FEMALE LEADERS
100 GREAT PLACES TO WORK
NEED TO KNOW: WEB 5.0
CEO INTERVIEWS
Cyber & IT
Legal & Professional
Corporate Finance
Manufacturing
Science & Technology
Skills
Real
Covering
Oxfordshire
Published by
This is the last issue of Business & Innovation Magazine, the title we first launched in May 2017. Our next issue, May 2023, will adopt the title The Business Magazine.
Apart from the name, everything stays the same: the team, the unique content, the chance to tap into and benefit from our huge business network which extends across the West Midlands into Gloucestershire, Bristol and the South West, and the whole of Oxfordshire. More than ever before we will become the champion of regional business.
This is an amazing success story for the small, independent publishing company we established in 2017. Last year we revealed that we had been snapped up by publishing and events company Black Ox Ltd, which shares the same ambitions as us – to support and report on regional business and host valuable networking and business programmes, including listings and awards, to help companies learn from each other and make new connections.
Black Ox’s flagship title, The Business Magazine, covers the Thames Valley, Surrey, Kent and Sussex, across to the Solent and the South Coast and has been published for more than 30 years.
If each magazine had been on Tinder, it’s likely we’d both have swiped right. Both have the same ambitions, and our regions compliment each other perfectly. Between both issues, we cover the whole of the West Midlands and right down to the South Coast
As a successful publishing upstart, we are delighted to adopt the name of our more established sister title to begin building brand continuity – so everyone knows what we stand for.
The Business Magazine has adopted our distinct magazine design – a perfect example of taking the best from both to achieve something special.
We are also making the most of the greater resources now available to us.
We’ve expanded our team with new appointments, begun to relaunch our in-person events and extend our regional coverage further into Bristol and the South West.
When we launched Business & Innovation Magazine in 2017, it was just Kirsty and I. It was a labour of love, long hours and gritty determination to build something which regional businesses would value and use, and they did – in abundance.
In return, the support we received from the business community was phenomenal, so we knew we were doing it right. And that support continued. It meant that when the pandemic hit we could continue investing and returned to print sooner than any other UK regional business magazine.
This isn’t the end of an era, it’s the beginning of the next chapter, and we look forward to all our readers and supporters benefitting from a bigger team supporting the region’s business community, and reporting on your successes, innovations and ambitions better than we’ve ever been able to do before.
We could call it a bitter-sweet moment for all of us at Business & Innovation Magazine but the future is bright as we rebrand
Kirsty Muir Head of Print and Advertising
Nicky Godding Editor
“... we look forward to all our readers and supporters benefitting from a bigger team being able to support the region’s business community”
It’s o cial. A wine produced in the Cotswolds is among the best in the world.
Earlier this year Woodchester Valley Vineyard won a top international award for its 2021 wine at the Global Sauvignon Blanc Masters.
It is the first English still wine to have won a Master medal at the awards, and an astonishing achievement for such a young vineyard.
Established in 2007 by Fiona and Niall Shiner, Woodchester Valley is a vineyard and winery near Stroud. It now produces white, rosé, red and sparkling wines from 58 acres.
Siobhan Turner, one of the Global Sauvignon Blanc Masters judges, and a Master of Wine, said: “We were very pleased to find delights at every end of the price spectrum.
“It is also particularly pleasing that both wines awarded Master medals are under £23.
One, unsurprisingly, hails from Marlborough (New
Zealand), and has a true sense of place and lovely elegance.
“The other, to all our astonishment, was from England – Gloucestershire to be precise. Engaging and utterly enjoyable, the Woodchester Valley was the wine of the tasting for me.”
Woodchester Valley won the top prize for its 2021 vintage in the £20-£30 price category.
In 2021 the UK wine industry was worth $22.5 billion and that growth shows no sign of stopping, with retailer Majestic Wines reporting English sparkling wine as of its top sellers over Christmas 2022, and sales as a whole up 19 per cent.
Fiona Shiner said: “In spring 2015 we planted 2,000 Sauvignon Blanc vines. The young vines thrived and in 2017 we harvested a small crop (under a tonne) for our first vintage
vines. The young vines thrived and wine.
“In 2016, Jeremy Mount, our wine-maker joined the team from working at the Matua Winery in Marlborough, New Zealand.
Picking up awards has since become a bit of a habit for Woodchester Valley.
“Under Jeremy’s guidance, our 2016 wines won a clutch of medals in competition,” said Fiona.
Fiona and Niall took on Niall’s parents’ property at Amberley after returning to the UK from Hong Kong. While Niall continued with his career, Fiona decided to plant vines following a comment by her mother-in-law that the Romans could have grown vines there.
With the first acre of vines planted, Fiona threw herself into studying viticulture. Despite a disastrously wet first summer, the vineyard thrived and Fiona bought a farm on the hill opposite, planting more vines for still and sparkling wines.
“The vibrancy of the fruit was
“The vibrancy of the fruit was impressive. Even at the pressing stage the aromas were classic Sauvignon Blanc – gooseberry, cut grass, bell pepper.
In 2016 a former farm building was converted into a winery and press area and a third vineyard site at Stonehouse was acquired, bringing the total area under vine to 58 acres.
Milton Park near Abingdon will host the UK’s first fully electric, autonomous public bus service.
The Mi-Link project, a 16-seat, single decker minibus, uses Bristol-based Fusion Processing’s automated drive system that combines radar, LiDAR and optical cameras with artificial intelligence to control the vehicle’s steering, acceleration and braking without the need for human intervention.
The project is funded by commercial and private partnerships as well as the Department for Transport’s Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV).
Led by First Bus, the consortium comprises Fusion Processing Ltd, Oxfordshire County Council, the University of the West of England and Leamington Spa-based Zipabout, which develops personalised travel information.
The bus service o ers passengers a free and green mode of travel from the Park’s workspace, the Bee House to its Milton Feast street food market area and back. But it’s not quite human-free yet – a qualified safety driver will be on board to take
control of the vehicle if required.
Zipabout’s journey planner will provide real-time updates on the service’s operation times between 7am to 6.30pm Monday to Saturday, running as often as every 15 minutes.
Milton Park , the UK’s largest single ownership business community, is an ideal test-bed site for the Mi-Link project and followed the success of recent pioneering drone delivery trials at the park last summer.
The Mi-Link project, which also includes a fleet of free electric hire bikes, aims to reduce by half the volume of car trips at Milton Park
Philip Campbell, Commercial Director at MEPC Milton Park, said: “Given the array of innovative companies based at the Park from pioneers in battery technology to green energy, it’s fitting that the next generation of passenger transport is taking shape here.
“While the trials are of national significance, they are also an important step in encouraging people across Milton Park, Didcot and South Oxfordshire to travel in a more sustainable way.”
Heathrow has launched a free meal scheme for all those working at the airport, thanks to catering partner Eurest, based at Rednal near Bromsgrove.
The airport wanted to o er every worker on site access to a free daily meal and hot drink.
As the on-site contract caterer for Heathrow, Eurest managed to turn around the entire operation in only four weeks.
That was despite huge logistical challenges, including having to re-open workplace restaurants closed since the pandemic, ready for increased demand.
Tom Bonner, Contract Director at Eurest, said: “We’re proud to say that, thanks to the hard work of so many people, we rose to the challenge.
“Any solution was never going to be simple. We have more than 100 di erent clients across the airport and needed to reach them all while maintaining speed of service. But we developed an app-based voucher which has proved hugely popular.”
Heathrow’s 6,000 sta can now access two daily vouchers on their app, one for food and one for a hot drink, which can be used at any time during their shift.
“Any solution was never going to be simple”
The young vines thrived and in 2017 we harvested a small crop (under a tonne) for our first vintage wine. The vibrancy of the fruit was impressive WoodchesterValley Vineyard
A product developed by Limbs & Things is helping medical teams deal more confidently with challenging birthing situations.
The PROMPT Flex birthing simulator, a lifelike model imitating labour and delivery, is already used in teaching hospitals around the world and has proved to be a game changer in improving the management of shoulder dystocia.
This is where the baby’s shoulders get stuck during birth and can lead to life changing injuries.
Now, a study carried out by obstetrician
Dr Katie Cornthwaite based at North Bristol NHS Trust and the University of Bristol, has shown that using the simulator is also helping generate confidence in dealing with a rare and challenging complication of Caesarean birth, known as impacted foetal head.
This is an obstetric emergency where the baby’s head is low and fixed in the pelvis at the time of a Caesarean section.
Dr Cornthwaite said: “The Limbs & Things trainer allows maternity sta to develop their skills in dealing with situations like impacted foetal head in a safe environment, creating a greater level of
expertise and confidence if the situation comes up in real life.”
Dr Cornthwaite recently gave a demonstration of the product to the Princess Royal and the Princess of Wales during their visit to the new headquarters of the Royal College of Midwives, which is also home to the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists.
Limbs & Things was established in 1990 by Margot Cooper, a medical illustrator and member of the Medical Artists Association of Great Britain. It opened its first o ces outside the UK in 1996 and invested in a new factory in Bristol in 2018.
A gin bar in Warwick is celebrating significant growth 18 months after opening by taking its unique pick ‘n’ mix flavour concept online.
That Gin Company, which has a bar in the town’s Swan Street, is thought to be the first in the country to o er the bottled bespoke flavours by post – a theme which it has also adopted for their new gift range.
As part of a gin rebrand, the team is o ering customers anywhere in the UK
the chance to create and buy their own unique flavour infusions in 50ml, 250ml and 500ml bottles – from afar.
That Gin Company owner Steve Bazell said: “There’s lots of companies which sell a selection of di erent miniatures and gins, but what makes us di erent from the rest is that we can o er unique gin flavours.
“We’re expecting our bespoke miniatures to be particularly popular as wedding favours, for example.”
Games development is now a billion-pound British industry, and a major exporter. We look at the sector and meet some of the region’s most successful games developers
By Sam Pither
Around one in six adults in the UK play video games, whether that be on smartphone, console or a computer. Yet how many of us have thought about where those games are made?
In 2019, a report from the British Film Institute found the total GVA generated by all video games developed, published and sold in the UK to be £5.12 billion.
By 2021, according to the BBC, this had risen to £7.16 billion, and there is every indication this number is set to rise further.
In the face of the current economic turbulence, games sales are one of the few sectors to see continued growth, which is bound to see more people entering the sector.
Into Games is a non-profit organisation which aims to connect hundreds of learners, from all backgrounds, with those already working in the industry.
As its CEO, Declan Cassidy, puts it: “When times are di cult, people like to escape, and games are a perfect way to do that”.
The UK Safer Internet Centre found that 58 per cent of eight to 17-year-olds said playing games online had a positive change in their mood, 59 per cent said it made them feel good about themselves and 71 per cent said it made them feel more relaxed and happier.
These positive e ects are not limited to online games, either. A 2021 study from the Oxford Internet Institute found a positive relation between game play and e ective wellbeing in players of EA’s Plants Vs Zombies: Battle for Neighbourville and Nintendo’s Animal Crossing.
Along with playing games, the UK is also great at making them according to Sam Collins, Head of Commercial and Membership at UKIE, the games trade association in the UK.
He said: “Games straddle the intersection of creative and technical capabilities and, for some reason, in the UK we’re brilliant at sitting between those things. Some countries are brilliant at specific areas like animation or design, but the UK, maybe it’s because of our hobbyist nature, is great at all of them”.
It is an industry driven heavily by smaller businesses, with more than 99 per cent of companies employing 250 people or fewer. As a whole, the industry nationwide only employs around 25,000 people.
Those small numbers go a long way, however, with each person employed in the sector contributing approximately £120,000 of GVA to the UK economy, placing it at the top of creative industries in terms of economic contribution per head.
According to data from UKIE, the trade body for the UK games and interactive entertainment industry, there are currently 125 games businesses active in the West Midlands.
Leamington Spa holds the biggest cluster in the region, with around 36 active studios. Together with nearby Warwick, the region has been dubbed “Silicon Spa” in a nod to California’s Silicon Valley.
Its heritage in the region dates back to the 1980s, with a catalogue of titles featuring massive console releases such
as Forza and Far Cry and mobile games for companies like Disney, Warner Bros and Sega.
This, in turn, brings opportunity to the region, with the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) estimating there are between 3,000 and 3,500 games industry professionals across the West Midlands, with up to 2,500 of those centred around Leamington Spa.
In 2015, this generated an estimated £224 million GVA in the West Midlands, with £188 million of that coming from what the LEP describes as a core of 50 firms clustered around Leamington, Southam and Warwick.
By 2019, BFI data shows this had risen to a total GVA of £517 million. Considering the exponential growth in the region during the pandemic, it’s fair to assume this number has only grown since.
Along with their economic impact, the video games sector is also a driver of innovation, a key theme of the Treasury’s “Build Back Better strategy”, with much of the technology created by the video games sector repurposed by other creative industries.
One example of this is Stroud-based All Seeing Eye, which created an interactive virtual reality experience named In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats with filmmaker Darren Emerson for the Coventry City of Culture 2021.
Featured on BBC Breakfast, it takes its audience back to 1999, inviting them to go in search of an illegal rave in an explorable virtual world set in Coventry and Warwickshire including a posterstrewn bedroom, secret warehouses and Corley services.
In the following pages we take a look at some examples of the video games sector across our regions, looking at not just the studios, but the infrastructure and ecosystem surrounding and enabling them.
We also look at how Into Games is working to make the industry more accessible for everyone, before finishing with some of the big-money deals made in the sector in the past couple of years.
“In the face of the current economic turbulence, games sales are one of the few sectors to see continued growth ...”
Warwickshire has one of the UK’s strongest hubs for the gaming sector, with Leamington Spa – known in the industry as “Silicon Spa”, right at the centre.
Its history goes back to the 1980s and two pairs of siblings, the Darling brothers and the Oliver twins.
In 1986 Richard and David Darling founded Codemasters, now one of the oldest British games studios, which in 2021 was acquired by Electronic Arts for $1.2 billion. Their stated aim was to create budget-price games at full-price quality.
Starting out with BMX Simulator, the studio went on to create massive franchises including the Brian Lara Cricket, GRID, LMA Manager, TOCA, Overlord and Colin McRae Rally and Dirt series.
Meanwhile, Andrew and Philip Oliver originally started out working at Codemasters before breaking away
to create their own studio, Blitz Games Studios, in 1990.
Before closing the studio in 2013 they created games for global franchises including Chicken Run, Lilo & Stitch, Reservoir Dogs and SpongeBob SquarePants.
After the studio closed, the twins set up Radiant Worlds, which was then acquired by Oxfordshire-based Rebellion in 2018, becoming Rebellion Warwick.
As with another of the UK’s big gaming hubs, Guildford, the presence of these studios drew talented creatives to the region who would go on to create their own studios further down the line, becoming the cluster it is today.
As Lauran Carter, Head of Communications at full-service creative production studio Liquid Crimson and co-founder of Guildford. Games explained:
“Since the Eighties, studios have made games, grown larger and larger, then shed. The shedding can come from knowing there’s a game down the line that maybe isn’t something you’re interested in making.
“Studios shed once a project is finished with people deciding to start their own thing, and that small thing grows from being a very furtive project to some of the bigger names we see today.”
Some of the best-known franchises to have been developed in some part in Warwickshire include Far Cry, LittleBigPlanet and Forza.
Leamington Spa is also home to Identity Spark, which was established in 2013 to support the needs of gaming and technology companies through branding, marketing and communications. The firm is fronted by Founder and CEO Natalie Gri th, who in 2015 was listed as one of the Top 100 Women in Games.
The biggest name in gaming in the Oxfordshire region is probably the behemoth Rebellion, who aside from a 30-year history publishing video games including the Sniper Elite, Zombie Army and Evil Genius series, have also branched out into the worlds of comics, books, TV and film.
Excalibur Publishing is a Banbury-based games company known for making simulator games for PC, Mac and VR, including train, driving and flying sims, along with a range of accessories and peripherals such as headsets and driving wheels.
Also based in the county is SpecialE ect, a charity which helps to make gaming accessible to disabled people who may struggle to use traditional input devices. Among the help they o er are bespoke gaming controls and regular articles explaining how to make popular games like FIFA easier to play.
While the county has relatively few games studios, it is testament to the reach of the industry that there are still a number of active, if smaller, studios in Wiltshire.
Crooks Peak is a Calne-based developer specialising in virtual reality (VR) games. This one-man studio released Alien Extraction, a puzzle strategy game, on Steam and Meta Quest last year and is currently working on its next project titled By Grit Alone.
Swindon-based Geek Beach has created a massively-multiplayer online (MMO) game which allows players to create a planet, build a fleet of warships, explore the universe and fight other players for the Apple and Google app stores.
Better known for its long history of animation, Bristol-based Aardman moved into the games sector fairly recently with games including Home Sheep Home, a platform puzzle game set in the Shaun the Sheep universe and 11-11: Memories Retold, an adventure designed to retell stories from the front lines of World War One.
Diva is a Bristol-based creative agency which has created campaigns for some of
the best known names in entertainment including 2K Games, PlayStation and Netflix. Last year, it created an Out of Home Advertising campaign for Elden Ring, one of the biggest games of 2022.
Co-op Mode is a not-for-profit company o ering deskspace for developers in the Bristol area. Launching last year, they o er facilities including meeting rooms where smaller studios can come together to create games.
Flix Interactive is a Bromsgrovebased studio established in 2012. It has since partnered with a number of other studios in the region including Rebellion, Sumo Digital and Xbox Game Studios to create titles including Sea of Thieves, Sniper Elite 5 and Crackdown 3.
Evesham-based GamesAid is a charity working with the games industry to
raise money for other UK charities working with children and young people. Each year they choose a new group of charities to work with, this year supporting organisations including Solving Kids’ Cancer and Winston’s Wish.
Fatcat Softworks is an Ombersleybased creator of games and machines for the gambling industry.
Cirencester-based Neon Play is a mobile games developer which has been making games since the early 2000s. Starting out making flash games for global brands such as Ferrari, Tesco and the BBC, the company moved on to the iPhone in 2009 and hasn’t looked back since.
In 2016 the company was acquired by the publishers Hachette.
Stroud-based All Seeing Eye creates augmented, immersive and social experiences. Straddling the line between storytelling, film-making and interactive design, the company’s work has featured at games festivals such as Tribeca, Sundance and SXSW. In 2021 it created an interactive virtual reality experience for the Coventry City of Culture named In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats.
product to the BAFTA Young Game Designer competition, as well as meeting an industry professional.
Declan explained: “What we found quite interesting was that, while we had thought the university students would be better, in the pilots we’ve been running the college students – and we’re talking 17 or 18-yearolds – have been just as good, if not better.
“We did that because it’s great to be able to show those young people their next step in a very visceral way, in terms of the person that’s teaching them, rather than an industry professional who’s just so far away from where they’re at. Through the process we wanted to demonstrate the pathway.”
The games industry still has a diversity problem – these are the words of Into Games Chief Executive Declan Cassidy. “There’s not enough women in the industry and there’s not enough people from low-income backgrounds coming into the industry.”
According to UKIE’s 2022 UK Games Industry Census, 67 per cent of the sector was male, 30 per cent was female and three per cent was non-binary.
The same study found that 62 per cent of those surveyed reported living in a household where the main income earner worked in a managerial or professional job, significantly higher than the 37 per cent of the general population to grow up in those households.
Into Games is working to change this by promoting the industry as a viable career for people of all backgrounds.
Much of its focus at an early stage is letting young people know that the industry is for them and breaking down the stigma or anxieties people from minority and disadvantaged backgrounds, or their parents, might hold.
“It’s also about letting young people know that games skills are applicable to the sector, but also applicable in a lot of other
sectors as well – and letting their parents know that it’s a viable career path.”
One of the ways is through video gamemaking after-school clubs. The first trial saw Into Games installing game-making software on a school’s computers, and then training the teachers how to use it.
The trial ran for six sessions, taught by either second- and third-year university games students, or final year college students.
The students were taken through the process of making a game from start to finish: from having their first idea, putting it into practice, then submitting the final
Further along the pipeline, Into Games supports work experience as well as creating training packages for studios so they can complete the circle and support the next generation, creating a circular process.
“Once you’ve shown them that it’s a potential route, you then have to tell them how hard it is to get a job in games.
“Even for those who go to university, which is still the most viable route, it’s di cult because while there are jobs, there’s not a lot. So, it’s reiterating that those skills are applicable elsewhere and people will often have a non-linear route into the industry.
“It can also be down to picking a university with strong ties to a studio, and that those ties are built in to the course itself – which we also help with through boot camps, refresher courses and finishing schools.
“We also try to educate people on the variety of di erent roles in the industry. It’s not just programmers and tech-focused roles. We list around 160 di erent possible positions in the sector on our website, showing the industry is there for everybody.
“Don’t ignore the games sector. It might be hard to break in, seeming closed o and secretive, but once you get in it’s really open, up for doing things and taking risks, open to working with young people – they just need to keep knocking at the door.”
“We also try to educate people on the variety of different roles in the industry. It’s not just programmers and tech-focused roles”Into Games After School Club
Multi-million-pound acquisitions have a long-term history in the world of video games. For example, Electronic Arts’ acquisition of Bullfrog Productions in 1995 was arguably a driving force in the Guildford area becoming the hub it is today.
Accountancy and business advisory firm BDO found that merger and acquisition deals for UK video game-makers hit £1.9 billion in 2021, an increase of 63 per cent on 2020.
This was generated by 14 takeovers across the year, compared to nine in 2020 and six in 2019, indicating an expansion in the market.
