreet. Given that even within Bristol,t h e re ’s pretty stiff competition, that’squite an achievement.

“The judges were so positive aboutwhat we had done and really felt senseof community,” says Nadia. One of thefirst tasks they had to address is whatis Park Street? Gloucester Road isabout independent shops, Clifton Vil-lage is about aspiration. What is ParkS t re e t ?

“Where does Park Street fit in?”asks Nadia, rhetorically, “We connecteverywhere – from the bottom of thehill where you’ve got more artisticshops and community, moving up to-wards Clifton at the top.

“You can come here at any point ofthe day and have something for you.You can have breakfast at Boston TeaParty, do some shopping, lunch at theFolk House of the Guild then there’sthe nightlife.”

Unlike Gloucester Road where thearrival of national chains is viewedwith suspicion, Nadia believes theyhave contribution to make in ParkStreet. “The likes of Nandos, TMLewin and Wilkos want to be part ofthe community and they really helpedus out with Park on Park Street,” she

s ay s.There are some worries around

night-time safety. There have been anumber of assaults in Park Street inrecent months but Nadia says the dayand night-time businesses work muchmore closely now recognising it’s inall their interests to make it a safeplace where people want to come.

What of the future, then? Nadia con-tinues to work for Harvey David andrun Park Street Events CommunityInterest Company. She isn’t lookingtoo far beyond another Park On ParkS t re e t .

“I’m not allowed to run. I had to giveup hockey and dancing. If I look ateverything I gave up I can get reallyne gative,” says Nadia.

“But I’m a positive person. I movedto Bristol to find myself and I did. Thecity has given me so much. I enjoyleading and influencing in order tohelp promote Bristol. I want to giveback to the city because of what it hasgiven to me.”

No set long-term goals, but plenty ofbig ideas.

My working dayYou wake up at? 7amWhat do you have forbreakfast? I combine cereals:muesli, granola and Weetabix!What time do you start work?8.30amWhat happens in your typicalworking day? Oh wow, well thatdepends on what project I am on.It ranges, but I usually start themorning with a team meeting,before getting my head down inthe office to tick off the day’sto-do-list, the afternoon will

consist of couple of meetings withnew businesses / key people inthe city. Then it will be onto ParkStreet Events and how we cangrow this to promoting all thatBristol have to offer and creatingopportunities.What time do you go home?Usually home about 9pm (afterthe gym or networking meetings)Do you take work home/attendevening functions? I do attendwork / evening functions, but I trynot to take work home but insteadfinish later in the office.

Sponsor profile

� An artist’s impression of the planned Mall expansion

� Nadia Abdulla, founder ofPark Street Events; inset left,Nadia ready to dance at theOlympics Main pic: Dan Regan

�

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6 We d n e s d a y, January 21, 2015 7We d n e s d a y, January 21, 2015 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

The Big Interview

I WANT TO G I V E B A C K TO C I T Y THAT’S G I V E N M E SO MUCHNadia Abdullah is working to make Park Street adestination for Bristolians and visitors to the city.But, as Gavin Thompson found out, her own journeyhas been quite a ride too.

My working day

Name: Nadia Maria AbdullaAge: 25Place of birth: CarshaltonSchool: Sutton High SchoolFirst job: When I was 7 I workedin my uncle’s beauty shopselling little hair bands and clips!Hero or inspiration: My dad

Vital statistics

ONE of the region’s majorshopping destinations hasbecome a category sponsorfor the Bristol and BathWomen in Business Awards

for the first time.The Mall at Cribbs Causeway is a

leading shopping and leisure destin-ation with more than 130 stores, cafesand restaurants employing almost4,000 people, a significant proportionof whom are women.

A spokesperson for the centre said:“Women are well represented withinthe management team and we have anall-female marketing department.

“Not surprisingly 70 per cent of the13 million visitors to The Mall eachyear are women.”

The Mall is sponsoring the Con-tribution to the CommunityAward, which goes to thebusinesswoman who candemonstrate the differ-ence they have made tothe community in Bris-tol and Bath over thepast year.

The judges will belooking for how nomin-ees have made a differenceas individuals and throughthe company they run or workin.

“We are thrilled to be sponsoringThe Bristol and Bath Woman in Busi-ness Awards 2015 and specifically the‘Contribution to the community’aw a rd ” they added.

“We look forward to championingthe women who make a difference inour local communities and celebrat-

ing their successes.”The Mall’s owners recently submit-

ted plans for a major expansion thatwould create more than 6,000 new jobs

– half during construction andthe rest once it is finished –

and bring an extra £215million into the local eco-n o my.

The £316 million pro-ject would see moreshops, including a newmajor store alongside

current anchor tenantsJohn Lewis and M&S, a

new hotel, apartments andmore cafes and restaurants.

If it secures planning approval, theambitious scheme would be finishedby 2021

The Bristol and Bath Women inBusiness Awards take place on March19. Nominations have now closed butto become a sponsor or book tickets,visit the website w w w. b r i s t o l -p o s t . c o. u k / w i b a .

The Mall backs awardfor community work

My downtimeWhat’s your perfectweekend? Spending somequality time with my girlfriends;having coffee and catching up,travelling to London and seeingmy family, organising a unireunion or big friends meet upin the evening and gettingsome of my own jobs done – Ilike a mix of productivity andre l a x a t i o n .What’s your favourite book orfilm or TV show? When I wasa kid I loved A Walk toRemember, now I don’t findfilms as inspiring, but book…The Alchemist.What are your hobbies (ifany)? Dancing – ballet, lyrical,salsa, most styles really,choreography, the gym – if youcan call that a hobby? Drinkingc o ff e e ! ?

SPONSORED BY

in association with

THE last thing Nadia Abdullahremembers before the acci-dent is the circular badge of aMercedes Benz headingstraight for her. That was

eight years ago. Now, the 25-year-old,described as a “rising star” in the city,d o e s n’t make long-term plans.

“I don’t think that far ahead,” shesays. “My life changed in a day.”

The crash happened back in 2007when Nadia’s mum was driving her toa hockey game.

“There was a car heading towardsu s, ” Nadia recalls. “Mum tried to veerto the side but there was a stream oftraffic coming the other way. The lastthing I remember was the circularMercedes badge hurtling towards me.The entire front of the car came intomy side.”

Still in shock, after crawling fromthe car Nadia went to her hockeygame. “I tried running for the ball andmy legs gave way,” she says. “I triedagain and my legs gave way again. Ihad shooting pains up my spine allthat week but then my grandmotherdied and it just got overlooked ineverything that was going on. I did goto the doctors but I could touch my feet– I was a ballet dancer – and so theyd i d n’t think anything was wrong.”

There was something wrong. It wasfour years later that the real impact ofthe accident was seen.

Nadia was by thennearing the end of aninternship with glob-al brand experienceagency Jack Mortonin London, confidentof landing a full-timejob at the end of it.

But the long hoursat a desk proved toomuch for her injuredback, which gave outtwo weeks before theend of the pro-g ramme.

“I was signed offwork and had to leavemy job which wasd eva s t at i n g , ” shesays. Instead of stay-ing in the familyhome to be lookedafter, Nadia decidedto return to Bristol,where she had been astudent, to build a new life.

“I couldn’t stand my parents seeingme unable to tie my own shoes,” shesays. “I’ve always been the one in myfamily who people turned to and now Ic o u l d n’t do anything. I moved here torecover and to find myself.”

She certainly did. Despite being toldshe should give up dancing, Nadiapersisted and won a place dancing inthe closing ceremony of the London2012 Olympics with Darcey Bussell.

“I nearly bolted at audition,” admitsNadia. “All the girls were standing onone leg pulling the other over theirhead and I was recovering from injuryand couldn’t even touch my toes. Icalled my friends and they said ‘yo uare the Rocky in this story, you’ve gotnothing to lose’. So I went for it.”

After the Games, she accepted dan-cing was something she had to stop. Tomaintain a connection and use herexperience, she formed and ran a

dance company for a year, raisingmoney for charities. While that wasrewarding, it wasn’t going to pay thebills. Nadia needed a new passion and,surprisingly, found it when she took ajob at Jamie’s Italian restaurant inPark Street.

“I attended a Park Street tradersmeeting on behalf of Jamie’s, ” s ay sNadia. “At the first meeting traderskept saying Park Street is no longer adestination point. So at the next one Iwent along and said, it’s going to be along journey but for one day in theyear we can put something on to guar-antee this is a destination point.”

