Western Daily Press | Business Guide 2020

Business guide 2020

the top

companies in the West

pLUs: cRisis on the high stReet... and the Lesssons to LeaRn

In association with

Bristol Law Society ‘Law Firm of the Year’ two years running.

Osborne Clarke is proud to sponsor the Western Daily Press Business Guide – Top 150 Businesses in the West.

osborneclarke.com

Inside

34 Year of celebrations

Salisbury Cathedral’s anniversary is just one of several landmark events set to boost tourism.

Picture: Martin Cook/SWNS

12

Western Gateway Will the initiative to maximise the potential of the West Country be able to deliver?

14 Hinkley Point C

Nuclear power station project is on track after a year of major achievements.

40

Starring role ‘The Trial of Christine Keeler’ is just one show from the ‘Hollywood of the West’.

25 Top 150

Seven pages of coverage of the West’s biggest companies, with several new entrants.

36 Honda blow

Work is underway to help Swindon move forward after car plant closes in 2021.

18 High street crisis 1

38 Manufacturing

20 High street crisis 2

42 Agriculture

22 Funding fightback

46 Hospitality

Vibrant West Country towns are bucking the trend with a ‘Unique Reason for Being’...

... but one Bristol suburb is struggling to solve the mystery of its empty shops.

Programme is levelling the playing field for West firms seeking investment.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

Hope amid the gloom for a sector facing difficult challenges in 2020.

Could there be light at the end of the tunnel for farmers after a trying 2019?

Rising costs and fragile demand are combining to threaten a ‘perfect storm’.

BUSINESS GUIDE 2020 3

Richard Bache looks at where the region’s economy stands at the start of a new decade

Foreword Developments under construction in Bristol’s Temple Quarter

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ELCOME to the Western Daily Press Business Guide 2020. At the dawn of a new decade there are tremendous opportunities available for the West’s economy, but it also faces substantial challenges.

The 2010s were dominated by the politics of austerity and the bitter rancour of the Brexit debate.

Both dented investment and created a business climate riven by ongoing uncertainty.

Few of us would be averse to a more stable political environment, with the consequent benefit to business confidence.

But the digital revolution means the pace of change businesses must contend with has never been faster.

This is true of nearly every sector of the economy – as we in the media business know all too well!

While change does, of course, bring risk, it also brings hope for those of a more optimistic outlook.

The number of cranes visible on the skyline has long been an indicator of the economic direction of travel.

And I have only a little shame in admitting that the appearance at Hinkley Point C in Somerset of ‘Big Carl’ – the world’s biggest crane – has brought out the inner child in nearly every member of the Western Daily Press newsdesk...

Who among us didn’t want to be a crane driver at some point? Within a five-minute stroll of the Western Daily Press office on Temple Way at least a dozen large cranes are in daily operation as Bristol’s skyline is transformed.

The economic axis of the city is shifting towards Bristol Temple Meads as part of the biggest programme of office development in a generation.

This investment is an enormous vote of confidence in the city’s future.

On a macro level, the key theme that will dominate business in the 2020s is sustainability. Business must actively embrace and lead on the most critical issue the planet faces.

The climate crisis shot to near the top of the political agenda in 2019 and its importance is only going to intensify.

Companies and sectors of the economy that do not grasp this will fail.

The West is in a strong postion to take a lead on this issue – not least through our green energy sector.

However, several of the most contentious decisions that planning authorities in the West will face this year must also grapple with it.

Bristol Airport’s expansion plans are broadly welcomed by businesses that thrive on greater connectivity with important markets. Others have, though, made a strong case opposing the pro-

4 BUSINESS GUIDE 2020

Change brings risks... and hope posals on environmental grounds.

Similarly, Bath Rugby’s plans to transform the stadium at The Rec rely on the income generated by a 550-space car park under the playing surface.

Opponents have pointed out that somewhat conflicts with the city’s intention to introduce a clean-air zone.

If these are divisive issues that authorities have to tackle later in 2020, there is no doubt that the crisis on the high street needs immediate attention.

The retail sector endured one of the worst years in its history in 2019 – with a number of high-profile companies retreating or even disappearing from the high street.

In two special reports in this guide – in suburban Bristol and rural Somerset – we look at what lessons can be learned.

If one thing is clear it is that there is probably no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution available to policymakers.

While cuts to business rates would undoubtedly help, many other issues are individual to the high street concerned.

For instance, Langport in Somerset credits free car parking with driving footfall, but many in Westbury-on-Trym in Bristol believe city centre commuters taking advantage of its parking spaces deny shoppers the opportunity to nip into the suburb’s stores.

Towns and cities across the West must determine what they can do to help their high streets thrive.

But as a region we need to do more to persuade the Government to invest in the West.

On the page opposite, Phil Smith of Business West talks about the importance of the Western Gateway grabbing the political agenda in the same manner as the Northern Powerhouse.

He is right to do so.

A Conservative Government that won dozens of parliamentary seats in traditional Labour strongholds across the North and the Midlands will be looking to reward them with immediate infrastructure investment.

The West must make an equally loud case – our votes should not be taken for granted.

This is not seeking charity from the Government, either – the investment case for the West is strong.

The West of England is one of the fastest-growing economies of the country and Bristol is the only core city in England outside London to make a net contribution to the Treasury.

New Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sajid Javid, knows this – he did, after all, grow up in the city.

He will deliver his first Budget in March and the West will be watching closely – particularly for infrastructure investment in areas such as rural broadband and transport.

Mr Javid’s story – as the son of a Pakistani bus driver who grew up above a

shop on the Stapleton Road making it to No 11 Downing Street via Deutsche Bank – is well-known.

But it nevertheless highlights one of the most important issues for the West’s economy and one where we simply must do better – increasing the diversity of our workforce.

It isn’t only clearly the right and just thing to do – it is in the region’s economic self-interest to tap into the huge skillbase of all its communities.

Bristol mayor Marvin Rees – who faces re-election this year – has made diversity and equality of opportunity one of the key pillars of his administration.

Giving all of our young people in the West – in our cities and smaller rural communities alike – the opportunity to gain the skills to thrive is vital to our economic future.

The entrepreneurial spirit and technical excellence of businesses across the West give us many reasons for optimism.

But we must deliver the political stability to thrive and equip the workforce of the future with the skills to compete on a global basis.

Finally, I’d like to thank all of our sponsors – particularly our headline sponsors EDF Energy, GWR and Osborne Clarke – for their support.

Without their backing it would be impossible to publish this guide, which celebrates the achievements and excellence of business across the West.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

Seize the opportunity!

The green revolution has centred on Stroud

Picture: Mikal Ludlow Photography

Phil Smith, managing director of Business West, says the Western Gateway initiative must be ‘visible’ in Westminster

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T long last the South West is beginning to get to grips with what this region stands for and how we wish to be seen

by Government.

At Business West we welcome this important self-examination of our region, when the focus of Whitehall seems firmly on the North.

It is difficult to avoid the constant trumpeting of the Northern Powerhouse. Good luck to them, but we must now decide how we in the South West wish to operate and be recognised both nationally and globally.

Will the newly announced Western Gateway be our answer to the Northern Powerhouse?

What we have yet to find out is what the Western Gateway is there for, and what is it actually going to do. As yet, we don’t really know the extent of its geography. Does it stretch to Cornwall?

And what about the Great South West construct, recently announced. How does this fit with the Western Gateway?

Will the Government buy this geographic segmentation or will they demand a single South West and South Wales regional body?

What we do know is that if we don’t finally wake up to developing an organisation like this, the North, and all its attractiveness to the Government, through winning so many seats in forFRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

mer Labour strongholds, will be in the pole position of political influence.

So, we need to grab this opportunity with both hands. We must not just act limply here in this region, where we have perhaps been seen as an area of wealth that needs little attention from Government.

I am afraid that is far from the reality.

The Northern Powerhouse puts on a good optical front, so I think we need the Western Gateway to be as visible for us in Westminster.

We in the South West need to be seen to be standing alongside our MPs on our own two feet fighting for our share of Government investment.

Bristol, Bath, Swindon, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire are not, by themselves, necessarily big enough to attract interest from Perth in Australia, for instance, but the Western Gateway should have the assets and scale and a name with a ring to it that should be able to forge a worldwide presence.

Business needs to speak with one voice to ensure we get the maximum benefit from Government policy and spending, and in Katherine Bennett of Airbus, the new chair of the Western Gateway, we have a very strong supporter from business.

She will need all our help to decide on, to build upon and to sell what is special about the South West.

If we fail to do this any new regional construct risks being all bluff and bluster with no substantive content.

What is so special about us here in the South West? What do we, or could we, lead the UK in? And in what are we, or could we be, world class?

We already lead in aerospace. Perhaps we could also become the country’s leading region in tackling the climate crisis.

We have seen the green revolution centred on Stroud in Gloucestershire, which has determined to be the first carbon zero town in the UK, and we at Business West are aiming to be carbon neutral for all our UK-based operations by the end of the year. We would be the first Chamber of Commerce in the UK to achieve this.

Yes, we know skills are important and that productivity is very important, too, and our businesses and Local Enterprise Partnerships – with their local industrial strategies – are working on those.

But a region-wide ambition to be at the cutting edge in tackling the global environmental agenda ought to attract more Government patronage and at the same time give us a clear regional USP. Could we achieve it? That is the big question.

On Brexit, my simplistic view is that we know the divorce is all but done, but we must be keenly aware of the risks that

the next round of trade negotiations might bring to our region’s key sectors.

For example, our food and drink industry – how might our world-famous Cheddar cheese industry be affected by new trading tariffs or regulations on UK dairy products?

In addition to this macro view, we need to be on hand to help our individual member companies as the impact of these trade deals on their day-to-day operations becomes clearer.

Again, there is much bluff and bluster around Brexit support and I humbly suggest that Business West is one of the very few sources of objective and expert advice in this area. We have a national award recognition for our Trading Through Brexit programme to prove it.

On infrastructure, I think we must get real in terms of our expectations from Government apart from their very big pet projects.

For instance, I could see the whole Stonehenge bypass on/off project being delayed once again, through a combination of Government funding regional prioritisation and proper questions about the long-term needs to build more roads.

So, instead, let’s play to our regional strengths and talk about the potential for 5G and communications, and living in lovely areas where people do not need to actually travel to go to work.

BUSINESS GUIDE 2020 5

Embracing the potential of digital change Osborne Clarke digital transformation knowledge lawyer Catherine Hammon and partner Will Robertson on digital transformation and the fourth industrial revolution

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uSINESSES across the West of England are entering a new era of digital transformation, bringing profound opportunities and new ways of doing business for those who are ready to embrace change.

Digital transformation – the shift of products, processes and interactions into the digital realm – offers up profound change for business across the West and the uK. The impact of digitalisation is greatest when it transforms the business model of a company. This might involve different raw materials, energy requirements, margins, cost-variables or customer relationships.

A digitally transformed business model can stimulate competition, shift customer expectations and generate new revenue streams. And those that embrace the potential of this technology and the disruption that it can cause will be well positioned to change how they do business and prosper from the new industrial revolution.

Advanced connectivity and IoT Next-generation connectivity – including fifth generation wireless networks (5G) – is one area of development that is set to bring profound change to business models. The roll-out of 5G across towns and cities in the uK is underway – including Bristol, Plymouth and Bournemouth – with providers staggering the initial launch of their networks through to the end of 2020.

But 5G is not the only area of nextgeneration connectivity. Satellite communications have become more afford6 BUSINESS GUIDE 2020

able for remote locations. Full-fibre communications networks are replacing older copper-loop connections. Overall, connectivity options will be more varied and better able to cater for the varied needs of customers.

The arrival of next generation connectivity promises a real boost in the capability of Internet of Things (IoT) devices to collect and transmit data. This will allow for further advances across a range of transformative areas of technology – including industrial IoT, smart buildings and cities, autonomous vehicles and digitised commerce and industry – that

will benefit from enhanced connectivity, data flows and increased tech-driven autonomy.

Manufacturing is one area that is set to benefit hugely from digital transformation as connectivity technology, sensors and actuators are integrated into factory processes and production lines. A crucial aspect of this evolution is ‘digital twin’ technology, which involves the use of virtual models of a process, product or service that can collect and analyse data and the monitoring of systems.