According to BDO’s research, the bulk of the merger and acquisition value in 2021 was generated by Electronic Arts’ acquisition of Playdemic, which made Golf Clash, for £1 billion and the acquisition of the Sumo Group, designer of the Sonic Racing, LittleBigPlanet and Crackdown franchises, by Chinese entertainment conglomerate Tencent for £850 million.
The true number may in fact be a little higher than this, however, as BDO make no mention of Electronic Arts’ £1.2 billion takeover of Leamington Spa-based Codemasters, creators of the DIRT, GRID and Project CARS franchises, at the start of the year.
Four of the acquisitions were made by private equity funds, with BDO stating that these organisations started to look at video game producers due to their lower valuations compared to other areas of the tech sector.
Kwalee, a Leamington Spa-based video games developer and publisher, is planning further expansion this year following its first acquisition in 2022.
The studio, which is led by Chief Executive David Darling, one of the founders of the legendary Codemasters studio, acquired French narrative-based mobile games developer Tictales in January of 2022.
Having received more than 200 million downloads last year and seeing its revenue increase by 12 per cent year-on-year, the studio is planning to further expand its portfolio of mobile hyper-casual and casual mobile, PC and console games.
David, who was honoured with a fellowship at Warwickshire College University Group in Leamington last year, said: “It’s a privilege to reach this point where Kwalee is getting recognition for the hard work we’ve done, quickly becoming the games publisher that developers want to be a liated with.
“I’m incredibly proud of our teams, who have helped us get to this point. We have only positive expectations and strategies lined up in the coming months, and we can’t wait to unveil them as time unfolds.”
“I’m incredibly proud of our teams, who have helped us get to this point.
We have only positive expectations and strategies lined up in the coming months ...”
A wine importer is targeting significant growth this year thanks to securing a gamechanging deal with Sainsbury’s which will see the company’s Italian boxed wine and its wine in paper bottles (yes really), on the supermarket’s shelves.
When in Rome, which has its head o ce in Worcestershire, a major warehouse in Gloucestershire and supplies Waitrose, Ocado and a string of British independent wine retailers, is also crowdfunding to grow the business.
Last year the business turned over more than £1 million. This year it’s likely to hit £3 million thanks not only to the Sainsbury’s deal, but also to new link-ups with corporate wines and spirits supplier Enotria & Co and a growing customer base in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan.
The business was launched in 2015 by former foreign exchange trader Rob Malin and his two Italian co-founders, who all met in Turin.
What sets When in Rome apart from other wine importers, however, is a determination to help the wine industry radically cut its carbon footprint.
Rob said: “Almost 40 per cent of the global wine industry’s CO2 emissions come from using single-use glass bottles. Our one ambition, our over-riding key performance indicator, is to reduce the wine industry’s carbon footprint.
“Rosé wine is sold in clear glass bottles. Because all glass, whatever its colour, is recycled together it can’t be turned back into clear wine bottles and is more likely to end up as road aggregate.
“All the composite parts of our wine boxes, and our paper wine bottles, are recyclable, and despite them having plastic liners, they still produce six times less CO2 than their glass equivalents.”
Rob saw that selling wine in boxes could be a major step forward.
This isn’t a new concept of course, wine bags in boxes have been around since the 1980s. First introduced in Australia, the early boxes often contained poor quality wine with a short shelf life. But the quality has improved significantly since then and the format has been widely adopted in Italian restaurants because it’s cheaper.
fermentation,” said Rob. “Capturing carbon dioxide created during fermentation is a powerful way for the wine industry to help reduce climate change.”
Some of the company’s wine producers are also looking at regenerative agriculture.
Rob explains: “A Tuscan vineyard looks beautiful, but what you see is a mono crop. That’s not sustainable.
“We are starting to work with producers in the lesser-known wine producing areas of Italy, encouraging them to allow vegetation growth between the vines because that’s how a plant should grow.”
Rob admits that this has cost implications for the producer. “It’s much harder to harvest and doesn’t look as pristine but the moisture retention and yield is higher for the grower. These are the sort of things our producers need to be doing.”
When in Rome is also looking at agri-solar. “In the UK our lack of sunshine means that we have to dedicate huge fields to solar panels. In Italy, fewer solar panels produce more electricity. Thin motorised solar panels can also cover vines, pivoting to protect them when the sun is at its hottest, or from late season frost or hail.”
He said: “I got to know the wine industry well when I lived in Italy, and after returning to work in the UK, it didn’t take me long to decide it was time for a career change.”
When in Rome buys from independent wine producers and co-operatives. Rob’s co-founders, both based in Milan, manage the supply side while Rob drives sales and expansion from the UK.
“You won’t see boxes of wine on an Italian restaurant table, but you will see carafes – and those carafes will have been decanted from boxes, rather than the traditional glass demijohns," explained Rob.
Having successfully introduced sustainable packaging to its range, When in Rome is now working with wine producers on their supply chains.
“We want to address such issues as carbon capture from grape
Rob is ambitious for the business “We have a lot to o er in terms of the wine producers we work with and the brand we have built. The top boxed wine brands in the USA achieve $200 million revenue a year.
“We are every bit as good, if not better, than them. The global market for boxed wine is huge, and we have a very scalable business model. Moving a 1,000 litre or 24,000 litre container of wine makes a huge di erence to our turnover, but there is little di erence in the amount of paperwork needed to achieve it.”
“A Tuscan vineyard looks beautiful, but what you see is a mono crop. That’s not sustainable”
I got to know the wine industry well when I lived in Italy, and after returning to work in the UK, it didn’t take me long to decide it was time for a career change
UNIVERSITY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE OFFER BUSINESS LEADERS THE OPPORTUNITY TO CAPITALISE ON GOVERNMENT FUNDING VIA A NATIONAL LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME TO HELP THEM
The University of Gloucestershire Business School is offering local business leaders the opportunity to access a 90% funded course that will help them grow their companies. The course designed to fit alongside work commitments is a 12-week programme, combining practical curriculum with one-to-one support from a leading business mentor and alumni networking sessions.
What can business leaders expect from Help To Grow: Management?
The programme offers participants 50 hours of support over 12 weeks. There are eight facilitated online sessions and four workshops delivered in-person at the Oxstalls Campus. These workshops are longer, more in-depth taught sessions, delivered by small business and enterprise experts. This is from the University’s Business School and is supported by leading figures from industry and experienced entrepreneurs.
After each taught session, participants will meet in small groups for peer network sessions, to enable them to review and reflect together.
Participants are also paired up with a personal mentor who will facilitate one-to-one weekly online sessions. The aim of this is to create a tailored business growth plan that you can take away immediately and implement in your company.
Andrew Kimberlee, Managing Director from NETBuilder said:
“I would thoroughly recommend the Help to Grow: Management course, as it is well worth the time and money. All the case studies examined as part of the course are fresh and new, and it’s a great opportunity to meet fellow business peers to share challenges and new ideas. The mentoring sessions are also excellent, as they really challenge you to think hard about your business model; the complete package represents fantastic value when compared with many other commercially available leadership coaching and mentoring services.”
Neil Evans, Managing Director of Caplor Energy said:
“I’ve really enjoyed taking part in the Help to Grow: Management course; every module has been useful, and highly applicable to our day-today challenges as a growing business. The Peer Group sessions are excellent and represent a valuable opportunity to discuss the issues raised in each module with fellow business leaders. I would thoroughly recommend the course to any business looking to achieve sustainable growth.”
The next programme begins in April followed by another one in May.
Gloucestershire-based aeronautics innovator ZeroAvia made aviation history in January, flying the largest aircraft in the world to be powered by a hydrogenelectric engine.
The flight took place from the company’s research and development facility at Cotswold Airport near Kemble and lasted 10 minutes.
The leader in zero-emission aviation, which moved to Kemble in 2021 to take advantage of its long runway, ample hangar space facilities and robust infrastructure, took to the skies for the maiden flight of its 19-seat Dornier 228 testbed aircraft, retrofitted with a full-size prototype hydrogen-electric powertrain on the left wing of the aircraft.
The aircraft completed taxi, take-o , a full pattern circuit, and landing.
The landmark flight forms part of the HyFlyer II project, a major R&D programme backed by the government’s flagship ATI Programme, which targets the development of a 600kW powertrain to support 9-19 seat aircraft worldwide with zero-emission flight.
The twin-engine aircraft was retrofitted to incorporate ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric engine on its left wing, which then operated alongside a single Honeywell TPE-331 stock engine on the right.
Val Miftakhov, ZeroAvia founder and CEO, said: “This is a major moment, not just for ZeroAvia, but for the aviation industry as a whole, as it shows that true zero-emission commercial flight is only a few years away.
“The first flight of our 19-seat aircraft shows just how scalable our technology is and highlights the rapid progress of zeroemission propulsion.”
Two students who were tired of hearing about fast fashion companies run by billionaires putting profit first, have decided to change things.
Motivated by the idea that only around one per cent of fashion is recycled, Jordan Grayson and Holly Boxall set up Trash Planet in 2020. They have now designed a fully recyclable vegan footwear range made predominantly of recycled materials — encouraging customers to return the shoes once they reach their end of life.
With the majority of old footwear ending up in landfill and comprising of materials that cannot naturally decompose, there is a glaring threat to the environment that the industry has continually failed to address, they say.
Cirencester-based Trash Planet is now looking to break the mould and demonstrate that footwear fashion does not have to be detrimental to the climate — while influencing consumer behaviour surrounding fashion waste.
The team have also planted around 11,000 trees to remove more than 440 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere as it looks to pave a sustainable future for the industry.
Co-working space and innovation company Plexal has acquired a majority shareholding in Hub8 – the network of co-working spaces for businesses in the cyber-tech, digital and creative sectors in and around Cheltenham.
Plexal, founded by DV4, a long-term investment fund advised by real estate fund
adviser Delancey, already has a presence in London and Manchester. It has acquired the Cheltenham company as part of an ongoing mission to build the UK’s most connected cyber ecosystem.
Hub8 launched the town’s first co-working space dedicated to enabling the growth of the region’s cyber-tech sector in 2019. The
innovative start-up grew rapidly with the launch of its second facility in partnership with Gloucestershire College at its Cheltenham campus in September 2021.
Hub8 started working with Plexal in 2019 to help develop joint initiatives. In 2021, they collectively won the National Cyber Security Centre Innovation Partner programme.
o ering longer-term, sustained development to help your business grow
Operations/Departmental Manager (LEVEL 5)
A programme for existing and/or aspiring Middle/Senior managers.
Delivered over 18-20 months, the programme aims to develop managers to meet and exceed the national standards and covers multiple skills such as leadership, management, communications, operations management, project management and finance, as well as behaviours of professionalism, taking responsibility and being agile.
Delivery Options:
Improvement Practitioner (LEVEL 4)
An all-round programme in continuous improvement.
Delivered over 14-16 months, half the programme covers lean six sigma improvement methodologies, while the other half develops skills in project management, change management and leadership.
A practical course involving realtime improvement projects
Associate Project Manager (LEVEL 4)
A technical course to develop professional project managers.
Delivered over 14-16 months, this course develops the knowledge and skills required to create, plan, lead and manage successful projects.
It also includes the prestigious Project Management Qualification (PMQ)
Team Leader/Supervisor (LEVEL 3)
A rich foundation course for team leaders and supervisors.
Delivered over 12-14 months, you will cover leadership, delegation, performance management, problem-solving and coaching skills, in addition to operations management, project management and finance.
All apprenticeships are fully covered by the apprenticeship levy or Government funding
All our short courses, qualifications and apprenticeships are available as Open Programmes or Bespoke, both of which have advantages:
The advantages of using Open Courses is they are:
• Ideal when you only need to book one or two places
• The courses repeat throughout the year, so you can spread bookings across several di erent dates
• You learn with and from other local organisations and network with like-minded individuals
• You can learn away from the workplace, free from distractions
• You can build your own personal development plans from a comprehensive range of topics
• They are a ordable and accessible, with free parking on site
• Finally, you can make your training count by earning credits towards a qualification
The advantages of using bespoke training are:
• Courses can be tailored to suit your needs
• We can align delivery & content to your own vision & values, and can embed your policies and processes
• You choose the dates and times to suit your needs
• You can learn in your own venue, with familiar faces and surroundings, as well as minimise travel costs
• Learning between colleagues helps share best practice
• Training can be delivered across cohorts for consistency
• It’s very cost e ective when you have several learners with the same needs
• Your training - endorsed by ILM (additional costs apply)
For more information, call us on 01452 221777 or visit our website for more details of courses, content, dates, times and costs.
www.glosenterprise.co.uk
Gloucestershire business support organisations are aiming to help local companies source from and supply each other more e ciently.
Together Gloucestershire is a new initiative developed by Cirencester and Cheltenham Chambers of Commerce and supported by the Federation of Small Business.
The aim is to increase business spend locally by bringing willing buyers and sellers together and helping micro and small businesses improve their capability to navigate the often tortuous tender process increasingly demanded by public sector organisations or large private businesses.
While large companies can a ord full time bid managers, smaller companies don’t often have the time to review tender documents properly and can waste time filling in tenders inaccurately, leading to tender failure.
Together Gloucestershire already has the support of some big county organisations including manufacturers Spirax Sarco and Renishaw, wealth management company St James’s Place and public sector organisations including Gloucestershire Constabulary and the county council.
Badminton Horse Trials has appointed Freemans Event Partners as its new food and drink partner across its public catering o ering ahead of this year’s event which takes place in May.
The Gloucester-based event specialist is now the major provider of the Badminton Horse Trials public catering including food, ice cream, hot drinks, confectionery and bars.
Freemans Event Partners supports more than 400 of the UK and Europe’s biggest events and venues such as Silverstone, Lord’s Cricket Ground, Twickenham, London Stadium and the BMW PGA Championship.
Jane Tuckwell, Event Director of Badminton Horse Trials, said: “The Freemans Event Partners team has proved that it can create bespoke food and beverage o erings which perfectly fit an event and
its audience. This was a crucial factor for us when selecting a partner for the Badminton Horse Trials as we have a very specific demographic.”
To accommodate the coronation of King Charles III, the event has shifted its dates to May 4-8.
There will be a break in the middle of the second day (Saturday, May 6) so everyone can watch the Coronation on big screens in the catering areas.
More than 180,000 people regularly attend Badminton Horse Trials over the five days.
Stephen Freeman, Freemans Event Partners CEO, added: “Not only is it one of the leading events of its kind in the world, with thousands of attendees and the highest level of competition, but it’s right here in our home county of Gloucestershire in the glorious grounds of Badminton Park.”
Construction school, AccXel, has joined forces with Gloucestershire Engineering Training (GET) to increase career opportunities, in the Forest of Dean.
The training providers are to redevelop an abandoned building located next to AccXel’s existing campus in Cinderford.
The lot has remained vacant since the closure of a nursery school in 2020. AccXel and GET intend to transform the space into a practical skills training area for engineering and construction apprentices.
AccXel Managing Director, Nicola Bird said: “We’re over the moon to be working
with GET. We can’t wait to expand our apprenticeship o ering to help more people start careers in both engineering and construction.”
Warren Thomas the CEO of GET said “We are looking forward to working with AccXel and supporting each other as training providers.”
By Nicky Godding, Editor
Almost 20 years ago, a British gas engineer based in Cheltenham reckoned he could improve the e ciency and performance of every central heating system.
So Chris Adey designed a magnetic filter which did just that.
Since then, the company he founded, Adey Professional Heating Solutions, has sold millions of his original product, MagnaClean, expanded its range and is employing around 300 people helping the company turn over more than £80 million a year.
Chris bowed out of the business in 2016 after a private equity-backed management buyout, and in 2021 the company was sold again, for £210 million
– back into the trade this time, to one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of piping, water and climate management systems. The company, Polypipe –which changed its name to Genuit soon after the purchase – is based in Leeds and is acquiring companies such as Gloucester-based Adey to become a leading provider of sustainable construction products and services
The sale back into industry has proved a winner for Genuit and Adey.
However, to tell Adey’s story properly, we need to wind back before the pandemic and meet the man instrumental
in its successful sale to Genuit and its subsequent growth.
Matthew Webber, who lives in Worcestershire, joined Adey in 2017 –the year after the management buyout, to run sales in the UK, and later Europe and North America.
The plumbing and heating industry wasn’t, unsurprisingly, his first choice of career. Matthew had studied law and marketing at Leicester University and planned to train as a barrister, following in the footsteps of his aunt, an immigration defence lawyer.
He spent a couple of months shadowing his aunt, acting as liaison with her clients. “We were trying to secure them the right to stay in the UK. Many were genuinely terrified about being harmed
In 2003, a Cheltenham heating engineer invented a product to help extend the life of every domestic heating system in the land. It’s now a multi-million pound global business which is thriving under new ownershipMatthew Webber
if they went home. You can’t act that stu and it really opened my eyes. And after dealing directly with people’s lives during the day, we’d head home to study late into the evening just to keep up with case law precedents.”
He even won mock bar trials two years in a row at Chelmsford Crown Court but didn’t enjoy academia as much as he’d hoped.
After backpacking around the world, he took the advice of friends and family who said he’d be great in a sales or commercial role and joined Fernox, the Slough manufacturer of water treatment and central heating products. There he stayed for nine years, before moving to Warwick-headquartered Wolseley UK Plumb and Parts Centre to run the company’s biggest region.
“Wolseley was a huge job, with a £400 million profit and loss, more than 1,000 people and hundreds of outlets. I was 35 when I started the job and learned more in three years there than probably anywhere else.”
He joined Adey in 2017 as sales director, and it took LDC, the private equity company which had bought it, less than two years to spot his potential and ask him to take over as managing director.
One of his biggest early challenges was helping the company adapt from private ownership to private equity.
“It is inevitable that such a major change
in ownership will impact company culture, and that proved to be the case at Adey,” he said. “Unless everyone in the business, from shop floor to the boardroom, understands what we are here for, where we are going and their part in that, the project just won’t work.”
Matthew upped the level of internal communications, made key personnel changes and introduced leadership and management training. This included away days to help bring the team together.
He remembers board members getting soaked on an away day after they o ered to cook a barbecue in the rain for the rest of the team. “The experience broke down barriers between management levels which had built up over the years,” he said.
This investment in management delivered almost immediate results when the pandemic hit in March, 2020.
“Because we’d built up a new level of trust, the team tackled the pandemic with more confidence,” said Matthew.
“We were all worried about job security, and while we had a nice cash balance in the bank at the beginning of the pandemic, we knew how quickly that would burn through.
I was 35 when I started the job and learned more in three years there than probably anywhere else
“I was worried about our people, so we did regular online briefings – and still do. It helps keep everyone together.”
The same year Covid hit, Adey moved into a newly-built facility close to the M5 at Gloucester.
“It wasn’t ideal timing, especially as, for the first time, we had brought manufacturing in-house. Most of our manufacturing is now done in Gloucester. It has boosted standards, given us control and was the next evolution for Adey.”
The new facility saw the company deliver its best financial results in the first quarter of 2020, and Adey’s private equity owners LDC planned to begin its sale.
But by the last week of March, more than £1 million worth of orders had been cancelled thanks to Covid and LDC delayed the sale to see how things would pan out. They needed have worried, orders rose again and by end of the year, the company carried over more than £5 million in sales.
“This slightly caught us out as because
of the pandemic we’d slowed down and weren’t entirely ready for bounce-back. So that was tricky,” Matthew admitted.
With orders on the up again, LDC rebooted its plan to sell Adey because the business had proved highly resilient.
Matthew began meeting interested parties, firstly face-to-face – then the world went back into lockdown and the whole process was largely conducted online, until the final week.
And Adey wasn’t short of suitors.
“Selling to Polypipe, now Genuit, was a great result as the trade sector understands the industry and is in it for the long haul,” said Matthew. “In a world where every single cost has gone up significantly, that’s a positive.”
Matthew is now moving within the Genuit Group to head one of the group’s new business units. As Managing Director of its Climate Management Solutions division, of which Adey is a part, he will take on responsibility for more companies,
including Nu-Heat in Honiton, Nuaire and Domus in Caerphilly, and Surestop in the West Midlands – a young company which has developed a product to protect properties from water damage.
In his place Matthew has appointed Helen Isherwood as Adey’s new Managing Director. Helen has been with the business for five years as Innovation Director and taken a leading role in the evolution of Adey’s products, services and operations.
“Helen is exceptional – strong and determined and wants to get on with the new job,” said Matthew.
“Genuit is a great company. It’s bought several businesses in the last few years, has 21 brands in total and a turnover of around £700 million. Adey has huge opportunities for growth. There are tens of millions of boilers in the UK alone without protection, chemicals or filters, so a big opportunity for us is in retrofitting products.
“Another growth area is in new boilers after Building Regulations (Part L) was updated in June 2022. One third of new boilers sold every year still don’t have chemicals or filters fitted.
“We are expanding our sales globally – for example last year we achieved growth of 20 per cent in North America.”
As Matthew’s successor, Helen is inheriting a great business, and she’s more than up for the challenge.
“Selling to Polypipe, now Genuit, was a great result as the trade sector understands the industry and is in it for the long haul”Adey’s new manufacturing facility
Aeralis, the Bristol-based British military jet developer, has signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with aviation services provider AirTanker to evaluate opportunities for an aircraft service o ering in the light fast jet defence market.
This follows Aeralis’ recent award of a multi-million-pound digital engineering services contract from the UK Ministry of Defence. The MoU will assess upcoming contracts in military flying training, defence operational training and combat air support roles.
The MoU covers a range of services that Brize Norton-based AirTanker can o er, such as collaboration with overseas partners and establishing local service provision.