T hat’s how Park On Park Streetcame about. It took six months hardwork by the traders coordinated byNadia to stage the event which saw thestreet turfed over and turned into a

park on summerSunday, attractingthousands of visit-o r s.

It was a tremend-ously busy time forthe budding eventsmana g er.

She joined market-ing and communica-tions agency HarveyDavid, based inQueen Square, afterhearing a talk by oneof the founders at anetworking event, sofound herself in anew job, organising amajor event in herspare time.

“It was mayhem,”she says, laughing.But there’s no hidingthe pride in whatthey achieved.

“We created it to make it a des-tination point and people came. It be-nefitted the business, they did well.

“Did everyone work together to vo-lunteer? Yes! The businesses and com-munity worked together to put it on.Some people thought it was a coun-cil-run event but it wasn’t.

“There are huge learnings we cantake from it. The park wasn’t as goodas we thought it would be but we hadno money and we put it on.”

There was, of course, that otherevent in Park Street last year, artistLuke Jerram’s giant water slide whichmade headlines around the world. Isthere any resentment that he some-what stole Nadia’s thunder?

“It was never about my thunder,”Nadia replies. “At the end of the day, wewere trying to put Park Street on themap and he did exactly that so I’ve gotno qualms with it at all.

“It did make life very difficult be-

cause I couldn’t market anything orapply for sponsorship until he hadfinished because all the focus wastowards his project.

“Also it came out of the blue. But ourmission was to put Park Street on themap and the slide did exactly that.”

Nadia founded Park Street Eventswhich she runs with colleague Re-becca Wall – “we have very comple-mentary skills” – and the pair hope tostage the event again, but “bigger andbetter”.

They applied for a grant from Bris-tol 2015, the company behind theEuropean Green Capital programme,but were unsuccessful.

“Becky is looking at other fundingapplications and I’m looking at spon-s o r s h i p, ” says Nadia. “If it doesn’thappen in 2015 it would be a greatdisappointment but we’ll work tomake it happen in 2016. It will be abigger and better park all the waydown Park Street.”

She has ideas to get all local schoolsinvolved to make it a learning event,with areas looking at food, technology

and a host of other things. She wants toget the traders involved again too.

“We ’ve got lots of plans we just needthe funding behind us,” she says, andadds, “It’s about promoting ParkStreet, yes, but Bristol as a whole too.It’s saying, ‘look what we can do’.”

2014 was a good year for Park Street.On top of the water slide and Park onPark Street, it was a finalist in acompetition to find the UK’s Best HighStreet. Given that even within Bristol,t h e re ’s pretty stiff competition, that’squite an achievement.

“The judges were so positive aboutwhat we had done and really felt senseof community,” says Nadia. One of thefirst tasks they had to address is whatis Park Street? Gloucester Road isabout independent shops, Clifton Vil-lage is about aspiration. What is ParkS t re e t ?

“Where does Park Street fit in?”asks Nadia, rhetorically, “We connecteverywhere – from the bottom of thehill where you’ve got more artisticshops and community, moving up to-wards Clifton at the top.

“You can come here at any point ofthe day and have something for you.You can have breakfast at Boston TeaParty, do some shopping, lunch at theFolk House of the Guild then there’sthe nightlife.”

Unlike Gloucester Road where thearrival of national chains is viewedwith suspicion, Nadia believes theyhave contribution to make in ParkStreet. “The likes of Nandos, TMLewin and Wilkos want to be part ofthe community and they really helpedus out with Park on Park Street,” she

s ay s.There are some worries around

night-time safety. There have been anumber of assaults in Park Street inrecent months but Nadia says the dayand night-time businesses work muchmore closely now recognising it’s inall their interests to make it a safeplace where people want to come.

What of the future, then? Nadia con-tinues to work for Harvey David andrun Park Street Events CommunityInterest Company. She isn’t lookingtoo far beyond another Park On ParkS t re e t .

“I’m not allowed to run. I had to giveup hockey and dancing. If I look ateverything I gave up I can get reallyne gative,” says Nadia.

“But I’m a positive person. I movedto Bristol to find myself and I did. Thecity has given me so much. I enjoyleading and influencing in order tohelp promote Bristol. I want to giveback to the city because of what it hasgiven to me.”

No set long-term goals, but plenty ofbig ideas.

My working dayYou wake up at? 7amWhat do you have forbreakfast? I combine cereals:muesli, granola and Weetabix!What time do you start work?8.30amWhat happens in your typicalworking day? Oh wow, well thatdepends on what project I am on.It ranges, but I usually start themorning with a team meeting,before getting my head down inthe office to tick off the day’sto-do-list, the afternoon will

consist of couple of meetings withnew businesses / key people inthe city. Then it will be onto ParkStreet Events and how we cangrow this to promoting all thatBristol have to offer and creatingopportunities.What time do you go home?Usually home about 9pm (afterthe gym or networking meetings)Do you take work home/attendevening functions? I do attendwork / evening functions, but I trynot to take work home but insteadfinish later in the office.

Sponsor profile

� An artist’s impression of the planned Mall expansion

� Nadia Abdulla, founder ofPark Street Events; inset left,Nadia ready to dance at theOlympics Main pic: Dan Regan

�

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8 We d n e s d a y, January 21, 2015 9We d n e s d a y, January 21, 2015 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

“SUCCESS is a lousy teacher.It seduces smart people intothinking they can’t lose.”

Bill Gates said that, and he knows athing or two about running a suc-cessful company. But success in busi-ness is fragile. One minute, thingscan be rolling along nicely. Take youreye off the ball, and trouble canstar t.

And when things go wrong, it canhappen really quickly.

Cash is king for most businessesbut especially for the smaller ones,who may lack assets they can financeand be vulnerable to late invoice pay-ments as a result.

Many companies are just a coupleof months’ cashflow away from in-solvency. Then you’re into the realmof insolvent trading, winding-up or-ders, creditors’ voluntary arrange-ments and the like. We’d rather not got h e re.

Khurm Arshad is consultant atLightside Financial, a Bristol-basedteam of debt advisers which helpspeople out with personal and busi-ness debt.

Unsurprisingly, the Lightside of-fices were particularly busy duringthe recession but they still receive aregular stream of referrals from ac-countants and solicitors whose cli-ents have run into trouble.

“Lots of business can’t growwithout borrowing from banks, orasset finance, or some other way ofusing debt as a strategy to grow,” hesaid. “But obviously it’s better if theyd o n’t have to. If it is necessary,however, it’s important to constantlymonitor what you owe your creditorsand what your debtors owe you. Makesure that your invoices get paid, be-cause that is your lifeline.”

“A lot of the businesses we see,”says Mr Arshad, “leave it quite late towalk into the accountant’s office, puttheir hand up, and say they need help.It can often be out of their control – ifdebtors owe money and the businessh a s n’t got the necessary cash flow asa result, the first thing to be done is topick up the phone and get help. Be-cause if you owe money to your cred-itors, 30 days can roll by veryq u i ck ly.

“Businesses need to get advice assoon as they know they have fin-ancial worries, because it’s far easierto deal with it in the beginning than itis two, three or four months down thel i n e.

“The first thing to do is see wherethe income is. Many building com-panies, for example, really struggledduring the recession and for themrestructuring consisted of refinan-cing assets, putting unsecured debtsinto arrangements and giving thembreathing space to work through therecession so that they can pick thingsup when work starts coming inag ain.

“In the most extreme cases, com-panies end up going into liquidationor administration. We would always

Steve Ramsbottom is a partner whocovers business restructuring and in-solvency at the Bristol office of ac-countancy firm Moore Stephens.

He said: “While economic growthshould lead to a welcome upturn inorders, it could catch out businessesthat are not properly prepared. It isimportant for businesses, theirbankers and professional advisers tobe alert to the signs of overtrading.

“Overtrading can be addressed ifidentified in good time. Warningsigns include: consistently borrow-ing to get through the month, anever-increasing overdraft, late pay-ment of suppliers to manage cashflows, rising customer complaintssuggesting drop in quality of goods orservices, late payment by customersindicating a weakness in credit con-trol, slipping margins with ordersbeing priced too competitively andstock shortages or excess stock.

“Banks and professional advisersare in a good position to identifywhen a business is in danger of over-trading and help clients manage thes i t u at i o n .