Digital twins can be highly sophisticated and integrate information about the machinery, such as the friction on a conveyor belt or the response of a particular material to heat. The data can be used to fine-tune performance, optimise production or understand wear-andtear patterns in order to plan replacement and maintenance more efficiently.

New machinery can even be designed and prototyped digitally, with extensive testing and refining undertaken in the virtual environment of the digital twin, before investing in building the physical prototype.

Connectivity and digital twins together can transform a manufacturer’s entire business model. A connected virtual twin of an asset enables a digital connection to be retained even when it is in use by a customer. This enhances the supplier’s understanding of how the asset is used in practice.

More fundamentally, the supplier is able to switch from selling the asset to offering it as a service, with significant changes to the contractual relationship (including performance expectations

and service-level commitments). The supplier installs, maintains and repairs the equipment on the customer’s premises but retains ownership of it. The customer pays only for its use of the asset (and any consumables) on an ‘as a service’ basis, on the basis of the data transferred back to the supplier by the digital twin. This can be a transformative change in the business model for both supplier and customer.

AI supercharge In many cases, the power of digital transformation comes from the convergence of technologies. Artificial intelligence (AI) in particular is often a key element in this convergence. AI, in the form of machine or deep learning, relies on finding and mapping the patterns in data and using more data to refine and deepen the accuracy of that model, without use of human-generated linear hand-coding.

Industrial design is benefiting from an AI boost. Engineers can optimise components, such as parts of a vehicle, using ‘generative design’. Structural properties are set – such as the strength, tolerances and connection points required for the component – and the generative design tool will then devise numerous potential designs.

This approach is particularly impactful in relation to electric vehicle and aircraft design, creating lighter components which reduce the engine power needed and increase efficiency.

The application of AI to robotics is another area in which machine learning is making rapid progress. Machine learnFRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

Greater connectivity and ❝ ❝ data use necessitates careful attention to cyber-risk ... digital connections in the supply chain increase the potential entry points for cyber-attacks on a business

although regulatory requirements currently limit their application to therapeutic medical purposes. Some see these direct computer/brain interfaces as the future for augmented humans, although there are clearly significant ethical and societal issues to consider.

ing systems’ ability to meet a defined goal from scratch and without linear coding is being applied to robotics. AI and a digital twin were used to programme complex movements for a robotic hand, without human input.

With its ability to write itself, AI has been dubbed ‘software 2.0’. Considerable technical skill is needed for AI projects – machine learning typically has a PhD entry level. But ready-made AI tools are increasingly available ‘as a service’.

This can circumvent the need for highly specialised skills, amplifying AI’s power to ‘supercharge’ the transformation of other technology.

New interfaces Advanced 3D augmented reality (AR) technology offers a transformative interface for digital content. Large technology businesses and well-funded start-ups are investing heavily in this technology – also known as ‘mixed reality’ or ‘spatial computing’. It promises hands-free and voice – or gesture-based ways to access and interact with the digital world.

Currently, state-of-the-art devices are bulky and directly linked to processing units either integrated into the headset or wired to it. Wireless connections are possible, but real-time processing is constrained by latency: if the images via the headset do not update faster than the human eye can perceive lag then the impression of the digital content being integrated into reality is compromised (and risks motion sickness).

The latency issue disappears with next-generation connectivity. 5G offers very low latency. Combined with cloud FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

or edge computing, this creates the potential for AR headsets to be not only physically separated from the computer processing units, but potentially no more bulky than a pair of spectacles. These ‘smart glasses’ will have sensors capable of reading the movements of the wearer’s eyes, hand gestures and their surroundings.

Sophisticated lenses will be capable of conveying 3D images into the wearer’s field of vision that are integrated with the wearer’s surroundings and responsive to their gestures.

For example, an engineer checking technical drawings might need to put down tools to use a laptop or consult the manual. Augmented reality allows for the information to be conveyed into an engineer’s field of vision and consulted by a verbal instruction, a tap on the headset or a hand gesture. Applications could also integrate connected tools. A factory manager could have real-time data about the productivity, performance and output of each production unit relayed directly into their line of vision as they move around the facility.

In a professional services environment, augmented reality could remove the need for screens and physical keyboards.

As people walk around the office, shared virtual team notices would be visible on the walls, documents might be virtually pinned above a desk – but only the user could see them – and physical designs that a team is working on could be shared and updated in real time.

Taking it a stage further, digital connections placed directly into the human brain are in their very early stages,

Uncharted territory We are sometimes asked what lawyers have to do with all of this technologydriven change.

New technology is often ahead of settled legal frameworks and what has gone before and does not fit readily into established models of liability or regulation. The issues may centre on the data and the contractual frameworks that govern its sharing and use, and underpin business models where data is treated as a valuable asset. Intellectual property rights around data are often limited, which raises the importance of contractual protections and practical ways of dealing with data.

Creative and insightful thinking is needed to navigate uncharted legal territory, to corral risk and to structure liability in manageable and commercially workable ways. Legal uncertainties can be managed, rather than be left to be fought over if a dispute arises.

New technology and/or talent required for a digital initiative might be licensed or might be acquired where it is core to future strategy. Lawyers with sector expertise advising on corporate

venturing, restructuring mergers and acquisitions can contribute significantly to the strategic repositioning of a business.

Greater connectivity and data use also necessitates careful attention to cyberrisk. Digital connections in the supply chain increase the potential entry points for cyber-attacks on a business, so liability frameworks need to be agreed and performance expectations documented.

Legal input may also be needed on the impact of digital initiatives on the workforce. Advice might be needed on the rights and obligations around redeploying or reskilling staff, or in relation to restructuring programmes.

More broadly, regulation can impact on product design, health and safety, payment systems, procurement, environmental aspects, or the way data is handled. These constraints or compliance risks need to be designed into new digital processes from the outset.

Future-focused opportunities International law firm Osborne Clarke, from its roots in Bristol and the West, has a long tradition of supporting entrepreneurs and pioneers of technology, from the first industrial revolution to the 19th century giant of innovation Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the dot-com trailblazers of the 1990s to today’s digital sector leaders and disruptive start-ups.

As the leading technology-focused law firm in the West, Osborne Clarke is well placed to take the journey with businesses from across the region as they look to make their next step into a technology-boosted future and prosper from the fourth industrial revolution. » Will Robertson is a partner at Osborne Clarke LLP. He specialises in technology, data and privacy, with a particular focus on the retail sector, including logistics. He is ranked by Legal 500 2019 as a leading individual for IT and telecoms. » Catherine Hammon is the digital transformation knowledge lawyer for Osborne Clarke LLP. She was one of The Lawyer magazine’s ‘Hot100 Disruptors’ for 2019 and is a member of the ‘Women of the Year 2019’ cohort.

BUSINESS GUIDE 2020 7

With many businesses across the South West undergoing profound digital transformation programmes, the HR function will be central to a number of the challenges and opportunities, says Osborne Clarke partner, employment, Anna Elliott

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IGITAl transformation impacts the workforce and delivery of human resources (HR) services in a number of ways. Effective management of the impact of technology on the workforce is critical for the success of this transformative process, while the HR function itself can also be boosted by software and tech tools to streamline processes.

‘Future fit’ workforces Technology-driven change generates new workplace challenges. Policies around the use of technology and information – and training to ensure the workforce understands data protection and cybersecurity issues – may need to be introduced or reviewed and reissued.

Information technology and data security policies are often needed to ensure employees are informed about risks of breaches and cybercrime as well as their responsibilities in preventing it. This is bolstered by potential disciplinary action in the event of a breach of these policies.

Technological advances have made investment in retraining workers a business priority. Tech-focused businesses need to ensure that their workforces are ‘future fit’. Employment contracts and job descriptions may need to be reviewed to ensure there is sufficient flexibility for upskilling and developing individuals’ respective tasks and roles.

Some of our clients have ‘internal academies’ to support employee development, which can be used to retrain workforces in order to implement digital transformation projects.

Artificial intelligence (AI) in recruitment Software tools are increasingly being used to support recruitment processes, such as by sifting through job applications on pre-determined criteria. Some tools use AI, which offers a fast and efficient way to work through a large amount of information and identify required skills and qualifications. Automation can support a multicultural and multidisciplinary approach by finding candidates who might otherwise have been overlooked.

Conversely, it is important to ensure that such tools do not result in unintended consequences, such as discrimination. For example, by automatically excluding candidates who have periods of unemployment in their CV could dis-

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Challenges in the workplace criminate against those who have taken career breaks for family reasons. If the characteristics of the existing workforce are used to drive selection criteria, problems can arise if its composition is insufficiently balanced. With digital transformation projects often requiring creativity and different ways of thinking, there is a growing recognition of the role of neurodiversity in this balance.

Digital tools are best used to support rather than replace human decisionmaking. Human supervision, together with strong ethical policies, can ensure that automated tools bring speed and efficiency to broader selection processes that assess applicants’ profiles ethically and guarantee the application of nonbiased criteria. Sometimes a CV that looked less than ideal can turn out to harbour the perfect candidate – requiring human, lateral thinking to spot.

Flexi and smart Technology enables more remote, agile and flexible work than was common in the past. The freedom to work at times other than standard office hours allows employees to combine their work and private life more easily. Clarity will be needed in employment contracts

around the duties to be performed, how the employee’s working hours can be fulfilled, limitations on where the employee can be physically located, and other parameters that define flexible or remote working practices.

Employers offering these arrangements can generate good relations with the workforce and job candidates are increasingly demanding it. However, flexible working poses challenges. Procedures and policies need to ensure that flexibility can be combined with compliance by the employer with legal obligations to the workforce, and may need to allow hours to be recorded to ensure tax and social security contributions can be accurately calculated.

Employers may need to make provision to adapt the place of work for health and safety reasons. This is more complicated to control in relation to remote workers, particularly those who work in many different locations, not just the employer’s premises or their home.

As well as flexible working for employees, technology, particularly online platforms, has boosted the gig economy, while raising the debate around rights and the status of its workers. There are

ramifications for employment law rights, including minimum wage, statutory holiday and sickness provision, the applicability of collective bargaining agreements and the correct tax and social security treatment.

HR processes In addition to the above issues and impact on the workforce, digital tools can also support HR functions generally – for example, candidate selection, generating employment contracts and sharing important information. Tools for signing documents electronically can streamline processes. Yet while automation can drive cost efficiencies, there remains a place for human input, whether applying common sense checks or picking up on nuances for individual employees.

Care is also needed to design and develop these tools in line with legal requirements and market practices.

Notably, a significant proportion of employee data will be ‘personal data’ – and potentially sensitive – for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) purposes. Digital tools need to be designed with built-in data protection compliance – the GDPR principle of ‘privacy by design’ is very much in play.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

ARRIVE READY FOR BUSINESS

Wi-Fi terms and conditions apply. Power sockets available on selected rolling stock only. For full terms and conditions visit GWR.com

With free Wi-Fi and power at every seat, travel time needn’t be wasted time.

Book at GWR.com, on our app, or at a station.

One of the new GWR express trains arriving into Bristol Temple Meads station

Passengers start to see benefits of rail changes Massive investment in the region’s rail infrastructure, which has led to journey times to London being slashed, is helping businesses in the West, writes Richard Bache

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HAT commodity do senior business figures value the most? What commodity do they wish they had more of?

What commodity doesn’t grow on trees?

Some, revealing their true colours, will answer money – but they shouldn’t.

For time is the commodity that really matters in business.

And the 17 minutes that has been cut from journey times between Bristol and London, thanks to £7.5 billion of investment in a new fleet of trains and electrification of tracks, is significant.

GWR launched its new timetable in December and passengers are really beginning to see the benefits of that investment.

Think what that 17 minutes – in each direction – means for the average journey to the capital.

Arriving at Paddington earlier means those who are planning an onwards underground connection could reach their ultimate destination, depending on where it is in London, at about the time a train on the old timetable was pulling in.

For instance, the executive heading to St Pancras for a sales trip to Paris could, with a well-timed tube connection, have crossed the capital and be saying bonjour to the Eurostar check-in staff at the same time they’d have been pulling into

10 BUSINESS GUIDE 2020

Paddington under the old timetable.

Similarly, the shopper heading to Oxford Street can now get to Oxford Circus tube station and start splashing the cash before they’d even have reached Paddington before December.

