At a recent Bristol Life Business Club, Mayor Marvin Rees spoke about working towards a fairer, more inclusive world – and how cities and organisations can work together
The child is father of the man and Marvin ees says his guiding passion for creating e ual opportunities was shaped by growing up in a racially fractured city as the mixed-race son of a single mother
My mum was told that if she was a good woman, she would put me up for adoption he says e ecting on her experiences, realise how much of my drive is actually about all the snobbery and presumptuousness she experienced, the rude dismissiveness watched it as a child growing up, and that really comes into my desire to try to turn things over ith e ual candour, Marvin went on to speak about his embarrassment at losing the 2012 mayoral election to George Ferguson ut actually that embarrassment has become a good opportunity, because ’ve been able to say to young people, listen, stood up in front of 0,000 people as a failure And still came back in 201 and tried again
At which point, he triumphed Overnight, Marvin found himself responsible for aligning ristol’s many different organisations and businesses with his vision for the city
A tough ask erhaps surprisingly, he says, ’m not finding it hard ot because ’m a magician, but because it’s leadership as a collective act
My ob is to get really smart people around me, and not ask them to be any less than they are, even if it makes me feel uncomfortable, and to have the confidence to sit in a room and have super-smart people be super-smart
One of the first things Marvin did was to convene a meeting of the city bigwigs About 0 people turned up asked two things how many people
do you employ, and what’s your financial footprint he footprint of every organisation represented in the room was over £6b. And between us we employed 70,000 people. said, what could we not do if we got ourselves organised f we acted, like a city, like any business would organise itself And that was the beginning of the One ity lan did not write the plan created the conditions in which we all contributed to the plan.
f you want to know how life is shaped in ristol, you’ve got to look at the intersection of local government, the health service, criminal ustice, business, faith groups, civil society And if you want to get stuff done on a city scale, you have to get those things aligned
One of the ma or challenges has been trying to reconcile the need for change with unwanted, unintended conse uences ou implement a solution, and then everyone ust focuses on the price he way we’ve tried to manage that is trying to anticipate those unintended conse uences and mitigate them o clean air ones are classic, right he first letters of ob ection were from the , who said, if you put the clean air one in ark ow the supply chain to the hospital will be impacted aising the issue with h r se offey, Marvin was told to ust get on with it it was a legal re uirement ut we negotiated we’ve got some money 2m for businesses, 10m for households
o give you another example, we want to develop Western Harbour, underneath the paghetti unction yover at the end of umberland asin e can get 2000 homes down there. It’s not a nature reserve at the moment, as some would have you believe it’s concrete, it’s horrible
ristol has a population of 0k people it’s going to rise to 0k over the next 2 years here are 1 k people on the waiting list we have to solve the housing crisis ell, that’s what we’re trying to do o get enough homes in ristol for a growing population And there’s no way of doing that that’s not going to have an impact on people’s lives t’s no good having a thriving cultural sector if no one can afford to live in a city ut when we identify land for high density housing on brownfield sites, it immediately becomes a political spat one of the his campaigns, he says, have ever been about winning popularity points or punting for re-election a moot point, now that the mayorship is scheduled to end in 202 t’s more to do with responsibility not ust to get good stuff done, but to stop bad things happening hen we made the decision not to build the Arena on emple sland,
Marvin Rees was elected as Mayor of Bristol in 2016 – the first mayor of black African heritage to serve in a major European city.
After serving an extended five-year first term, he was reelected in May 2021. During his first term in office, he oversaw the building of almost 9,000 homes, announced the development of a mass transit system and provided quality work experiences for over 3,500 children who wouldn’t readily have access.