“They should make sure their cli-ents have a robust and integratedbudget, regular management report-ing and a rolling 13-week cash flowfo re c a s t .

“They should also consider usingkey performance indicators and vari-ance analysis – comparing actual res-ults to budget – to give greater insightinto business performance.

“Other ways in which advisers canhelp their clients is to encouragethem to engage with their suppliersearly to agree flexible credit terms, orconsider whether the relevant busi-ness model is fit for purpose andready for growth.”

So whether it is the business owneror a professional adviser, someoneinvolved with the company shouldalways keep on top of the financialstate of play. And the worst thing ispossible is to avoid the issue.

David Johnson, director at ProbusFinancial Consultants and regionalchairman of the Chartered Instituteof Management Accountants, agrees:“We are likely to continue in a verymixed and volatile world economy soit’s essential business don’t burytheir heads and become complacent.

“Review and renewal is key to agood healthy future and the better theinformation and intelligence man-agers have, the better the chances ofdoing the right and best thing for thebusiness and its stakeholders.

“I have worked with a company inthe clean and dirty water industrywhere I happened to go in the daybefore the bank sent in its restruc-turing people to explain what washappening. The company could havebeen wound up because the bank wasthreatening to withdraw its overdraftf acility.

“I was able to persuade the bankthat the company was viable and itcould manage the cashflow – it be-came a rapidly-growing businesswithin 18 months.

“In this case, they needed someoneto take charge of the finance functionand have a respected presence in theboardroom to enable them to keep theflow of cash coming through.

“Companies also need to identifyareas of weakness within the busi-ness – it’s no good the heart beinggood if the lungs are going to fail.

“Another example is an engineerand repair services company whichhad contracts with major brands likeSony and Panasonic to do warrantyrepair work, which didn’t under-stand where the profitability of itsbusiness was.

“It’s all well and good having bigbrand clients but there’s no point ifyo u ’re losing money, because it costs

Focus on start-ups | Sponsored by THEME SPONSOR’S NAME HERE.

What happens to busi-nesses when they hit arocky patch? RupertJanisch speaks to ex-perts in Bristol abouthow they can recover

� NOW in its 25th year, RhodesEvent Management started life in1989 as Rhodes Leisure, set upby former Gloucestershire andDurham County cricketer PhilBainbridge.

Offering corporate hospitalityand activities, the companyenjoyed success, and RhodesEvent Management wasincorporated in 1998 with threedirectors, five employees, itsown premises and a host ofactivity, team-building,entertainment and conferenceequipment.

Things didn’t go so well whenthe recession of 2008 landed asRhodes faced falling sales andwith overheads of £30,000 amonth – including staff,mortgages, cars, leasingagreements and directors’salaries.

“It doesn’t take too long,” saidMr Bainbridge, “of not hostingevents, for £30,000 a month tostart eating serious chunks out ofyour accounts.

“Even though we had run areally good business, I supposewe were a bit naive in notplanning ahead as well as weshould have done. We soonfound ourselves in a pretty trickysituation.

“We asked the bank for morelending, based on the fact thatwe had around £140,000 ofequity in our own units andabout £100,000 of stock. Butwhen it started raining, the banksw e re n ’t lending out anyu m b re l l a s .

‘We were a bitnaive in notlooking ahead’

Case study

IT IS an unfortunate fact thatmany businesses fail becausetheir owners or directors haveeither not spotted the warningsigns in time, or delayed taking

action because they think things willshortly turn around by themselves.

This happens to otherwise veryeffective owner managers becausethere is usually a delay between theboat springing a leak and that sink-ing feeling.

The three keys to avoiding prob-lems are:� Planning� Fo re c a s t i n g� Protective action

These are all inter-related and inmilitary or sporting terms could berespectively characterised asstrategy, tactics and emergency ac-tion, developing as the campaign orgame unfolds.

The foundations of success – and in

Written plan the key to success... and avoidance of failure

Business rescue & recovery

EXPERT ADVICE WHAT YOU SHOULD DO WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH

difficult times the avoidance of fail-ure counts as success – start with awritten plan.

There is commercially availablesoftware which will enable you towrite a professional looking plan, andit is worth spending time and a mod-est amount of money on this.

“While economicgrowth should lead to awelcome upturn inorders, it is important forbusinesses, theirbankers and professionaladvisers to be alert tothe signs of overtrading.

try and avoid that but there are circumstances when it’s the only thingwhich is applicable.”

Now that the economy is improvingand businesses want to capitalise onthe potential for growth, they shouldbe aware of the dangers of overtrad-ing – when a business is stretchedbeyond its resources, whether interms of staff, production capacity or,importantly, working capital.

In all cases your main businessplan should be backed up by a mar-keting plan.

You might be able to get the op-erations, administration and financenear perfect, but without a way tobring your products or services tomarket this will be wasted effort.

A written plan provides a goodbasis for forecasting. Many busi-nesses only produce forecasts whenthey have to, a typical example beingto secure financial support from abank or investor.

However, forecasting is an abso-lutely essential business tool whichwill help you take the right decisionswith regard to issues such as thedevelopment of new products and ser-vices, new premises, borrowing fa-cilities, investment in plant,investing in a new IT system, or whento take on new employees.

Find out where you are now. Ask

your accountant to analyse the lastthree to five years’ trading results,and comment on areas such as li-quidity, margin, return on assets andso forth.

This should include benchmarkingyour company against the industrystandard, using readily availabledata from trade associations.

Use this data to come up with whatthe next five years would look like ifyou made no changes to the business.Some accountants have access to soft-ware which uses techniques such asregression analysis to come up withp re d i c t i o n s.

Then factor in all the changes youare planning, such as purchasing anew asset, developing a new product,putting in new systems, outsourcingor insourcing certain activities, im-proving credit control and so forth.

This will not only help you with astraight “ye s ” or “no” decision but

also a “wh e n ”.Stress test your model, by factoring

in increased interest rates, below tar-get sales, spikes in raw materialprices, labour shortages, increasedtax rates and anything else whichcould impact your business.

If the short term part of the forecastshows you heading for trouble, takeprotective action.

This will need intensivemicro-managing and the key areaswill be break-even point, margin andcash flow control. You may have toperform some painful pruning of thebusiness in order to for it to live tofight another day. The skill lies indoing this without harming the me-dium term prospects unduly.

But be quick – in an organism ascomplex as even a modestly sizedbusiness there is a delay in sendinginstructions and the ship answeringto the helm.

Andrew FisherExecutive directorAlanbrookes Ltd01934 863386Andr ewFisher@Alanbrookes.co.ukw w w. a l a n -brookes.co.uk

Know how

“We made some redundanciesto cut costs but in 2009 the threedirectors decided to split thebusiness up in order to save it,selling the units and theequipment.

“I carried on with Rhodes – wehad a brand which was worthmaintaining – and the other twodirectors started up their ownenterprises. It was veryamicable.

“The plan was to pay off ourdebts but continue to trade. Weused accountants, and hadsome formalised exit contractsdrawn up.

“It wasn’t too formal – it wasdone on a friendly basis with theview that we would all carry onworking together.

“As it turns out, it hasn’thappened that way but there’snot been any bitterness at all.The business was in doubt atone stage but I’m very proud ofwhat we’ve achieved since then.

“In the first year after 2009,Rhodes turned over around£400,000 with me on my own,and it’s now up to £750,000 orso.

“Since we split, I’ve set upseveral joint ventures so I haveexactly the same offering ofservices that we had before therecession, just without theoverheads.

“In retrospect, we were veryfortunate to have the foresight tobuy our own business premises,which meant we had someequity to weather the storm.

“It’s always nice to havesomething which can help baleyou out of a tricky situation. Ifpush comes to shove, youalways have that option. Again,that issue is redressed and we’reback in our own offices again.”

� Former cricketer PhilBainbridge runs an eventmanagement business

you more than you are able to chargethe manufacturer. So it’s about know-ing and understanding where theywere making and losing money. Inthis case, they were busy but theywere busy fools, because they weren’tworking in profitable areas.

“The company was going to gounder and it took someone like me,who could look at the business fromthe outside, who could identify whichthe profitable parts of the businesswe re. ”

While debt can become a majormillstone around the neck of anybusiness, Mr Arshad believes that its h o u l d n’t put business owners offborrowing, or investing.

“Lots of business can’t growwithout borrowing from banks, orasset finance, or some other way ofusing debt as a strategy to grow,” hesaid. “So we wouldn’t advise peoplenot to get into debt. But it’s importantto constantly monitor what you oweand what your debtors owe you. Makesure that your invoices get paid, be-cause that is your lifeline.”