Even our MPs and political classes benefit, with those serving in the new Parliament now being able to complete their onwards underground connection to Westminster as the train their predecessors would have been on was still braking as it approached Paddington.

It is a similar story on the way home – 17 extra minutes with the children before bedtime, 17 extra minutes to get home ahead of kick-off for the big match or 17 extra minutes to spend cooking dinner rather than dialling out for a takeaway.

The changes take full advantage of the faster acceleration characteristics of the new electric trains and the upgraded infrastructure for the first time, creating a huge volume of additional capacity into the network.

Added to the daily time saving is the increased frequency of trains – less time waiting on platforms – and additional capacity, i.e. more seats.

Between Bristol Temple Meads and London Paddington that equates to 20,000 additional seats every single weekday.

On the routes between South Wales

and Paddington – which serves Bristol Parkway – there are now an additional 15,000 seats per weekday.

There are 5,000 extra seats between the southern Cotswolds and Paddington each day in the week, too.

The timetable change – which was introduced on December 16 last year – was the biggest and most significant on the route between the West and the capital since the 1970s.

Anyone involved in the operations side of any business – never mind something as complex as railways – would have been nervous about such a change.

A similar process carried out by Northern Rail in May 2018 ended up causing such disruption that it was the subject of a huge inquiry by the Office for Rail and Road.

So it is no wonder that GWR is quietly pleased with how smoothly the new timetable has been embedded.

GWR managing director, Mark Hopwood, pictured left, said: “This timetable has been a number of years in the making, enabling us to deliver the benefits of new Intercity Express trains, and modernised infrastructure, for our customers.

“With the changes we realise that investment in trains and infrastructure, and deliver on the promise we made to customers for more services, more seats and faster journeys.

“More than 350 extra on-board staff have been taken on, more than 1,200 drivers trained, and we will have extra staff at stations throughout our network to help as we embark on this new journey.”

The improved timetable and the economic impact of improved public transport have been welcomed by political figures in the West.

West of England mayor, Tim Bowles, said: “This is great news for the West of England and will help people switch from cars to public transport, reducing congestion and improving the air we breathe. The new timetable will support the new rail services we have planned across the region through MetroWest and it’s great to see even more investment in both track and train.”

Network Rail route managing director for Wales and Western, Mike Gallop, said: “The timetable change is the biggest since 1976 and will mean faster journeys and more frequent services for passengers.

“It follows unprecedented investment in railway infrastructure, including electrification, improved signalling, upgraded stations and much more, which together with the introduction of FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

new trains will transform rail travel.”

The fastest time between London and Bristol Parkway by rail is now only 68 minutes.

From Bristol Temple Meads it is 79 minutes and Swindon commuters can get to the capital in under 50 minutes.

The journey time improvements also benefit customers travelling from Taunton, Weston-super-Mare, Bath and Chippenham.

Three extra trains now operate between Bristol Temple Meads and London Paddington in the morning and evening peaks, increasing the frequency of service from two an hour to three. The extra trains run non-stop from Chippenham and use the full accelerating power of GWR’s new trains. On top of this there will also be four extra off-peak services from Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington, via Bristol Parkway.

Two additional services in the morning and evening peaks also operate nonstop from Bristol Parkway (originating in FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

South Wales) and then direct into London Paddington.

There have also been improvements for customers travelling between Cardiff and Bristol, as GWR continues to roll out five-carriage Turbo trains to replace the current three-carriage Class 150 units on the Cardiff to Portsmouth route.

Those travelling on GWR services between Cardiff, Bristol and the South West can also expect to see Castle Class trains, modernised high-speed trains with four carriages and automatic closing doors, running at the busiest times of day on the route. These trains will help to increase seat numbers on the line by more than 1,800 every weekday.

The Severn Beach line, which was the first to see newer, longer Turbo trains to improve capacity in 2017, sees a significant improvement to Sunday services, with trains extending through to Severn Beach.

Mr Hopwood added: “Adding to these improvements, the Stroud Valley line

serving Cheltenham and Gloucester will benefit from an hourly through service to the capital, which removes the need to change at Swindon, saving around 12 minutes on journey times, offering journeys between Cheltenham and London of under two hours at their quickest.

“This new timetable is not, however, just about intercity services. As well as improvements to the Devon and Cornwall branch lines, there are also substantial changes in London and the Thames Valley.

“There will always be more to do as we look towards further improvements in May and a further new fleet of trimode trains, but this timetable is a major step in delivering for our customers.”

The improved connectivity within the West itself and, of course, to London, will have a big economic impact on the region.

Saving time on each visit to London

There will always be ❝ ❝ more to do as we look towards

further improvements ... but this timetable is a major step in delivering for our customers has a large value of its own, but it is probably an even bigger factor in persuading investors and London-based business figures to actually leave the capital and visit West companies.

And we shouldn’t forget the economic impact of GWR itself on the West’s economy.

It is a major employer in the region – with its headquarters in Swindon.

In total it employs approximately 6,000 people – about 3,500 of whom work on the front line on trains or at the stations it operates, across ten counties.

BUSINESS GUIDE 2020 11

Tolls for using the Severn bridges were scrapped at the end of 2018

Could the West bridge With the Conservatives shattering Labour’s so-called red wall in last month’s general election and winning seats across the North, including Tony Blair’s old seat of Sedgefield and Dennis Skinner’s Bolsover, the expectation is that the North is in pole position to receive Government investment. We look at the Western Gateway initiative, which has been created to fight this region’s corner

D

ECEMBER 2018 saw the final day of a decades-old tax forcing people to pay for the privilege of crossing between the West of England and South Wales by motor vehicle.

The scrapping of the Severn Bridge toll system marked the end of an era, and the beginning of a new one, making it far easier to travel between the areas and stimulating business, enhancing inward investment and increasing tourism and job creation.

Both symbolically and economically this was a huge development, particularly for South Wales, which had always viewed the toll as a major block to increased prosperity.

According to the Government, since the tolls’ abolition journeys into Wales from England have increased by 16 per cent, with an average of more than 39,000 journeys being made each day.

Then, a year after the tolls’ abolition, the much-discussed Western Gateway partnership was formally launched to further maximise the economic potential of a highly connected, fully collaborative South Wales and West of England, taking in Swansea, Cardiff and Newport in Wales and Bristol, Bath, Swindon, Gloucester and Cheltenham in the West of England.

The rationale behind the initiative is that, by bringing together world-

12 BUSINESS GUIDE 2020

renowned universities, businesses and local authorities across a wide region either side of the Severn, the Western Gateway will mirror the successful, established work of the Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine, at the same time ensuring the region is globally competitive.

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Wales, David TC Davies, said the Western Gateway initiative “will harness the joint strengths of these two regions while respecting our distinct identities and traditions”.

According to a report commissioned by the Great Western Cities Partnership the area has a combined economy worth well over £100 billion, with a gross value added per person that is higher than that of the North of England.

The report, by Metro Dynamics, puts forward recommendations to improve infrastructure, investment, internationalisation and growth across an area of seven cities, 4.4 million people, 10 universities and 156,000 businesses.

It also sets out five key areas for collaboration between South Wales and West England:

» An industrial strategy linking sector strengths » Integrated road and rail improvements, enabling faster connectivity » An ‘internationalisation’ strategy promoting the ‘Powerhouse’ region’s industrial strengths » Establishment of a ‘productivity and innovation observatory’ to make best use of data » Measurement and tailored approaches to connecting the most deprived communities with the area’s highest growth sectors.

The question is, with so much at stake, what can residents in the West hope for from the Great Western Gateway, or ‘Western Powerhouse’, initiative?

For a start, suggested transport improvements include putting on more trains between Bristol Temple Meads and Cardiff; speeding up train journeys between Bristol, Gloucester, Cheltenham and Birmingham; easing congestion on the M4; and building a third Severn crossing.

Supporters say the project will also address funding inequality between the West of Britain and the rest of the UK. According to another study, the ‘Pow-

erhouse for the West’ report, the eightyear spend on infrastructure construction per head in the region is £1,465 – a figure that is 26 per cent behind the Northern Powerhouse area and less than half that of London levels.

Commenting on this disparity, Bristol mayor, Marvin Rees, pictured left, said the creation of a Western Powerhouse would help the region play catch-up on the other devolved areas and place South Wales and the West of England firmly into the forefront of central government policy-making.

“The consequences (of launching the Western Gateway initiative) will echo into the future for decades because this is our chance to really exist, to win that investment,” he said.

“We have got to get to a point like they have in the North and the Midlands.

When Government speaks about spending they always have a line about the Northern Powerhouse, the Midlands Engine – we haven’t had that line.

“Now we exist, we will have that line, Government will begin to speak about us as a matter of default without us having to jump up and down.”

However, not all voices are as optimistic about the Western Gateway’s potential to create a new UK economic powerhouse in the West, or even its ability to properly take off.

Speaking last year, Welsh economist FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

By working together ❝ ❝ across Government, academia and industry, with businesses at the core, we are determined to make this vision a reality

Getty Images/iStockphoto

investment gap?

Bath and, below, Cheltenham are part of the Western Gateway partnership

Artur Lesniak/arturlesniak.com Eloisa Wildsmith

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

and Plaid Cymru supporter, Eurfyl ap Gwilym, said the proposals were “nothing more than a diversionary exercise designed to undermine the integrity of Wales and divert attention from the omnishambles that is the current Brexit-stricken UK Government.”

Meanwhile, property expert Tim Davies, former head of the South West and Wales offices of global real estate specialist Colliers, was also highly sceptical.

“It does not logically follow that areas of two different countries on either side of the Severn Estuary should be effectively bolted together to create a separate marketing entity encompassing Bristol, Cardiff and Newport and calling it the Western Powerhouse with the aim of creating a rival to the Northern Powerhouse,” he said.

“I am very much in favour of regional devolution, but I am unconvinced of the benefits of creating an artificial entity containing parts of two very different countries with different political systems, languages and cultures.”

He continued: “The aim is to leverage central government funding to develop, amongst other initiatives, infrastructure improvements that boost the regional economy.

“In principle, the idea is laudable, but I am sceptical that authorities on different sides of the Severn bridges will cooperate to drive this idea to fruition.

“What is clear is that any goals that are set need to be properly thought through and, above all, deliverable – otherwise this initiative will fall by the wayside.

“Looking ahead, it is vital that key stakeholders are encouraged to participate as their experience will be vital in driving the initiative forward.”

Despite the doubters, the Western Gateway initiative is gaining momentum by the day. Towards the end of last year, it was revealed that £400,000 had been allocated from existing budgets to help kick-start the project, along with an announcement that the organisation’s first acting chair would be Katherine Bennett, senior vice-president of Airbus, pictured below.

She said: “With a vibrant population of more than four million people, worldclass universities, strong transport links and shared strengths across key sectors – from green energy and engineering to the arts and digital media – I’m convinced that the West of Britain is a powerhouse waiting to happen.”

“By working together across Government, academia and industry, with businesses at the core, we are determined to make this vision a reality.”

Those positive sentiments were echoed by West of England mayor, Tim Bowles, who said: “Last year we published our Local Industrial Strategy, which sets out our ambitious plans to build on our unique strengths of creativity, collaboration and ingenuity to secure clean growth that benefits all our residents.

“We’re also raising our region’s profile internationally through our Invest Bristol and Bath team, securing inward investment and boosting import and export opportunities.

“We’re always interested in wider regional collaboration where it can bring significant benefits for the broader region.

“As a partnership between Government, businesses, Local Enterprise Partnerships, the Combined Authority and local councils, Western Gateway gives us an opportunity to join together our existing strengths to create a real economic powerhouse in the West.”

BUSINESS GUIDE 2020 13

Hinkley C on course after year of major progress The latest major achievements of the project to build a nuclear power station in Somerset

H

elped by businesses from across the South West, the past 12 months have seen sustained progress in the construction of the UK’s first new nuclear power station for a generation at Hinkley point C. With each of its major milestones achieved as planned, the new power station, located on Somerset’s northern coast, is on track to provide seven per cent of the UK’s low-carbon electricity and will help the UK achieve its ambitious target for net-zero emissions.