The agreement aims to use the Aeralis programme to achieve significantly lower financing, acquisition and operating costs for aircraft compared to incumbents, paving the way for enabling a wide range of ‘on-demand’ operational air support services as part of the future of air force fleets.
This latest announcement follows on from
a successful year for Aeralis. The British jet developer signed partnerships with other companies building towards the ultimate delivery of the aircraft, including Thales UK, Atkins, Siemens, Martin-Baker and Hamble Aerostructures.
Aeralis also signed an MoU with RollsRoyce to explore initial and future options to meet the company’s propulsion requirements, and opened its first facility, the Aeralis Enterprise Hub, in the Bristol Defence & Aerospace cluster earlier this year.
Aeralis is also currently in Phase Two of a three-year contract with the Royal Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities O ce.
In 2008, AirTanker signed a 27-year contract with the Ministry of Defence to deliver and support 14 Multi Role Tanker Transport aircraft, which operate as
Voyager while in RAF service.
AirTanker’s CEO Phill Blundell said: “We are excited to be collaborating with the Aeralis team on this transformative programme and bring our expertise of supporting and delivering complex military operating solutions into the project at this developmental stage.”
Aeralis’s founder and chief executive Tristan Crawford added: “This Memorandum of Understanding with AirTanker marks an important step in Aeralis going to market not only with a transformational aircraft system but also with a disruptive aircraft service o ering.
“This will have the potential to transform the operating economics of defence light jet aviation, releasing sorely needed capacity and capability for military customers.”
“In the coming years this will have the potential to transform the operating economics of defence light jet aviation”Aeralis
Two Bristol-based games studios have been selected for the Creative Enterprise: Games Scale Up 2022/23 programme.
The six-month programme, which has been developed by Creative England and UKIE, the games trade body, aims to help companies in the games sector develop and grow their businesses.
Foggy Box Games was founded in 2017 by two members of the University of the West of England’s games division, Play West.
To date, the studio has developed two games. Both use Virtual Reality, with the first, Brunch Club (pictured above), asking its players to cook a meal while navigating challenges and hazards, while its second has its players doing a similar thing but with beverages in space.
The second studio to join the cohort is Meteor Pixel Limited, an outsourcing partner which specialises in Epic Games’ Unreal Engine. The studio provides external development services for the video games and extended reality sectors.
The company has worked with a number of di erent companies including Bristol-based games studio Auroch Digital, Stroud-based augmented experience team All Seeing Eye and Bristol-based marketing firm Diva.
This year’s Games Scale Up programme is being supported by Barclays.
Bristol-based ethical bank Triodos has backed rewilding charity Heal with a £3.75 million loan to support the acquisition of its first landholding in what is believed to be a UK first.
Heal will create a new nature reserve with 460 acres near Bruton in Somerset – the first in a series of nature reserves it plans to establish in every English county.
The lending marks Triodos Bank’s first loan to a rewilding project and is believed to be the first commercial loan of its kind in the UK.
Heal plans to acquire land using a ordable lending, which will be paid down as quickly as possible with mass public land sponsorship, corporate donations and natural capital investment.
As well as support from Triodos Bank, this first project is also backed by a loan from Direct Line Group, plus a land fund Heal launched in March 2020, which includes both public and corporate donations and a land sponsorship scheme.
MyNestBox, the Bristol digital platform and API (application programming interface) that connects thousands of data sources to speed up home buying, has raised £1.3 million in a round led by Fuel Ventures, alongside backing from other property law firms. MyNestBox features interactive and data-led “searches” for property lawyers.
“Searches” are currently supplied as large PDF documents containing all the information a home buyer (and their lender) need to know, such as flood risk, subsidence and public rights of way. Since launching in beta, MyNestBox supplies the data instantly to the lawyer. MyNestBox have letters of intent exceeding £1 million annually, to be realised in 2023.
The platform was co-founded by proptech and software entrepreneurs Henry Crosby PhD and Adam Rogers.
Bristol-based developer of industrial hardware, Actuation Lab, has secured financial backing from hard-tech and climate-tech investors to develop hardware that will prevent catastrophic gas leakage and allow the safe and sustainable use of hydrogen as an energy source.
Actuation Lab was founded by three post-doctoral researchers from the University of Bristol in 2019.
It is developing the Dragonfly Valve, a proprietary, low-torque, origamiinspired valve with zero leak paths to
atmosphere, which will help enable the safe and sustainable transition to hydrogen use, and billions of tonnes of associated carbon savings.
Its plans to bring its products to market have been financially backed by hardware investors Kero Development Partners and deep-tech climate investor Zero Carbon Capital (ZCC).
The investment comes at the end of a successful year for Actuation Lab, which has been awarded more than £1 million in publicly funded projects supporting company growth.
Bicester-based Darcica Logistics has launched zero-emission sustainable deliveries and collections in Oxford, after taking delivery of its first fully electric 3.5-tonne truck.
With Oxford’s zero emission zone set to expand further, companies wanting to deliver goods through the pallet network into the city centre can meet the city council’s ZEZ requirements through Darcica.
The co-branded 3.5T electric truck – a Maxus Luton edeliver 9 with a 900kg tail-lift – is the first EV in Oxfordshire to deliver pallets.
Darcica has been committed to reducing emissions, waste, water and energy since the family business launched in 2020, and the new vehicle is the pride of its fleet.
It has already replaced its diesel vans with electric vans, and uses electric forklift trucks at its depot.
Darcica owner, Anthony Tattersall said: “The logistics transportation industry has one of the biggest impacts on the environment, and we want to lead the way in reducing its carbon output. We estimate the truck will save 5.71 tonne of CO2 a year and means we can continue to service
customers in the ZEZ with sustainable deliveries via our fully electric fleet.”
The company is part of Palletways UK’s express palletised freight network. Warwick Trimble, UK Network Director for Palletways, said: “Darcica sets an excellent example to the haulage industry at a time when it’s never been more important to make journeys more sustainable and reduce our carbon footprint.”
Secretary of State Michael Gove has confirmed his support to set up an Oxford to Cambridge Pan Regional Partnership.
It’s the latest chapter in the long-running story of the Oxford-Cambridge Arc.
The revival of government support for region’s ambitions to unleash the vast economic and cultural potential of the region which encompasses Oxford and Cambridge could unlock up to £2.5 million government funding to delivering sustainable growth across the area.
The Oxford-Cambridge Arc describes the cluster of high-tech, life sciences, research institutions and universities across the region.
Michael Gove’s endorsement follows a proposal submitted to government by leaders from local councils, local enterprise partnerships, the Arc Universities Group and the area’s transport body, England’s Economic Heartland.
It’s been a rocky road for the project. In 2021, the government set out its plans to establish an Arc Growth Body.
The spatial framework plan, it said at the time, would help to create thousands of jobs, drive investment into the region which spanned the five counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.
With the right interventions and investment, local economic forecasts suggested that by 2050 the region could see economic output doubling to more than £200 billion, says the plan.
But last year the government appeared to have quietly dropped its plans.
It’s latest about-turn will support the Partnership in championing the region as a world leader of innovation and business, acting to achieve environmentally sustainable growth. It aims to strengthen cross-boundary collaboration.
The Partnership will develop a set of propositions aimed at attracting international investment and profiling the region globally.
Following o cial commitment from government, active recruitment of an independent Chair will begin. In the interim, a Shadow Board has been set up to oversee the Partnership’s programme and agree governance and funding.
Chair of the Shadow Board, Cherwell District Councillor Barry Wood said: “We believe that by working together the whole Oxford to Cambridge region can be greater than the sum of its parts. With o cial status as a Pan-Regional Partnership backed by government, we can unlock potential and further strengthen our area’s position as a hub of innovation; a globally recognised region of science and technology that delivers prosperity for our communities. It will enable us to better achieve inclusive and sustainable outcomes for residents, business and the environment.”
Mobile phone accessory provider Juice has pegged prices for its products to protect customers from the rising cost of living.
As a result, the business took a financial hit and the company’s profitability is the worst it has been for 10 years.
But founder and CEO of Banbury-based Juice, Jolyon Bennett, is sucking up the financial knock-back. He decided not to put up the prices on any Juice products, despite rising inflation, the economic impact of Covid-19, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and post-Brexit trade.
Jolyon said: “We are very grateful to our retailers and ultimately our customers for their support over the years. More
than three million customers bought at least one Juice product this year, and we felt that the last thing they needed was to see their shopping bill go up any further.
“By way of support to our customers, we decided not to increase our prices in 2022, but instead take a hit on the fallout from this.”
Last spring, the brand launched its ‘Juice Made Mindfully’ campaign as an extension of its ongoing sustainability initiative.
The campaign is aimed at helping reduce the amount of virgin plastic in the world and to use recycled post-consumer waste collected from oceans, beaches and landfill sites instead.
As a result, Juice became the first mobile phone accessories manufacturer in the UK to remove all single-use plastic from its products.
Last year, the company also shipped £70,000 worth of charging devices to Ukraine to help families remain connected during the ongoing conflict.
Oxford Ionics, the record-breaking Oxford University spin-out focused on scalable quantum computing, has moved to Oxford Technology Park.
Oxford Ionics has taken space in Building One while it prepares to occupy larger long-term space on the park.
The company, which holds world records for the performance of its quantum computer technology, recently announced it had raised £30 million in funding from some of the world’s leading tech investors.
Chris Ballance, Co-founder of Oxford Ionics, said: “Quantum computing
will revolutionise life sciences, from enabling design of better catalysts through to moving drug discovery from experimentation in test tubes to realtime simulation on computers.
“Oxford Ionics will be actively targeting life science sector customers as a future revenue source.”
“By way of support to our customers, we decided not to increase our prices in 2022, but instead take a hit on the fallout from this and just suck it up”Jolyon Bennett
Two Oxford doctors who developed a health coaching platform after the untimely death of a colleague have raised more than £1 million in a funding round led by private equity firm Traditum and backed by angel investors.
The funding will enable physiologist and serial entrepreneur Dr Michael Stein and Oxford University’s Professor Chris Butler to develop their Added Health platform.
The Oxford company aims to transform the health of users and prevent illness by providing personalised, a ordable coaching that encourages long-term habit change.
It is the first service of its type to be regulated by the Care Quality Commission.
The platform uses machine learning to gain deeper insights into users’ health and behaviour and is supported by a team of health coaches and doctors.
It is medically led and based on the latest scientific evidence, say the founders.
Dr Stein previously co-founded clinical algorithms company Map of Medicine, which was sold to Hearst in 2008, and telemedicine platform Doctor Care Anywhere, which floated in 2020. Professor Butler, a Professor of Primary Care at the University of Oxford, is one of the UK’s top academic GPs and an expert in preventative medicine.
The pair came up with the idea in 2019 after their colleague Dr Satish Keshav died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 56.
Dr Stein said: “After Satish’s tragic death at the prime of his life and from a condition that could have been prevented, we resolved to find a way to save lives by helping people improve their overall health before any symptoms arise.”
Audio products specialist Focusrite has acquired smaller rival Sonnox for £9.1 million.
High Wycombe-based Focusrite supplies hardware and software to the music industry. Sonnox, based in Finstock, Oxfordshire, designs audio processing software plug-ins for audio engineers.
Focusrite said Sonnox, which was founded by Rod Densham, is a “well-established and acclaimed brand in the audio industry.
“Its range of innovative and award-winning plug-ins are used in a wide range of audio applications including mixing, mastering, live sound, broadcast, TV and film, and even scientific and forensics projects,” the company added.
Sonnox traces its heritage back to the development of the Oxford OXF-R3 digital mixing console, which was installed in major recording studios worldwide, and became widely accepted as the first musical sounding digital console.
Tim Carroll, Focusrite CEO, said: “Sonnox products are globally recognised as best in class, making them a natural fit in our stable, and we are all excited about the opportunities and possibilities that lie ahead.”
Sonnox founder, Rod Densham, added: “We believe that by joining Focusrite with their scale, industry expertise, and range of premium brands, we can continue to grow, and deliver innovation and excellence to audio hobbyists and professionals alike.”
Developer Mission Street has submitted a planning application for the redevelopment of the DFS and Carpetright site on Oxford’s Botley Road
The specialist developer of research and development facilities plans to invest more than £100 million in a new facility, continuing the transformation of the area into a sustainable, urban innovation district.
The application is for 16,992 sq metres of workspace which will provide ”science in the city” and meet the needs of Oxford’s growing innovation, tech and life science occupiers.
Demand for this type of workspace far outstrips supply with in-town, connected locations much sought after by occupiers in the sector. The site is close to Oxford city centre and within easy reach of Oxford railway station on foot or by bike.
years and to be recognised in this way is a huge boost for the entire team.”
Oxford United Football Club has started work on consultations for a new stadium.
The move follows the decision by Oxfordshire County Council to proceed with negotiations on The Triangle site, on land south of Kidlington roundabout.
The site is also close to Oxford Parkway railway station and the park and ride at Water Eaton, but it is in the green belt.
The awards, run by Tourism South East, recognise businesses providing memorable visitor experiences and demonstrating excellence.
The UNESCO World Heritage Site will now be entered into the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence which take place in June.
Heather Carter, Managing Director at Blenheim Palace, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have received this award from an organisation which represents so many of the UK’s leading tourism businessess. It has been an extremely challenging few
Last year Experience Oxfordshire, the Destination Management Organisation for the county, released new data which showed a positive start to the Oxfordshire visitor economy’s post-pandemic recovery. It revealed a significant recovery in the volume of trips to the county and related expenditure compared to 2020, but warns there is still a long way to go before returning to pre-pandemic levels.
Overall visitors and related expenditure rose from 14.5 million to 23.3 million visitors and from £1 billion to £1.6 billion in expenditure. In contrast the record-level 2019 figures were 30 million and £2.5 billion.
Cherwell District Council will be starting work on a consultation and engagement programme called Banbury Vision 2050, which will influence improvements in the town over the next 30 years. This engagement is the first phase of the longterm regeneration planned for Banbury, the council said.
Councillor Ian Corkin, Deputy Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Economy, said: “We’re
committed to the long-term regeneration and renewal of Banbury town centre, as the successful opening of Castle Quay Waterfront last year shows.
“With that major piece of work complete, we’re now looking at what’s next for Banbury. We know there are both challenges and opportunities for the town, including some fundamental shifts taking place in consumer behaviour, and what people expect of town centres as a result.”
Oxfordshire County Councillor Callum Miller, said: “The cabinet has agreed that the council should open legal negotiations with Oxford United Football Club on its request for land for a new stadium at “The Triangle” site. These will take place alongside the ongoing discussions with the club to get to the point where a firm proposal can be published for consideration.
“It is important to stress that the county council has not today given the club a green light to develop a new stadium. We have agreed to start detailed negotiations on the terms on which Oxfordshire County Council land could be o ered.”
Oxford United Football Club’s Chief Strategy O cer Niall McWilliams, said: “The club will be pressing ahead at pace with its proposals to help enable the council to make a final decision sooner rather than later. We understand the significant interest in the project from fans, residents, partners and the wider community, and are determined to be transparent and collaborative with all.
“The club now has a unique opportunity to make genuine progress on securing a world-class facility that all of Oxfordshire can be proud of. We take this responsibility extremely seriously and will be working tirelessly to make this opportunity a reality.”
The UK’s most successful designer and distributor of motorcycle and bicycle accessories is revving up to celebrate 50 years in business
If you travel on two wheels, engine or pedal-powered, it’s almost inevitable that you’ll have bought something from Oxford Products.
The Witney-based business, which is celebrating 50 years this year, sells more than 12,000 motorcycle products, the vast majority designed and tested (exhaustively) at its Witney headquarters.
From handlebar mu s which keep a rider’s hands toasty-warm in the cold weather to its full range of motorcycle rider wear for men and women, much of which looks as fashionable as high street retail (despite having to meet rigorous UK safety rider clothing regulations). Other new products even include a foldaway camping chair and stainless steel firepit for those who fancy a two-wheeled camping trip.
Employing around 140 members of sta
– and always looking for more, with a turnover tantalisingly close to £50 million (boss Andrew Hammond is confident of smashing this target in 2023), Oxford Products’ goods are now sold all over the world.
And its international business is growing, – the Witney warehouses hold huge pallets ready to ship to Singapore, the USA, France, Germany – even Ukraine.
The company was established in 1973 by chairman Alec Hammond who, at the age of 28, decided to do a spot of moonlighting selling motorcycle accessories out of the back of his car while employed as a sales manager in the pharmaceutical industry.
The after-hours entrepreneur was so successful he bought a transit van and said adios to the day job.
In 2001, he handed the day-to-day running of the business over to his son Andrew, now 51, under whose watch the family business has continued to grow, organically and through targeted acquisition. Its range includes everything from helmets and armoured clothing to motorbike covers and thousands of accessories to make motorcycle, and bicycle riding, even more fun.
The company’s design o ce is full of clothing and accessory designers, most of whom ride motorcycles themselves. It’s where the idea for its new firepit and camping chair came from after some of the team returned from a camping weekend complaining that they didn’t have all the kit, so they designed and
produced what they wanted themselves. The business has invested significantly in research and development. Last year it expanded into a new building just a five minute walk from its Witney HQ. The site now includes a full product testing facility. Even Covid couldn’t keep the business down for long.
“At the start of lockdown, we wondered whether we would have to lay sta o ,” said Andrew. “We’d made a profit in the previous two months, which we reckoned could fund us until the end of June. Then furlough was announced.
“It wasn’t so much that we were worried about not being able to pay our sta , more that we didn’t want brain drain. Recruitment is hard enough at the best of times – we didn’t want to lose all our great people.”
He needn’t have worried. While initially sales slowed, by the end of that first May they’d shot up again.
“People dusted o and fixed their old bicycles and bought new ones where they could,” said Andrew. “Our bicycle accessories business doubled overnight. We could have sold more if we’d been able to increase our stock. It was crazy.”
Andrew, as much an entrepreneur as his father, decided to temporarily expand the company’s product range into selling complete bicycles.
“We found a manufacturer in Poland and imported as many as we could. We sold £1 million worth of bikes over 2020 and 2021 – bicycle retailers took anything we could import.”
Like every other company during Covid,
Oxford Products discovered the rules of business had adapted. “All global travel was cancelled, as were bike shows,” said Andrew. “We saved huge amounts on marketing and point of sale, and the business saved 35,000 litres of fuel because our sales team couldn’t travel.
“Sales were up, and margins were also o the scale because we’d saved so much in costs.”
The inflated profits lasted two years, but by last year life had returned to normal. Some things, however, have changed for good. “We have returned to visiting customers and our factories in Asia, but make fewer trips and follow up on Zoom,” said Andrew. “We won’t abandon these visits because we need to keep a close eye on product development and production.”
“We found a manufacturer in Poland and imported as many as we could. We sold £1 million worth of bikes over 2020 and 2021 – bicycle retailers took anything we could import”
Andrew Hammond
With Covid (hopefully) in the rear-view mirror, but the cost of living rising, last year Oxford Products saw some sta struggling and decided to give everyone £150 extra a month, which lasted all year. This was on top of a head o ce bonus scheme which is o ered to everyone – from warehouse sta to those in the o ces – when sales rise. “Our sales team have a well-defined bonus and target structure, but we want to reward everyone. If a business does well, we think success should be shared,” said Andrew.
Andrew’s management style is collaborative and motivational. “My board of directors have been with me for more than 20 years and we have grown this company together, but I am proud of everyone here.”
As we walk around the warehouse, he points out Karen who is Oxford Product’s best picker. “She only joined a few years ago – her daughter works in the finance team – and she’s given some of our younger pickers a run for their money.”
What’s his advice for would-be managers?
“If you’re a worrier, you’d be a wreck. I’m able to box things o . Today something will go wrong in this business, perhaps in the warehouse, perhaps in the o ces. That’s life. We manage the situation and I’ll have another cup of tea.”
While car sales are slowing, motorcycle sales continue to tick over and Oxford Products grew again last year.
“One area where we have expanded is with delivery drivers,” said Andrew. “Tens of thousands work for companies such as Deliveroo or Just Eat. Almost every one of them will have our heated handlebar grips and many have bought other kit, from garments to helmets.”
When food delivery service first expanded into the UK, new riders bought the cheapest kit they could, but soon realised it was a false economy. “Accessories need to be waterproof, warm and protect more e ciently so riders are buying better kit,” said Andrew. “They are also buying communications systems and higher quality locks to stop their bikes and scooters getting stolen.”
Another growth area is catering for increasing numbers of women riders.
“I reckon we will sell around £2 million in women’s clothing this year,” said Andrew.
“Some retailers haven’t yet cottoned on to that growth and don’t dedicate much retail space to it. They may have a poor display and little choice. A potential buyer leaves the shop without buying anything and the retailers says it doesn’t sell. Not surprising. A better- nformed retailer will give more space and reap the rewards.”
The recession also o ers opportunities.
“Some young people will trade in their car, which is expensive to run, for a bike on which they can still get to work.”
The future is bright for Oxford Products, and Andrew is as enthusiastic about the business as ever. “We are expanding our market share and diversifying into new areas where we see demand. We’re celebrating 50 years and looking forward.”
Visit Worcestershire has released the latest data revealing the economic impact of tourism within the county in 2021.
The county has seen continued recovery growth since the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced the industry to shut down and adjust business operations over the past two years.
In 2021, just over 14 million people visited the county including 883,000 overnight stays. Visitors contributed more than £747 million to the local economy giving destinations, attractions and the hospitality sector a much-welcomed boost after the struggles businesses faced after the pandemic.