“A lot of the businesseswe see leave it quite lateto walk into theaccountant’s office, puttheir hand up, and saythey need help. It canoften be out of theirc o n t ro l .

“Companies need toidentify areas ofweakness within thebusiness – it’s nogood the heart beinggood if the lungsare going to fail.

Khurm ArshadSteve Ramsbottom

David Johnson

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8 We d n e s d a y, January 21, 2015 9We d n e s d a y, January 21, 2015 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

“SUCCESS is a lousy teacher.It seduces smart people intothinking they can’t lose.”

Bill Gates said that, and he knows athing or two about running a suc-cessful company. But success in busi-ness is fragile. One minute, thingscan be rolling along nicely. Take youreye off the ball, and trouble canstar t.

And when things go wrong, it canhappen really quickly.

Cash is king for most businessesbut especially for the smaller ones,who may lack assets they can financeand be vulnerable to late invoice pay-ments as a result.

Many companies are just a coupleof months’ cashflow away from in-solvency. Then you’re into the realmof insolvent trading, winding-up or-ders, creditors’ voluntary arrange-ments and the like. We’d rather not got h e re.

Khurm Arshad is consultant atLightside Financial, a Bristol-basedteam of debt advisers which helpspeople out with personal and busi-ness debt.

Unsurprisingly, the Lightside of-fices were particularly busy duringthe recession but they still receive aregular stream of referrals from ac-countants and solicitors whose cli-ents have run into trouble.

“Lots of business can’t growwithout borrowing from banks, orasset finance, or some other way ofusing debt as a strategy to grow,” hesaid. “But obviously it’s better if theyd o n’t have to. If it is necessary,however, it’s important to constantlymonitor what you owe your creditorsand what your debtors owe you. Makesure that your invoices get paid, be-cause that is your lifeline.”

“A lot of the businesses we see,”says Mr Arshad, “leave it quite late towalk into the accountant’s office, puttheir hand up, and say they need help.It can often be out of their control – ifdebtors owe money and the businessh a s n’t got the necessary cash flow asa result, the first thing to be done is topick up the phone and get help. Be-cause if you owe money to your cred-itors, 30 days can roll by veryq u i ck ly.

“Businesses need to get advice assoon as they know they have fin-ancial worries, because it’s far easierto deal with it in the beginning than itis two, three or four months down thel i n e.

“The first thing to do is see wherethe income is. Many building com-panies, for example, really struggledduring the recession and for themrestructuring consisted of refinan-cing assets, putting unsecured debtsinto arrangements and giving thembreathing space to work through therecession so that they can pick thingsup when work starts coming inag ain.

“In the most extreme cases, com-panies end up going into liquidationor administration. We would always

Steve Ramsbottom is a partner whocovers business restructuring and in-solvency at the Bristol office of ac-countancy firm Moore Stephens.

He said: “While economic growthshould lead to a welcome upturn inorders, it could catch out businessesthat are not properly prepared. It isimportant for businesses, theirbankers and professional advisers tobe alert to the signs of overtrading.

“Overtrading can be addressed ifidentified in good time. Warningsigns include: consistently borrow-ing to get through the month, anever-increasing overdraft, late pay-ment of suppliers to manage cashflows, rising customer complaintssuggesting drop in quality of goods orservices, late payment by customersindicating a weakness in credit con-trol, slipping margins with ordersbeing priced too competitively andstock shortages or excess stock.

“Banks and professional advisersare in a good position to identifywhen a business is in danger of over-trading and help clients manage thes i t u at i o n .

“They should make sure their cli-ents have a robust and integratedbudget, regular management report-ing and a rolling 13-week cash flowfo re c a s t .

“They should also consider usingkey performance indicators and vari-ance analysis – comparing actual res-ults to budget – to give greater insightinto business performance.

“Other ways in which advisers canhelp their clients is to encouragethem to engage with their suppliersearly to agree flexible credit terms, orconsider whether the relevant busi-ness model is fit for purpose andready for growth.”

So whether it is the business owneror a professional adviser, someoneinvolved with the company shouldalways keep on top of the financialstate of play. And the worst thing ispossible is to avoid the issue.

David Johnson, director at ProbusFinancial Consultants and regionalchairman of the Chartered Instituteof Management Accountants, agrees:“We are likely to continue in a verymixed and volatile world economy soit’s essential business don’t burytheir heads and become complacent.

“Review and renewal is key to agood healthy future and the better theinformation and intelligence man-agers have, the better the chances ofdoing the right and best thing for thebusiness and its stakeholders.

“I have worked with a company inthe clean and dirty water industrywhere I happened to go in the daybefore the bank sent in its restruc-turing people to explain what washappening. The company could havebeen wound up because the bank wasthreatening to withdraw its overdraftf acility.

“I was able to persuade the bankthat the company was viable and itcould manage the cashflow – it be-came a rapidly-growing businesswithin 18 months.

“In this case, they needed someoneto take charge of the finance functionand have a respected presence in theboardroom to enable them to keep theflow of cash coming through.

“Companies also need to identifyareas of weakness within the busi-ness – it’s no good the heart beinggood if the lungs are going to fail.

“Another example is an engineerand repair services company whichhad contracts with major brands likeSony and Panasonic to do warrantyrepair work, which didn’t under-stand where the profitability of itsbusiness was.

“It’s all well and good having bigbrand clients but there’s no point ifyo u ’re losing money, because it costs

Focus on start-ups | Sponsored by THEME SPONSOR’S NAME HERE.

What happens to busi-nesses when they hit arocky patch? RupertJanisch speaks to ex-perts in Bristol abouthow they can recover

� NOW in its 25th year, RhodesEvent Management started life in1989 as Rhodes Leisure, set upby former Gloucestershire andDurham County cricketer PhilBainbridge.

Offering corporate hospitalityand activities, the companyenjoyed success, and RhodesEvent Management wasincorporated in 1998 with threedirectors, five employees, itsown premises and a host ofactivity, team-building,entertainment and conferenceequipment.

Things didn’t go so well whenthe recession of 2008 landed asRhodes faced falling sales andwith overheads of £30,000 amonth – including staff,mortgages, cars, leasingagreements and directors’salaries.

“It doesn’t take too long,” saidMr Bainbridge, “of not hostingevents, for £30,000 a month tostart eating serious chunks out ofyour accounts.

“Even though we had run areally good business, I supposewe were a bit naive in notplanning ahead as well as weshould have done. We soonfound ourselves in a pretty trickysituation.

“We asked the bank for morelending, based on the fact thatwe had around £140,000 ofequity in our own units andabout £100,000 of stock. Butwhen it started raining, the banksw e re n ’t lending out anyu m b re l l a s .

‘We were a bitnaive in notlooking ahead’

Case study

IT IS an unfortunate fact thatmany businesses fail becausetheir owners or directors haveeither not spotted the warningsigns in time, or delayed taking

action because they think things willshortly turn around by themselves.

This happens to otherwise veryeffective owner managers becausethere is usually a delay between theboat springing a leak and that sink-ing feeling.

The three keys to avoiding prob-lems are:� Planning� Fo re c a s t i n g� Protective action

These are all inter-related and inmilitary or sporting terms could berespectively characterised asstrategy, tactics and emergency ac-tion, developing as the campaign orgame unfolds.

The foundations of success – and in

Written plan the key to success... and avoidance of failure

Business rescue & recovery

EXPERT ADVICE WHAT YOU SHOULD DO WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH

difficult times the avoidance of fail-ure counts as success – start with awritten plan.

There is commercially availablesoftware which will enable you towrite a professional looking plan, andit is worth spending time and a mod-est amount of money on this.

“While economicgrowth should lead to awelcome upturn inorders, it is important forbusinesses, theirbankers and professionaladvisers to be alert tothe signs of overtrading.

try and avoid that but there are circumstances when it’s the only thingwhich is applicable.”

Now that the economy is improvingand businesses want to capitalise onthe potential for growth, they shouldbe aware of the dangers of overtrad-ing – when a business is stretchedbeyond its resources, whether interms of staff, production capacity or,importantly, working capital.

In all cases your main businessplan should be backed up by a mar-keting plan.

You might be able to get the op-erations, administration and financenear perfect, but without a way tobring your products or services tomarket this will be wasted effort.