Working with local partners, the project is also acting as a catalyst for longterm socio-economic development across the region. Almost 1,000 South West businesses are already engaged within the supply chain and benefiting from £1.7 billion of awarded contracts.

2019 saw the UK’s largest continuous concrete pour to complete the foundation of the first reactor. Built in a number of stages and reinforced with 5,000

14 BUSINESS GUIDE 2020

tonnes of Welsh steel, the final 9,000 cubic metres of concrete was the largest ever concrete pour in the UK, beating a record set by the Shard in london.

In late december, the first big lift by the world’s largest crane, the 250m-high ‘Big Carl’, was completed. Using lessons learned from the construction of similar reactors around the world, the enormous machine lifted a 170-tonne prefabricated part of the reactor’s steel containment liner into place.

The steel floor and first section of the containment liner was welded and prefabricated under-cover in factory conditions on site to improve quality and efficiency.

This summer, the base of the second reactor will be completed ahead of the first dome lift – the point at which the roof of the first reactor building will be installed. productivity improvements between the two reactors under construction

Other major achievements in 2019 » The creation of more than 8,500 new job and career opportunities for the region » The start of tunnelling on the three water cooling intakes deep beneath the Severn Estuary » Completion of the 760m seawall

» Hiring of the 500th apprentice » Over 11,000 people trained and assessed at the Hinkley Point C-funded Construction Skills and Innovation Centre » Construction of first permanent buildings above ground.

show the full benefit of replication, which also includes the benefit of the same experienced teams repeating the same design. This approach will be used for the proposed near-identical plant at Sizewell C in Suffolk.

Stuart Crooks, managing director of Hinkley point C, said: “The country needs both nuclear and renewables to fill the energy gap so we can stop burning fossil fuels. We know that our success matters for the country and it matters for the planet.

“I am encouraged by what we have achieved so far in this incredibly significant project for the UK. It would not be possible without the expertise and commitment of our supply chain from across the country and, in particular, the South West.

“I look forward to building on our success to date whilst we continue to support local businesses to access the wealth of opportunities available across this exciting endeavour.”

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

The first reactor’s liner cup lift in progress at Hinkley Point C

Team spreading the word on range of opportunities

Moving to a new phase of construction The project will soon move from a civils programme to the start of the mechanical, electrical, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (Meh) phase. This will be delivered by an innovative joint venture of UK companies to install the 380km of pipes and 9,000km of cables at the power station.

This brings UK contractors Balfour Beatty, Cavendish, Altrad and Doosan together to share expertise and incentivise collaboration and efficiency. hinkley Point C is also strengthening the South West’s regional skills and expertise by joining in the creation of a national welding centre in Somerset, a UK nuclear Technical Services Organisation in Gloucester and a UK ePR engineering design centre in Bristol.

Hinkley Point C Unit 2 under construction

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

The Somerset-based hinkley Supply Chain Team is playing a key role in ensuring that regional businesses benefit from the wide range of opportunities that are still available across the hinkley Point C project.

The team, an innovative collaboration between the Somerset Chamber of Commerce, SWMAS and Business West, has grown and developed its capabilities in line with hinkley Point C’s development.

This adaptability, coupled with the team’s detailed first-hand knowledge of the project itself, has greatly improved the ability for South West companies to secure a proportion of the billions of pounds in contract value available.

With registrations to a bespoke supply chain portal at an all-time high of over 4,200, the team continues to encourage companies in the South West and across into South Wales to make contact and register online at www.hinkleysupplychain.co.uk.

During 2019, a new collaboration between Somerset Chamber of Commerce, Business West and SWMAS has continued to support local business into the supply chain. With funding provided by the LeP, the initiative has hosted and facilitated more than 30 workshops to help regional businesses understand the requirements of such a complex project.

Topics have included effective collaboration, PQQ Best Practice and risk factors in pricing for nuclear.

Sam evans, hinkley Supply Chain Project lead, said: “There are plenty of businesses in the South West that still may not see hinkley Point C as an opportunity for their company, or maybe they do not understand if their capabilities are relevant or required. We would encourage these companies to contact us – we can offer support and guidance through face-to-face meetings, on-site reviews, workshop recommendations and funding advice.

“Working at a Tier 1 and, more recently, Tier 2 level, we find out what is needed and then find relevant and capable regional companies which are registered on the hinkley Supply Chain portal and flag these to the procurement teams.

“During 2019 alone, the team recommended 1,657 South West companies for a total of 141 separate work packages – with some companies securing more than one work package recommendation.

“We are now entering an exciting stage of construction as contracts are being discussed for the mechanical, electrical, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (Meh) phase.

“While the physical requirements for many of the opportunities are potentially 12 months away, planning and pricing needs to happen well in advance.”

BUSINESS GUIDE 2020 15

Beth Sharkey, lifting technician apprentice for Bylor

Inspiring a generation T

HE construction of Hinkley Point C is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the South West region’s businesses, but also for the careers and aspirations of the next generation.

The project’s education, skills and employment pipeline is made up of a number of linked programmes that are designed to make sure the substantial opportunity on offer can be realised by individuals, whether they are in school, exploring careers or accessing appren-

ticeships and other career routes.

The Inspire Education programme has now visited almost 500 schools and colleges in the area, meeting 167,000 students so far.

Young HPC, which provides careers advice and support to 16-21-year-olds, is currently helping 1,000 people.

The HPC Job Service has helped to ensure that almost 50 per cent of the site’s workforce is local, directly helping more than 800 start new careers at or connected to Hinkley Point C.

Apprenticeships continue to be at the forefront of workforce development and their scope continues to grow. Opportunities are now available in almost every aspect of the project, from steel fixing and construction management to catering and commercial management. So far, more than 500 apprentices have been trained on the project.

Working with partners at Somerset County Council, regional training providers and the charity Discovery, a 10-week programme has enabled those

with special educational needs to access long-term, sustainable careers through Hinkley Point C. Chris Young, education and skills delivery manager, said: “I’m extremely proud of our commitment to reach ambitious targets for the training of the next generation. There are still a huge range of opportunities through apprenticeships or our many routes into work and training. There is an option for everyone, no matter your previous background or skill-set.”

Local expertise of national importance for tunnels beneath Channel GlObAl Tunnelling Experts, based in Portishead, are world leaders in their field and have taken their experience from more than 120 diverse projects from across the globe to the construction of Hinkley Point C. The company will operate the three massive tunnel-boring machines used for the construction of the new power station’s cooling system.

The tunnels excavated by the teams from Global Tunnelling Experts will stretch as far as 3.5km under the bristol Channel and be reinforced with around 38,000 concrete segments, which will also be manufactured by balfour beatty at a specialist pre-fabrication facility in Avonmouth.

The company used the expertise of the Hinkley Supply Chain Team to secure the Hinkley Point C contract, which 16 BUSINESS GUIDE 2020

included making use of networking events and the Supply Chain Team’s detailed knowledge of the project’s structure and internal stakeholders.

Global Tunnelling Experts have around 120 staff working at the Hinkley Point C site, with a focus on local employment playing an important part in ensuring they were ready for the challenge.

Kevin browning, Global Tunnelling Experts director, said: “We’re only as good as the people we employ and we always use the one-team approach. We see the company as a family unit, our employees are joining the family and that is paramount to our success.

“Our focus is always on local recruitment and local investment and we’re looking forward to continuing our work at Hinkley Point C”.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

Call for Cabinet’s help T

HE head of one of the UK’s biggest business organisations has said 2020 should mark the start of a “decade of delivery” for the South West.

CBI director general, Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, pictured, has called for a Cabinet minister to champion the region in Government, saying the West of England can stand “shoulder to shoulder” with the Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine.

Speaking in Bristol earlier this month, she said a ministerial champion could help “prioritise progress” on local industrial strategies and plans for further devolution.

“We believe it’s time that the Government gave the South West its own ministerial champion with a seat in Cabinet, alongside the existing ministers for the Midlands Engine and Northern Powerhouse,” she said. “Giving local leaders greater clarity on the power and resources available [will] help the region thrive.”

However, Ms Fairbairn says a “better connected, more resilient” transport network is important for the growth of the South West. She believes the region needs to focus on upgrades on the M5,

ease congestion on the A303, improve public transport in rural areas, create better links to Bristol Airport and, in future, consider rolling out charging infrastructure for electric vehicles and smart roads.

“We welcome the chancellor’s recent commitment to boost infrastructure investment,” she said.

“Now we must ensure the South West gets the funding it needs to deliver these improvements.”

Ms Fairbairn also urged the Government to clarify its plans for immigration reform, which could have an impact on the region. She said: “With an ageing population and the country’s highest employment rate, many businesses here already struggle to fill vacancies, relying on people from around the world to help produce our food, care for us when we’re older, design and build our homes, and bring new ideas into our industries.

“Without detailed plans from Government, firms are worried about what the new system, the biggest change to UK

immigration in almost 30 years, will mean for their workforce.”

She added: “As a country, we need to get these changes right – first time.”

She was speaking shortly after a powerful coalition of South West businesses, education leaders and local authorities pledged to work in partnership with the Government to make the ‘Great South West’ the latest growth alliance to rebalance the UK economy.

Somerset County Council and its partners in Devon, Dorset and Cornwall published a local growth prospectus that aims to deliver £45 billion of economic benefit and 190,000 new jobs over the next 15 years.

Its ambition is to sit alongside the Government-backed Northern Powerhouse, Midlands Engine and Western Gateway economic areas, and includes businesses, Local Enterprise Partnerships, universities, colleges and local government as a mechanism to attract additional investment in to the area.

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Its focus is on creating world-leading growth in the ‘green’ and ‘blue’ economies, backed by a wealth of natural assets on land and sea, groundbreaking companies and research expertise.

The prospectus sets out how, with Government support, the Great South West can be a test bed for new thinking and technologies to accelerate the move to a greener, more prosperous economy, and tackle shared challenges like poor connectivity, an ageing population, poor productivity and climate change.

Publication of the prospectus follows a Downing Street summit in December between Great South West partners and Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Steve Hindley, chair of the Great South West partnership, said: “Our aspiration is for the Government to recognise the enormous potential of the Great South West to model how the future economy will look, and to work with us to plan and deliver the changes that we need to launch an era of transformational change and become the greenest economy of the UK.”

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BUSINESS GUIDE 2020 17

Clockwise from left: Gordon Fry’s office in Bruton is a replica signal box; 4x4 vehicles line Bruton’s high street; Ian MacNab and mayor Val Saunders in Langport; Ian aboard the Duchess of Cocklemoor

Towns stumble across CRISIS ON THE HIGH STREET

T

It is no secret that 2019 was a year of doom and gloom on the high street, so Martin Hesp visited two of the region’s most vibrant towns to see what lessons can be learned

HE commercial world is changing in every nuance, from the mega-trends of the global marketplace right down to the way we as individuals buy the things we need – and perhaps no place tells this story more effectively or visibly than the average high street.

These linear socioeconomic hubs evolved and remained busy for more than 2,000 years since market towns began to be developed in this country, but the classic British high street has had a hard time of it over the past few decades, thanks to supermarkets, out-oftown shopping malls and now the rapid growth of digital commerce. So it would be easy to paint a picture of high street doom and gloom across the South West.

There are all too many boarded up premises in all too many towns.

What is more difficult – but perhaps a lot more useful – is to find places that are enjoying something of a renaissance.

They exist, but why? How are they bucking the trend? There is no single answer – except perhaps one…

For that we need to adapt the Ameri18 BUSINESS GUIDE 2020

can phrase USP, or unique selling proposition. I discovered this when writing two major newspaper series on market towns, visiting more than 40 centres in the South West, first in 2001 and then again in 2015. It seemed to me that to succeed and thrive in this modern age, a town and its high street needs to have a Unique Reason for Being.

This URB could be something as obvious as fortunate geographical positioning. Years ago, any community mayor along the M4 Corridor could have told you this. The latest in that line, as urbanisation has pushed westwards, would be Tiverton with its mainline railway station and connection to the M5. Drive round town now and it’s almost as if there are more new housing estates than old – certainly Tiverton’s high street has come to life compared to the way it was in 2001.

But for the purposes of this article the Western Daily Press visited two Somerset towns that seem to be thriving for less obvious, and perhaps more interesting, reasons.