Visitor numbers at The West Midlands Safari Park were strong and spend per head increased on previous years as good weather and the lack of foreign holidays boosted the market for UK-based visitor attractions. The birth of two new rhino calves and the addition of a red panda to
the animal collection also helped to attract interest. The company also successfully opened its first eight safari lodges and upgraded animal houses in April 2021.
Cllr Marc Bayliss, Cabinet Member for Economy, Infrastructure and Skills at Worcestershire County Council, said: “Tourism is a huge asset to the Worcestershire economy demonstrating real financial value.”
Tourism accounts for 5.5 per cent of all employment in Worcestershire, totalling 16,630 jobs in the local area. However, businesses still face recruitment issues across the sector due to a skills shortage and increased wages.
Overall the value of tourism in Worcestershire is around 25 per cent down compared to pre-pandemic levels but with the easing of restrictions, Visit Worcestershire hopes that 2022 will o er a more clear forecast after a more consistent year of trading for businesses.
Tourism is a huge asset to the Worcestershire economy demonstrating real financial value
Oakland International’s distress load management (DLM) service is seeing increased demand with plans to expand the team over the coming year.
A data technology company helping farmers increase crop yield and farm profitability is working with Hartpury University’s Home Farm near Gloucester as the latest demonstration site for its operations software, Live Farmer.
First Base Solutions, which is based at Pebworth in North Worcesteshire, is using one of the innovative workspaces at Hartpury’s Tech Box Park, which is part of its Digital Innovation Farm, to develop and adapt new technologies for the farming industry.
Live Farmer is used by growers and producers of fresh produce and plants, and has more than 400 installations across Europe, UK, Australia and New Zealand.
The innovative cloud-based farm management system enables farm owners, farm managers, agronomists and packhouse managers to manage
their farms in real-time and use live data and costings to make better farming decisions.
Steve Bradstock, MD at First Base Solutions Ltd and Live Farmer, said: “With Live Farmer, you can see crops in real time and track all your resources. This means you can manage all aspects of the farm much more e ciently and make informed decisions when it comes to labour, machinery, and even the weather –and be as productive as possible with your time.
“The UK’s exit from Europe and di culty in getting labour, fertilisers, and other agricultural products through the winter months has really shocked the UK farming industry into realising that they need to grow crops all year round. The only way they can do that is by using technology, capital investment, artificial intelligence and robotics along with new forms of energy.”
A distress load is where food safety may have been compromised. A spoiled or distress load can be costly for any business, whether it’s food or not, and can include collapsed pallets, clandestine infiltration, temperature violation, theft, vermin or other contamination.
Distress loads are a frequent occurrence across all industries and cost a significant amount of time and money.
Oakland’s dedicated DLM service helps save unnecessary product from going to waste.
Oakland’s soon to be launched real-time DLM App will help improve the e ciency of the service, speeding all processes up and providing swift customer report data.
Oakland International’s CEO of Contract Logistics Division Shaun Foley, said: “Our DLM service delivers huge reductions in written o stock, is sustainable, and helps prevent unnecessary waste. Non-conforming stock or stock which may be classed as ‘at risk’ is transferred to our anaerobic digestion waste management partner for secure destruction.”
Oakland International processes and saves as much stock as possible at its central UK hub in Redditch, with an average recovery rate of 85 per cent per load.
Fast-growing women’s sportswear brand AYBL Group is pushing ahead with expansion plans following a record year turnover, with the acquisition of a new UK warehouse in Redditch.
The announcement follows a successful period of growth for the company, which reported a £23.1 million turnover earlier this year.
The new 56,600 sq ft facility, on Old Forge
Drive, will provide space to increase stock levels and house extended product lines, enabling the business to meet growing demand. The business will have capacity to ship 40,000 orders daily – up from 10,000.
AYBL was founded in 2018 by brothers Reiss and Kristian Edgerton. The Group has also set its sights on accelerating expansion of women’s fashion brand, Because of Alice (BOA), which was founded by fashion influencer Alice Cross.
Co-founder and CEO at AYBL Group, Reiss Edgerton, said: “The past year has seen phenomenal growth for the business and I’m incredibly proud of the Group as it continues to expand as a major player in the fashion, fitness and lifestyle arenas. Our new warehouse will be instrumental in facilitating future growth plans, and we are looking forward to accelerating operations in line with our brand aspirations, while also stepping up our global expansion schedule.”
By Nicky Godding, Editor
How do you successfully join the family business? For Kathryn Willoughby (née Parmenter) and her brother Richard, you work your way up. No silver spoon, no direct management from dad. You graft.
And dad Dale, Kathryn and Richard wouldn’t have it any other way. In fact, the siblings have a much greater appreciation of what their father has achieved because of it.
While Richard (33) is now Group Services Director and Kathryn (35) is
Head of Resources at the multi-millionpound turnover DRPG Group, Dale left it up to them whether they joined the Kidderminster-headquartered business. Kathryn joined as a catering assistant after finishing a degree in forensic science, and Richard tried out the army before being drawn to the technical side of the business.
But following in the footsteps of a true entrepreneur o ers its own challenges.
Dale Parmenter established DRPG in 1980. He’d always wanted to be a
businessperson and tried various things, incuding market gardening. He dug up his parents’ garden to plant Christmas trees and grew tomatoes which he sold to the local safari park. He also sold other vegetables on the side of the road. Lesson one for the rookie entrepreneur –cultivating Christmas trees is rubbish for cashflow, they don’t grow fast.
By the time he was 15 he was helping a local DJ at weddings and parties, eventually buying the kit o him but had to employ someone until he was old enough to buy and drive his own van.
Dale stumbled on media, film and communications by accident.
“My dad had a Super 8 cine camera, and the BBC was looking for young film-maker of the year, so I made a film about the bridge in my home town of Bewdley which had had its top stolen.”
His film, which had a cast of hundreds, was runner-up for the young film maker. Buoyed by early success, Dale bought more film kit and sound gear. He converted an outbuilding into a studio and began picking up commissions.
When the bank turned down his request for a loan to buy video equipment, he borrowed from family. To pay them back he went into the wedding market. “Sometimes we’d do four weddings
a day, driving cash into the business.” (His early experience of Christmas tree cultivation had taught him a thing or two).”
Dale’s first corporate client was Brinton’s Carpets, for which he went on to make regular videos. And the next time he asked for a loan, the bank manager said yes.
Then he picked up Sodastream as a client and the business was away. By 1989 he’d moved into a small unit at Ikon Trading Estate, where DRPG now occupies more than four acres.
The company began producing videos for live events, and then producing live events themselves. Dale said: “I saw how we could control the supply chain, from the initial idea and concept to producing all the collateral to delivery.”
“We used to come into the business and play. Dad would use us in video shoots, and we’d just have fun. Now we realise the quality of what he’s built and are proud of his achievements”
Then came 9/11 in 2001 which brought the business to a juddering halt as its biggest clients included Thomas Cook and some airlines. Dale said: “We lost 60 per cent of our business overnight and receivership threatened.”
It was then that Dale realised the true value of the 25-strong team he’d built up. “I told everyone the bare facts. Someone had the idea of taking a pay cut and buying into the problem. They all agreed. That’s when I learned about morale: when I thought it would go down, it went up.”
But he realised things needed to change. Until then it had been a lifestyle business, now it was serious.
“We learned a lot then, about accounts, about cash being king, about e ciencies and working together. It was the worst time and the best time in the company’s history.”
At the time, Kathryn and Richard were still at school, almost oblivious to the tribulations their father was facing.
Dale was still, however, taking calculated risks. He’d expanded into London and, working up to the company’s 25th anniversary, borrowed thousands from his bank to hold a huge party at the West Midlands Safari Park for customers, suppliers and influencers. It brought in new clients and DRPG hasn’t looked back.
Richard joined in 2005, the year of the big party. He swept up in the warehouse and loaded trucks, but left for a couple of years to try out the army (though he soon realised it wasn’t for him). Returning a couple of years later, he moved to the lighting department.
“I worked with some great guys of a similar age. We worked hard and played hard, but after a while I began to think what’s next?”
Dale added: “That group was a great cohort – they all grew with the business.”
However, Richard was always conscious, though he never spoke of it with his father, of being the boss’s son.
Dale said: “We deliberately saw that Richard or Kathryn never reported to me directly.”
But there was one situation which did reveal the father/son relationship.
Dale was directing a show at the NEC for an audience of 5,000. He explained: “Richard, in charge of lighting, was new to an event of that size. The system crashed as a video played on massive screens.
“The crew were all chattering on the comms channel as usual, but when the failure happened, they went silent after Richard said: ‘Dad, the system’s gone down.’ Then it became just father and son talking. I thought – I just need to keep him calm. We needed to get the systems up before anyone in the audience realised. We did, and Richard managed a very stressful situation well.
“Everyone realised there was a father/ son thing going on and it was one of the only times that our relationship was obvious in the team.”
Richard said: “Dad is an entrepreneur. Great at building relationships, understanding people and how to get the best out of them. My strengths are problem-solving.”
Dale added: “I just want things sorted. Richard will be the one to sort them.”
It runs in the family. Kathryn heads the resource department. Having joined as a catering assistant after leaving university (she followed Richard into the business in 2013), she did a short stint in the communications department as a proofreader.
“There was no one looking after props so I suggested it should be me. I have now been Head of Resources for six years and love it.”
In their current roles Kathryn and Richard say they now fully appreciate what their father has built. Kathryn said: “We used to come into the business and play. Dad would use us in video shoots and we’d just have fun. Now we realise the quality of what he’s built and are proud of his achievements.”
Richard: It comes down to what’s best for the business. We have 400 people now, in future years it could be double that. The more I mature the more I appreciate what dad has achieved
Dale, 64, still has big ambitions. Over the last few years, the agency has grown organically and through acquisition (in 2021 DRPG bought A-Vision, a screen content agency which has most of its business in the USA). The business is also winning industry awards and investing in its team and facilities.
Dale said: “I want us to be the agency of choice. To get there we must be the best.
“We have to have the best people. We have a strong board and I would love Richard and Kathryn to be integral to our future success.”
Richard added: “It comes down to what’s best for the business. We have 400 people now, in future years it could be double that. The more I mature the more I appreciate what dad has achieved. People look for leadership and I hope to nurture that quality. But ultimately, I want DRPG itself to succeed.”
“Dad is an entrepreneur. Great at building relationships, understanding people and how to get the best out of them”Dale, Kathryn and Richard
An award-winning business in Coventry is targeting £4 million in turnover.
Purple Planet Packaging supplies sustainable food and drinks packaging to various sectors including schools, the hospitality trade, and directly to consumers.
The company, based at the Seven Stars Industrial Estate in Coventry, works with manufacturers and suppliers to “close the loop” as the vast majority of the 450 products it supplies are biodegradable material that can be composted.
The firm was bought by husband-and-wife team Mark and Joanna Farr in 2019 as a lifestyle business but the Covid lockdowns
– and the sudden demand for takeaway packaging – saw an immediate and unexpected boom.
They are now working with Steve Tipson from the Business Ready programme as they look to reach £4 million turnover by 2024.
Business Ready delivers support to expanding companies managed by the business support team at the University of Warwick Science Park.
“Working with Business Ready is helping to put things in place such as policies and procedures that we just didn’t have the awareness of before,” said Mark.
“You don’t know what you don’t know.”
Steve said: “Mark and Joanna are developing an amazing business and it is not unusual to see a start-up grow very quickly without having everything in place in the background. Business Ready is there to help businesses when they hit some of those roadblocks to growth and help them to get processes in place to overcome them.”
Cllr Martin Watson, portfolio holder for economy with Warwickshire County Council, said: “The Business Ready support in this instance was bespoke as it addressed specific needs brought about by the Covid pandemic.”
Commercial property developer
Stoford has handed over a new purpose-built production plant in Leamington Spa that will create more than 100 new jobs.
Plastics manufacturing company Berry
Global has taken receipt of a new 166,859 sq ft unit at the multi-million pound Spa Park o Tachbrook Road.
The new plant will wash, sift and sort
used plastics that will be recycled to produce food-grade materials. When fully operational the facility will be capable of processing seven and a half tonnes of material per hour, with a zerowaste policy.
Spa Park has been developed by Stoford and is wholly owned by BlackRock.
Darryl Roadnight, Strategic Projects
Director at Berry said: “We believe in the power of recycled plastic to positively influence the environmental sustainability of our world.”
Stoford Director, Edward Peel said: “Berry is a global leader in plastic and recycled packaging products that has chosen to invest in a new bespoke recycling facility at Spa Park. Its arrival has created many new and highly skilled jobs in the region.”
TAE Technologies, the world’s largest private fusion energy company, has formed a new subsidiary, TAE Power Solutions and acquired West Midlands-based Sprint Power, one of the largest transport electrification specialists in Europe,
Spun out from California-based TAE Technologies, TAE Power Solutions intends to deliver a first-of-its-kind technology to improve the reliability, e ciency, longevity and a ordability of electric-powered products, from vehicles to renewable energy storage. The proprietary technology platform is derived from fusion research and the company says it is a foundational step toward mass onboarding of electric vehicles and deployment of intermittent renewable energy as dispatchable power.”
TAE Power Solutions has also acquired Towcester-based Eltrium, a design and manufacturing company specialising in the production of energy storage systems, power distribution, and electronic assemblies.
Kedar Munipella, CEO of TAE Power Solutions, said: “Spinning o TAE’s power management division is an extraordinary opportunity to bring the bold innovations of fusion-derived technology into new applications with profound impact.
The launch of TAE Power Solutions is the latest in a list of significant milestones for TAE Technologies. In 2022, the company announced it had exceeded its fusion reactor performance goals and had closed a $250 million financing round from investors Google, Chevron, and Sumitomo Corporation, among others, bringing its total raised to date to $1.2 billion.
Plans to create a major new industrial park in Coventry have been submitted to the city council by developer The Wigley Group.
The Midlands-based development and construction firm aims to create a new multi-let industrial park with 24 units, ranging in size from 1,000 to 3,000 sq ft. The 1.88-acre site used to house pre-war industrial units.
The facility, to be named Albion Enterprise Park, will be located on Endermere Road,
at the back of the Albion Industrial Estate, which is also partly owned by
Mike Vining, Land and Development Director at The Wigley Group, which is based in Stockton in Warwickshire, said: “There is an acute demand for industrial space.
“In a location like this we expect there to be huge interest, both for re-sale and opportunities to let.”
A Warwickshire company is heading into a record-breaking 2023 after celebrating a milestone year that saw new jobs created and a move of premises.
Sandell, a fit-out and refurbishment specialist, moved from Tachbrook Park in Leamington Spa to Shottery Brook O ce Park in Stratford-uponAvon last year and has secured more than £3 million worth of new projects due to start this year. Two apprentices joined the company in 2022 along with three new members of sta – a
site manager, contract manager and commercial designer.
The company was established in 1972 by Robin Sandell, focusing mainly on the installation of suspended ceilings and demountable partitions within commercial premises, before current owners Adrian and Andrew Stanier purchased the business in 2004.
It now works across a range of sectors – from commercial and industrial premises to motor dealerships and hospitality.
This month the world marks International Women’s Day, an annual celebration of inspiring women that has (surprisingly) been going on for more than a century.
More recently, the day has also marked a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.
While great progress has been made over the most recent decades for women’s rights across much of the Western World (and we use this geographical reference on purpose to acknowledge the recent shocking attacks on women’s rights in Afghanistan), there is still a way to go.
Scroll through LinkedIn and most of the top jobs are still held by men. But things are changing as more family-friendly working practices are being increasingly adopted by both corporate and commercial companies.
And fewer women feel the need to conform to stereotypes. Many of those who have risen to the top in their various professions no longer have to wear fiveinch heels and sharply tailored dresses to show they mean business (although plenty do, particularly in the City of London, but that’s another business culture altogether).
From a business perspective, encouraging women in business is a no-brainer. The Rose Review, commissioned by the government in 2019 which shed light on the barriers faced by women starting and
growing businesses, highlighted that if women started and scaled new businesses at the same rate as men, up to £250 billion of new value could be added to the UK economy –money that this country could certainly do with.
Last year a Rose Review progress report was published, and there are positives.
Two years into the pandemic, female entrepreneurship has proved exceptionally resilient. More women than ever are starting new businesses.
More than 140,000 all-female-founded companies were created last year, and this figure is growing by more than a third each year. It means that more than 20 per cent of new firms are now led by women, a record high.
And there are more women on the boards of the UK’s listed companies too.
When James Bowling retires as Chief Financial O cer at Coventryheadquartered Severn Trent in July, Helen Miles – currently Capital and Commercial Services Director at the water company, will take over. She will join chair Christine Hodgson and CEO Liv Garfield.
This means the three top jobs at one of the UK's biggest water companies,will be held by women – the first company in the FTSE 100 to appoint an all-woman top leadership team.
We can drive change through example. In this feature we highlight female leaders from across the region who are blazing a trail – and not always in stilettos.
Women-friendly policies are good for everyone. We look at how supporting women in business can deliver business benefits
Regional law firm BPE Solicitors has set the standard for equality. Two-thirds of the senior leadership team are women and one- third are equity partners.
Both managing partner and deputy managing partner are women and they’ve been working together since 2011.
Antonia Shield was appointed Managing Partner in 2019, having joined BPE in 2001. She understands the challenges that women face and has been adapting and developing the company’s support systems, not only for women but also for the men.
“Professional services firms have long
been very demanding places to work,” she says. “There is high pressure and high stress. Delivering exceptional service is a given and it’s inevitable that this means compromising your personal life at times to achieve that. Older women have always done that and I have been lucky that I have a husband who fully shares the child support. The odd time we can’t juggle we pull in outside help.
“With this support network I can dedicate all my time to a client when required.”
The firm has also made a commitment to mentoring and has rolled out a firmwide programme of networking this year. Anthonia has also been shortlisted
for ‘Mentor of the Year’ at the Women, Influence & Power in Law awards which take place this month.
The pandemic was a wake-up call to the legal profession, she says.
“London law firm Slaughter & May made the headlines when it introduced a policy of no work calls after 8pm. That is radical for our profession and an acknowledgement that what was going on pre-Covid was too much.
“The reality is that people can work from home and fit their working days around the school run. It’s less about presenteeism and more about delivery.”
Deputy Managing Partner Jo Bewley, who joined BPE in 2011 to cover for Antonia when she went on maternity leave, agrees: “It’s much more about flexibility and trust since Covid. Client expectations haven’t changed – they still call outside work hours, and we accept that. We o er a professional service and our sta understand that, but within the firm we aim to make everyone’s lives as flexible as possible.
“Clients don’t necessarily expect you to be in the o ce, they just expect to be able to get hold of you.”
Much has been made in the last few years of the introduction of women-friendly policies, but that’s good for everyone, argues Antonia.
“We have a menopause policy. We also have a fertility and miscarriage policy. These didn’t exist when I started out as a lawyer. Some people sail through such life events, some don’t. These issues were under the radar about 20 years ago, and its progress that our sta can come into the o ce and know that they are going to be supported.
“As a women leader I want to make sure there are people in this business who, when any member of sta – male or female – has a life crisis, can swoop in, do what needs to be done, and give the person time and space to deal with their personal situation.”
Jo agreed. “I joined BPE from big firms where there was little flexibility. If you needed an hour o during the working day you had to get it signed o . BPE already had work/life balance policies when I arrived, and it took me a while to get used to them. Up until then I accepted I was there to do a job and not to let home life impact on the day job. I didn’t have to learn to juggle, because I didn’t have children.
“But I’ve learned that you get more out of people by giving that flexibility. The feedback and loyalty you get from that is amazing.”
With the legal industry facing a skills shortage, BPE’s forward-thinking policies are likely to appeal to the next generation of young lawyers keen to build their careers.
And also, perhaps, the fact that the firm operates outside London.
“What regional firms like BPE o er is work/life balance,” said Antonia. “A woman with children working as a lawyer in the City is likely to need full-time support. That’s not necessarily wrong, but it’s a whole di erent female role model.”
Two women at the top of a business sets a good example to new recruits. As the next generation see women rise to leadership roles, there are going to be more role models and less reason for anyone to think that machismo and testosterone will power you to the top job. What matters more is self-awareness and the willingness to learn from mistakes.
If that’s the case, should a Board should have equal numbers of women?
Only if they’re the best person for the job, says Jo. “And women are getting there. Hopefully all the flexibility being brought in by all business sectors is coming into play. Women are more likely to succeed with policies and support in place to help them.”
Antonia cites her mother as setting a great example. “My mother was strong, she had immeasurable impact and the confidence she instilled in me and my sisters taught us that we could do whatever we wanted.”
Jo’s parents encouraged her to pursue her ambitions. “Whatever I was doing I had a burning desire to take the next step up. I always wanted a seat at the table. But my goodness it’s been a journey. You get things wrong in leadership as much as you get things right. But the self-awareness gained as you progress, massively helps.”
“As a women leader I want to make sure there are people in this business who, when any member of staff – male or female – has a life crisis, can swoop in, do what needs to be done ...” People are at the heart of everything we do’
Appointed as Managing Director in 2023, Helen first joined the business as product director in 2017. Becoming Innovation Director in 2020, she created an innovation roadmap which has been instrumental in the company’s growth.
Now part of Genuit Group, Adey employs 300 people and has a turnover of more than £80 million.
Helen believes in the talent of those she works with, empowering them with the right support and structure. She prioritises getting to know her teams and feels a responsibility to ensure they are successful and happy.
Helen is replacing Matthew Webber, who is moving onward within the Genuit Group. Matthew said: “Helen is exceptional – strong and determined and wants to get on with the job.”
Helen has more than 25 years’ experience heading up international marketing and product development teams. She is particularly proud of building teams that deliver successful innovative solutions.