He has achieved accredited Living Wage Employer status, and introduced Ban the Box. He led the successful bid to bring Channel 4 to Bristol and is leading the city’s response to the climate and ecological emergencies. www.bristol.gov.uk
one of the guys came in the next day and said, what have you done ou’re gonna lose the next election ut we knew it would be a financial disaster to have the Arena on emple sland, it would bankrupt the city Marvin feels he’s been uite ambitious since getting into power and yes, that involves his push for building a mass transit system with underground trains ou know, we need big stuff t’s never going to land in my term, but we’ve put the foundations in place is mayorship, and indeed the role of ristol mayor as a whole, comes to an end in 202 o what’s next for Marvin ees feel there’s some political mileage left in me And the boundary reviews have thrown up a fifth seat in ristol orth ast, so ’ve said ’ll throw my hat in the ring ’ll make an offer, and if people say yeah, they say yeah, if they say no, ’ll have to go and find something else to do ust want to make the world better he says simply, chiming with his mission statement on the ristol ouncil website to make ristol a ity of ope want the outsiders, the marginalised, the unlikely to succeed also want to discover my own significance want my life to have mattered.
think the world is brutal One of the things say to young people is, if anyone comes in tells you that if you work hard, and you have ability, you’re going to make it, then they’re lying to you hat’s not the way the world is he world is full of unfairness and in ustice ight ut there are a lot of things that are going to work against you on’t be one of them on’t oin the powers that suppress your talents and abilities
My ourney in ristol has been about the best and the worst of what the city had to offer At its worst, it was a place that didn’t offer me a chance to be happy At best, it’s the city that gave me a tra ectory to becoming a mayor o like with most things, life is full of contradictions
For our next Business Club, see page 78
“WHAT COULD WE NOT DO IF WE GOT OURSELVES ORGANISED?”
Heard of ropyard ou really should have ince opening in 2021, the cavernous former torpedo-testing facility in t hilip’s has hosted everything from craft beer fest opyard to the an Gogh mmersive exhibition o wonder it walked off with a Bristol Life Award for est vent this year
Hi Sam! Tell us a bit about yourself, and what you were up to before you opened Propyard was working in the music industry and touring as a still also do this, but not full time efore that, did various different types of work, including promoting music festivals, club events and a tiny bit of working in radio and
What was the lightbulb moment with Propyard?
t was lockdown there was no going out, and almost no work as a was looking for something to get involved with in ristol, and when my now-partners found this massive space we all got together and realised we needed to make this happen
Tell us a bit about how you financed the start-up, and what your original plans were e have had almost no financial support, and are totally independent, so it’s not been easy to get something like this off the ground e’ve been helped by fantastic people who really believe in the pro ect e always had the goal of it being an arts and creative space think the first model we had was for it to be a studio for film and production, but this changed fairly rapidly
How has the venue benefited Bristol, and how do you see the St Philip’s and Old Market Area developing over the next decade?
ristol is clearly changing rapidly, and t hilip’s is going to be the heart of it, if you look at the city’s plans he current redevelopment that’s happening all around us is really huge and it will be so interesting to see how the area develops think these kind of redevelopments can sometimes be a little concerning for people who have been here all their lives, but arts and creative spaces are essential to keep communities thriving, and feel
Is using Propyard as a film studio facility like The Bottle Yard still on the cards?
ottle ard is a specialist film studio and we were never going to be that don’t think we have any plans to concentrate on this area, but the space is still a great place to film he sort of problem is our diary is ust so busy for the foreseeable and those productions need weeks at a time
The Van Gogh exhibition has been your best-known event to date. Do you have any visitor stats you can share?
Around 1 0k visitors last summer
Can you tell us about any future events that are coming up?
e have ust announced Beyond Submergence, which is a world-first immersive light and sound experience coming in uly t’s by uidsoup, who are famed for their beautiful installations and also their tour with the artist Four et e are very proud to have what is their first-ever arts exhibition
You’ve also hosted Hopyard –what makes Propyard ideal for this kind of event?
ristol, firstly we have great brewers on our doorstep and a city of beer lovers and ropyard is a great host as we have plenty of outdoor and indoor spaces t’s relaxed, fun and we always make sure there’s great music
And the main room is used for parties and Awards – what’s the capacity, and what events have you hosted here?
e have two spaces rane oom, with capacity for up to 1,200 and he tudio, which can hold up to k people e have had a fantastic response from the corporate sector, who love the space and see it as something different from what else is out there ropyard is able to play host to various different types of events, from lue arth ummit an environmentally-focused business event to the likes of one of electronic music’s biggest brands, oiler oom
Do you work closely with any other Bristol firms?
e work with lots, so can’t mention them all, but would give a special shout to imon from anging Aging’s team who managed to cater for 2k people at hristmas An astonishing feat
How do you mostly market Propyard?