A written plan provides a goodbasis for forecasting. Many busi-nesses only produce forecasts whenthey have to, a typical example beingto secure financial support from abank or investor.

However, forecasting is an abso-lutely essential business tool whichwill help you take the right decisionswith regard to issues such as thedevelopment of new products and ser-vices, new premises, borrowing fa-cilities, investment in plant,investing in a new IT system, or whento take on new employees.

Find out where you are now. Ask

your accountant to analyse the lastthree to five years’ trading results,and comment on areas such as li-quidity, margin, return on assets andso forth.

This should include benchmarkingyour company against the industrystandard, using readily availabledata from trade associations.

Use this data to come up with whatthe next five years would look like ifyou made no changes to the business.Some accountants have access to soft-ware which uses techniques such asregression analysis to come up withp re d i c t i o n s.

Then factor in all the changes youare planning, such as purchasing anew asset, developing a new product,putting in new systems, outsourcingor insourcing certain activities, im-proving credit control and so forth.

This will not only help you with astraight “ye s ” or “no” decision but

also a “wh e n ”.Stress test your model, by factoring

in increased interest rates, below tar-get sales, spikes in raw materialprices, labour shortages, increasedtax rates and anything else whichcould impact your business.

If the short term part of the forecastshows you heading for trouble, takeprotective action.

This will need intensivemicro-managing and the key areaswill be break-even point, margin andcash flow control. You may have toperform some painful pruning of thebusiness in order to for it to live tofight another day. The skill lies indoing this without harming the me-dium term prospects unduly.

But be quick – in an organism ascomplex as even a modestly sizedbusiness there is a delay in sendinginstructions and the ship answeringto the helm.

Andrew FisherExecutive directorAlanbrookes Ltd01934 863386Andr ewFisher@Alanbrookes.co.ukw w w. a l a n -brookes.co.uk

Know how

“We made some redundanciesto cut costs but in 2009 the threedirectors decided to split thebusiness up in order to save it,selling the units and theequipment.

“I carried on with Rhodes – wehad a brand which was worthmaintaining – and the other twodirectors started up their ownenterprises. It was veryamicable.

“The plan was to pay off ourdebts but continue to trade. Weused accountants, and hadsome formalised exit contractsdrawn up.

“It wasn’t too formal – it wasdone on a friendly basis with theview that we would all carry onworking together.

“As it turns out, it hasn’thappened that way but there’snot been any bitterness at all.The business was in doubt atone stage but I’m very proud ofwhat we’ve achieved since then.

“In the first year after 2009,Rhodes turned over around£400,000 with me on my own,and it’s now up to £750,000 orso.

“Since we split, I’ve set upseveral joint ventures so I haveexactly the same offering ofservices that we had before therecession, just without theoverheads.

“In retrospect, we were veryfortunate to have the foresight tobuy our own business premises,which meant we had someequity to weather the storm.

“It’s always nice to havesomething which can help baleyou out of a tricky situation. Ifpush comes to shove, youalways have that option. Again,that issue is redressed and we’reback in our own offices again.”

� Former cricketer PhilBainbridge runs an eventmanagement business

you more than you are able to chargethe manufacturer. So it’s about know-ing and understanding where theywere making and losing money. Inthis case, they were busy but theywere busy fools, because they weren’tworking in profitable areas.

“The company was going to gounder and it took someone like me,who could look at the business fromthe outside, who could identify whichthe profitable parts of the businesswe re. ”

While debt can become a majormillstone around the neck of anybusiness, Mr Arshad believes that its h o u l d n’t put business owners offborrowing, or investing.

“Lots of business can’t growwithout borrowing from banks, orasset finance, or some other way ofusing debt as a strategy to grow,” hesaid. “So we wouldn’t advise peoplenot to get into debt. But it’s importantto constantly monitor what you oweand what your debtors owe you. Makesure that your invoices get paid, be-cause that is your lifeline.”

“A lot of the businesseswe see leave it quite lateto walk into theaccountant’s office, puttheir hand up, and saythey need help. It canoften be out of theirc o n t ro l .

“Companies need toidentify areas ofweakness within thebusiness – it’s nogood the heart beinggood if the lungsare going to fail.

Khurm ArshadSteve Ramsbottom

David Johnson

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10 We d n e s d a y, January 21, 2015 11We d n e s d a y, January 21, 2015 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

Pe o p l e

Senior directorJo first womanin top GVA role

Business diary

Email your business events togavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk.Events are sometimescancelled without us beingnotified so please check withorganisers before travelling.

Western Daily Press BusinessGuide 2015: Keynote speakerProf Jane Harrington from UWEwill launch the annual businessguide from our sister publication,the Western Daily Press. From8am at UWE Exhibition andConference Centre, FrenchayCampus, Thursday, January 22.Register via UWE website.

LEP Digital – driving resultsthrough social media: Simplysigning up to Twitter, Facebookand LinkedIn is not enough, youneed to align your social mediaactivity with your businessstrategy to drive results.9.30am-3.30pm on January 22,at the BAWA Centre, Filton.

Bristol PA Network: Aprofessional forum where youcan find inspiration, developyour skills and meet fellow PAs.Each meeting includes elementsof learning and development,inspirational speakers andnetworking. January 25, 6pm atHotel du Vin. Strictly for PAs,EAs, secretaries and officeadministrative professionals.Book via eventbrite.

JLL South West PropertyMarket Review: Can propertykeep pace with the changingface of technology? And how willproperty requirements in amultitude of sectors, includinghealthcare, retail and more, lookin the future? Thursday, January29, 6pm, At-Bristol.

Outlook 2015: C o m m e rc i a lproperty agency DTZ presentsanalysis and forecasts for thesector at The Bristol Hotel, from8am on Thursday, February 5.

66 Queen Square Topping Out:Celebrate major milestone in thecreation of the Grade A officespace, which integrates a GradeII listed Georgian terrace withinthe new building. Thursday,February 5 at 66 Queen Square.Invitation only.

Bristol Connected: Bristol Postnetworking event at The BristolHotel. Thursday, February 5,6-8pm. Register via Eventbrite.

Bristol Distinguished AddressSeries – Peter Mather: BP’sgroup regional vice president,Europe and UK, delivers thelatest address in the seriessupported by the Bristol Post.His has overall responsibility forall BP’s activities across Europe.From 6pm, February 11, at theGlendinning Lecture Theatre,Frenchay Campus, UWE.

Bristol Airport Careers Fair:Information on becoming one ofthe 3,000 workers at the airport.Held in the AdministrationBuilding at Bristol Airport from4-6pm on Friday, February 6 and10am-oon on Saturday, February28. Email r ecruitment@bristolairport.com to register,indicating preferred date.

Start-up Drinks Bristol: UWEEnterprise hosts drinks andinformal networking evening atthe Engine Shed on TuesdayFebruary 17 for all interested instart-ups and entrepreneurship.Book via Eventbrite.

JO DAVIS has taken on the lead-ership of commercial propertyagency GVA in Bristol, becom-ing the first woman to hold theregional senior director role atthe firm.

Jo is already a senior member ofG VA’s national planning develop-ment and regeneration team, leadingthe planning team across the SouthWest and South Wales.

She becomes one of nine regionalsenior directors at the firm, the titlegiven to those heading up UK of-f i c e s.

With 20 years’ experience in theindustry, she has been involved inplanning many of the South West’smost prominent regeneration pro-jects, residential housing develop-ments, and complex brownfield sitedevelopments, working alongsidecompanies and organisations such asHCA, St Modwen, North Bristol NHSTrust, Cubex, Linden Homes, BarrattHomes, Bloor Homes and Persimmon

H o m e s.She is a member of Bristol Property

Ag ents’ Association Planning Forumand the Business South West Plan-ning and Transport Committee.

GVA employs 82 people in its Bris-tol office at St Catherine’s Court,across a range of commercial prop-erty disciplines, including agency,planning, valuation consultancy,lease consultancy, business rates,building, health and property man-a g ement.

GVA chief executive Rob Bould

Staff rise to challenge to help vulnerable young

In pictures The Prince’s Trust Million Makers

BUSINESS leaders learned abouthow The Prince’s Trust MillionMakers programme is supportingvulnerable young people across theSouth West and encouraging busi-nesses to empower and develop theirstaf f.