Having said that, no one would argue that Bruton’s rapid connections to Lon-

don have harmed its upward spiral. Five times a day you can travel direct by train from the town centre to Waterloo in just over two-and-a-half hours – and if you pop over to Castle Cary just a few miles away, GWR will rush you to Paddington in less than an hour-and-a-half. Which makes this scenic corner of the Somerset hills easily commutable.

Walking along the town’s historic main thoroughfare past the interesting, quirky and individual-looking retail outlets, one local wag told me: “This is the Somerset end of High Street Kensington.”

Later I met Gordon Fry, chairman of Bruton Community Partnership and owner of the busy West End Garage, which has been a well-known local employer for decades.

“You could say yuppified, yes!” smiled the businessman and all-round Bruton enthusiast who was born and bred in town. “And it’s all happened in quite a short space of time.

“Bruton’s always had an individual feel because of the (two private and one state boarding) schools. They bring a character of their own to the town. At Kings last year they were celebrating 500

years and the Queen came down to open a music hall, and she had a cracking day.

She popped up to the art gallery because one of her grandchildren works there…”

Ah, the art gallery. Mr Fry was referring to the hugely popular Hauser and Wirth, located half a mile from town.

“The first thing that happened in Bruton was that an old chapel in the high street was done up by a couple from London. It took them a long time and they worked hard, but it is a fantastic restaurant, bistro and so on. That brought a lot of people in. It seemed to kick-start it.

Cameron Mackintosh and all the folk you want to see seemed to go there.

“Then this chap Iwan Wirth (a Swiss art dealer) came down and he liked Bruton and bought a farm. Then he bought this medieval farm just up the road – nobody else could have afforded to do what he did to it.

“Everything he does, he does well. He and his wife are super people and they brought a lot to the town. I counted up that in one year he spent £21 million around the town.”

And so the town went upmarket and so did its high street FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

Bruton is the place to be. ❝ ❝ But the downside is that locals can’t afford to live here any more. The families have gone.

The little farms have gone. All snapped up by London money

secret of success “A lot of the shops now… I keep saying they are shops that don’t know what they are, really,” said Mr Fry. “When I was growing up, Bruton was self-contained – you had a tailor, everything. Obviously life changes and you’ve lost all that – but you can still get everything you need food-wise and there’s a butcher.

“Now, what with Hauser and Wirth having 130,000 people a year, it has a rub-off. The latest thing is called Number One High Street. It used to be the ironmonger, but this couple who have a hotel in London decided they wanted to move out and they have spent an awful lot of money on this new business.

So that will help revitalise the town further – and we have many other eating places.

“Have you heard about The Newt?

That is a fascinating story. This South African guy who is well blessed with money…” At this point Mr Fry went into a long and complex story about Koos Bekker and his wife Karen Roos who purchased nearby Hapsden House and its massive surrounding estate a few years ago.

“He has spent a fortune. What he has done is fantastic,” smiled Mr Fry, listing endless developments at the estate just a few miles out of town.

“Bruton is the place to be,” he added, as I prepared to depart. “But the downFRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

side is that locals can’t afford to live here any more. The families have gone. The little farms have gone. All snapped up by London money. I know more in the cemetery than I do in the High Street.

But that’s a fact of life.”

The London-incomer-versus-localsin-graveyard scenario 30 minutes drive west at Langport probably comes out more in Somerset’s home-grown favour, but there is no doubt that most residents would argue that the old Parrett river port is also the place to be.

Langport is another ‘happening’ place where the whole vibe is much more positive, vibrant and alive compared to the way it used to be. A dozen years ago, Bow Street was simply the name for the bit of A378 which runs through town. It was a street where even the buildings leaned backwards away from the noisy, smelly traffic that trundled through.

The buildings still lean and the traffic still trundles. But the reason the buildings tilt at weird angles is because they are built on the soft peat of the Somerset Levels – which in some ways gives a clue as to Langport’s proud new identity.

It is increasingly regarded as Capital of the Levels – which is no bad thing to be as the flat wetland becomes ever more popular with outdoor enthusiasts in general and ornithologists, cyclists, canoeists, paddle-boarders and walkers

in particular. Two decades ago, The Levels was a place people passed by on their way to West Country coasts and hills – now the beautiful flatlands have become a destination in their own right.

And Langport has been reinventing itself to reflect this newfound popularity.

You only have to stop in the town’s free car park and take a stroll along the lovely riverside Cocklemoor – one minute’s walk from that high street – to know that is true.

To discuss Langport’s green and outward bound renaissance I met mayor Val Saunders and town councillor Ian MacNab, who have both been instrumental in helping to rejuvenate what, 15 years ago, was a rather drab little town.

It was the mayor who helped put together a bid for EU money… “The £200,000 we received in February last year was for a scheme called The Langport River Project and is all about promoting growth for locals and visitors,” she told me.

“We identified a lot of people who come for different reasons – there are always the dog walkers and the people who are travelling from the South East to the South West. They stop for free car parking – for a free pee – and now they stop for a stroll around the riverside walks and for the electric car charging point and maybe for a trip on the Duch-

ess of Cocklemoor, and off they go again…

“We also have people who come and stay in the town nowadays. The Parrett Trail is being rejuvenated and the town has excellent cafes, coffee, fish and chips, and people wander around the independent shops.

“We call Langport the Heart of the Levels,” she went on. “When I wrote the EU bid I said there are some people who’ve always known about The Levels but for most it is a hidden secret. But now, because of a resurgence in outdoor holidays and activities, retail therapy has declined and we are going back to affordable pursuits and also healthy pursuits. Langport and its moors and rivers has them all.”

Mr MacNab was among the first to realise the importance of the river, which in many ways (physically, commercially and socially) the town had turned its back on.

Putting his own money into the venture, he bought an old ferry boat, plugged the holes and converted her to run silently on electric power from her own solar panels. Now the Duchess of Cocklemoor is a kind of community boat that does popular trips across The Levels.

“The river is coming alive,” he says. “It was considered a bit dangerous, but now it’s safer and people are boating, canoeing, paddle-boarding and even wild swimming. Apparently there was a seal up at Muchelney Bridge the other day.”

This connection with the environment is something many Langport residents are keen on and there is talk of the town leading the way in the South West when it comes to a greener, more planetfriendly, way of life.

“Because Langport had a reputation for being a bit of a dump, that is turning to our advantage – because it hasn’t been over-commercialised,” said the mayor. “We are ready to embrace a new era, whereas other towns are going to be stuck with their car parks and their dependence on the motor car.”

When I told her I’d also be visiting Bruton, Langport’s mayor outlined reasons for its success – and then she added a note of warning: “There is talk of building us a station on the main line here.

But I say – be careful what you wish for.”

So, two small Somerset towns with two very different reasons for their recent successes. High streets are a feature of every community of any size and they do need a reason for being – but that reason has to be as authentic as it is unique.

BUSINESS GUIDE 2020 19

‘It’s a mystery why we can’t get these sites filled’ CRISIS ON THE HIGH STREET

Conor Gogarty takes the temperature of what should be one of Bristol’s most thriving high streets, but which is perhaps a little under the weather

J

ULIEn Carey marches through the centre of Westbury-on-Trym at a pace that belies his 75 years. The sprightly pensioner is giving me a tour of the Bristol suburb’s eight empty shops, growing more animated at each site.

Pointing to the former Lloyds Pharmacy in Carlton Court, he says: “That’s been empty three years – and that’s a flagship site.”

The problem of Westbury’s disused units visibly frustrates Julien, well known in the area as the charismatic former

Amanda George at the We Make Bristol gift shop

20 BUSINESS GUIDE 2020

owner of Canford Lane plant emporium Garden Trappings. Julien ran the shop for 20 years until it closed just before Christmas due to the landlord selling the site to a housing developer, but he remains fiercely passionate about Westbury’s high street and its future.

Wearing his trademark shooting jacket, a feather perched atop his tweed hat, he says: “Gloucester Road and Henleaze Road are buzzing. Their empty shops get filled straight away.

“And those streets don’t really have car parks – we have two in Westbury. It’s a

bit of a mystery why we can’t seem to get these sites filled.”

A mystery it may be, but Julien has plenty of theories, ranging from high rents to Brexit to a lack of footfall.

Only four miles north of the city centre, Westbury has the feel of a village, charming streets of little shops fanning out from the war memorial in the centre.

The sought-after suburb’s houses fetch an average of almost £500,000 – but the paradox is the struggle of its traders in recent years.

There are empty shops at the former sites of Westbury Bakers, Lloyds Pharmacy, Westbury Inks, Cindyjane Gifts, Sweet Pea clothing, McColl’s supermarket and Stripy Dog pet salon.

Then there is the enigma of the Domino’s outlet on Westbury Hill, kitted out with the pizza chain’s equipment and decorated with its branding for years, but yet to open its doors.

As more premises have fallen empty over recent years, Westbury has seen an influx of charity shops, with seven now open – a striking number for a relatively small shopping area.

It seems not all businesses are suffering – Grupo Lounge, a trendy cafe on Canford Lane, is bustling on the Tuesday morning when I sit down there with Julien. But he remembers a time when the centre of Westbury was far busier than it is now.

“I moved here from the Gower with my family in 1974 and at that time there was absolutely no reason to ever go into Bristol,” he says. “I can probably count on one hand the times I actually went

into Bristol to buy anything. Everything was here in Westbury.

“Units were very rarely closed. It was such a thriving community.”

Julien’s first business in the area was an indoor market, Westbury Bazaar, in the premises now occupied by Grupo Lounge.

He moved a few doors down to launch Garden Trappings in 2000, enjoying success for years, before noticing a downturn in trade.

“I can pinpoint it to a period of three months about a decade ago,” he says.

“The post office stopped paying pensions and credits over the counter and the Jobcentre closed three months later.

“Footfall was the one thing we weren’t getting in the village. It got worse when Lloyds Pharmacy closed.

“The ladies had nowhere to shop in the village for their beauty products. My own wife started going into Clifton Village and coming back with a huge bag of shopping. How many hundreds of ladies started doing the same?”

Each year the Christmas Fayre sees Canford Lane close to traffic as stalls line the street. The annual frenzy it sparks is telling, Julien believes.

“What it shows is if there’s something people want, they will come in for it,” he says.

People’s reluctance to shop in Westbury during the rest of the year can be in part explained by parking problems, according to Julien.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

Julien Carey at one of several empty shop premises in Westbury-on-Trym

The main car park, on Westbury Hill, lies outside the Primary Care Centre, where patients “take up all the parking”, he believes.

He adds: “Bristol City Council needs to put an electronic barrier system in place because there isn’t really any monitoring in the car park.

“People park there all day. They flout the restrictions and use Westbury as an unofficial park and ride.

“If I’m here after 8am, I find myself driving round in circles looking for a space.”

Julien sees the affluence of the area as a double-edged sword.

“Landlords see it’s BS9 and it’s a rather posh area, so they hammer businesses on the rents,” he says.

“I was very lucky with my rent. I think they forgot about me because I was still paying the same as when I opened 20 years ago, but that’s quite a unique situation.”

He also believes Brexit uncertainty has been a factor in the rising number of empty shops.

“Retail is confidence,” he says. “People won’t get the confidence to open up a business if they don’t know what’s round the corner with Brexit.

“Now that Brexit looks like it’s set to happen, hopefully we can move on and people can have a look at opening businesses again.

“Westbury’s a lovely place – super people, super atmosphere. We have FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

some very good gift shops, some great pubs and cafes.

“We’re a smashing little place. I am optimistic about the future.”

Julien, who seems to know everyone in the village, offers to introduce me to a couple of other business owners.

On the short walk to CJ Computing in Westbury Hill, he stops at boarded-up public toilets that closed about two years ago.

While Julien bemoans the loss of the amenity, a man passing by chips in: “I remember them – they were a godsend when you were going between pubs. It’s a shame.”

The camaraderie between Westbury traders is heartwarming to see as we enter CJ Computing, with its owner Ian Duxbury more than happy to speak to me after Julien puts a good word in.

Ian, who has run the shop since 1991, agrees Brexit has been an issue for the high street.

The 61-year-old says: “I wouldn’t start a business until we knew where we were going. Hopefully now we can move on.”

He echoed Julien’s calls for parking to be electronically monitored.

“Over the past few years we’ve opened at 7am each day because there’s so little parking later on,” he says.