n any way we can we are open to all ideas and work closely with our teams at laster reative ommunications and Open ays
And what’s the five-year plan?
e will keep the energy going and keep growing things with our events continually getting bigger and better e love arts, music and culture and want to keep offering what ristol lets us know it wants
For more: www.propyard.co.uk
The head of programming at Propyard takes us behind the scenes of Bristol’s hottest multi-purpose venue
Economy airline Wizz Air has invested m into ristol firm Fire y Green Fuels, which converts sewage sludge into sustainable aviation fuel AF t marks the airline’s first e uity investment in AF research and development, and is the latest milestone in Wizz Air’s broader sustainability strategy
“We are thrilled to be establishing a partnership with i Air, said ames ygate, Fire y he investment will accelerate the commercialisation of our game-changing Fire y process, with the binding offtake agreement saving a staggering 1 m tonnes of carbon emissions.
Fire y will facilitate a step change towards the future of air travel he feedstock, sewage sludge, is available in vast uantities globally and with Fire y we can put it to a truly beneficial use, reducing the use of fossil fuels in the hardest to decarbonise areas or more www. yfire y.uk
Members of the ristol team of law firm Osborne larke have advised the niversity of ristol as work begins on its new emple uarter ampus, at a total investment of around 00 million ork will begin this month after the niversity signed contracts with construction company ir obert McAlpine.
he campus is located next to ristol emple Meads tation on the site of the former oyal Mail sorting o ce Opening in 202 , the site will be home to , 00 students and 0 university staff, who will come together with business and community partners to tackle some of the world’s great challenges he building will be home to the niversity’s usiness chool, digital engineering research groups, entre for ntrepreneurship and nnovation entre as well as providing dedicated facilities for enterprise and community partners.
he Osborne larke team was led by partner Chris Wade and associate director arah Mc ool, with associate director aura hornton and partner atherine olfenden advising on procurement matters
For more: www.osborneclarke.com
Plans to create 196 new homes at the 12-acre site formerly occupied by Bristol Zoo Gardens into 196 new homes have now been approved by o cers at Bristol City Council.
20 per cent of the new homes are billed to be affordable, with free public access to the gardens for the first time since 1 he Grade -listed entrance lodge will be kept by ristol oo ociety, providing a caf , exhibition space, community rooms and public toilets, while providing a permanent base for the Avon Gorge and owns Wildlife Project.
1 on-site off-site construction obs per year are predicted to be generated over the three-year construction period, as well as on-site obs during the operation of the scheme and 1 m of residential expenditure
A planning report drawn up ahead of ristol ity ouncil’s development committee meeting on 2 April noted that while there were “adverse impacts associated with this proposal, on balance, they fail to significantly and demonstrably outweigh the proposal’s benefits For more: www.bristolzoo.org.uk
“FIREFLY WILL FACILITATE A STEP CHANGE TOWARDS THE FUTURE OF AIR TRAVEL”
JAMES HYGATE, Firefly CE
usk, the ristol company making affordable custom door fronts and premium worktops designed to work with Ikea or Howdens kitchen units, has opened a new showroom on the t incent rading state in t hilip’s as it expands its kitchen collection The showroom has been designed as a space where customers can sample the quality of the hand-built kitchen doors and drawer fronts made in the workshop next door.
For more: www.madebyhusk.com
The third Blue Earth Summit will take place at two venues, ropyard and The Wave, between 11-13 October, featuring some of the most in uential voices in business, sustainability, and conservation.
Key themes this year are adventure and the outdoors, harnessing the positive effects of time spent outdoors to bring people together and inspire better business practices; purpose-led business, embracing circular economies, championing regenerative systems, impact investing, and innovation; and reimagining
futures, inspiring active hope for the future with a focus on energy transition, diversity and inclusion, leadership, the built environment and nature-based solutions.
Among the 160 speakers are Dragons’ Den star Deborah Meaden, den ro ect founder Sir Tim Smit, Riverford CEO Guy Singh-Watson and Nick ounsfield, founder of he Wave.
At the itch ent, start-ups and innovative, progressive, and purpose-led businesses can pitch live to impact investors. ast year’s itch raised over £6m, with investments going
to Dame, an award-winning sustainable period products brand, Shackleton, a luxury endurance clothing brand, and Runna, an app for personalised training plans.