A group of directors and non-ex-ecutives from a variety of sectorsincluding finance, legal, softwareand media enjoyed a business lunchpresentation at Moon Consulting’soffice to hear about the trust’s flag-ship private sector funding pro-gramme and to discuss it with

previous participants.The Million Makers challenge em-

powers staff within a business tocreate a mini-enterprise to raisemoney for the trust.

Staff benefit from the valuable ex-perience of running their own busi-nesses, raising the profile of theirrespective companies while fundingtrust initiatives to help unemployedyoung people into work, educationand training across the region.

Previous participants in thescheme were on hand to give theirfirst-hand account of the programme,

including Ruby Harcombe fromRoyal Bank of Scotland whose teamraised over £15,000.

Attendees also heard how thesefunds are being put to good use, withYoung Ambassador Kally Hayestelling her story of how the trusthelped her turn her life around.

Moon Consulting director VanessaMoon said: “We have a long-standingrelationship with The Princes Trustin the South West and we are de-lighted to promote the MillionMakers programme to our clientsthroughout the region. Million

Makers benefits disadvantagedyoung people, businesses and staff soit’s a win for all concerned.”

Helen Turton, corporate fundrais-ing manager at the trust in Bristolsaid: “With more than one in fiveyoung people in Bristol struggling tofind work, we are extremely gratefulfor the support of local business likeMoon Consulting to help more youngpeople gain the skills and confidenceto turn their lives around.

“We would love to hear from otherbusinesses keen to take on the chal-lenge this year.”

TAKE the chance to make newbusiness contacts by signingup for the Bristol Post’s nextnetworking event – BristolConnected.

The popular networking eventtakes place every other month at ven-ues around the city.

The next event will be held at theBristol Hotel, Prince Street, from6-9pm on Thursday, February 5.

There will be nibbles and refresh-ments and it’s a great chance to makenew connections and catch up with

old contacts from a range of businessacross the city.

Guests will hear from The Blood-hound SuperSonic Car team – wh oare attempting to break theland-speed record with a jet-enginepowered car built in their Avon-mouth base.

Then to slow things down a little,Rosalind Turner will talk about herunusual networking idea – netwalk-ing.

Bristol News & Media managingdirector Sarah Pullen said: “It’s fant-

astic to provide a place where busi-nesses can come together in aninformal setting. There’s always areal buzz around this event so we’dlove to see you there.”

The Po s t launched Bristol Connec-ted a year ago and the event haswelcomed hundreds of people fromweb entrepreneurs to stair lift man-ufacturers, tailors to property con-sultants and lawyers to investors.

Tickets are free but limited andusually go quickly. To sign up visitE ve n t b r i t e.

Bristol Connected

Great way to make new contacts

� A past event

said: “Jo ’s appointment is aimed atsupporting a key location for us inBristol and our future business de-velopment, a vitally important part ofdriving growth for all our regions.”

Jo ’s predecessor David Mace isstepping down after eight years in the

role as regional senior director butwill continue his development con-sultancy work including his longstanding involvement with The Mallat Cribbs Causeway.

He said: “Jo ’s promotion is richlydeserved. She originally helped es-

tablish the planning team here inBristol and has developed it into oneof the region’s most highly regardedplanning advisers, having been in-volved in some of the region’s stra-tegically important regenerations i t e s. ”

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

� Jo Davis has been involved in planning many of the South West’s most prominent regeneration projects

� Secure Trust Bank CommercialFinance is expanding its team inthe South West and Wales withthe appointment of Craig Stritchas regional sales director.

Craig, top right, joins fromAldermore, where he wasassociate director. He has awealth of experience in finance,including past positions at UltimateFinance Group as regional director, andBarclays as business developmentmanager. He will be based in Bristol workingwith SMEs which are looking to improvetheir working capital.

Secure Trust Bank, theAIM-listed challenger bank,launched its commercial financearm last year to provide SMEswith asset based lendingp ro d u c t s .

� KPMG has appointed SimonPilkington new partner in its strategyadvisory team in Bristol.

Simon, second from top, is anexperienced transactions adviser and forthe 16 years has led and deliveredmajor bids, transactions andcommercial projects with publicand private clients across thedefence and wider governmentsector. He joins KPMG in Aprilfrom PwC, where he co-led thefirm’s aerospace and defencepractice.

In his new role at KPMG Simonwill focus on defence, security andintelligence work. He joins the firm’s teamwhich provides audit and advisory servicesto the Ministry of Defence and a range ofother public and private sector clients.

Bernard Brown, head of defencefor KPMG, said: “Simon’sexperience of advisingbusinesses and defenceorganisations on complexcommercial transactions andprojects will help our clients toprotect their margins and get themost out of their commercialnegotiations.

“This is one of many suchappointments we are making toensure that we have the capacityto deliver excellent quality workfor our defence clients.”

� Malachy McReynolds, thirdfrom top, has been appointed a

board member of SWIG Capital, thefund holding arm of alternative finance

provider South West Investment GroupLimited. He joins Graham Miller as anon-executive director to the board and will

aim to forge relationships with localauthorities, LEPs and private sector

organisations in the upper end ofthe South West. Malachy waspreviously the managing directorof renowned chocolatemanufacturer Elizabeth Shawand now chairs the not-for-profit

home improvement agency, Westof England Care and Repair, as well

as being a member of the West ofEngland LEP.

� Leisure centre operator the CircadianTrust has given a lifetime achievement

award to Ian Jones. Ian, bottom,began at South GloucestershireCouncil in 1991 as a leisureengineer and became director ofbuilding and environment in2007. The council then set up thetrust to run its leisure centres. He

was presented with the award bycomedian Chris Barrie - who played

leisure centre boss Gordon Brittas inthe BBC comedy the Brittas Empire - andtrust chief executive Mark Crutchley.

Mark said: “Over the past 24 years Ianhas been instrumental to the trust’s

success, including securing a£750,000 Sport England EnergyImprovement grant in 2014. Morerecently, Ian helped achieveseveral International StandardsOrganisation accreditations thatrecognise exemplary energy

management and environment,health and safety systems and

quality systems.”

David Mace

“Jo’s promotion is richlydeserved. She originallyhelped establish theplanning team here inBristol and hasdeveloped it into one ofthe region’s most highlyregarded planningadvisers.

Appointments and awards

� From left, Vanessa Moon, Samantha Bunn, Sally Mabbutt, Anne Summers, Kally Hayes, Helen Turton and Peaches Golding at the Moon Consulting offices

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10 We d n e s d a y, January 21, 2015 11We d n e s d a y, January 21, 2015 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

Pe o p l e

Senior directorJo first womanin top GVA role

Business diary

Email your business events togavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk.Events are sometimescancelled without us beingnotified so please check withorganisers before travelling.

Western Daily Press BusinessGuide 2015: Keynote speakerProf Jane Harrington from UWEwill launch the annual businessguide from our sister publication,the Western Daily Press. From8am at UWE Exhibition andConference Centre, FrenchayCampus, Thursday, January 22.Register via UWE website.

LEP Digital – driving resultsthrough social media: Simplysigning up to Twitter, Facebookand LinkedIn is not enough, youneed to align your social mediaactivity with your businessstrategy to drive results.9.30am-3.30pm on January 22,at the BAWA Centre, Filton.

Bristol PA Network: Aprofessional forum where youcan find inspiration, developyour skills and meet fellow PAs.Each meeting includes elementsof learning and development,inspirational speakers andnetworking. January 25, 6pm atHotel du Vin. Strictly for PAs,EAs, secretaries and officeadministrative professionals.Book via eventbrite.

JLL South West PropertyMarket Review: Can propertykeep pace with the changingface of technology? And how willproperty requirements in amultitude of sectors, includinghealthcare, retail and more, lookin the future? Thursday, January29, 6pm, At-Bristol.

Outlook 2015: C o m m e rc i a lproperty agency DTZ presentsanalysis and forecasts for thesector at The Bristol Hotel, from8am on Thursday, February 5.

66 Queen Square Topping Out:Celebrate major milestone in thecreation of the Grade A officespace, which integrates a GradeII listed Georgian terrace withinthe new building. Thursday,February 5 at 66 Queen Square.Invitation only.

Bristol Connected: Bristol Postnetworking event at The BristolHotel. Thursday, February 5,6-8pm. Register via Eventbrite.

Bristol Distinguished AddressSeries – Peter Mather: BP’sgroup regional vice president,Europe and UK, delivers thelatest address in the seriessupported by the Bristol Post.His has overall responsibility forall BP’s activities across Europe.From 6pm, February 11, at theGlendinning Lecture Theatre,Frenchay Campus, UWE.