Emma Foster was appointed as the new UK Managing Director at Kohler Mira Showers, the UK’s leading shower manufacturer.
Emma’s appointment follows 19 years with Kohler Mira having started as a graduate in 2004. She was previously Head of Marketing at the company.
In an interview last year, Dr Nanu said: ““Nearly three-quarters of UK businesses are committed and taking action on pay equality.
Dr Nanu founded Gapsquare in 2017 after hearing the World Economic Forum's prediction that it would take 217 years before the gender pay gap could be closed. The company is now driving change for hundreds of thousands of employees around the globe, hoping to achieve fair pay a lot earlier than that.
The company develops AI-based software that crunches employment data to tackle issues such as gender pay inequality. Dr Nanu received an MBE in the late Queen Elizabeth’s Jubilee Birthday Honours list, for “services to tackling global workplace inequalities and promoting fairness and inclusion”.
“As the dial is turning on the pay gap, we can accelerate this change further. Technology and innovation allow organisations to tap into their data to build a more equal and inclusive place of work. Now businesses are seeing the bigger picture: not just wages, but also elements beyond pay that can influence equality at work, all of which can contribute to a truly impactful plan of action. As finances tighten, the di erence in pay between men and women will be keenly felt. Now is the time to accelerate and build on the change we’ve made so far, truly cementing the end of the pay gap as a top business priority.”
She started her career combating human tra cking and campaigning on women’s rights issues. Inspired by years spent working for women’s charities in Moldova, the US and the UK, she identified an opportunity to use technology to break down gender bias in the workforce.
The company has been so successful that in 2021 it was acquired by XpertHR, which helps organisations achieve greater e ciency, reduce risk and increase employee engagement.
Based at Staverton in Gloucestershire, Clarkson Evans is the largest electrical contractor serving the UK’s new-build housing sector. It employs around 850 sta across the country and in a typical year it wires more than 24,000 new homes achieving an annual turnover of around £65 million.
Having achieved a degree in Commerce, she joined Clarkson Evans in 2001 and early on felt she was appreciated for what she was doing.
“The company employed many people who knew a lot about construction and electrical installation but there were very few people there who could write a decent letter and use communications.”
Last year, RAL Space based at Harwell in Oxfordshire, appointed a new director to advance its ambitious programme of space science and technology development.
Sarah Beardsley has extensive experience of the science and engineering challenges faced by RAL Space. As the Head of the Space Engineering and Technology Division she oversaw the engineers, technicians and project managers underpinning many of the hardware projects across the department.
She progressed up through management, becoming chief operating o cer. In January last year the company underwent a management buy-out and Lindsay took on the reigns of Chief Operating O cer.
Her leadership philosophy is to be authentic. Speaking to Business & Innovation Magazine last year she said: “Being a leader to me is also partly about being a good actor. You have got to play the part – from the moment you are choosing what to wear in the morning, you are thinking about the image you are trying to project.
“I always think you should dress for the role above the one you have.”
Prior to this she worked as an instrument scientist on RAL Space's first mission to the moon and as a project manager on various high-profile missions. Sarah has been active in defining the UK and European strategies for solar system science, sitting on several national and international advisory panels for the community.
Over the coming years RAL Space is leading the consortium for the European Space Agency's Ariel exoplanet mission and the commissioning of the National Satellite Test Facility, which will help get spacecraft ready for launch and enable businesses to build bigger, more technologically advanced satellites. The department is also pioneering new technologies on board smaller, faster and cheaper missions.
Sarah is passionate about early careers development and is a proactive supporter of graduate and apprentice development, sitting on the Science and Technology Facilities Council governance boards for both.
People are at the heart of everything we do’
Christine was appointed Chair of the South West Investment Group (SWIG) in January. She has been a Director of SWIG Ltd and Chair of SWIG Finance for the past two years, and a non-executive director since 2017. Prior to her current role, Christine spent more than 20 years with the World Bank in Washington DC, was a fellow of the London-based Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, and a Special Advisor to the Treasury Select Committee. She is currently a Director of the South West Business Council.
SWIG aims to make finance accessible by providing small business loans to viable SMEs and start-ups in the South West region, which have the potential to grow and benefit the economy.
Its funds are designed for those who are unable to secure all their requirements from traditional sources – whether due to a lack of track record, security requirements which can’t be met, historic financial issues or simply not meeting conventional credit scoring methods.
Gloucestershire Airport is going through the most transformative period in its history.
The busy airfield, which opened in the 1930s, is now also a UK centre for aviation training, with a number of schools based on the site as well as hosting the company that services 90 per cent of the UK’s 999 helicopters.
It’s also undergoing major investment. The runway is being extended, a new business park is being built and investments in other major upgrades being made.
The woman responsible for this change is Karen Taylor.
Trained in business and accountancy, Karen spent her early career working in London for some of the UK’s largest financial institutions, but returned to work in Gloucestershire after her son had a medical scare and she wanted to be closer to home if it ever happened again (it didn’t). She took a job at Gloucester City Homes – and went from a fast-moving financial job in London to a struggling council house department which had just been
made an Arms Length Management Organisation to manage and improve the council’s housing stock.
“We secured millions of pounds in funding and turned it into a successful independent housing association,” she said.
Karen joined Gloucestershire Airport in 2018 and took over as Managing Director two years later. She’s now rolling out a major turnaround project for the second time in her career.
“I saw a huge opportunity for Gloucestershire Airport,” she says. “It’s an unrecognised gem. We have a wealth of land, of businesses, of aircraft that want to come here.”
She also supports promoting opportunities for young people and the airport regularly hosts young people undertaking work experience.
The biggest challenge for every airport is moving to sustainable aviation, says Karen and she’s making sure that Gloucestershire Airport is in on that conversation too. The site is currently shortlisted to be one of the UK’s first hydrogen refuelling plants.
Rewarding careers in the legal world
Natalie Gri th has spent more than 30 years in the games industry career, including in graphic design, journalism and event management, She also has more than 20 years of in-house and agency marketing, branding and PR experience. As well as time at award-winning independent developer Blitz Games Studios, games publisher Codemasters and O cial Nintendo Magazine Australia, Natalie also ran her own comms and branding agency for more than eight years, working with clients ranging
Ros Deegan joined OMass Therapeutics as CEO in May 2019 from Bicycle Therapeutics where she served as President, Chief Business O cer and a Director of the US subsidiary of the company.
Ros established the company’s Bostonbased subsidiary and over a three-year period led three major transactions and grew the US organisation to more than 20 employees.
Prior to that Ros served as Senior Vice President, Business Development and Operations at Trevena, Inc. During her tenure at Bicycle and Trevena, the companies put four programmes into clinic, and raised more than $300 million in financings.
Last year, under her watch, OMass Therapeutics raised $100 million to advance OMass’s portfolio towards clinical trials.
from start-ups to major corporates.
Natalie is. a former Top 100 Women in Games alumnus, and was awarded the MCV Women in Games Career Mentor award in 2017. She is an industry ambassador for the gaming for the disabled charity SpecialE ect and a former TEDx speaker.
As if this wasn’t enough, she is also a STEMnet Video Games Ambassador, encouraging young people into careers in
Victoria was appointed Development Director at Thomas White Oxford, the development company of St John’s College, last year.
She is tasked with delivering Oxford North, the city’s £700 million new global innovation district.
Victoria joined Thomas White Oxford from Legal & General Capital, where she headed development for its Suburban Build to Rent business, building-up a portfolio of projects with its sister companies and local authority partners including the North Horsham masterplan in West Sussex.
games and tech, a former Next Gen Skills Academy Aspiring Women mentor, inaugural board member of West Midlands screen sector body Create Central and Industry Champion for NESTA’s Policy & Evidence Centre.
And for her day job? Natalie combines a life-long passion with making a living as head of brand and marketing at Meta studio Unit 2 Games, where she’s helping to bring the future vision of the metaverse to life.
Victoria is a chartered surveyor with 18 years’ development and regeneration experience specialising in development management and financial advisory for the public and private sectors.
She has worked across England and Wales as a consultant, including at CBRE and Navigant Consulting, acting for many public bodies and third sector organisations.
More recently she spent eight years in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, as lead adviser to Abu Dhabi Municipality’s Investment O ce, with a development portfolio of more than 40 projects.
People are at the heart of everything we do’
01
perspective for new cyber chief ops officer
Cheltenham-based healthcare IoT and medical device cybersecurity experts
Cylera has appointed a new Chief Operating O cer, Geyer Jones, as the firm looks to UK and USA expansion.
02 Emma steps into Craig’s role at Kohler Mira as he moves to global role
Cheltenham shower manufacturer
Kohler Mira bids farewell to current managing director Craig Baker. Emma Foster is taking over the role as Craig moves to a new global position within its parent company, Kohler Co.
Graham Whitehouse has been appointed Engineering Director at Warwick-based L&Q Estates. He has nearly 40 years’ experience in the civil engineering and water industry.
Graham, who lives in Worcestershire, previously worked at Halcrow and joins L&Q Estates from Wardell Arstrong.
Emma goes west to join one of the UK’s largest Chambers of Commerce
Emma Carter has become Membership Director for Business West, one of the largest Chambers of Commerce in the UK. She was previously Sales and Marketing Director at Excalibur Communications and set up her own freelance business consulting firm.
Bristol-based Shaw & Co, the specialist corporate finance advisory firm, has promoted Alexei Garan and Rob Starr to Partner. Their new roles will see Alexei and Rob become co-owners of the company, working alongside Founder and CEO Jim Shaw to develop and grow the business.
Oxford Bus Company, part of the Go-Ahead Group, has appointed Luke Marion as Managing Director. Luke, previously finance and commercial director, will replace Phil Southall, who is taking over as group-wide bus performance director at Go-Ahead’s London head o ce.
Richard Todd has been appointed an equity partner at leading property consultancy Bidwells. Richard, who is head of the company’s Oxford o ce, has been integral to the success of the Oxfordshire property market over the last 15 years through his work in the education and science and technology sectors.
Abington-based immigration law firm, Migrate UK has expanded its team as the UK skills shortage accelerates business demand. Lenny Phiri and Nick Albin join from Truemans and Oxford Brookes University respectively. Migrate UK has
Three Counties Agricultural Society in Malvern has appointed David Prescott as Chief Executive. David joins from a 27-year career with the Oxford based Bookseller Blackwell’s. The appointment follows the retirement of Ken Nottage after a successful decade at the helm.
During his career Lewis Tucker has worked for Conde Nast and Time Inc and in his new role joins the highly respected Kirsty Muir, Black Ox Media’s Head of Print and Advertising. Lewis is responsible for the Bristol region.
Prolectric Services Ltd, the o -grid renewable power and lighting specialist, has appointed Rachel Preen as Managing Director. Rachel takes over from Chris Williams. In 2021, Prolectric was acquired by Hill & Smith Holdings PLC.
also promoted Karendeep Kaur to Legal Director and Angelique Parmentier to Operations Director. Judit Adorjan has been promoted to Senior Immigration Consultant and Hermanpreet Kaur becomes Immigration Consultant.
The British Business Bank has appointed former professional rugby player Edward Tellwright as South West senior manager. Edward started his career with an angel network in the South West. He has also worked at Business West on StartUp Loans, before moving to Innovate UK EDGE.
The highly-skilled employee base from collapsed battery manufacturer Britishvolt are being thrown a lifeline by the Coventry-based Manufacturing Technology Centre.
The MTC is o ering former Britishvolt employees the chance to fill more than 50 engineering, manufacturing and supporting roles at its Ansty Park headquarters. The roles available include engineers of all levels as well as project managers and trainers.
MTC chief people o cer, Vicki Sanderson said the MTC was keen to support the UK manufacturing community.
“Following Britishvolt’s fall into administration, the MTC is o ering Britishvolt employees who have been made redundant a wide range of manufacturing, engineering and supporting roles within the MTC organisation.
“The UK has long su ered from a shortage of people with the right engineering and associated skills to take the country’s manufacturing industry into the future, so it is important that these skills are not lost to other sectors.”
More than 300 jobs were lost when Britishvolt collapsed into administration.
SGS College formally opened its new construction training academy, SGS Horizon in February.
Attended by SGS students, sta , governors, employers, local enterprise partnership representatives and the local community, the new campus highlighted the achievements of apprentices and the positive impact they make to businesses and the wider economy.
Dedicated to teaching construction apprentices, the academy, located within Horizon 38, the new business park in North Bristol, o ers apprentices a specialised centre aimed at teaching the next generation of industry professionals.
SGS Horizon has been built with employers in mind, specially designed to help construction apprentices learn the skills they need when they progress into the world of work.
Assistant Principal for Apprenticeships and Employer Engagement, Sarah StephensLewis. said: “SGS Horizon is a direct response to the needs of the construction sector in Bristol and South Gloucestershire, including the growing demand for workers to fill skills shortages, the buoyant housing market and the interest in renewable energies and sustainable development.
“SGS Horizon will provide learners and employers with the flexible apprenticeship delivery they need to develop their organisations.”
The popularity of computing degrees is growing faster than for any other course, with students applying in record numbers this year, according to new figures.
The number of young people in the UK hoping to study computing in 2023 has risen by 9.6 per cent, more than for all
other university subjects, analysis by Swindon-based BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT found.
The rise was likely to be down the high profile of AI, combined with the range of career options for UK computing graduates, like cyber security and climate change data science, BCS said.
Computing degrees have also seen an 18 per cent growth in applications from women in the UK hoping to start courses in 2023, BCS’ analysis of January deadline data from UCAS found.
Male students still outnumber female students in computer science by 3.8 to 1 this year, but the gap has closed slightly.
What does your company o er sta that others don’t? Funky o ces? Hybrid working? Health insurance? Duvet days? Paid opportunities for community work or is it simply a good salary and pension that employees are demanding?
Most of us will spend around a third of our lives at work, so if you are lucky enough to enjoy job satisfaction and the recognition of your employer, then you’re likely to be happier and healthier in other areas of your life.
The employment landscape took a battering during the pandemic. While the government’s furlough scheme saved thousands of careers, with Covid (hopefully) now largely behind us, it’s easy to forget how worried we all were about our jobs.
The upshot of all this appears to be a new phenomenon: the great resignation. When the world began to open up, many workers decided that they no longer had to accept a return to the previous status quo. Some quit their jobs, others refuse to return to work full-time.
Last year research from the Chartered Institute for Professional Development (CIPD) revealed that more than 6.5 million people in the UK expected to quit their jobs in the next 12 months, with those
reporting the poorest job quality the most likely to have itchy feet. While most, worried by rising living costs, want better pay and benefits, many are also looking for increased job satisfaction and better worklife balance.
Are companies responding? At the annual January corporate beanfeast that is Davos, it was reported that many companies want their sta back in the o ce. Work from home is so last year. It’s back to the o ce, they say, because productivity is tanking.
Research by LinkedIn revealed that improving employee retention and supporting career development are among global leaders’ top five business priorities over the next six months. If that’s the case, surely bosses will have to accept compromise on how and where their valued sta are prepared to work?
The LinkedIn research revealed that helping employees transform their careers as their interests shift – instead of keeping people in rigid pathways – will make it easier to keep talent. Research shows the positive impact of helping people explore new roles: employees who have moved around internally have a 64 per cent chance of staying with the organisation after three years; the percentage lowers to 45 per cent for those who haven’t moved. Providing flexible
career paths creates a workforce that is more adaptable to the changing external environment as well, Linkedin says.
For 2023 we went hunting for businesses which are really investing in their sta .
Businesses in this years listing will have their head o ce, or a large proportion of sta , based in the region this magazine covers. They may have won a nationally recognised employers award or run an established and respected training scheme (including apprenticeship training). A business may also be included if it has been nominated and the nomination has been checked and verified by our editorial team, or has a dedicated and publicly-accessible area of its website which properly shows the company’s approach to employee support and career development, which may include case studies from employees.
Do you know why? As more companies are competing for staff, we ask how they can better attract and keep staff, and celebrate some of the region’s best companies to work for
Good pay and generous perks used to be the two key things that a company could o er to get the best talent.
That’s still true to a certain extent, but there’s much more to it to keep the skilled people your company has recruited (often at some expense), and ensure they are happy to stay as the business grows and adapts to the changing business landscape.
For that, a company needs to be well managed, o er professional development, engage employees in more than just the nine to five, and provide retraining opportunities because the world of work is changing faster than most of us realise.
Carmen Watson is chair of one of the UK’s best-known recruitment agencies, Pertemps Network Group. She has worked in the recruitment industry for almost
all her career and has experience and perspective on the issue.
“By around 2030 almost half of the workforce is going to have to be reskilled in some way,” she said. “Many industry sectors are increasingly adopting digital technology and there has been a huge rise in demand for people with skills in programming, data analytics and machine learning.
“There is also a big increase in companies asking for people with skills in the “green” sector, but many can’t yet properly define what they really mean by that.
“At Pertemps, on average we have around 31,000 people per month approach us for work, and it’s becoming increasingly evident that there is a skills mismatch which needs to be addressed if we are to meet the demands of the future.
“So it is important that recruiters like us work with companies, and both further and higher education centres to ensure a pipeline of talent is available with the skillsets we need.
“Retraining and upskilling existing employees should be a priority for employers to aid attraction and retention,” she added.
“Employers must demonstrate their understanding and appreciation of employees. What is your company doing to nurture, engage, develop, promote? There is a lot of untapped talent out there. Companies can show their commitment on their website, including case studies of people who have progressed through the business, their approach to equality, diversity and inclusion and what training opportunities they o er.
“Employers need to show total transparency so potential employees can see how they might fit into a business and what they can expect,” she added.
Carmen warns that the UK’s productivity (which is already an issue), will fall further if we can’t get the skills problem sorted.
There are, though, a number of initiatives currently in play which are addressing what support and coaching can be o ered to people who are in career transition.
“These are led by the Institute for Employment Studies and for those about to enter the jobs market, or return to it after a period of inactivity. There are also sector-based work academies,” said Carmen.
“These initiatives will help fill a gap which has been there for a long time. Then the government needs to keep banging the drum about the way the world of work is changing, encouraging people to skill up. Smaller businesses in particular often don’t have the time or resource to skill up their sta or identify what skills they will need in the future and need the help of government.”
For Carmen, it’s about pulling these strands
together. “Currently, if a company makes more than 20 people redundant, it must register that with the government. Let’s flip that around and consider a central government database where businesses can update if they are looking to recruit more than 15 to 20 employees. That will give us a better perspective on what skills are in short supply, where there are clusters of opportunity.”
Once the government has that data, Carmen argues, we, collectively, can better plan training needs to ensure that the graduates who emerge from education three to four years from now have the right skillsets for the modern world.
By around 2030 almost half of the workforce is going to have to be reskilled in some way
The Royal Shakespeare Company creates world-class theatre, made in Stratfordupon-Avon and shared around the world, performing plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, as well as commissioning an exceptionally wide range of original work from contemporary writers.
The company has trained generations
of theatre-makers and continues to nurture the talent of the future. Its learning programmes reach more than half a million young people and adults each year.
It has a strong record of innovation, diversity and excellence on stage and is working to become an even more
inclusive, progressive, relevant and ambitious organisation.
The Royal Shakespeare Company says it is committed to being a teaching and learning theatre. It provides training for emerging and established theatre-makers and arts professionals, for teachers and for young people.
ProCook is the UK’s leading specialist kitchenware brand. It sells high quality tableware and kitchen accessories, through its website and 57 UK stores.
Last October the company, which has its headquarters in Gloucestershire, became an accredited B Corp following external recognition of its progressive business operations which included carbon mapping and reduction, Living Wage accreditation and a substantial reduction in plastic product packaging.
ProCook’s Gloucestershire base has a lot to o er its employees. From IT to warehouse to marketing, sta can learn about the full range of roles within the business and there is the opportunity to move within departments with transferable opportunities. The company says this policy makes it an attractive employer.
ProCook has also had success with those
who began as interns or who did work experience with the company being accepted for permanent roles.
The company also identified a need to make it easier for people to join and become more adaptable as an employer. Last year it achieved Disability Confident status (Level 2) and has been working with the GEM project in Gloucester which awarded it a Gloucestershire Inclusive Employer Award in 2022.
Over the last six years The Going the Extra Mile (GEM) Project has been helping people overcome challenges to employment and moving them closer towards or into work, including selfemployment.
As a result of working with the GEM project, ProCook has been able to o er a wide spectrum of opportunities to people in Gloucestershire who are looking
to explore di erent career paths.
The company’s 2023 plan has a big focus on colleague development. It has continued to develop its training and learning framework which included rolling out a new retail management programme.
For the second year running ProCook was certified by Great Place to Work and was o cially named one of the UK’s Best Workplaces for Wellbeing.
Family-owned and run construction company EG Carter & Co Ltd, has a proud record of young employee recruitment, with a view to creating lifelong career opportunities within ther business.
Each year it recruits craft apprentices and management technicians, giving them a first class grounding in construction. To support their academic studies, site-based experiences are provided with each trainee mentored by a long-standing and experienced company employee.
It is always the intention of the company to provide permanent employment once that initial training has been completed. In this way, EG Carter & Co can develop the construction practitioners of the future and develop employees with an understanding of the principles, values and ethos the business believes in.
The company is now approaching its 80th year of trading and this approach to training and employment has helped it o er a consistent and professional approach to all clients.
Joshua Carter leads on all young person recruitment and maintains an interest in each individual’s progression and development within the company. “
Last year, Halfords launched a recruitment drive for its autocentres business to meet rapidly increasing demand for vehicle servicing, MOTs, maintenance and repairs.