“Business as usual is no longer an option,” said Blue Earth Summit co-founder Will Hayler.
“Blue Earth is about reconnecting the core purpose of business with the needs of people and the planet. Business leaders who understand this will be part of the future. hose who don’t, won’t be t’s as simple as that.”
For more www.blueearthsummit.com
The Bristol office market has performed strongly in recent times and has led the Big Six city centre office markets, achieving total take-up of 620,211 sq ft in 2022 – above the 10-year average. Prime rents are now at £42.50 per sq ft with an overall vacancy rate of 5% and a Grade A vacancy rate of 1.6%.
After securing its largest-ever investment, Bristol intelligent automation and inspection firm erceptual Robotics, which uses AI and drones to inspect wind turbines, is to expand into North and Latin America. It will also be doubling the size of its team.
he 2 m is the latest funding for the firm, which last year raised £1.6m, and earlier this year launched operations in South East Asia.
For more: www.perceptual-robotics.com
Family-owned trading company The RO has ac uired a ristol o ce building in the prime o ce of ictoria treet, connecting emple Meads with the city centre, from Mayfair Capital. The building is fully let and home to a group of companies including Ma ars , etra ech Group td, Francis lark and BJSS Limited.
“We are very pleased to be investing once again in Bristol, one of the most innovative and economically attractive places in the
UK,” said David Kershaw, RO real estate director ts ourishing M , professional, and financial services sectors are a big draw for us, with the city benefiting from a thriving o ce market e look forward to our ownership of a mar uee o ce in a great location where we see the potential for further value creation.”
The RO was advised by Knight Frank; Mayfair Capital was advised by JLL. For more: www.rogroup.co.uk
“BUSINESS AS USUAL IS NO LONGER AN OPTION”
WILL HAYLER, Blue Earth Summit co-founder
The Pixel, whose client base includes crewfix, o o Maman b and he ational rust, have become co-owners of the business in a management buy-out.
Founders Steve and Chris Leyton retain a shareholding in the business they created in 2001 and remain in their roles as managing director and development director respectively. www.thepixel.com
Currently celebrating its 75th year, Bristol Junior Chamber has announced its first all-female leadership team. Georgia Corp of Stratton Craig, Emma Carter of Air Ambulances UK and Kate Woosnam of Ibex Gale will lead the chamber, as president, vice-president and immediate past president. Along with the appointment of Catherine Harris of AXA as company secretary, the ’s directorship is now 80% female. www.bristoljuniorchamber.co.uk
Clarks Village owner, Landsec, has announced a new charity partnership to support local young people into employment and education he initiative with Key4Life and Ahead Partnership is funded by Landsec’s new social impact programme, Landsec Futures, a £20m fund which aims to bring more value to the communities in which Landsec invests. Key4Life and Ahead are leading the charge in supporting people from under-represented backgrounds into employment and education; Clarks Village and both charities will deliver education and work experience-led programmes for people in Somerset to increase access to the broad range of careers in the real estate industry. www.clarksvillage.co.uk
Colliers have announced six promotions in its ristol o ce Alex acher and ebs ryantearson have been promoted to director, anek koda, d efferson and hris trat to associate director and Alex an en ogerd has been promoted to senior surveyor.
Our ristol o ce is a true gem, brimming with exceptional talent and vibrant personalities, making it an unparalleled workplace, said o dwards, head of olliers’ ristol o ce www.colliers.com
Mentor Digital has recruited ex-Google senior strategist an att as its digital marketing director A former executive at tech giant Google and global advertising agency Mc ann, an will lead Mentor’s digital marketing efforts and drive growth for clients an will also play a key role in developing and executing the company’s overall business strategy.
www.mentordigital.co.uk
Emma Choremi has been trading on Park Street for 34 years – and now her salon McQueens has had a makeover courtesy of BBC One series Interior Design Masters with Alan Carr
In the seventh episode, three designers were dispatched to Bristol to redesign three salons. “It was such a great experience, and gave Park Street a huge bu when they filmed this, says mma he new look is very us. Changes are warmer tones, with lots of attention to the ceiling, and much needed updating.