“We had lots of customers saying they couldn’t get close enough to unload their computers, so we had to adapt to our market.

“There needs to be controlled access

to the Westbury Hill car park – you park for two hours, you pay.”

Ian tells me business is good. He believes the computer shop is more protected against the retail climate than other businesses in the area.

“We are still thriving because we are a service,” he says. “We fix computers, we custom-build them.

“If you look at the businesses doing well, it’s the service industry. Coffee shops are full, restaurants are packed.

“It’s the shops that sell things, places like grocery stores, which are closing.

“It also helps that we are blessed with a good landlord, who isn’t grabby like some others.”

The next business we visit is Canford Lane’s We Make Bristol gift shop.

Owner Amanda George says the store, just over three years old, is bucking the trend of service industry dominance on the high street.

“I have a good loyal customer base that’s growing, and a lot of repeat customers,” she says.

“We are a social enterprise – we’re committed to giving 50 per cent of profits to Bristol artists and designers, but we’re actually hitting about 70 per cent.

“People are proud to support Bristol businesses, but they are not just buying to help. They like the handmade products in the shop.”

Like Ian and Julien, Amanda says she has been lucky with rent. She knows of other local businesses hamstrung by “greedy landlords”.

She adds: “I don’t pay business rates because I’m below the £12,000 rateable value cut-off point.

“I’d love to open a zero-waste shop in Westbury because I think there’s so much potential there, but if I did I’d have to pay the rates, even if it was below the £12,000 value, as I’d have two shops.

“I think the Government should relax those rules to help small businesses thrive, and give tax breaks to social enterprises. Signing a five-year lease is scary – what if it doesn’t work? But the Government could be doing more to make businesses want to do it.”

Amanda can remember having her ears pierced at Kemp Jewellers in Carl-

I can probably count on ❝ ❝ one hand the times I actually

went into Bristol to buy anything. Everything was here in Westbury

ton Court in the 1980s, a shop that is still going today.

“Westbury has an amazing history,” she says. “Shops like Marie’s Bargain Centre and Mogford’s have been here decades, and between them you can get pretty much anything you want. With national retailers going to pot, support your local high street – let’s keep them alive.”

A Bristol City Council spokeswoman commented on the calls for more effective parking monitoring and enforcement. She said: “Within the last year, enforcement offers in Westbury-onTrym have moved on over 800 cars that were illegally parked and have issued almost 200 penalty charge notices.

“The area gets patrolled on a weekly basis to ensure parking regulations are enforced for the benefit of both residents and visitors. We are working together with local residents to address their concerns about the impact of commuters in the local area.”

We put Amanda’s comments on business rates to the Valuation Office Agency, which sets the rateable values behind the rates.

A VOA spokeswoman said: “We cannot comment on individual cases.

“The VOA uses a wide range of property information, including rental and other evidence such as location and physical attributes, to compare values across similar types of properties in order to set the rateable value. If a ratepayer thinks the details we hold about their property are incorrect, they can see how their valuation has been calculated and propose changes to the valuation, if needed, at voa.gov.uk/valuation.”

Ian Duxbury has run CJ Computing since 1991

BUSINESS GUIDE 2020 21

Levelling the playing field on investment Neil Fraser reports on the problems that stand in the way of West Country companies when they go in search of funding... and how they are being addressed

T

HE West of England is one of the UK’s economic powerhouses – home to the likes of Airbus, Aardman Animations and Dyson as well as a raft of innovative and successful small and medium-sized businesses, many of them in the burgeoning technology space.

But there remain considerable barriers to success for fast-growing businesses in particular – not least access to funding.

The region boasts the third largest community of early stage angel investors in the country, behind London and the South East. Yet according to the UK Business Angels Association (UKBAA), over two-thirds – 68 per cent – of total angel investment goes into the so-called ‘golden triangle’ of London, Cambridge and Oxford.

Moreover, research shows that businesses in London receive six times more investment than those in the West of England – where it is also takes three times longer to secure – and just 14 per cent of scale-up companies in our region are successful in accessing equity investment.

Now a group of private and public sector organisations is getting together in an attempt to help resolve this paradox.

Launched this month, the Investment Activator Programme (IAP) will deliver a pioneering programme to help catalyse investment into fast-growing companies in Bristol, Bath and the West of England.

The programme is the first of its kind in the UK, aiming to increase the flow of money into the area and thereby show22 BUSINESS GUIDE 2020

case it as a leading high-growth business hub.

The programme will begin as a twoyear pilot, delivered by TechSPARK. Specialist partners include financial and professional services firm Smith & Williamson, the University of the West of England, Delaware, Engine Shed, Rocketmakers, Sanderson, TLT and the West of England Combined Authority.

Investment activator Briony Phillips, pictured facing page, of Bath-based Rocketmakers – a company that designs, develops and deploys technology for

start-ups and innovative corporates, helping them to grow into the £10 million to £100 million companies of the future – says the success of home-grown ‘unicorns’ such as Graphcore and OVO Energy cannot disguise the pressing need to narrow the investment gap with London and the South East.

“In the last few years Bristol has seen a dramatic rise in the level of investment into the city’s businesses and in 2019 it outperformed the likes of Dublin, Zurich, Amsterdam, Brussels and Oxford,” she says.

Peter Ball, partner and entrepreneur lead at Smith & Williamson in Bristol

“However, there’s still a long way to go before the region can compete with more traditional investment hubs like London where over $6.3 billion was raised last year, versus $322 million locally.

“According to the UKBAA, we have the third largest community of angel investors (early stage) in the UK, behind London and the South East. And yet 85 per cent of the angel investment from our region goes into the golden triangle.

“The likes of Graphcore and OVO Energy are Bristol-grown unicorns, while Ultrahaptics, Blu Wireless, Immersive Labs and Open Bionics are just a few examples of big hitters when it comes to raising investment and making their mark on the global tech scene. The Investment Activator Programme will add some much-needed capacity to help solve this challenge.”

The IAP will build on work done by TechSPARK and Engine Shed by delivering more than 30 targeted investment events, articles and tools to support founders raising money, including two Silicon Gorge pitching competitions for start-ups raising £150,000 to £2 million in equity finance, four quarterly investment briefings and six informal ‘pitch me’ sessions where start-ups can hone their pitch to a friendly audience. The FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

There is no shortage of ❝ ❝ great businesses in our region

but too often they are forced to go to London for funding

Partners in the Investment Activator Programme

team will also build relationships to help form connections with investors across the UK and showcase the opportunities in the West on a national stage.

“We’re in a strange place – it’s a tale of two stories,” says Briony Phillips.

“Atomico’s latest report, the 2019 State of European Tech, suggests a tenfold increase in equity investment in Bristol in the last five years. According to start-up database Beauhurst, we have seen 114 companies raise more than £322 million in the last 12 months.

“On that basis, it would be fair to assume that we have this investment challenge sewn up – but in reality we have a long way to go. These numbers and accolades reflect a few impressive rounds of equity investment and aren’t shared among the long tail of growing companies in the region.

“We only have one formalised angel syndicate in this region, Bristol Private Equity Club (BPEC), which invested a total of £6 million into 19 businesses in the period to September 2019. For now, though, it’s one group and BPEC is FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

understandably limited by the number of companies it can consider each year.”

Briony Phillips points out that the West of England is well served by incubator and accelerator organisations – but that despite this, too many businesses simply give up attempting to secure finance if they receive a ‘no’ from the traditional high street banks. She believes business owners are also reluctant to take on other forms of finance, especially equity finance, because it is perceived as relinquishing a level of control.

She says the “warm introduction” also remains a dominant – and not necessarily beneficial – feature of the business investment scene in our region.

“Founders that are introduced to investors by friends, school friends and colleagues are 13 times more likely to receive investment, compared to an entrepreneur who doesn’t move in rarefied circles.

“Outside this group, the angel investor community locally is quite opaque. We find that the founders who have most success either have a wealth of social capital

themselves, are very well networked or benefit from connections through one of the many great accelerators, incubators or co-working spaces in our area. In addition, our relative proximity to the capital is both a blessing and a curse – founders and business leaders spend up to 70 per cent of their time when raising investment travelling back and forth to London to meet investors.

“When they get there, they often encounter challenges that London founders don’t face.

Investors will ask whether the region is an appropriate place to build a company – little do they know that BluWireless, Plimsoll Productions, IMDB, Immersive Labs and many more have made their home in the region and successfully built global businesses.”

Ben Shorrock, pictured above, managing director of TechSPARK, says: “While there are some challenges, the level of demand for investment among fast-growth businesses continues to grow.

“Bristol is one of the key four or five

hotspots outside London and this was certainly not the case five to ten years ago. We have a very durable, innovative, creative and buoyant business community, part of which is down to the fact that many businesses have faced a struggle to secure investment early on, with only the strongest tending to survive.”

This is borne out by research highlighting that the fact that new business start-ups in Bristol have the best chance of surviving beyond the five-year mark.

Online corporate price-checker firm BusinessComparison has revealed that approaching half – 44 per cent – of Bristol companies launched in 2013 were still operating in 2018, placing the city at the top of the UK performance table.

For Peter Ball, partner and entrepreneur lead at Smith & Williamson in Bristol, the ultimate purpose of the Investment Activator Programme is to facilitate the future emergence of new Top 150 companies – and to ensure that as many as possible remain based in the region.

Last year, Smith & Williamson’s ‘Dream Bigger: Funding Ambition’ report exposed the extent of the challenge facing businesses seeking investment in the region.

The research revealed that 55 per cent of scale-up businesses in the South West with turnover of more than £1 million were actively looking for external finance, but that the failure rate remained high. Some 70 per cent of businesses were unable to secure finance at the first attempt, with 39 per cent failing more than three times and nine per cent having made five or more unsuccessful attempts.

“The Investment Activator Programme is an excellent initiative that will support high-growth businesses and nurture the funding ecosystem on which they rely,” says Peter.

“There is no shortage of great businesses in our region but too often they are forced to go to London for funding – Investment Activator will help to reverse this process. Ultimately we need to extend the ‘golden triangle’ of London-OxfordCambridge into a larger one which also includes Bristol and Bath.” » More information about the Investment Activator Programme can be found at https://www.techspark.co/ investmentactivator.

BUSINESS GUIDE 2020 23

Gloucestershire-based TruffleHunter has been winning valuable overseas business

Brexit uncertainty remains the biggest issue impacting West companies that derive a significant amount of their income from exporting, writes Richard Bache

B

rITAIn is scheduled to formally leave the European Union with a withdrawal agreement at the end of this month.

The transition period – which is planned to last until December 31, 2020 – then begins.

The clock will start ticking in earnest on negotiating a comprehensive trade deal with the European Union, our biggest trading partner.

It is exceedingly unlikely – to say the least – that this will be an easy negotiation.

Ever since the European referendum in 2016, companies that export have been operating in a climate of uncertainty.

The most successful of them have, through robust planning and unrelenting determination, managed to continue exporting throughout the political rancour of the past five years.

The transition period will essentially see companies trading by the existing rules of the customs union and single market.

It is what happens next – in terms of the regulatory framework, tariff arrangements and hundreds of other factors – that will determine the future success of West exporters. nobody should underestimate how important exporting is for companies across every sector of the West’s economy.

From aerospace and defence giants to start-up ice cream companies via luxury fashion firms – exporting is critical to the bottom line and future growth.

For instance, exports of South West food and drink alone totalled more than £853 million in the year to June 2019.

Increased domestic consumption cannot replace that income – it is critical that Britain negotiates trade deals that protect this business.

Among the West food companies that have won valuable overseas business is Gloucestershire-based TruffleHunter.

More than a third of its fresh truffles and truffle products head for American dining tables.

It is launching a new range of truffle snacks in San Francisco this month, including Black Truffle Popcorn and a Black Truffle Seaweed snack.

This will spearhead a new export drive to Canada and Australia.

The US is TruffleHunter’s fastest growing market, and demand for truffle condiments and truffle-inspired snacks is increasing every year. Forty per cent of TruffleHunter’s sales are currently destined for US customers, with this increasing by 71 per cent in the past 12 months.