The Redditch-headquartered motoring specialist, which is creating 1,000 new automotive technician roles over the next 12 months, is prioritising attracting retirees back into the workforce and is also challenging itself to increase the number of women in automotive technician roles.
Halfords is the UK’s largest provider of motoring services with more than 600 garages and nearly 700 vans.
Graham Stapleton, Halfords CEO, says he wants to use the opportunity created by a boom in demand to
Loungers is an operator of café/bar/ restaurants across three distinct but complementary brands: Lounge Café Bars, Cosy Club and Brightside - it’s new roadside cafe concept (the first one opened earlier this year on the A38 in Kennford, south of Exeter). It currently has more than 210 sites across England and Wales, and plans to continue expanding at a rate of
around 30 new sites per year, creating around 1,000 new jobs annually.
It’s attitude that matters at Loungers. It takes on those with no past experience, but who demonstrate the attitude and behaviours that it believes will make them successful, and customers happy, while also providing career opportunities.
rewire the company’s workforce.
“We have a big focus on people who left the workforce in recent years but are now starting to return in these tough economic times,” he said. “We want to give people the best possible route to return to work. Becoming a qualified automotive technician can be an incredibly satisfying second career.”
Halfords is developing what it calls its Retyrement Plan to make returning to work attractive. The plan includes greater flexibility, including part-time working, and – in what is believed to be an industry first – opportunities for older people to complete apprenticeships. The company is establishing a training academy which is capable of turning novices into qualified technicians.
erently.Loungers does things di erently Halfords has launched a major recruitment drive EG Carter’s 2022 trainee cohort
Company name Area
Gloucestershire
Barnwood Trust Cheltenham
Working to help change conditions for disabled people and people with mental health challenges in Gloucestershire, aims to act as an agent of social change
Baylis Group Cheltenham One of the UK’s largest independently managed Vauxhall dealerships
BorgWarner Stonehouse Designs and manufactures systems that supply original equipment to nearly every major automotive OEM
Accredited as a Best Company to Work for
Accredited as a Best Company to Work for
Accredited as a Best Company to Work for
Cheltenham
Borough Homes Cheltenham Arm’s Length Management Organisation (ALMO) responsible for the management and maintenance of Cheltenham Borough Council’s housing stock, housing and homeless service.
Accredited as a Best Company to Work for
Clarkson Evans Cheltenham The UK's largest new home electrical contractor Invests heavily in apprenticeships, training apprentices in-house, and employs sta directly rather than using sub-contractors
Creed Foodservice Cheltenham One of the UK’s leading independent family-owned foodservice wholesalers
Dowty Cheltenham Part of GE Aerospace. makes 1,200 propeller blades a year, most for military transport
EG Carter & Co
Accredited as a Best Company to Work for, a Living Wage employer, an "outstanding company" in Best Companies
Gaizka Bilbao, Dowty Gloucester Site Leader, said: “I began in the technical engineering, moving into Six Sigma process improvement, then into operations. GE o ers incredible training opportunities and I have been able to take advantage of them.”
Gloucester Construction company Says it has one of the highest employee retention rates in the UK construction industry with many employees exceeding 25 years of loyal service. Its apprentice and management trainee schemes have been fundamental in producing the company’s future tradespeople and managers
GCHQ Cheltenham Government Communications Headquarters – otherwise known as GCHQ
GE Aerospace Cheltenham One of the largest GE Aerospace sites outside the USA and a major contributor to the local economy
Gloucester City Homes Gloucester Independent housing association providing a ordable homes and supporting communities
Green Gourmet Stroud Food manufacturing and innovation company for food service and retail sectors
Hercules Site Services Cirencester Supplies labour to construction companies running major projects across the UK.
Infosec Cheltenham Cyber and technology consultancy
Kohler Mira Cheltenham (and Worcester) The company created the world’s first thermostatic shower valve. It has three main brands: Mira Showers, Kohler UK and Rada – the commercial division providing water control valves for healthcare, education, sport, leisure and commercial
Mears Group Gloucester One of the UK’s leading housing solutions providers to the public and private sector
Sir Jeremy Fleming, GCHQ Director, said: "The people at GCHQ come from diverse backgrounds and bring their unique skills, but all share a passion to make a di erence for their country."
Regularly works with local secondary schools and supports Women in Engineering. O ers internships, apprenticeships, mentoring and sta development to help employees achieve their potential
Accredited as a Best Company to Work for. Also retains a diversity champion award and has a 'two tick' award for its support for disabled employees
Certified as a Great Place to Work
Hercules CEO Brusk Korkmaz, said: “Young people often go into construction because a relative works perhaps as a plasterer or a bricklayer, and they know they can earn good money straight away. But they can be in the same job, earning the same money 10 years later because they haven’t upskilled. We show these young people there’s a career path, such as from bricklayer to machine operator to works manager.”
Incentives, perks, and benefits are chosen by the employees. Recently added unlimited holiday and duvet days as benefits. Activities such as spa days, axe-throwing, go-karting are o ered as incentives for every quarter, all suggestions from the team
The company’s website says: "At Kohler Mira you are encouraged to define your own career path and then drive it. With three UK leading brands there is never a shortage of opportunities to grow, evolve and succeed."
Accredited as a Best Company to Work for. Champions social mobility, an Investor in People and in the top nine per cent of the UK's most socially responsible businesses in the FTSE4Good index
Neonplay Cirencester Games developer
Everyone in the team, from the most junior to the most senior, can come up with their own game idea in regular team hackathons, which could then become the next big hit. In fact, some of biggest hits have come from hackathons, including a student on work experience from the University of Gloucestershire, who created Roller Splat, which went on to get more than 65 million downloads from a game he prototyped in a day. It was the most downloaded app in the world for weeks
Ontic Cheltenham A leading original equipment manufacturer for established, certified aircraft parts for more than 45 years
Prima Dental Manufacturing Gloucester Manufacturer of precision dental products
ProCook Gloucester Brand was started more than 20 years ago and was the first company to sell cookware sets by direct mail in the UK. Launched on London Stock Exchange in November 2021
Renishaw Wotton-underEdge World-leading manufacturer of measuring systems and production systems
SLG Brands Cheltenham International beauty brand company
Spirax Sarco Cheltenham One of the leading manufacturers and providers of steam and thermal energy solutions
Thinkproject Gloucester
Oxfordshire
Established in Germany more than 20 years ago, expanded into the UK. Now a leading software and service provider for construction and engineering projects
Abbott Witney Global medical device company. Witney is Abbott's UK Centre for innovation in its diabetes care products
Brainomix Oxford Spin-out from the University of Oxford. Its AI imaging platform has been adopted across multiple healthcare systems worldwide.
ConMed Shrivenham Medical technology company
DCS Europe Banbury Family-owned business, supplying health, beauty and household brands
Evotec Abingdon Life sciences company which delivers on its mission to discover and develop highly e ective therapeutics and make them available to patients.
Grundon Oxford Waste management company specialsing in environmentally friendly disposal
Hampers.com
Abingdon Fills hampers with food, drink and lifestyle products from selected producers
Hawkins Group Banbury Construction group made up of four divisions
Accredited as a Best Company to Work for. It o ers roles to support diverse skill sets in a number of career paths to suit an individual's goals
“In a time like we are now, Prima has been outstanding. It’s nice to have an amazing team which give constant support” said an employee
Certified as a Great Place to Work. A Living Wage employer and a certified B Corp
Sta member said: "Whichever part of Renishaw you work in, you’re involved. We all make a di erence.” Another sta member said: "When we hold each other to account, we value the commitments we make to each other, and we keep ourselves collectively on track.”
Sta member said: "Working at SLG you are at the forefront of innovation and creativity. You really feel part of a work family. Everyone is passionate and enthusiastic about what we do which makes it a great place to be.”
Sta member said: "I wanted to work for a business that is local but also global. This gives me exposure to new industries and technologies, working in the field at customer sites. It is a really great business to work for, with a family feel to it – yet at the cutting edge of engineering."
Voted one of the UK's top workplaces in tech last year
Its "Hands Up" team at Witney, a team of employee volunteers, run various initiatives, including wellbeing, sustainability, Women in STEM, schools engagement, Women Leaders of Abbott employee network, and charity fundraising
Michalis Papadakis, Brainomix co-founder said: “We have a clear purpose and value that everyone can subscribe to. It’s about giving ownership, having clear empowerment. Being part of an innovative company and having trust in your team.”
Accredited as a Best Company to Work for. "Committed to hiring and retaining employees from all di erent backgrounds, religions, ethnicities, and experiences.”
Sta member said: "I have been fortunate to work alongside some great managers and peers who allowed me to lead and develop myself and teams of outstanding individuals."
Adam Stoten, Site Head for Evotec’s Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Campus in Abingdon, said: “We have tried to ensure at Evotec that as we have grown there is a collective sense of ownership and understanding of what goes on across the company.”
Actively encourages personal and professional development. Strong leadership and direction is core to the business, with innovation and initiative actively encouraged
Accredited as a Best Company to Work for. Team works flexibly between homes and HQ. Everyone receives Bupa private healthcare, along with an extra day o for birthdays and one "duvet day" per year.
Mike Hawkins, CEO, said: "Hawkins is successful purely because of the people we employ, many of whom are better qualified and more experienced than me.”
Oxfordshire
Isansys Lifecare Abingdon
Developed an advanced patient monitoring system.
Nominet Oxford Runs the UK’s internet infrastructure – developing an expertise in the Domain Name System (DNS) that underpins sophisticated threat monitoring, detection, prevention, and analytics used by governments to mitigate cyber threats.
Oxford PharmaGenesis Oxford Independent healthscience consultancy providing communications services to the healthcare industry, professional societies and patient groups
Owen Mumford Woodstock Medical device manufacturer
Oxford Products Witney Designs and sells products and accessories for motorcycles and bicycle riders
Purdicom Wantage Technology company and valueadded distributor
Siemens Healthineers Eynsham "World leader in the design and manufacture of superconducting magnets for MRI body scanners"
Torchbox Charlbury, Oxford Employee-owned communications agency
University of Oxford Oxford Ranked first in the world in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings for 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022
VoCoVo Chipping Norton Retail telecommunications service provider
Yasa Motors Oxford Motor manufacturer
Keith Errey, Founder, said: "Whatever stage your company is at, your skilled people need to be challenged intellectually."
Accredited as a Best Company to Work for. Its GiveHub Initiative enables employees to apply for a grant of up to £1,000 for an organisation they are closely connected with, and matches funds raised by employees for charitable causes up to the £1,000 each month.
Certified as a Great Place to Work. Sta member said: "I joined Oxford PharmaGenesis in February 2021 and doing so remotely went better than I could ever have thought. There was regular communication and I received a wonderful welcome pack that made me feel like part of the company even before I started."
Through its B Corp status, the company has pledged to prioritise people over profit. The company also has a dedicated learning and development department for all colleagues
Last year Oxford Products saw some sta struggling with the cost of living and gave everyone £150 extra a month, which lasted all year. This was on top of a head o ce bonus scheme o ered to everyone – from warehouse sta to those in the o ces – when sales rise
Gold Investors in People accolade. Has an "outstanding record of employee satisfaction"
Certified as a Great Place to Work and also ranked as one of the UK's Best Workplaces for Wellbeing
Accredited as a Best Company to Work for. Only works with organisations that are socially progressive and environmentally sustainable.
The university said: "Personal and professional development is key to enabling individuals to reach their full potential and maximise their contribution to the University.”
Accredited as a Best Company to Work for. Fast-growing business "where there’s time for co ee as well as serious discussion. We want our company to thrive, but also want help each other grow professionally"
Promises to invest in employees at every stage of their career
Aardman Animations Bristol Animation and production company Sta member said: "I like that most of the time it just feels like I’m having fun and making a project with friends, who are all learning and growing just the same as I am."
BAE Systems Bristol Aerospace manufacturer with a major manufacturing site in Bristol
By 2030 BAE Systems wants women to make up at least 50 per cent of its Executive Committee and 30 per cent of the workforce. The company is also set to hire more than 2,600 new apprentices and graduates in 2023. This is a 43 per cent increase on this year’s early careers intake. While most roles will be in the north of England, 67 will be at sites at Yeovil, Filton and Christchurch, 30 of which will be in digital intelligence at Gloucester
"We believe fiercely that hospitality is a proper job. So whether you're with us for a year or a lifetime, we'll look after you’,’ the company says Bristol Airport Bristol Regional airport Accredited as a Best Company to Work for. Partners with City of Bristol College and Weston College to provide apprenticeships in Motor Transport and Engineering departments at the airport
Boston Tea Party Bristol Co ee shops
Consumer Intelligence Bristol Insurance price benchmarking and source for consumer insights
Accredited as a Best Company to Work for. An “output-only" environment means there is a flexible approach to working hours. Sta are in charge of their work-life balance and workload
Domo Group Bristol Cloud-based operating systems Domo o ers a budget for everyone to expand their learning outside the o ce. Over the years its teams have travelled to Helsinki, Amsterdam, San Diego and Brighton for conferences and courses
Bristol & South Gloucestershire
FocalPoint Bristol Developing new technologies that improve the performance of any mobile device
Ghyston Bristol Software developer
Graphcore Bristol Advanced AI systems
Huboo Bristol Logistics and fulfilment company
Hydrock Bristol Integrated design, engineering and sustainability consultancy
Immersive Labs Bristol Tests, measures and improves human cyber capabilities
Loungers Bristol Casual dining restaurants
Moneyhub Bristol Data and payments company
The company says it empowers people to make decisions and grow professionally. "We want to change the world for the better"
Accredited as a Best Company to Work for. Ghyston trains most of its developers from scratch. Its in-house recruitment and training process means it develops its talent. Instead of testing for experience and knowledge, it looks for the raw ability to problem solve, learn and engage
"Graphcore hires people at the top of their field or just starting out and welcomes those with di erent backgrounds and experiences," says the company
All sta are shareholders. "We are passionate about nurturing our talent and look to ensure that all colleagues are given equal opportunities to build their career in the business," the company says
Accredited as a Best Company to Work for. O ers a £200 annual healthyliving bonus to sta to support an activity they enjoy; every team takes a day to support a local charity; each o ce has a wellbeing champion encouraging team activities and all sta join an annual challenge day at Hydrock's headquarters in Bristol
Voted one of the UK's top workplaces in tech last year, and also one of the best places for women to work in Great Places to Work
"Our managers know that a happy team makes for a happy lounge. We ensure you get solid training so you never feel out of your depth, a meal for each shift worked, and there’s plenty of incentives, bonuses and trips abroad," says the company
Won Best Employer at the 2022 UK FinTech Awards. Sta member said: "The openness to ideas, discussions and opinions really stands out to me at Moneyhub. Even after a short while everyone I have spoken to has been very open to my ideas and input, and vice-versaeveryone is willing to share theirs.”
NCC (The National Composites Centre) South Gloucestershire Composite materials research and development
Pax8 UK Bristol Distribution channel for cloud IT service providers
Redrock Consulting Bristol Enables business change and improves the long-term digital health of organisations
Rockpool Digital Bristol Digital agency
Rovco Bristol Global provider of Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicles and hydrographic services supported by artificial intelligence technology
"We are passionate about providing our employees with an environment, where they can thrive in their chosen career. Whether you join our graduate scheme or as an engineer with more than 20 years of experience, you'll be working with some of the brightest minds on solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing industry and the uptake of composite materials."
Accredited as a Best Company to Work for. Last year it partnered with external wellbeing training provider, Sanctus, to o er coaching, plus access to round-the-clock counselling services and the opportunity to reclaim part of the costs of wellbeing-enhancing memberships, such as the National Trust and gyms
Accredited as a Best Company to Work for. RedRock has high expectations of its employees, “but they are supported to succeed in an environment where the founders remain hands-on "
Certified as a Great Place to Work. The company says: "Working at Rockpool is slightly di erent than elsewhere. We place our trust in our team to make decisions and manage their own work. You won't have a boss, no one does. You'll manage your own hours. We don't do appraisals, we just talk, like normal people do.”
The company says: "As an organisation, we know that in order to achieve our goals we need to attract, develop and retain only the very best people and encourage their growth through our company."
Triodos Bank UK Bristol Sustainable banking Certified as a living wage employer and recognised as an insipring workplace, among other awards. Sta member said: "I first heard about Triodos while at university. I was very interested in finance being used as a tool for improving our society and the environment. Triodos always lingered at the back of my mind as a place that I’d like to work at one day."
Tumelo Bristol Helps investment platforms and pension providers give investors insight into which firms their money is being put into.
Employees can expect flexible working, 33 days holiday, hack innovation days and a generous share scheme
Xledger UK Bristol Cloud-based accounting and finance software Certified Best Workplace for Wellbeing. A sta member said: "We’re all one big family and there’s always a listening ear for anyone who needs to talk. And thanks to the buddy programme Xledger runs, there’s an opportunity for all employees to express how they feel in confidence to a colleague.”
Aeristech Leamington Spa SME high-tech engineering company, delivering patent-backed highspeed electric motors and drives for automotive super-charging applications, Hydrogen Fuel Cell Systems, HVAC, Industrial Air and other sectors.
Aston Martin Lagonda Gaydon Automotive manufacturer
The company said: “Working at a small engineering firm means you are always close to the impact of your work. Led by a dynamic team, there is significant investment in training and development and a culture where everyone is treated fairly and with respect."
O ers apprenticeships and continued education with fully funded qualifications and a career path working with an award-winning product range and alongside expert engineers and technicians.
Codemasters Leamington Spa Computer games development Has an extensive network of universities and is increasing its presence at graduate to recruit more coders. O ers a diverse and inclusive working environment
Coventry Building Society Coventry Building Society
Deeley Group Coventry Development and Construction
Horiba Mira Nuneaton Global provider of automotive engineering, research and test services
Jaguar Land Rover Gaydon Automotive manufacturer
Lontra Napton High-tech manufacturing
NFU Mutual Stratford-uponAvon Insurance company
Pertemps Solihull Recruitment
REPL Henley-inArden Information technology
Rootwave Kineton Uses electricity to kill weeds and will help solve global issues: to remove chemical herbicides from our food and the environment to improve the health of society and the ecosystem
Royal Shakespeare Company Stratford-uponAvon Theatre and creative industries
Severn Trent Water Coventry Water utility company
Telent Warwick Telecomms business
Named as a Best Place to Work. A menopause-friendly employer and race at work charter signatory
Key to Deeley culture is intergrity. There's a non-blame culture in the business. If things go wrong, the team gets stuck in, from director level. Sta member said: "The company looks after its employees and there's a low sta turnover."
Employees who develop their skills with Horiba have access to the most advanced engineering and development facilities for energy e ciency and electrification, security product testing and safety systems engineering, self-mobility and autonomous vehicle technology, vehicle resilience, cybersecurity and defence
Degree apprentice said: "It is exciting to be involved with the company during such a huge change toward electrification and sustainability. The people I work with are truly passionate about their work and are invested in my growth."
"Our innovation culture permeates wider than our engineering team and includes excellence from our business development to our project management. This all takes place at our site in Napton, a village in the heart of the Midlands, situating Lontra in the British hub of engineering and manufacturing."
Which? "Insurance Brand of the Year". Also listed on Glassdoor's Best Places to Work in 2023. One of only 39 companies across the globe and the only UK headquartered organisation to win this award
Investment in development in the last 12 months has been around £1.5 million – roughly £1,000 per employee. Committed to a three-year strategy to increasing sta qualifications/accreditations by 75 per cent
Named as a Best Place to Work. Also included in the London Stock Exchange’s Top 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain
Accredited as a Best Company to Work for. RootWave needs innovators, quick thinkers and problem-solvers. It wants to change agriculture for ever and it says every employee’s ideas count
It's not all about the acting, there are hundreds of di erent roles at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and lots of opportunities and perks, as well as plenty of job satisfaction. Susie, a men's costumier at the Company, said: "It’s amazing – a thousand people every night look at what you have made.”
Plenty of great perks listed on the company's website, including familyfriendly policies, and various free medical services, including a virtual GP service, legal and debt advice.
Supports people from early in their careers right through to experienced employees. It actively encourages the recruitment of those leaving the British forces because they admire "their engrained skills and attributes"
The MTC Coventry Manufacturing Technology Centre Accredited as a Best Company to Work for. The MTC encourages young people into careers in engineering where they can develop and embed technologies that will impact British industry for years to come
Through its almost-60-year history, The Wigley Group has kept its sta at the heart of its operations, and understands the importance of a happy, motivated and diverse workforce. The Group employs sta of all ages and backgrounds. The Wigley Group o ers apprenticeships, placement schemes, graduate schemes, and work experience and when recruiting, values the experience of individuals looking for a change in career or those who may be returning to the workplace after raising children, for example.
Triton Showers Nuneaton Shower manufacturer
Valpak Provider of environmental compliance
Bumblehole Foods Bromsgrove Leading supplier of egg-based products
DRPG Kidderminster Creative communications company
Ecl-ips Bromsgrove Security and monitoring equipment and installation
Eco2Solar Kidderminster Solar energy installer
The company said: "It’s our aim to create some of the best vocational opportunities in our sector alongside providing excellent benefits, work-life balance, and championing flexibility as much as possible within a busy manufacturing environment."
Sta member said: "I used to be picky about where I worked, but I've been at Valpak for 15 years. It's got everything I want, career progression and it's really a great place to work."