“Our designer, Monika, has been given harsh feedback about the use of fake foliage but it works so well and our clients absolutely love it. We have had such a brilliant response to the show, with people taking pictures and coming in to see it – it looks so much better in real life. It was a brilliant opportunity for us, and we’re now on the hunt for more staff to cope with the demand of clients who want to sit in our beautiful space For more: www.mcqueenshairbristol.co.uk
A prestigious King’s Award for Innovation has been awarded to St Augustine’s Yard-based digital learning specialist LearnSci.
Founded in 2007, LearnSci aims to transform science education, empowering teaching teams and finding innovative solutions to overcome the challenges universities face providing laboratorybased teaching he team now supports over 200 university departments across the world, employing 30 scientists, web developers, designers and learning specialists. Its learning technology accelerates teaching innovation, helps prepare graduates for industry careers and widens access to science across the world.
For more: www.learnsci.com
Room 212 is celebrating a decade in business. en years ago, arah horp took over a pop-up gallery on Gloucester Road with the idea of turning it into a permanent exhibition space and shop for local artists. As a participant in the orth ristol Art rail, arah felt that her fellow artists could do with a space to show their artwork for more than ust one weekend in ovember his idea proved so popular that the shop rapidly expanded to offer a huge variety of paintings, prints, jewellery, lampshades, ceramics, gifts, cards and more, all made by Bristol creatives.
he big windows are perfect for displaying original paintings by regular and guest artists, tying in with the seasons or ristol events, says arah for instance, there’ll be a celebration of unicorns for the upcoming nicornfest in uly arah remembers the first week oom 212 opened, when a customer walked in and exclaimed his is so Gloucester oad he loves being one of the long-time traders on the staunchly independent high street, and is the organiser of the Glos Rd Central Mayfest and Christmas street parties. For more: www.room212.co.uk
Acting director of Business Banking, Triodos Bank UK platform for Thrive Renewables, a ristol-based firm that has been funding clean energy projects since 1994. The crowdfunding platform is an option to enable organisations to raise repayable finance to fund growth plans. Finance can be raised in the form of debt or equity and is raised from a community of investors looking for both a financial and social return.
With environmental and social issues now a top priority for many organisations, sustainability has become an increasingly important factor when choosing a source of finance for a growing business. However, with a lack of clear guidelines on what this means in practice, how can you be confident in choosing an option that’s genuinely going to make an impact?
The best means of assessing whether a financial product is sustainable is to look at a bank’s ethos and at its lending and investment portfolio as a whole. What percentage of their total balance sheet do they deem sustainable? Does sustainability form part of their mission, and underlying principles? How do they put those values into action?
Look for banks that are transparent about where they lend money, and what kind of organisations they support.
Although we have sector policies, we take a case-by-case approach to assessing whether an organisation is legitimately sustainable. Some may be heavily focused on environmental
impact, while others could be more centred on socially impactful work –or often a combination of both.
All business banking customers will contribute to our mission to make money work for positive change and share our values. We work with customers on finding solutions to help them create their impact.
Some examples of organisations we’ve recently supported include a loan to Autonomous Investments Properties to expand its commercial property portfolio in the South West and invest in large-scale decarbonisation works. This includes the purchase of the Grade-IIlisted Stable Block at Leigh Court, Bristol, where decarbonisation and modernisation work will be carried out in a way that ensures the building’s heritage is maintained and celebrated.
We’ve also raised £6.8m through a share offer on our crowdfunding
The recently released ‘Banking on Climate Chaos’ report has shown that in the last 12 months the five largest UK high street banks have given $37 billion to the fossil fuel industry.
As a business community, we need to think about what kind of community we want to create. There is a growing wave of values-driven businesses prepared to put their money where their mouth is by making more sustainable choices, whether that be in reducing plastic waste, switching energy supplier or buying organic produce. Many now realise that their money can have a positive impact, and want to have a relationship with a bank that understands their values. Banks could be playing a critical role driving change on major issues such as climate change and inequality. Yet our biggest high street banks continue to funnel billions into the fossil fuel sector and other harmful practices. Tighter regulations and greater transparency will make it far easier for businesses to understand the true nature of a bank’s sustainability and help them to find a financial partner that prioritises positive social and environmental impact. But for now, looking for evidence to support their claims and transparency around the customers they support is a good place to start.
