Business jan.qxp_Layout 1 22/12/2015 09:18 Page 1
CITY | PEOPLE
CITYNEWS WORKSHOPS FOR TEAM BUILDING
News in brief
PIC: Julian Foxton
■ Congratulations to Bath businesswomen Kate Austin and Emily Ingram, founders of the innovative and independent toy and children’s clothes shop Spotty Herberts, which has been awarded Best New Store in the Independent Retail awards. The Queen Street shop took the national prize after judges examined every aspect, from customer service to visual merchandising.
■ Wiltshire Music Centre in Bradford on Avon has announced that Bath-based commercial property company HPH Ltd is to sponsor both the Youth Orchestra and Wiltshire Youth Jazz Orchestra for three years. The centre took over responsibility for running the orchestras in September, with support from Wiltshire Music Connect, Arts Council England, Swindon Music Hub and Bath & North East Somerset Music Service. With the increasing pressure on public funding for the arts it is all the more important that private companies such as HPH Ltd, offer this kind of help.
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JanUaRY 2016
The latest way for businesses to get their team bonding and relaxed is to invite them to take part in something creative. Heidi Laughton and her team at Bath based The Workshop Cabin ran a Paint Brunch: Palettes and Prosecco workshop for Innocent Drinks, who were on a staff trip to the south west. The 17-strong team set to, painting images of fruit, naturally, to adorn their office walls in London.
EASEL DOES IT: Innocent Drinks staff enjoy The Workshop Cabin run art session
AMBASSADORS FOR BATH TOURISM Tucking Mill Self-Catering, owner of five award-winning cottages and apartments in and around Bath, has made a shortlist of just five for the Luxury Travel Guide’s UK Self-Catering Holiday Provider of the Year 2016. The guide has almost two million worldwide subscribers and highlights the best travel destinations Featuring two apartments in the city centre and three cottages in the Midford Valley, Tucking Mill was last year awarded the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence and currently enjoys a 9.1 or higher rating on Booking.com. Ann Stewart, owner of Tucking Mill, said: “What an honour! To be nominated by our guests for this prestigious award is
beyond my expectations. It will certainly ensure the Tucking Mill team work even harder to give our guests a great holiday they will remember for years to come.”
TEACHER TRAINING GETS STAMP OF APPROVAL Bath Spa University is celebrating after receiving high recognition for its Teacher Education programmes by Ofsted inspectors, who awarded the teacher training institute the highest grade, outstanding. This is the second successive Ofsted inspection resulting in a grade 1 score. The report followed a two stage inspection during which all aspects of the university’s teacher education programmes were examined, along with follow-up visits of newly qualified Bath Spa teachers in their first year of teaching. The report commended the excellent way in
which “Bath Spa University has established very close partnerships with local schools and contributed to the design of new routes into teaching” and in particular highlighted “the seamless relationship between the university and its diverse range of partnership schools.” It also emphasised that employment rates are high for those training at Bath Spa University, and made it clear that “these newly qualified teachers are very much the first choice for employers in the local and wider area.” Bath Spa University works closely with 335 primary and secondary schools in the region to deliver the training programme.