A family business which supports and engages regularly with the local community. Won Outstanding Contribution to the Community Award at the 2022 North Worcestershire Business Awards
An Investor in People which o ers personal development, flexible working, wellbeing perks and bonus structure. Also o ers work experience and placements for the next generation
A close-knit, friendly team whose owner won Business Leader of the Year in the 2022 North Worcestershire Business Awards
Named as a Best Place to Work. Sta member said: "Throughout my career I have worked for a range of companies in a range of roles, however the support I have been given at Eco2Solar is second to none. The opportunities I have been o ered mean I am now capable of things I had never considered or even thought possible."
Halfords Redditch Automotive and bicycle parts retailer Launched a recruitment drive to meet increasing demand for vehicle servicing, MOTs and repairs. It is creating 1,000 new automotive technician roles over the next 12 months, prioritising attracting retirees back into the workforce and aims to increase the number of women in automotive technician roles
ISO Quality Services Worcester Quality management consultancy
Kanes Foods Evesham Largest privately owned employer in Worcestershire.
Malvern Panalytical Malvern Scientific instruments
Morgan Motor Company Malvern Automotive manufacturer
Winner of the health and wellbeing category of the Hereford & Worcestershire Business Awards
O ers employees opportunities to develop successful careers in the food industry. Website shares stories of employees across the business
Former employee review: "Friendly and diverse people work there. Flexible working hours. Management are supportive and understanding and there is xposure to a variety of technologies"
Many of the Morgan workforce learnt their trade at the factory. It says: "We encourage job applications from all and actively seek to add fresh perspectives and new ideas to our hardworking and passionate workforce."
One Creative Worcester Architects and designers Active support for continuous professional development. The managing director said: "We recruit talented individuals and provide career opportunities within the company"
Open GI Worcester Technology for the insurance sector Its goal is to be both the technology partner and employer of choice to the general insurance market.
Sanctuary Housing Worcester Housing association
Speller Metcalfe Malvern Construction company
The Sanctuary Learning Academy provides e ective learning opportunities throughout the organisation, supporting employees to achieve their ambitions and enabling the Group to meet its business objectives.
Sta member said: "I like that I can be working one-on-one with a director one day and a trainee the next. It doesn't feel like there is a hierarchy, everyone helps everyone."
Webbs Garden Centres Droitwich Garden centre, retail Accredited as a Great Place to Work. The company has developed a career pathway strategy for all employees and runs a future leaders programme for all sta not already at supervisor level who want to develop their leadership skills
Worcester Bosch Worcester UK market leader in domestic boilers Sta review said: "It's good place to start your career. Supportive management and friendly work environment."
Yamazaki Mazak Worcester World's largest manufacturer of computer controlled (CNC) metal-cutting machines
O ers a highly successful apprenticeship training programme and engages with the local community to encourage young people into an engineering career
The company’s advanced manufacturing headquarters based in Quedgeley, Gloucester designs, engineers, and produces top-quality precision dental instruments. Prima Dental Group has always been committed to its team –with a strong ethos of ensuring all of its employees have a great place to work.
This philosophy has supported the organisation’s continued growth, which, over the last decade has seen the company develop subsidiaries and joint ventures in Brazil, China, Hong Kong and India. The company is also one of Gloucestershire’s largest exporters with distributors in 93 countries.
As part of its people first ethos, Prima Dental Group has heavily invested in its workforce. The company’s mission – the pursuit of better – drives all that it does, and a high-performance, inclusive culture programme supports this. All colleagues are encouraged to provide feedback and suggest new ideas as part of the ‘pursuit of better’ philosophy. The result is a real sense of teamwork and a great sense of community and testament to this positive culture is the impressive tally of Prima Dental Group’s long serving colleagues.
The focus is around ensuring an engaged, multi-skilled workforce with defined career progression for all. A robust internal and external training programme is available; over the last two years this has seen more than 20,000 hours of coaching undertaken and 40 colleagues promoted.
Prima Dental Group has a strong sense of the communities in which it works. Supporting, nurturing and recruiting local talent is a priority and the business works with local schools to help pupils prepare for the workplace. The team also take an active role at local job fairs supporting its recruitment drive.
The company’s vibrant charity committee works closely with causes on di erent initiatives. This year the business is supporting two Gloucestershire charities; Charlies, a cancer support and therapy
centre which provides friendship, support, holistic therapies, activities and events to help local people live with cancer and the Spring Centre which provides care and support to children and young people with disabilities and their families from across the region.
Alongside a plan of fundraising, such as the Prima Dental summer open fun day, the company’s quiz night, and an around the world bake o type event, the team also support the charities with a volunteering programme. This enables colleagues to get involved directly with the charities during their normal working hours, and
The world’s largest dental bur (drill) manufacturer, Prima Dental Group, is a firm believer that its people are its most important asset, helping to make it the success it is today.
has already seen several team members helping to paint and garden at Charlies and the Spring Centre premises.
Prima Dental Group’s achievements have been recognised with two Queen’s Awards for Export. Last year the company was awarded a SMART grant award from Innovate UK to develop a game changing new dental product – demonstrating the company’s commitment to innovation. While this year it has been allowed patents in the UK and US for its unique milling tools used for dental restorations.
Growth and success can be partly attributed to the organisation’s commitment to investment, ensuring it retains a forward thinking, market leading position. In the last six years, more than £25m has been invested in new plant and equipment in the UK and a further £7m is ear-marked for 2023.
Sustained investment goes hand in hand with Prima Dental Group’s passion for innovation, and the company boasts its own dedicated research and innovations department. Here, the team continually explore new product ranges, driving the vision for success, alongside actionable change for dentists around the world.
The Waterwells Business Park in Quedgeley is home to Prima Dental Group. A mix of manufacturing space and o ce units means the Park o ers a modern and clean environment that’s easily accessible from the M5 or Gloucester.
Employees have a range of benefits including private healthcare, wellbeing support, discounted shopping vouchers, free tea and co ee and fresh fruit. Each employee has the opportunity for professional development sponsorship, access to a proactive, education-based occupational health provision, and a discretionary bonus scheme.
Over the last two years Prima Dental Group has recruited more than 100 people and this growth is set to continue.
If you’d like to join this ambitious, innovative, successful organisation there are currently a variety of roles available within the manufacturing and support functions (with the opportunity for hybrid working and flexitime where appropriate). Current available roles range from setters to engineers and product managers.
One of the UK’s leading manufacturers of high-performance electric vehicle (EV) battery packs has sealed a multi-millionpound contract to supply batteries to Lotus for its new all-electric Evija, said to be the world’s most powerful production car.
Hyperbat is a joint venture between Williams Advanced Engineering and Unipart Manufacturing. Based in Coventry, it manufactures high-voltage batteries for high-performance and specialist applications to support the scale-up of EV production in the UK.
It will manufacture the 90kWh lithium-ion battery packs destined for use in the first British-made all-electric hypercar.
Full production will take place at the firm’s new production line at Unipart Manufacturing Group’s site in Coventry.
Andy Davis, Director at Hyperbat, said: “To win a contract with Lotus to supply battery packs for the world’s most powerful production car demonstrates the exceptional technology and manufacturing expertise we have at Hyperbat.”
The manufacturing process involves assembling 12,000 components split across
500 unique parts and 100,000 welds in each pack. This is a complex process for which Hyperbat employs a unique system using cameras, sensors and vision systems to monitor data for each of the battery components.
Andy added: “We are one of the few companies to have invested in this advanced manufacturing technology which is enhanced by the research and development work carried out by the Institute of Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering which o ers on-site support to our R&D team and are a perfect example of industry and academia working in partnership.”
Mark Edwards, Executive Director, Engineering at Lotus Cars, added: “We have been working with Unipart and Hyperbat for several years and are confident in their
ability to deliver the quality of product and the level of Tier 1 manufacturing support Lotus needs for such a prestigious project.”
Andy Davis added: “Hyperbat is now working with its shareholders and partners across government, industry and academia to ensure it continues to develop the skills needed for the UK to lead the way in battery manufacturing.”
Hyperbat is part of a consortium of businesses using 5G-enabled technology to speed up its manufacturing processes.
Partnered with BT, Ericsson and NVIDIA to benefit from the world’s first 5G virtual reality (VR) ‘digital twin’ solution, the company can leverage remote teams in di erent parts of the country to connect, collaborate and interact using a virtual 3D engineering model.
“We have been working with Unipart and Hyperbat for several years and are confident in their ability to deliver the quality of product and the level of Tier 1 manufacturing support Lotus needs for such a prestigious project”
McMurtry Automotive has appointed DK Engineering to act as its exclusive agent in the UK.
The company, which only launched in 2016, invents, engineers and develops electric vehicles. It was founded by Sir David McMurtry, founder and chairman of South Gloucestershire-based global manufacturing company, Renishaw.
Thomas Yates, McMurtry Automotive’s managing director, was headhunted from Formula One. The brief for a powerful concept car was drawn up, with a consistent focus on compact.
McMurtry is now working to develop the next generation of automotive innovation.
The team wants to raise the bar for electric vehicles, inventing and proving new technologies to o er cars with unrivalled performance in dynamics, speed and range.
The business made international headlines last summer at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, when its Spéirling prototype stormed the Hillclimb leaderboard. The team set a blistering time of 39.08 seconds, comprehensively
beating the previous o cial and uno cial records in the process.
James Cottingham from DK Engineering explained: “At our core, DK is an engineering company and it is amazing to see what McMurtry is achieving.
“I love what the team is doing, using electricity, but taking a di erent approach, rather than simply following the crowd.
“There is a huge respect for the work they have already carried out and the performance being achieved with the Spéirling, approaching that of Formula 1 around circuits, using electricity.
“The team is taking the technology to the next level and we are proud to be a part of this journey with the future projects, as the exclusive agent for the UK, and to support McMurtry as a revolutionary British business.”
Thomas Yates, Managing Director at McMurtry Automotive added: “Now we have proven that our downforce on demand technology works and have a world-beating track car, this is the next logical step, launching the Spéirling on to the market.”
The Bristol developer of industrial hardware, Actuation Lab, has secured financial backing from hard-tech and climate-tech investors to develop hardware that will prevent catastrophic gas leakage and allow the safe and sustainable use of hydrogen as an energy source.
The company was founded by three postdoctoral researchers from the University of Bristol in 2019.
They are developing the Dragonfly Valve, a proprietary, low-torque, origami-inspired valve with zero leak paths to atmosphere, which will help enable the safe and sustainable transition to hydrogen use, and billions of tonnes of associated carbon savings.
Its plans to bring its products to market have been financially backed by hardware investors Kero Development Partners and deep-tech climate investor Zero Carbon Capital.
The investment comes at the end of a successful year for Actuation Lab, which has been awarded more than £1 million in publicly funded projects.
Zac Hall, MD at Kero said: “Actuation Lab’s products have the potential to make a hugely significant contribution to the UK’s Net Zero targets and we look forward to contributing to the next phase of the company’s growth.”
Pippa Gawley from ZCC said: “These innovations are critical to prevent fugitive emissions from the transmission and storage of hydrogen, as it is an indirect greenhouse gas.”
Co-founder and CEO at Actuation Lab, Dr Simon Bates, said: “I’m very proud of the team we have at Actuation Lab. As well as working towards our goals with a real passion, we have a very honest and supportive group of people here.
“I feel we have also found these qualities in our new investors, and I think this is key to giving us the best chance at growing Actuation Lab into one of the foremost hardware companies in the country.”
The merger, first announced in September 2021, aims to accelerate the company’s growing share of the technology, media and life-sciences legal and consultancy services market in the UK and in key international innovation hubs globally.
Mishcon de Reya will continue to invest and work in the key UK innovation hubs of Oxford, Cambridge and London, including under the Taylor Vinters’ brand when advising early stage clients, and the organisations and ecosystems that support them across three core areas: funding and financing, commercialising tech, and intellectual property.
In the past three years, Taylor Vinters’ revenue has grown by more than 40 per cent. In 2021 it completed more than 170 venture funding rounds with the core of the business driven by a client base of venture backed and established
corporates representing the breadth of the innovation economy from Oxbridge spin outs to global tech companies.
Over the past five years Mishcon de Reya has launched MDR LAB and invested in a number of legaltech start-ups, created the M:Tech programme for early-stage tech companies, launched the Innovation department, launched legal technology consultancy MDRxTech and invested heavily in a data science capability that is being applied throughout the business especially in dispute resolution, client management and pricing.
Kevin Gold, Executive Chairperson of Mishcon de Reya LLP, said: “This move sees us become one of the largest law firms serving the ecosystem of the innovation economy.”
Matt Meyer, CEO of Taylor Vinters, added: “This merger enables us to accelerate our strategy and help more innovators and entrepreneurs shape a better world.”
A Bristol-based electrical and manufacturing firm has been acquired by civil engineering company RDCP Infrastructure thanks to a deal led by Harrison Clark Rickerbys Corporate Partner Alison Scott. Avon Combined Electrical Services (ACES) has clients such as the MOD, the NHS and Galliford Try.
Corporate Partner Alison Scott advised throughout the deal. She said: “RDCP and ACES have very clearly aligned goals, so they make perfect partners to go forward. I wish them every success in the future.”
The deal will allow ACES to maximising its potential and boost services as part of the RDCP group.
Bristol-headquartered law firm TLT has advised leading solar developer JBM Solar on the sale of a 102 MWp solar portfolio, with 65MWac of co-located battery storage, to Vantage RE.
Vantage RE currently owns, operates and
manages a significant solar portfolio in the UK and the acquisition marks Vantage RE’s first step into project development in the UK.
The portfolio comprises two pre-construction solar projects – the Eastfields project in Warwickshire and the Bunker’s Hill project
in Hampshire – both of which were awarded Contracts for Di erence in Allocation Round 4.
The projects are set to become operational in 2024 and will provide enough electricity to power over 37,000 homes every year.
Ontic, the Cheltenham-headquartered licensor and manufacturer of complex engineered parts for the global aerospace and defence industries, started 2023 on the back of a record breaking 12-months, including new licensing agreements, investments in capacity and employees.
At the end of 2021, Ontic took ownership of its Staverton site in Gloucestershire, as part of an acquisition and licensing agreement with Triumph. This included transitioning everything from people to product lines, and positioned Ontic to support platforms including the Saab Gripen, Airbus A330 and the BAE Hawk.
The site is now one of the company’s main production facilities. Ontic has also made multi-million dollar investments in its existing infrastructure, adding 20,000 sq ft
to its Creedmoor site in North Carolina. Its Chatsworth facility in California will undergo further improvements this year to create more production floor space. This ensures the company has capacity to support existing and new OEM licensor partners and customers around the globe.
Throughout 2022, Ontic secured a lucky 13 exclusive licensing agreements, which will strengthen its global portfolio of highly complex engineered products for the aerospace sector. The new agreements mean the company will continue to support a range of commercial and military customers including Airbus and Boeing Defence.
Ontic recruited more than 350 people in 2022. It grew its UK early careers programme by 300 per cent and is set to double this number again in 2023.
Jaguar Land Rover said it achieved positive free cash flow and profitability in the third quarter as semiconductor supply challenges eased.
Revenues in the third quarter were £6 billion, up 28 per cent reflecting strong model mix and pricing as the production ramp-up of the New Range Rover and New Range Rover Sport continued with 27,456 units wholesaled in the quarter, up from 13,537 in Q2.
Profit before tax in the quarter was £265 million, up from a loss of £9 million a year ago.
Barclays Eagle Labs has been awarded a £12.09 million Digital Growth Grant.
Combined investment from Eagle Labs and the government will increase support for the tech sector so more than 22,000 businesses can benefit from the grant, with at least 80 per cent based outside London, the government says.
Estimates suggest strengthening regional tech industries could grow the UK’s digital sector by an additional £41.5 billion by 2025 and create 678,000 jobs.
Barclays Eagle Labs has delivered growth programmes, business mentoring and events to start-ups and scale-ups since 2015. Its growing network already supports businesses through 38 physical sites, including one in Oxford, as well as virtually across the country.
As a result of Barclays Eagle Labs winning the funding, Tech Nation – which has been supporting tech growth across the UK since 2011 and relied on government funding to continue – will cease operations at the end of this month. Tech Nation said that its remaining activities are not viable on a standalone basis.
The company said it continues to see strong demand for its vehicles. As at 31 December 2022, the total order book increased to 215,000 client orders, up around 10,000 orders from 30 September 2022. Demand for the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Defender remains strong and represents 74 per cent of its order book.
The company is o ering a record number of degree apprenticeships this year.
As the manufacturer opens 300 places on its 2023 apprenticeship scheme, it said 150 of those will be degree apprenticeships - a 70 per cent increase on last year - to deepen its talent pool with digital, autonomous and electrified skills.
Tech Nation loses out as Barclays Eagle Labs awarded £12m grant
VoCoVo, the Chipping Norton-based retail communications company, is rolling out its voice communication technology into the USA with the fresh-focused food retailer, The Fresh Market, Inc.
The Fresh Market has implemented VoCoVo’s lightweight, crystal-clear wireless headsets in 44 stores as the food retailer continues to leverage technology to improve guest experience and in-store communication.
VoCoVo is used by major retailers such as Tesco, Primark and Asda, enabling shop floor sta to stay in constant contact and provide the most e cient service. Beyond headsets, smart devices, call points and more, VoCoVo also harnesses data that can be used to drive further e ciencies.
The man behind VoCoVo, Rob Gamlin, is a former electronics and software engineer who turned his passion for technology into a thriving business.
Martyn Jones, Chief Commercial O cer at VoCoVo, said: “We’re thrilled that The Fresh Market has chosen to enhance its in-store team communications and guest experience with VoCoVo’s technology. We’re glad to see demand and interest from North American retailers who are looking to improve customer service and in-store e ciencies in such a competitive market. Our partnership with The Fresh Market demonstrates our commitment to addressing those needs and represents a significant step forward in our regional growth strategy.”
Cheltenham-based thermal energy management and niche pumping specialist, Spirax-Sarco Engineering has bought Durex International Corporation (Durex Industries), a USA-based specialist in custom electric thermal solutions for ultra-high criticality equipment.
Durex Industries is now part of the Group’s Electric Thermal Solutions Business (ETS) which comprises Chromalox, Thermocoax and Vulcanic. Chromalox and Vulcanic are the lead brands for electric heating solutions for critical applications of industrial processes, including the decarbonisation of those processes. Thermocoax and Durex Industries are the lead brands of ultra-critical electric heating solutions for industrial equipment.
This latest purchase followed the acquisition of the Paris-based Vulcanic group of companies for €261.7 million last October.
Lord Mark Lancaster has been appointed as the government’s Defence Export Advocate, to drive the UK’s export success across its world-class defence sector in a new role.
Lord Lancaster, who will report directly to the Trade Secretary, will take on a programme of visits overseas and at home to promote UK defence exports, developing relationships with industry leaders, foreign government ministers and other key industry players to create new export opportunities for UK firms.
The UK’s defence sector is hugely important to the economy. In 2020, it supported more than 92,000 full-time jobs across the country – including more than 20,000 in the South West, where the sector makes a significant contribution to
local economies, such as Gloucestershire.
In 2020 the sector also had a turnover of £25.3 billion, while the wider aerospace, defence and security sectors supported
415,000 direct jobs in 2022.
Lord Lancaster brings specialist defence experience to the role – as an active Brigadier in the Army Reserves, and having served as a Defence Minister between 2015-2019.
He was also previously a Major in the Territorial Army, having served as part of NATO peacekeeping forces in Kosovo and Bosnia.
Lord Lancaster will initially focus on defence export opportunities in Brazil, Turkey, Indonesia and Qatar, as well as countries in NATO’s Eastern Flank –markets which DIT’s Defence and Security Exports Directorate, UK DSE, has identified as where he will be able to make the biggest impact in the role.
Building on the increasingly vocal support of government, the CBI and the wider national cyber and digital community, Gloucestershire’s landmark Golden Valley cyber project is now commanding the attention of the large digital community in Estonia following a successful trade mission to the Baltic State.
The mission was organised by John Workman, Senior Partner and Sarah Kenshall, Head of Technology at Cheltenham-based BPE Solicitors. John is also Estonian Honorary Consul for the West of England.
One of three strategically located Baltic States, Estonia has become one of the fastest-growing, most digitally enabled economies in Europe, if not the world. But because of its small population, Estonian companies must look outward for growth.
Delegates from across Cheltenham took part in the Estonia trade mission just before Christmas.
They met with some of Europe’s most successful cyber companies, including Cybernetica, the company which successfully developed Estonia's remarkable and world-leading digital IT infrastructure which includes e-voting and tax systems, and Guardtime, which has developed blockchain protocols and applications used by governments and businesses since 2008.
Also on the UK trade mission was Jeremy Bamburg, representing HBD Factory X, the company delivering Cheltenham’s cyber tech campus which will sit at the heart of the county’s £1 billion development.
The trade mission, organised to encourage collaboration between Estonia and Gloucestershire, provided unique access to senior government o cials
and international representatives based at NATO’s Co-operative Cyber Defence Council, based in Tallinn.
For BPE, the trip represented an opportunity to showcase its work supporting the delivery of digital infrastructure, and the visit reaped rewards for one delegate company which has been invited to set up a satellite operation in the country.
New dialogues were opened between other UK delegates on the trip and the Estonian government.
Estonian Honorary Consul for the West of England, John Workman, explained the background. “We got involved in Estonia in the immediate aftermath of ‘reindependence’ in 1990. One of our former colleagues, John Beevor, met the new Estonian leadership on a Rotary mission to Tallinn – resulting in high-profile work for the Estonia Defence and Foreign Ministries.
“We concluded the contract for the sale of four Royal Navy mine hunters to the Estonian Navy. We also assisted in the preparation of the tender for a new air defence missile system – thankfully they were never tested.