For more: www.triodos.co.uk
“AT TRIODOS, EVERYTHING we do is driven by our mission to direct money into positive social and environmental organisations – and this has been the case for almost 30 years of operating in the UK. Plus, we’ve always been clear about where we invest, allowing business customers to judge the impact of our work for themselves and to decide whether we’d be a good fit for them. We publish the names of all of the customers that we lend to on our website.”
JohnSharpe, relationship manager for the South West and Midlands, Triodos Bank UK
“WE PROVIDE INVESTMENT readiness support and help charities, community groups, social enterprises and companies raise money. As ESG becomes higher on the agenda, we welcome calls for greater oversight on sustainability across all companies, not just in banking. Environmental claims need to be substantiated and applied across an organisation’s operations, not just on specific products offered.”
WhitniThomas, head of corporate finance at Triodos Bank UK
Bristol-headquartered specialist sustainable bank TRIODOS BANK UK advises how to avoid the greenwash when seeking finance for your businessPHILLIP BATE Triodos Bank UK
“LOOK FOR BANKS THAT ARE TRANSPARENT ABOUT WHERE THEY LEND MONEY AND WHAT KIND OF ORGANISATIONS THEY SUPPORT”
The glittering, supremely glamorous Bristol Life Awards are back on 28 March 2024 – and anyone can win one of its prestigious accolades.
The Awards celebrates the whole of the city – all sectors, all types, from commercial to charity and civic; from new companies to long-established; and from the smallest of the indies to the largest of the corporates.
Everyone comes together to celebrate the very best of their city. As business owners, bosses, managers, teams, how is your success recognised? Where do you get validation ales and profit for many, of course. New wins, great projects, happy clients. But sometimes, just sometimes, public recognition helps.
Imagine gaining the validation of your peers. Your work, your company,
discussed, highlighted, shortlisted – and some chosen as winners by independent experts.
And that’s one of the reasons why Awards matter. Public recognition. As finalists, or possibly even winners After all, it’s pretty rare when people other than teams and customers recognise the quality of what you do.
It’s free to enter: keep an eye on these pages to find out when nominations
open for 2024, choose the categories you’d like to enter, and you’ll find a Q&A asking you all about your business or organisation. This is not a time for modesty; you are encouraged to blow that trumpet!
With more and more interest in being closely associated with the most prestigious event in the Bristol business calendar, sponsorship opportunities are going fast o find out more, please contact neil.snow@mediaclash.co.uk
Nothing beats being there. With the company of 500 people, the networking and collaboration opportunities are on another level. Dates for 2024 ticket release will be announced later this year. For more: www.bristollifeawards.co.uk
Bristol’s Watershed is hosting EntreConf on 22 June
DATES FOR THE DIARY
– MAY AND JUNE
13 June: CNWM Bristol summer networking
Come Network With Me holds a day of networking, sharing, connecting, discussion and inspiration at No 4 Clifton Village; www.eventbrite.co.uk
16 May: Bristol Life Business Club
The team behind the phenomenal Wake the Tiger are the guest speakers, at Bristol Harbour Hotel; www.eventbrite.co.uk
18 May & 25 June: Good Business Meet-up
Hosted by members of The Good Business Club, the Meetup events make it easy to discover and build relationships with other good business owners and teams. At Watershed on 18 May and The Square Club on 8 June; www.thegoodbusinessclub.com
8 June: Bristol & Bath
B Local Lunch
An opportunity for local B Corps to meet with one another to encourage and share hints and tips on improving their impact; at The Square Club; www.thesquareclub.com
31 May: EntreConf Awards –nominations close NEW: Nominations close for The EntreConf Awards, highlighting entrepreneurship in multiple areas, to be held on 28 September at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery; www.entreconf. com/entreconf-awards
16 June: Collaborate Bristol
The South West’s leading UX, Ai and Design conference, at Watershed; www.allevents.in/ bristol/collaborate-bristol-2023
22 June: EntreConf
The region’s leading conference for entrepreneurs and partners at Watershed, with a full day of keynotes, forums (funding, marketing, exit-planning); advice clinics, along with the return of The EntreLeague; www.entreconf.com
The Bristol Life Awards 2023 was an exuberant, joyful smash hit – let’s do it all over again!
“IMAGINE GAINING THE VALIDATION OF YOUR PEERS”