Bristol Airport Careers Fair:Information on becoming one ofthe 3,000 workers at the airport.Held in the AdministrationBuilding at Bristol Airport from4-6pm on Friday, February 6 and10am-oon on Saturday, February28. Email r ecruitment@bristolairport.com to register,indicating preferred date.

Start-up Drinks Bristol: UWEEnterprise hosts drinks andinformal networking evening atthe Engine Shed on TuesdayFebruary 17 for all interested instart-ups and entrepreneurship.Book via Eventbrite.

JO DAVIS has taken on the lead-ership of commercial propertyagency GVA in Bristol, becom-ing the first woman to hold theregional senior director role atthe firm.

Jo is already a senior member ofG VA’s national planning develop-ment and regeneration team, leadingthe planning team across the SouthWest and South Wales.

She becomes one of nine regionalsenior directors at the firm, the titlegiven to those heading up UK of-f i c e s.

With 20 years’ experience in theindustry, she has been involved inplanning many of the South West’smost prominent regeneration pro-jects, residential housing develop-ments, and complex brownfield sitedevelopments, working alongsidecompanies and organisations such asHCA, St Modwen, North Bristol NHSTrust, Cubex, Linden Homes, BarrattHomes, Bloor Homes and Persimmon

H o m e s.She is a member of Bristol Property

Ag ents’ Association Planning Forumand the Business South West Plan-ning and Transport Committee.

GVA employs 82 people in its Bris-tol office at St Catherine’s Court,across a range of commercial prop-erty disciplines, including agency,planning, valuation consultancy,lease consultancy, business rates,building, health and property man-a g ement.

GVA chief executive Rob Bould

Staff rise to challenge to help vulnerable young

In pictures The Prince’s Trust Million Makers

BUSINESS leaders learned abouthow The Prince’s Trust MillionMakers programme is supportingvulnerable young people across theSouth West and encouraging busi-nesses to empower and develop theirstaf f.

A group of directors and non-ex-ecutives from a variety of sectorsincluding finance, legal, softwareand media enjoyed a business lunchpresentation at Moon Consulting’soffice to hear about the trust’s flag-ship private sector funding pro-gramme and to discuss it with

previous participants.The Million Makers challenge em-

powers staff within a business tocreate a mini-enterprise to raisemoney for the trust.

Staff benefit from the valuable ex-perience of running their own busi-nesses, raising the profile of theirrespective companies while fundingtrust initiatives to help unemployedyoung people into work, educationand training across the region.

Previous participants in thescheme were on hand to give theirfirst-hand account of the programme,

including Ruby Harcombe fromRoyal Bank of Scotland whose teamraised over £15,000.

Attendees also heard how thesefunds are being put to good use, withYoung Ambassador Kally Hayestelling her story of how the trusthelped her turn her life around.

Moon Consulting director VanessaMoon said: “We have a long-standingrelationship with The Princes Trustin the South West and we are de-lighted to promote the MillionMakers programme to our clientsthroughout the region. Million

Makers benefits disadvantagedyoung people, businesses and staff soit’s a win for all concerned.”

Helen Turton, corporate fundrais-ing manager at the trust in Bristolsaid: “With more than one in fiveyoung people in Bristol struggling tofind work, we are extremely gratefulfor the support of local business likeMoon Consulting to help more youngpeople gain the skills and confidenceto turn their lives around.

“We would love to hear from otherbusinesses keen to take on the chal-lenge this year.”

TAKE the chance to make newbusiness contacts by signingup for the Bristol Post’s nextnetworking event – BristolConnected.

The popular networking eventtakes place every other month at ven-ues around the city.

The next event will be held at theBristol Hotel, Prince Street, from6-9pm on Thursday, February 5.

There will be nibbles and refresh-ments and it’s a great chance to makenew connections and catch up with

old contacts from a range of businessacross the city.

Guests will hear from The Blood-hound SuperSonic Car team – wh oare attempting to break theland-speed record with a jet-enginepowered car built in their Avon-mouth base.

Then to slow things down a little,Rosalind Turner will talk about herunusual networking idea – netwalk-ing.

Bristol News & Media managingdirector Sarah Pullen said: “It’s fant-

astic to provide a place where busi-nesses can come together in aninformal setting. There’s always areal buzz around this event so we’dlove to see you there.”

The Po s t launched Bristol Connec-ted a year ago and the event haswelcomed hundreds of people fromweb entrepreneurs to stair lift man-ufacturers, tailors to property con-sultants and lawyers to investors.

Tickets are free but limited andusually go quickly. To sign up visitE ve n t b r i t e.

Bristol Connected

Great way to make new contacts

� A past event

said: “Jo ’s appointment is aimed atsupporting a key location for us inBristol and our future business de-velopment, a vitally important part ofdriving growth for all our regions.”

Jo ’s predecessor David Mace isstepping down after eight years in the

role as regional senior director butwill continue his development con-sultancy work including his longstanding involvement with The Mallat Cribbs Causeway.

He said: “Jo ’s promotion is richlydeserved. She originally helped es-

tablish the planning team here inBristol and has developed it into oneof the region’s most highly regardedplanning advisers, having been in-volved in some of the region’s stra-tegically important regenerations i t e s. ”

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

� Jo Davis has been involved in planning many of the South West’s most prominent regeneration projects

� Secure Trust Bank CommercialFinance is expanding its team inthe South West and Wales withthe appointment of Craig Stritchas regional sales director.

Craig, top right, joins fromAldermore, where he wasassociate director. He has awealth of experience in finance,including past positions at UltimateFinance Group as regional director, andBarclays as business developmentmanager. He will be based in Bristol workingwith SMEs which are looking to improvetheir working capital.

Secure Trust Bank, theAIM-listed challenger bank,launched its commercial financearm last year to provide SMEswith asset based lendingp ro d u c t s .

� KPMG has appointed SimonPilkington new partner in its strategyadvisory team in Bristol.

Simon, second from top, is anexperienced transactions adviser and forthe 16 years has led and deliveredmajor bids, transactions andcommercial projects with publicand private clients across thedefence and wider governmentsector. He joins KPMG in Aprilfrom PwC, where he co-led thefirm’s aerospace and defencepractice.

In his new role at KPMG Simonwill focus on defence, security andintelligence work. He joins the firm’s teamwhich provides audit and advisory servicesto the Ministry of Defence and a range ofother public and private sector clients.

Bernard Brown, head of defencefor KPMG, said: “Simon’sexperience of advisingbusinesses and defenceorganisations on complexcommercial transactions andprojects will help our clients toprotect their margins and get themost out of their commercialnegotiations.

“This is one of many suchappointments we are making toensure that we have the capacityto deliver excellent quality workfor our defence clients.”

� Malachy McReynolds, thirdfrom top, has been appointed a

board member of SWIG Capital, thefund holding arm of alternative finance

provider South West Investment GroupLimited. He joins Graham Miller as anon-executive director to the board and will

aim to forge relationships with localauthorities, LEPs and private sector

organisations in the upper end ofthe South West. Malachy waspreviously the managing directorof renowned chocolatemanufacturer Elizabeth Shawand now chairs the not-for-profit

home improvement agency, Westof England Care and Repair, as well

as being a member of the West ofEngland LEP.

� Leisure centre operator the CircadianTrust has given a lifetime achievement

award to Ian Jones. Ian, bottom,began at South GloucestershireCouncil in 1991 as a leisureengineer and became director ofbuilding and environment in2007. The council then set up thetrust to run its leisure centres. He

was presented with the award bycomedian Chris Barrie - who played

leisure centre boss Gordon Brittas inthe BBC comedy the Brittas Empire - andtrust chief executive Mark Crutchley.

Mark said: “Over the past 24 years Ianhas been instrumental to the trust’s

success, including securing a£750,000 Sport England EnergyImprovement grant in 2014. Morerecently, Ian helped achieveseveral International StandardsOrganisation accreditations thatrecognise exemplary energy

management and environment,health and safety systems and

quality systems.”

David Mace

“Jo’s promotion is richlydeserved. She originallyhelped establish theplanning team here inBristol and hasdeveloped it into one ofthe region’s most highlyregarded planningadvisers.