“I first went to Estonia with John in 1997 and fell in love with the country and its people. I have seen Estonia change massively over 25 years, driven by the energy, optimism and skills of its population to be a true Baltic Tiger and centre of excellence in technology.
“John was appointed as an Honorary Counsel in the first wave of the republic’s diplomatic expansion. When he retired in 2013, I was invited to succeed him. It has been one of the greatest honours of my career. I am proud to represent the business, arts and energies of the Estonian people.”
Sarah Kenshall added: “The visit delivered some incredible insights (thank you, Guardtime) and very useful Estonian contacts, but the stand-out for us was my fellow delegates, who managed to get out to Tallin in December, despite unexpectedly heavy snowfall in the UK as we left for Heathrow airport and six foot snowdrifts when we arrived in Tallin.
“We look forward to working with this team to continue promoting Cheltenham’s cyber opportunities and to deepen links with Estonia.”
Believe it or not, the internet only started to be relatively interactive about 25 years ago. In the early days, all that users could expect to see when they dialled up (remember that?) were static online brochures.
That, in internet jargon, was called “Web 1.0” which was mostly composed of web pages joined by hyperlinks. Experts refer to it as the “read-only” web – not interactive in any significant sense.
Depending on your point of view this was either the good old days or frustratingly restrictive.
But things move fast in internet-land. Around 1999, the term Web 2.0 was coined. This enabled the public to add content, publish articles and comment on others. Still largely centralised, Web 2.0 was dominated by by companies that would go on to become household names – Amazon, Google and Microsoft.
Then along came Web 3.0, o ering more decentralisation which is what cryptocurrency and metaverse companies continue to push for (though Tim Berners Lee, credited with the invention of the World Wide Web, appears to disagree. Last year he reportedly told a web summit in Portugal that he doesn’t view blockchain as a viable solution for building the next iteration of the internet – but that’s another article).
And so to Web 4.0. A further development to enhance the user experience. One of the most important aspects of Web
4.0, according to experts, is its focus on collaboration and collective intelligence through an increased use of social media and mobile devices.
And finally, this issue’s topic: Web 5.0.
This promises to be even more decentralised, and while it’s still in development, Web 5.0 is expected to bring about a new level of connectivity, automation and intelligence that will transform the way the world lives, works and communicates.
One main idea behind Web 5.0 for businesses, which will support Industry
5.0 - sometimes also called the fifth industrial revolution (confused yet?), is that companies will become
more e cient by using AI (artificial intelligence) and automation to do the work for them.
It is hoped that this will lead to higher industry competitiveness and greater profits for those companies that successfully take advantage of the transition.
5G networks will provide the right infrastructure to support the high-speed data transfer needed by emerging technologies such as autonomous vehicles and drones. This increased level of automated communication will, say experts, make things such as transportation safer and more e cient.
Web 5.0 will also be able to support websites that can map a person’s emotions,
using facial recognition when the user is wearing a headset, and responding accordingly.
Imagine a website being able to tell if you’re angry, sad or happy, adapting its o er to selling you what it thinks you’re most likely to buy.
Or being able to console you if you’ve had a miserable day or are more seriously depressed.
More practically, Web 5.0, being decentralised, gives users more control over their identity and data and how they use it, say experts.
There’s a high level of expectation of other things that Web 5.0 could deliver. Those trying to manage its introduction cite the idea of harmonious human–machine collaborations, with a specific focus on the well-being of the multiple stakeholders (society, companies, employees, customers). But we wonder whether that’s a pipe dream.
Last year, the former Twitter boss Jack Dorsey, to further confuse matters, announced a new decentralised platform called ‘Web 5’, a combination of Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 built on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Whatever Web 5.0 turns out to be, it’s likely that the world will embrace it, for good or ill.
The business community, such as revenue management and hotel marketing platform Hotel Cloud, has already began embracing the journey towards Web 5.0; which helps bring next-gen possibilities for their clients. As Amit Popat (Founder and CEO of Hotel Cloud) comments, this involves utilising Web 5.0 technologies to personalise hotel guest experiences by developing a smart-room ecosystem to allow for highly personalised recommendations based on individual guest preferences, and voice control to interact with the room environment and hotel services. Hotel Cloud use this technology to drive higher levels of guest satisfaction which results in greater revenue opportunities for hotels. This is only possible through Web 5.0’s ambient computing – combining computing power with the surroundings to seamlessly enhance overall guest satisfaction.
As Chris Shanks (Head of Technology and Operations at Emerge Digital) comments, Web 5.0 is an evolution of the existing internet that we have come to depend on, and is focused on how user data is controlled, shared, and managed. The primary benefit of Web 5.0 from a legal perspective is that it mitigates risks of data breaches.
This is because in Web 5.0, individual users control their personal data through leveraging blockchain technology. This is achieved through user’s possessing a secure “digital wallet” which stores user’s identity, data, and preferences as they navigate the web. As Chris Shanks highlights, music playlists will no longer
Sarah Kenshall:
Sarah.Kenshall@bpe.co.uk
be “owned” by a single platform. Instead, they will be stored within a user’s decentralized profile, where they can choose who interacts with it.
Holding personal data in secure wallets retained by individuals, as opposed to personal data being held by corporates on individual’s behalf, is a significant mitigating step to render the growing threat of data breaches less likely.
Notwithstanding the advantages of Web 5.0, as Chris Shanks comments, web innovators will need to approach Web 5.0 carefully, ensuring that they fully grasp the opportunities and challenges of a decentralised web, before they fully embrace it.
BPE are at the forefront of innovation and can assist businesses in venturing into new technologies with care. Please contact Sarah.Kenshall@bpe.co.uk for further information.
“Web 5.0 is expected to bring about a new level of connectivity, automation and intelligence that will transform the way the world lives, works and communicates”
South Oxfordshire District Council has granted planning permission to General Fusion for a fusion demonstration plant at the UK Atomic Energy Agency’s Culham Campus near Abingdon.
General Fusion, a Canadian company, is developing commercially-viable fusion power plants. The build at Culham is expected to start this summer.
When construction of the 10,500 sq m building is complete, General Fusion will lease the building from UKAEA. The company’s fusion machine is expected to be fully operational by early 2027.
Built to 70 per cent scale of a commercial power plant, the demonstration plant will achieve temperatures of more than 100 million degrees Celsius. This is a crucial step on the path to powering homes and industry with zero-carbon fusion energy. The facility itself will not generate power.
Siting the facility at Culham, part of the UK’s main fusion cluster, enables General Fusion to access world-leading science and engineering capabilities, such as the knowledge gained in designing, building and operating the record-breaking Joint European Torus, the focal point of the European fusion research programme.
Greg Twinney, CEO of General Fusion, said: “The UK has been a longstanding leader in fusion energy development. We are thrilled to join the UK’s Fusion Cluster, and anticipate creating 60 long-term jobs there."
Professor Sir Ian Chapman, CEO of UKAEA, said: “The UKAEA welcomes this milestone as it aligns with our strategy to create clusters that accelerate innovation in fusion and related technologies, and support public-private partnerships to thrive."
Oxford-based Tokamak Energy has built what it says is a world-first set of new generation high temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets to be assembled and tested in fusion power plant-relevant scenarios.
Creating clean, sustainable fusion energy requires strong magnetic fields to confine and control the positively-charged hydrogen fuel, which becomes a plasma several times hotter than the Sun.
Tokamak Energy’s new Demo4 facility will consist of 44 individual magnetic coils recently manufactured using 38 kilometres of ground-breaking HTS tape, which carries currents with zero electrical resistance and requires five times less cooling power than traditional superconducting materials.
Demo4 will have a magnetic field strength of more than 18 Tesla (the standard unit of magnetic flux density), nearly a million times stronger than the Earth’s magnetic field.
Full assembly at Tokamak Energy’s headquarters at Milton Park, near Oxford, will complete this year and testing will
extend into next year, informing designs and operational scenarios for its advanced prototype, ST80-HTS, and subsequent fusion power plant, ST-E1.
Chris Kelsall, Tokamak Energy CEO, said: “Tokamak Energy has been a pioneer in recognising the opportunity to apply and develop high temperature superconducting technology for fusion energy. The learnings from Demo4 will be a catalyst for delivering the global deployment of compact, low-cost spherical tokamak power plants.
"We are proud to be delivering this worldfirst, complete system of HTS magnetic coils, which will now be assembled into a full tokamak configuration for testing.”
Strong magnetic fields are generated by passing large electrical currents through electromagnet coils that will surround the plasma in future power plants. The magnets are wound with precision from HTS tapes, which are multi-layered conductors made mostly of strong and conductive metals, but with a crucial internal coating of ‘rare earth barium copper oxide’ (REBCO) superconducting material.
USA pharmaceutical company Moderna has announced it is to build a new vaccine manufacturing centre in the UK which will be able to produce up to 250 million vaccines a year.
The investment means NHS patients will be able to receive UK-manufactured mRNA vaccines.
The location of the new centre has yet to be be announced.
The news comes after the government controversially sold its Vaccines Manufacturing Innovation Centre at Harwell to Catalent last year
Catalent, the USA pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing business, promised to invest millions to complete the facility and equip it with state-of-the-art capabilities, but in November it was reported that the company had rowed back on its promises and paused work to complete the facility.
Moderna has committed to invest substantial funding in UK-based R&D activities over a 10-year period. This will include running a significant number of clinical trials here. It has also pledged to fund grants for UK universities, including PhD places and research programmes.
Construction of Modern's new vaccine facility is expected to begin this year, with the first mRNA vaccine expected to be produced in the UK in 2025.
Intelligent software developer Eatron Technologies has been named as one of the fastest growing tech start-ups in the UK after recent breakthroughs in Germany and Asia.
Eatron Technologies, based at the University of Warwick Science Park, has developed a battery management system (BMS) which intelligently predicts battery usage and ageing profiles to improve software parameters to help the battery last longer.
Eatron’s BMS is being tested on the battery packs of major manufacturers in Germany, Japan and East Asia.
Eatron’s creation of a machine learning programme – part of its intelligent BMS – to estimate the end of a battery’s life has also been successfully patented in the USA.
Dr Umut Genç, managing director of Eatron Technologies, said: “The battery is the most expensive part of an electric vehicle, and in typical consumer products such as laptops and phones, they only last around four to five years before problems develop.
“Depending on how an electric vehicle is driven and charged, the battery pack
can vary in lifespan quite significantly.
“Our BMS via edge and cloud computing intelligently detects and models how the drivers use and charge their EVs, and its algorithm automatically adapts to maintain high performance and lifetime of the batteries.
“Our machine learning programme is also incredibly useful for EV fleet operators who can see at a glance which vehicles’ batteries will last longer than others and can diagnose problems early so they can be fixed more cheaply.”
Jane Talbot, Centre Manager at Warwick Innovation Centre, said: “Eatron’s growth in such a short space of time has been nothing short of remarkable.
Climate tech innovator Kelpi has secured more than £3 million to advance its pioneering technology creating biomaterial coatings from seaweed.
The funding will bring sustainable packaging for the food, drink and cosmetics sectors a step closer to supermarket shelves. Kelpi’s unique coatings will enable recyclable at home or industrially compostable packaging to replace single-use fossil fuel plastics which
take hundreds of years to decompose.
Kelpi’s seed round was led by Science Creates Ventures and Green Angel Syndicate, with funding from One Planet Capital and investment from Bristol Private Equity Club, together with private angel investors.
The round includes £665,000 of grant funding from Innovate UK and Kelpi will use the funds to conduct manufacturing
pilots for its proprietary coatings for paper and card.
The company has developed highperformance materials from seaweed, with a uniquely strong water barrier, as well as oxygen barrier, grease and acid resistance.
Kelpi CEO and co-founder Neil Morris, said: “This investment enables Kelpi to scale up our pioneering work using seaweed to create bioplastic packaging."
The UK has set its sights on becoming a science superpower. And it’s put a man in chanre who could actually help realise this ambition.
George Freeman, the UK’s Minister for Science, Research and Innovation, was elected to parliament in 2010 after a 15-year career in science, research and technology, when he founded, financed and managed tech start-ups.
He was the first Minister for Agri-tech, the first minister for Life Science and the first Minister for Transport and Transport Tech.
He knows that to be a science superpower, the country needs to improve the depth and breadth of the innovation economy across the UK, supporting regional customers of science, technology and innovation excellence.
Across the UK there are more than 130 science parks. Often clustered around the country’s top universities (such as the universities of Oxford, Warwick and Bristol), they are also attracting increased investment from commercial and institutional investors which recognise the economic, social and investment value of science parks.
Science parks also support the local economies where they are based as they grow to meet the needs of the people that work there. This further boosts local employment thanks to cafes, shops, gyms, pre-school nurseries, hotels and accommodation and transport links.
Milton Park is home to 250 companies and more than 9,000 people, many of them working on translating science innovation into commercial products and services.
But what Milton Park identified a few years ago was that it’s not enough for science parks to o er lab and o ce space to help attract the skilled people its tenants expect. The park must also provide first-class travel and community facilities for the people that work there.
Over the last few years, as part of its 2040 vision for Milton Park, owner MEPC has been investing in a comprehensive range of amenities alongside its continued development of o ce and laboratory space, from sustainable transport to new cycle
and footpaths, all wrapped up in extensive investment in biodiversity projects.
Alongside this, work is ongoing on the development of a new tech box scheme.
The scheme, to be named Nebula, has been designed with space, technology, life science and engineering companies in mind, supporting the growth of startups and cross-industry collaboration within the science and technology community.
The development will comprise a total area of just under 80,000 sq ft and feature seven new research and development workspaces ranging from 6,000 sq ft up to a single building of 30,000 sq ft.
It’s not just the space that matters, it’s the place
With demand for lab space in Oxfordshire reaching almost 860,000 sq ft, late last year Brookfield launched ARC Oxford, previously known as Oxford Technology Park.
Brookfield, which also manages Harwell Campus near Abingdon, is set to invest more than £1 billion into Oxfordshire by the end of the decade.
Brookfield acquired Oxford Business Park in 2021 and has already speculatively redeveloped, refurbished and let around 60,000 sq ft of space geared towards life sciences lab space.
Harwell campus is a collaboration between government, academia and industry.
Last year Harwell became part of the Advance Research Clusters (ARC) network. This is an alliance of innovation campuses funded by Brookfield in the UK and Europe. The network provides membership for those who work at the campus, including free events, discounts and access to space at other ARC campuses.
A number of major UK scientific organisations are based at Harwell, such as the National Quantum Computing Centre and the Central Laser Facility, anchor organisations like the European Space Agency, innovative private sector organisations such as Oxford Nanopore and Astroscale, alongside teams from 30 UK universities.
The campus is managed and developed by the Science and Technology Facilities Council, the UK Atomic Energy Authority and private sector investor, Brookfield. It is investing significantly in the campus to add homes, facilities and more R&D space.
Brookfield has five million sq ft of development potential planned across the UK’s Golden Triangle, with three million sq ft planned at the 700-acre Harwell site.
Last November, one of Europe’s leading science parks, The Oxford Science Park, announced the next step in its development plan with the submission of a detailed planning application for a new laboratory and o ce building on Plot 27.
The new building, which will comprise more than 75,000 sq ft of laboratory and o ce facilities, is expected to complete at the beginning of 2025. The Park, which is majority owned by Magdalen College Oxford in partnership
with global investor GIC, and which is already home to 3,350 people and more than 70 businesses from start-ups to major international companies, has ambitious plans to create an additional 500,000 sq ft of laboratory and o ce space over the next three years.
The Oxford Science Park is also developing Oxford North, a new science park closer to the city centre, which will include housing and other amenities on 64 acres of land. The £700 million innovation district received planning
permission for its masterplan in 2021 and infrastructure construction works completed earlier this year.
Thomas White Oxford, which is delivering this major project, is working with developer Stanhope to deliver one million sq ft of laboratories and workspace, along with amenities and infrastructure on Central and Eastside. This is in addition to its residential development partnership with Hill Group to deliver 317 new homes on Canalside, to the south of the A40.
Construction of No 1 Birmingham Health Innovation Campus (BHIC) in Selly Oak is due to complete this year. No 1 BHIC will o er 133,000 sq ft of flexible o ce and lab space for innovative life science and digital healthcare companies.
Part of a Life Sciences Opportunity Zone, it will also be home to the University of Birmingham’s Precision Health Technologies Accelerator for start-ups, providing incubation space, wet and dry labs, clean rooms, prototyping and maker space.
The development of No 1 BHIC forms the first phase of a 10-year masterplan for the campus being developed by Bruntwood SciTech (a 50:50 joint venture between developer Bruntwood and Legal & General) in partnership with the University of Birmingham.
BHIC is a designated Life Science Opportunity Zone and has also been identified by the Department for International Trade as a High Potential Opportunity for Data Driven Healthcare. Sitting at the heart of a cluster of health
excellence. The campus will be aligned to the University of Birmingham clinical trials facility o ering companies located at No.1 BHIC access to a fully connected clinical trials translation ecosystem.
When complete, the campus will provide up to 657,000 sq ft of new commercial lab and o ce space
It is expected to catalyse the growth of the region’s life science sector, creating up to 10,000 local jobs and contributing £400 million GVA to the region’s economy.
Over the next three years, the UK’s science and tech industries are predicted to grow by more than 50 per cent, but it’s operating in a fragile ecosystem, according to Oxfordbased property consultancy Ridge and Partners.
Late last year the consultancy questioned senior decision-makers from more than 100 of the UK’s most ambitious and fast-growing science and technology businesses for an in-depth study.
Despite this forecasted growth, many UK technology and science businesses have their sights set abroad. One in six plan to move, 88 per cent have considered it, and of our largest organisations, 75 per cent are not ruling it out.
This potential exodus is not a whimsical desire for greener pastures, says the study, it’s a response to a lack of necessary resources and infrastructure.
Building issues are one of the biggest challenges for the science and tech industries. Almost half of the businesses which responded are worried their premises will not meet long-term needs, and onefifth feel their premises need to be more environmentally sustainable and aesthetically attractive.
The study reveals that the UK needs fitfor-purpose facilities – only 51 per cent of businesses believe their current building will accommodate future needs. Just 22 per cent of smaller companies believe this to be true.
Companies also want facilities where they’re needed – 31 per cent of businesses say it’s essential to be nearer to a larger talent pool. These facilities need to be built where people prefer to live. Proximity to major academic institutions is also a must.
Modern, unique designs, better public transport access and more science parks are also called for.
The science and tech community rely on collaboration to thrive. Thirty-one per cent want to be nearer to others in the sector. The industry prefers science parks for their proximity to other similar businesses and the facilities geared to their industries.
South Gloucestershire and Stroud (SGS) College along with Stroud District Council secured £450,000 from the Gloucestershire Strategic Economic Development Fund late last year to create the Berkeley Low Carbon Training Centre – a renewable energy and retrofit training centre at the college’s Gloucestershire Science and Technology Park, Berkeley.
Using the former Berkeley research laboratories, the investment will convert redundant buildings into training rooms with training rigs, classrooms and workshops to teach
the skills needed to support the country’s challenge in meeting its net-zero carbon emission target. The investment also includes a digital training studio to provide blended learning programmes to the sector.
Berkeley has historically been at the centre of the energy research establishment and this investment will create a regional training centre for the South West. This complements the existing low-carbon knowledge cluster on the science park, including the Active Building Centre and the SGS Berkeley University Technical College.
A concept for a sustainable, carbon neutral, innovation village which will become home to a community committed to addressing major global challenges, has been announced by the Royal Agricultural University.
The proposed £100 million development, on a 29-acre site at the University’s Cirencester campus, aims to support industry, food producers, farmers and landowners.
The site will include a research and innovation centre, live/work residential units, business start-up and support spaces, as well as business and conferencing facilities.
The university says that cluster development of this nature, applied to agriculture, food and land management, does not exist in the UK and the initiative already has the support of the Department of International Trade, Gloucestershire County Council and its Local Enterprise Partnership.
ARC Oxford (formerly Oxford Business Park North)
Culhum Science Centre, Oxford
Gloucestershire Science and Technology Park, Berkeley Green
Begbroke Science Park, Oxford
Bristol & Bath Science Park, Emersons Green
Coventry University Technology Park, Coventry
Harwell, Abingdon
Malvern Hills Science Park, Worcestershire
Malvern Hills Science Park opened in 1999 as part of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA), now called QinetiQ.
While QinetiQ became an independent business in 2003, and is now a major employer in the town, Malvern Hills Science Park has since expanded independently.
It now o ers 100,000 sq ft of o ce and laboratory space on the 10-acre site and is home to around 40 companies employing around 400 people.
Many tenant companies operate in the area of cyber security, but others on the park are active in agri-tech and life sciences.
Milton Park, Abingdon
Oxford Technology Park, Kidlington
The Oxford Science Park
University of Warwick Science Park, Warwick
The region’s most influential B2B magazine, in-print and online for news, features, interviews and business sector analysis. Published by Black Ox Ltd.
2023 Print issues will be published in January, March, May, July, September, November
Regional Coverage: Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, South Gloucestershire, Bristol, Swindon & North Wiltshire Worcestershire & Hereford, Coventry & Warwickshire
General Enquiries: enquiries@black-ox.com
Accounts: finance@black-ox.com
Magazine Design: Origin Creative | www.origin-creative.com
Magazine Printers: The Manson Group | www.mansongroup.co.uk
Chief Photographer: Rob Lacey | www.roblaceyphotographer.co.uk
Contributing Editor: Ian Mean
Sub Editor: Joyce Matthews
Publisher: Black Ox Ltd - Company number 13202910.
Registered O ce: 24 Bell Lane, Blackwater, Camberley, Surrey, England, GU17 0NW