The truffle market is famously volatile, 24 BUSINESS GUIDE 2020

Much at stake in trade deal talks vulnerable to changeable weather that makes them difficult to find. Exporting a variety of truffle products such as oils, condiments, preserves, pasta and snacks has helped TruffleHunter secure its business against uncertainty, and exports now account for half of the company’s sales.

The business currently employs 30 people and exports to 25 markets including the United States, Australia and Japan. In the past year, TruffleHunter recorded a turnover of over £4m.

Eighty-seven per cent of British businesses exporting to the US are small and medium enterprises and the Department for International Trade has said it is committed to supporting companies as they navigate the entire exporting journey.

It says a new free trade agreement between the UK and US will make it easier for British businesses to sell their goods in the US, creating new opportunities for people in the South West.

A Somerset-based company that has

been exporting British cheese to the US for 30 years admits these are turbulent times, but remains confident.

Wellington-based Somerdale International is forecasting its US sales of British cheese are on course to reach $25m (£19m) to the year to the end of March 2020, a record performance that amounts to 17 per cent year-on-year sales growth.

The company has been exhibiting in San Francisco this week at the Winter Fancy Food Show.

Director Alan Jenkins said: “The US is our most important international market and we are delighted to be seeing strong year-on-year growth as American consumers continue their love affair with British cheese.

“From Somerdale’s perspective, the Winter Fancy Food Show is a great opportunity to showcase our comprehensive range of high quality, branded and customer-specific British cheeses.

“Of course, these are currently turbulent times with tariffs, trade wars and

political uncertainty giving rise to some short-term headwinds, but Somerdale remains positive about the prospects for further growth in the US market.”

However, as enticing and massive as the US export market is, trade with the European Union has been our bread and butter for decades.

According to a House of Commons briefing paper published last month, some £291 billion of British goods and services were exported to the European Union in the year to June 2019.

That accounts for 45 per cent of Britain’s total exports – illustrating quite how much is at stake during the negotiations.

Companies throughout the West – established and new – have shown they have the expertise, innovation and desire to export to a range of different markets across the globe.

This Government’s legacy will be determined on how successful it is in negotiating trade deals that allow these companies to flourish.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

Top 150 business 2020 rank

2019 rank

Company Name

City

Profit (Loss) before Taxation th GBP (000s) Last avail. yr

Turnover th GBP (000s) Last avail. yr

Number of Trade description Employees Last avail. yr

Compound Annual Growth Rate %

1

1

IMPERIAL BRANDS PLC

Bristol

1,823,000

30,524,000

33,300

Crating a portfolio of high quality next generation & tobacco products for the world's smokers.

6

2

3

INTEL CORPORATION (UK) LIMITED

Swindon

179,706

5,231,788

675

The sale, marketing and distribution of Intel products for computers, servers, networking and communications products used in the digital economy.

13

3

2

AIRBUS OPERATIONS LIMITED

Bristol

-147,000

5,018,000

8,480

The design and production of wings and associated equipment for the Airbus range of aircraft & the manufacture of parts for the Hawker Executive Jet.

8

4

4

DYSON JAMES GROUP LIMITED

Malmesbury

750,000

4,401,000

11,774

A group engaged in the invention, development and sale of domestic appliances and commercial hand dryers.

Data NA

5

5

NPOWER LIMITED

Swindon

-53,000

3,568,000

1,708

The marketing and supply of electricity and natural gas and related services to domestic, commercial and industrial customers.

6

NE

SENSATA TECHNOLOGIES HOLDING PLC

Swindon

426,395

2,759,896

21,650

A group engaged in the

7

6

EDF ENERGY NUCLEAR GENERATION LIMITED

Gloucester

158,000

2,446,000

5,477

The generation and supply of electricity.

-9

8

7

HONDA OF THE U.K. MANUFACTURING LIMITED

Swindon

16,741

2,293,205

3,762

The manufacture of motor vehicles, engines and other vehicle parts. The 31.03.19 accounts indicate that the company is either dormant or no longer trades.

8

9

8

ALLSTAR BUSINESS SOLUTIONS LIMITED

Swindon

70,117

1,852,654

229

The sale of out-sourced back-office maintenance and fuel processing to the automotive market.

1

10

13

PUMA ENERGY (UK) LIMITED

Bristol

-14,304

1,730,227

137

Oil product wholesalers.

67

11

9

WESTERN POWER DISTRIBUTION PLC

Bristol

733,200

1,685,600

6,643

A group engaged in to improve the reliability of electricity supplies.

4

12

12

SCREWFIX DIRECT LIMITED

Yeovil

170,128

1,683,798

11,786

The sale by mail order of tools and fixings.

17

-1 Data NA

13

10

CONNECT GROUP PLC

Swindon

-35,500

1,534,300

4,844

Leading UK specialist distributor.

-6

14

9

WESTCON GROUP EUROPEAN OPERATIONS LIMITED

Cirencester

-19,168

1,515,832

1,236

The distribution of networking and communications equipment for leading technology vendors.

13

15

11

C&J CLARK LIMITED

Street

-84,400

1,468,800

13,218

A group engaged in the retail and manufacture of shoes.

-1

16

15

WH SMITH PLC

Swindon

135,000

1,397,000

14,321

Leading retailer in convenience, books & news for the world's travelling customer, & high street stationer, bookseller & newsagent.

5

17

19

FIRST GREATER WESTERN LIMITED

Swindon

55,961

1,257,285

6,161

The operation of passenger railway services.

8

18

14

NEW LOOK RETAILERS LIMITED

Weymouth

-296,364

1,177,994

14,281

The retail of women's fashion wear and related accessories.

-6

19

20

SPIRAX-SARCO ENGINEERING PLC

Cheltenham

288,800

1,153,300

7,403

Provides engineering services

20

20

16

WINCANTON PLC

Chippenham

48,600

1,141,500

17,460

Provider of logistics and supply chain solutions in the UK and Ireland.

0

21

18

ARVAL UK GROUP LIMITED

Swindon

60,563

1,132,565

652

A group engaged in the provision of fleet management services.

14

22

26

OVO GROUP LTD

Bristol

-53,897

1,042,048

2,110

A group engaged in the sale of electricity and gas.

27

23

24

MATTHEW CLARK BIBENDUM LIMITED

Bristol

4,663

856,821

1,811

The distribution of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

-5

24

23

ST. JAMES'S PLACE WEALTH MANAGEMENT PLC

Cirencester

-61,715

968,738

The provision of financial services.

13

25

21

THE MORTGAGE WORKS (UK) PLC

Swindon

314,539

960,312

The provision of residential mortgage lending services.

-1

26

25

SUPERDRY PLC

Cheltenham

-85,400

871,700

Design, production & sale of clothing and accessories.

13

3,279

27

22

MEARS GROUP PLC

Gloucester

28,431

869,843

10,582

Provision of a range of outsourced services to the public and private sectors.

0

28

28

ALD AUTOMOTIVE LIMITED

Bristol

57,623

814,567

514

The provision of fleet management services to external customers, including the arrangement of vehicle financing, and the sale of used motor vehicles.

9

29

27

SAFRAN LANDING SYSTEMS UK LTD

Gloucester

93,742

730,006

909

The design, manufacture and product support of aircraft landing gear for civil and military aircraft and helicopters.

5

30

NE

AES OVERSEAS HOLDINGS LIMITED

Bristol

249,975

709,592

31

32

ROTORK P.L.C.

Bath

120,748

695,713

A holding company.

3,853

235

Designs & manufactures actuators which are used for the automation of industrial valves & flow control products.

8

32

37

COLT CAR COMPANY LIMITED (THE)

Cirencester

15,175

681,864

223

Import, distribution, wholesale and retail of motor vehicles and parts.

33

50

GE OIL & GAS UK LIMITED

Bristol

-15,400

334,738

2,574

The design, manufacture and sale of drilling and completion equipment used in oil and gas exploration and production, and the provision of installation and operation services.

-27

3

34

41

DELPHI DIESEL SYSTEMS LIMITED

Stonehouse

9,742

667,480

2,394

The manufacture and supply of diesel automotive products and technology to car and commercial vehicle manufacturers.

18

35

61

IVC ACQUISITION PIKCO LTD

Bristol

-191,367

667,265

11,768

A group engaged in the provision of veterinary services.

Data NA

36

30

GE AVIATION SYSTEMS LIMITED

Cheltenham

22,078

646,959

2,880

The development and manufacture of aerospace systems.

8

37

33

WESSEX WATER LIMITED

Bath

139,400

645,000

2,959

A group engaged in the treatment and disposal of waste water and the supply of clean water.

6

38

31

CAMBRIA AUTOMOBILES PLC

Swindon

9,124

630,065

1,160

Sale & servicing of motor vehicles & the provision of ancillary services.

6

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

BUSINESS GUIDE 2020 25

2020 rank

2019 rank

Company Name

City

Profit (Loss) before Taxation th GBP (000s) Last avail. yr

Turnover th GBP (000s) Last avail. yr

Number of Trade description Employees Last avail. yr

Compound Annual Growth Rate %

39

NE

MAGNOX LIMITED

Bristol

45,509

599,097

2,330

The provision of services related to the generation and supply of electricity, and the defuelling & decommissioning of non-generating sites.

-3

40

38

REDDE PLC

Bath

41,654

589,724

2,220

Provision of non-fault accident management assistance and related services, fleet management & legal services.

16

41

36

KERRY INGREDIENTS (UK) LIMITED

Bristol

14,187

584,414

1,711

The manufacture and sale of food ingredient products.

3

42

34

RENISHAW P L C

WottonUnder-Edge

109,944

573,959

4,968

Metrology company operating in two key business areas, metrology and healthcare.

10

43

29

STEINHOFF UK RETAIL LIMITED

Cheltenham

-28,369

566,345

2,725

A group engaged in the retail of homewares and furniture.

6

44

35

NUTRICIA LIMITED

Trowbridge

16,023

565,525

582

Distribution, sale and marketing of specialist nutritional products for babies, young children and people with specific nutritional needs.

-1

45

39

DICK LOVETT COMPANIES LIMITED

Swindon

6,933

562,571

897

A group engaged in the sale and maintenance of bmw, mini, porsche, ferrari, maserati, lotus and ktm vehicles.

12

46

40

HARGREAVES LANSDOWN PLC

Bristol

305,800

480,500

1,574

Investor investment services, including ISA, SIPP & investment accounts. Provides execution only, advisory services & third party investments for individuals & corporates.

14

47

42

ASPIRE DEFENCE HOLDINGS LIMITED

Tidworth

26,447

474,822

18

A group engaged as to carry out work related to the mobilisation of the allenby or connaught project.

30

48

43

MAN TRUCK AND BUS UK LIMITED

Swindon

7,948

453,939

794

The import and distribution of trucks, buses and related products and services.

-1

49

51

CORIALIS GROUP LIMITED

Bristol

20,648

437,651

1,803

A group engaged in the design, manufacture and distribution of architectural aluminium profiles.

50

47

LIBYA OIL ETHIOPIA LIMITED

Bristol

3,575

411,722

51

63

THE OASIS HEALTHCARE GROUP LIMITED

Bristol

-3,579

399,513

52

46

NISBETS PLC

Bristol

27,723

53

48

OPENWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED

Swindon

54

52

REFRESCO BEVERAGES UK LIMITED

55

45

56

Data NA

The purchase, sale, and otherwise dealing in, petroleum products and chemicals.

14

5,071

A group engaged in the operation of dental practices.

13

398,132

2,117

A group engaged in the sale of catering equipment.

16

26,881

385,949

521

A group engaged in financial planning, insurance broking, franchising, human resources and administration.

15

Bridgwater

-1,907

362,668

757

The processing and distribution of fruit and fruit juice drinks.

9

COMBINED INDEPENDENTS (HOLDINGS) LIMITED

Andover

1,370

361,210

71

A group engaged in the purchasing electrical goods on behalf of its shareholders who are independent electrical retailers.

-1

53

KK DAYTONA HOLDING LTD

Gloucester

5,885

346,647

1,146

A group engaged in the supply, installation and servicing of gas engines for power generation.

Data NA

57

49

ALLCHURCHES TRUST LIMITED

Gloucester

-6,482

344,015

1,385

A group engaged in the transaction of general & long term insur. & the prov. of other financial services.

4

58

68

NOKIA UK LIMITED

Bristol

10,488

306,233

752

The distribution and maintenance of communications equipment primarily manufactured by the group together with related products and services.