Appointments and awards

� From left, Vanessa Moon, Samantha Bunn, Sally Mabbutt, Anne Summers, Kally Hayes, Helen Turton and Peaches Golding at the Moon Consulting offices

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12 We d n e s d a y, January 21, 2015w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

The back pageP l a ces� Grade II listed Coach House B&Bin Bristol has been sold for morethan the £895,000 asking price, in adeal brokered by property adviserChristie & Co.

Built around 1750, the formercoaching house has since beenconverted to offer 15 letting rooms,one bedroom owner’saccommodation, car park and a oneacre paddock.

The previous owner had been atthe Coach House, Hambrook, formore than ten years and during thistime developed the business into aprofitable operation. Keen to take astep back and pursue otherinterests, he instructed Christie & Coto market the business.

Sophia Sangchi, of Christie & Co’sBristol office, said: “The sale of theCoach House demonstratescontinued improvements in thehospitality market. It is great to seethat following a targeted marketingcampaign, we were able to bringstrong offers to the table.

“I am thrilled for new owner MrChandrasekhar — his enthusiasmfor the business was apparent fromhis first viewing and I am confidenthe will make every success of theCoach House.”

� Bristol City Council is looking fordevelopers to turn a former primaryschool into affordable homes. It hasappointed property agency Colliersto market the former DunmailPrimary School site in Southmead.

Mayor George Ferguson said: “Weare looking for developers who havethe track record and expertise tocreate exemplar sustainable housingin a development which will act as abeacon of environmental and socialexcellence – demonstrating whatcan be achieved.

“The chosen developer will bepresented with a great opportunityto showcase an innovative approachat a time when the eyes of the worldare on Bristol.”

Interested parties are asked toregister to receive marketinginformation and to attend apresentation to bidders at the MShed on Friday, January 23.

� Pet charity Blue Cross is to openits first store in the market town ofChipping Sodbury.

The charity, well known for the

rehousing and the treatment of petsincluding cats, dogs, rabbits andhorses is moving into the formerCo-operative Bank store on the HighStreet. It has taken a sub-lease untilJune 2018 on the ground floor storewith a sales area extending to 595sq ft at an annual rental of £15,000.

Hartnell Taylor Cook LLP advisedthe Co-operative Group andJohnson Fellows advised BlueC ro s s .

� The Knowle, Bristol, branch ofestate agents Besley Hill has movedto new offices in Wells Road.

Rowena Brewer, has taken overthe franchise. She said: “We felt theoffices needed updating and wew e re n ’t able to do that at theprevious location so I am extremelypleased to have moved to bigger,brighter premises with a new look.”

Rowena has worked in theproperty market for12 years.

“I thought it was the right time inmy career to set up on my own andtaking over here was a greato p p o r t u n i t y, ” said Rowena.

� A North Somerset spa has

Still plenty of opportunities for business growth

FOR many businesses the startof a new year is an opportunityto assess their performanceover the past 12 months, andlook at how to develop and

grow during the next year.For many Bristol-based firms 2014

was a strong period of growth, butaccording to the latest Lloyds BankBusiness in Britain report, confid-ence amongst companies in the SouthWest has fallen in the past six months,from 58 per cent in July to just 43 percent in December 2014.

Despite this slightly pessimisticpicture, expectations for sales, ordersand profits remain above their longterm average for the region, meaningthat there are still a wealth of op-portunities for businesses to grow.

External projects such as HinkleyPoint C in Somerset have potential to

provide local firms with the chance toexpand, with a number of supplychain opportunities available.

There are also a number of SMEincubators and initiatives across thecity designed to help new and existingcompanies receive the support andfunding needed to get established andgrow their business.

Having the correct form of fundingis a vital part of ensuring that com-panies make the most of new growthopportunities. Initiatives such as theFunding for Lending Scheme enablesfirms to receive discounted lending,and local initiatives such as the Re-

Opinion

gional Growth Fund offer grants andloans to new or expanding SMEs on aregional level.

Another option for businesses look-ing for a more flexible form of fundingis an invoice finance facility, whichallows businesses to borrow againstclient invoices, generating capitalthat can be invested in expansionopportunities before payment hasbeen received from the customer.

When approaching any form oflender it is vital businesses are able todemonstrate a clear plan for how themoney will be used and how long itmay take to pay back.

Funding isn’t the only support forgrowth, however, and at a LloydsBank event in Bristol 57 per cent offirms said they would prefer to speakto an external mentor. A popular waycompany owners can gain this sup-

port is through one-to-one mentoringwith someone outside their firm.They can provide an objective per-spective for new ideas and strategiesas well as help business leaders de-termine the parts of their companythey need to focus on to grow.

Mentoring is an invaluable tool forentrepreneurs who have a productidea but are unsure of how to turn itinto a viable business. Many incub-ator schemes offer mentoring as akey part of their service, recognisingthe guidance of an experienced busi-ness leader can be as beneficial tonew enterprises as funding.

Whatever a business’ goals mightbe, it is important Bristol firms re-main focused on growth in 2015 andcontinue to use the array of supportto capitalise on all expansion oppor-t u n i t i e s.

David BeaumontArea director SME BankingLloyds Bank Commercial Banking

undergone a makeover of its own.Thespa, which can be found at

DoubleTree by Hilton, CadburyHouse, has been refurbished withnew furniture, lighting anddecoration.

Spa manager Amy Weston said:“The spa is really popular with localclients, hen parties and hotel guestsalike so the new refurbishment willbe welcomed by many.

“We ’ve gained an enviablereputation for being one of the bestspas in the region and the work willensure the venue continues to offerthe best relaxation and pamperinga ro u n d .

“The new lighting is fabulous andmakes a real difference to theatmosphere in the treatment roomsand we’re in love with the glitterwallpaper! It’s the attention to detailthat keeps people coming back tous time and again.”

� TV post-production companyEvolutions has opened its secondoffice in Whiteladies Road, Bristol,just a year after opening in the city.

Situated at 38 Whiteladies Road,the new building will provide

additional capacity for the business.Managing director Simon Kanjee

said: “Evolutions Bristol is doingbetter than we could have everexpected and has meant that wenow must open a second site toaccommodate that growingdemand. Our investment in creativetalent and facilities here is testamentto how much we believe in themarket in the South West.”

Andy Smith of propertyconsultants Knight Frank, whichadvised Evolutions on theacquisition of the 2035 sq ftVictorian villa, said: “Having recentlylet the 11,000 sq ft office at 11-13Whiteladies Road to Evolutions itwas great to be asked to acquirethis additional space for them.”

C h a r i ty� Law firm Ashfords raised morethan £62,000 for Children’s HospiceSouth West, its charity of the yearfor 2014 – enough to pay for twospecialist nurses for a year.

Eddie Farwell, co-founder andchief executive of the Wraxall-basedcharity, said: “On behalf of all thechildren and families who receiveour special care, I would like tothank each and every member of theteam for their commitment andsupport.

“They have helped to create many,many smiles and should feel veryproud! It was indeed an incredibley e a r. ”

S u ccess� Ian Yarrow and Lee Lawton havebeen named Ventrolla Installers ofthe Year 2014.

Ian and Lee work as a team,covering the Bristol, Bath andWessex areas and have over 20years’ experience repairing andinstalling timber sash windows forVentrolla. Customers havedescribed them as “a credit to thebusiness” and “e x t re m e l yprofessional, very hard working anda pleasure to have in the house.”

Operations manager RachaelTranter said: “Ian and Lee areconscientious, good natured and arean invaluable part of the team.Customers regularly comment ontheir high quality work and friendlyservice and I am delighted they havereceived the recognition theydeserve with this award.”

Your digest of the week in business

In numbers

Business currentaccounts

Petrol prices

1.01%£10,000 deposit

0.25%£1 deposit

State Bankof India

Corporation tax

21 %20 %Main rate

Small profitsrate – below

£300,000

107 .0 5Unleaded

114 .33Diesel

117 .81pSuperunleaded

60 .55pLPG

Source: PetrolPrices.com

Business savingsaccounts

1.49%£10,000 deposit

1.9%£1,000 deposit

State Bankof India

Inflation (CPI)

0.5 %

Weekly earnings

1.8 %Base interest rate

0.5 %Ave mortgage rate

3.99 %

S o u rc e :

Secure TrustBank

Inflation (RPI)

1.6 %� Ashfords staff hand over £62,000 to Children’s Hospice South West

� Besley Hill staff at their new office

� The Thespa spa at DoubleTree byHilton, Cadbury House, hasundergone a makeover