6

59

54

JB GLOBAL LIMITED

Swindon

9,748

303,494

1,186

A group engaged in the wholesale of furniture.

17

60

57

MASSTOCK ARABLE (UK) LIMITED

Cheltenham

12,553

302,396

672

The provision of agronomy advice and the sale and distribution of crop production products.

-2

61

62

NATIONAL OILWELL VARCO UK LIMITED

Stonehouse

3,408

300,519

1,558

The manufacture, wholesale and service of equipment and accessories to the offshore oil and gas industry.

-9

62

59

YEO VALLEY GROUP LIMITED

Bristol

9,427

294,551

1,715

A group engaged in the manufacture and sale of yoghurt, chilled dairy desserts, ice cream and organic primary products including fresh liquid milk, cream and butter.

1

63

56

ZURICH EMPLOYMENT SERVICES LIMITED

Cheltenham

-38,992

281,107

1,537

The provision of human resources and administration services to group companies.

-5

64

69

UNITE INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS PLC

Bristol

5,402

276,967

1,304

The design, construction and management of student and NHS keyworker accommodation 11 on behalf of its ultimate parent undertaking, The UNITE Group Plc.

65

65

CENTAUR SERVICES LIMITED

Castle Cary

3,046

276,385

289

Supply of pharmaceutical products to the veterinary profession.

66

67

PATHEON UK LIMITED

Swindon

73,336

272,063

368

The provision of commercial manufacturing and development services for prescription and 33 over-the-counter drugs to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.

67

94

MONAGHAN MUSHROOMS LIMITED

Bristol

2,424

400,527

2,398

A group engaged in the production and sale of fresh mushrooms.

65

68

64

STANNAH LIFTS HOLDINGS LIMITED

Andover

3,140

266,089

2,198

A group engaged in the manufacture, installation, repair and maintenance of stairlifts and lifts.

6

69

103

QUALASEPT HOLDINGS LIMITED

Corsham

17,211

239,612

270

A group engaged in the supply of pharmaceutical products.

Data NA

70

66

RYGOR GROUP LIMITED

Westbury

-278

238,839

687

A group engaged in the commercial vehicle dealers and in distribution, warehousing and contract hire.

8

71

108

TAYLOR MAXWELL GROUP (2017) LIMITED

Bristol

5,735

229,066

195

A group engaged in the distributors of brick and cladding materials.

Data NA

72

60

SIMPLYHEALTH GROUP LIMITED

Andover

-27,400

227,200

1,226

A group engaged in the provision of health and private medical insurance the provision of occupational health and health screening services.

-12

73

NE

DEREK RAPHAEL (HOLDINGS) LIMITED

Cirencester

13,445

225,200

8

A group engaged as traders in ferro alloys, metals, ores, minerals and steel.

17

74

104

NATIONWIDE COVERED BONDS LLP

Swindon

32,500

217,000

The acquisition of mortgage loans and their related security from Nationwide Building Society.

8

75

72

ECCLESIASTICAL INSURANCE GROUP PLC

Gloucester

16,414

214,090

1,385

A group engaged in the underwriting business.

2

76

76

ETEX BUILDING PERFORMANCE LIMITED Bristol

39,969

211,352

496

The manufacture and supply of plasterboard and accessories.

12

26 BUSINESS GUIDE 2020

10

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

2020 rank

2019 rank

Company Name

City

Profit (Loss) before Taxation th GBP (000s) Last avail. yr

Turnover th GBP (000s) Last avail. yr

Number of Trade description Employees Last avail. yr

Compound Annual Growth Rate %

77

89

HERITAGE AUTOMOTIVE LIMITED

Salisbury

1,302

205,932

428

Sale, servicing and repair of motor vehicles.

12

78

70

KINGSPAN INSULATION LIMITED

Leominster

20,631

205,287

549

The manufacture of flexible faced insulation boards, and insulated cavity closures.

10

79

74

OUTDOOR AND CYCLE CONCEPTS LTD

Malmesbury

-6,732

197,327

2,024

The retail of outdoor pursuits clothing and equipment.

19

80

73

LEIDOS EUROPE, LIMITED

Bristol

7,793

196,314

175

A contract to manage and improve their logistics, commodities and services transformation program.

66

81

81

BRADFORD AND SONS LIMITED

Yeovil

-2,291

196,210

1,280

A group engaged as building materials and timber merchants.

5

82

88

TYCO ELECTRONICS UK LTD

Swindon

16,218

193,883

1,272

The manufacture and supply of passive electronic components active wireless fibre optic components, wiring systems and circuit board technology.

2

83

77

OPTIMAS OE SOLUTIONS LTD

Gloucester

5,683

192,250

503

To supply fasteners.

Data NA

84

90

SIGMA-ALDRICH COMPANY LIMITED

Gillingham

56,749

190,377

567

The import, manufacture and distribution of specialised chemicals for research purposes.

9

85

78

TELEPERFORMANCE LIMITED

Bristol

3,640

189,702

8,084

The provision of multimedia marketing services comprising communication centres, mail handling and packing, logistics and fulfilment and computer services.

2

86

92

MICROSEMI SEMICONDUCTOR LIMITED

Bristol

21,838

279,943

102

The development, manufacture and marketing of semiconductor integrated circuits.

30

87

121

SHAW TRUST LIMITED(THE)

Bristol

891

259,573

3,556

A group engaged in charitable activities.

26

88

82

CROWN PET FOODS LIMITED

Castle Cary

29,593

181,192

239

The supply distribution of pet food products.

8

89

80

DENTSPLY IH LIMITED

Stonehouse

8,059

180,680

257

The sale and distribution of medical devices to hospitals, the community and the dental profession.

50

90

86

KNORR-BREMSE RAIL SYSTEMS (UK) LIMITED

Melksham

9,232

177,258

486

The design and manufacture of braking systems and related products for rail vehicles and the design, manufacture and installation of railway platform screen doors.

23

91

97

COOPER TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY EUROPE LIMITED

Melksham

-2,898

176,153

726

The manufacture and distribution of tyres and related products and processed materials.

2

92

126

ECOTRICITY GROUP LTD

Stroud

-4,924

175,739

821

A group engaged in the operation of wind farms.

17

93

87

FORAY MOTOR GROUP LIMITED

Salisbury

-1,121

175,520

502

A franchised motor dealership.

8

94

75

AMCOR EUROPE GROUP MANAGEMENT

Bristol

12,014

175,204

888

The provision of corporate services to other group companies.

4

95

107

COTSWOLD MOTOR GROUP LIMITED

Cheltenham

2,554

173,285

363

The sale and servicing of BMW motor vehicles.

9

96

98

QUILTER FINANCIAL SERVICES LIMITED

Swindon

5,931

173,153

The provision of financial planning advice and related services through a network of intermediaries.

32

97

NE

GALLOPER WIND FARM HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED

Swindon

42,247

171,943

A group engaged in the construction of the galloper wind farm.

Data NA

98

99

INTERNATIONAL PLYWOOD PLC

Gloucester

17,914

170,414

84

A group engaged in the timber merchant.

10

99

85

HARDING BROTHERS RETAIL LIMITED

Bristol

604

169,923

162

The provision of retail outlets on cruise ships.

26

100

79

WEST UC LIMITED

Gloucester

34,096

169,811

384

The provision of audio, video and web based conferencing services.

-2

101

84

SCOTTISH WIDOWS UNIT TRUST MANAGERS LIMITED

Andover

45,507

168,916

The management of individual savings accounts, personal equity plans and open ended investment company sub funds.

-5

102

NE

DAC BEACHCROFT SERVICES LIMITED

Bristol

7,984

168,233

2,178

The provision of administration services.

4

103

93

WESSEX GARAGES HOLDINGS LIMITED

Bristol

-262

166,934

329

The sale and service of new and used motor vehicles, together with the sale of parts and accessories.

-5

104

91

MULBERRY GROUP PLC

Radstock

-5,008

166,268

1,470

Design, manufacture or sourcing of luxury accessories, clothing, footwear and their subsequent sale through wholesale channels or the Group's own stores and concessions in home and export markets.

2

105

NE

EURONICS LIMITED

Andover

58

165,516

6

The retail of electrical appliances.

-1

106

96

AVON RUBBER P.L.C.

Melksham

21,600

165,500

781

Specialises in Chemical, Biological,Radiological, Nuclear & respiratory protection plus milking point solutions.

7

107

95

HAPPOLD LLP

Bath

5,826

163,638

1,676

A group engaged in the engineering consultants.

3

108

75

MURRAY & ROBERTS UNITED KINGDOM LIMITED

Swindon

8,289

162,174

1,016

A group engaged in the property letting and the provision of consultancy and management services to member companies of the murray & roberts group.

Data NA

6,310

109

128

MOLSON GROUP LTD

Bristol

160,836

181

A group engaged in the sale and repair of new and used construction plant and equipment. 23

110

NE

HB EDUCATION LIMITED

Ross-On-Wye 25,100

160,600

2,264

A group engaged in the provision of worldwide educational.

Data NA

111

106

VECTURA GROUP PLC

Chippenham

-104,800

160,500

434

Industry-leading inhalation device, formulation, development for human use.

31

112

115

M AND M DIRECT LIMITED

Leominster

8,835

159,631

609

The retail of sports and fashion wear via mail order.

-1

113

NE

FREEMANS OF NEWENT LIMITED

Hereford

4,844

155,845

970

The supply of poultry meat.

44

114

114

SODRA WOOD LIMITED

Cirencester

6,380

155,442

39

A company engaged in the distribution of softwood and engineered timber products.

12

115

83

YANKEE CANDLE COMPANY (EUROPE) LIMITED

Bristol

-5,705

155,156

514

The sale and distribution of candles and associated products.

2

116

137

UNITED OILSEEDS MARKETING LIMITED

Devizes

347

154,056

28

Commodity merchants and brokers.

14

117

109

EW BEARD (HOLDINGS) LIMITED

Swindon

4,575

150,271

320

A group engaged in building contractors and in the rental of investment property.

11

118

113

LANGDON GROUP LIMITED

Bridgwater

6,905

150,235

1,467

A group engaged in the provision of temperature controlled haulage facilities, distribution, 15 cold and chill storage and transport services.

119

138

FORD FUELS LIMITED

Bristol

2,718

148,121

149

The sale and distribution of petroleum products.

11

120

NE

JELF INSURANCE BROKERS LIMITED

Bristol

13,400

147,800

1,960

Insurance brokers.

48

121

105

BLADE MOTOR GROUP LIMITED

Salisbury

-1,285

147,651

372

The sale and service of new and used cars and motor cycles.

3

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

BUSINESS GUIDE 2020 27

2020 rank

2019 rank

Company Name

City

Profit (Loss) before Taxation th GBP (000s) Last avail. yr

Turnover th GBP (000s) Last avail. yr

Number of Trade description Employees Last avail. yr

Compound Annual Growth Rate %

122

119

JISC

Bristol

-1,094

145,094

556

A group engaged in the to support of UK research and education by delivering affordable, relevant and sustainable online content.

2

123

122

HERMAN MILLER LIMITED

Melksham

19,175

144,773

494

A group engaged in the manufacture and sale of office furniture.

11

124

124

NUVIAS GLOBAL SERVICES LIMITED

Cirencester

1,522

142,485

94

The distribution of computer networking accessories and hardware and the sale of networked storage solutions.

18

125

71

MW HIGH TECH PROJECTS UK LIMITED

Chippenham

90,347

141,570

207

The design and project management of clean room, technical, manufacturing. The 30.12.18 accounts indicate that the company is either dormant or no longer trades.

-18

126

125

HOWARD GARAGES (WESTON) LIMITED

WestonSuper-Mare

1,667

140,523

267

The retail sale of motor vehicles and accessories and the repair and servicing of vehicles.

8

127

147

G-TEKT EUROPE MANUFACTURING LIMITED

Gloucester

21,260

140,064

860

The manufacture and sale of pressed steel body parts for the automotive industry, and the 30 supply of associated tooling.

128

131

PROJECT PEOPLE LIMITED

Bristol

-345

139,701

371

A group engaged in the provision of consultancy services, including recruitment & resource management to the it.

5

129

116

FISH BROTHERS (HOLDINGS) LIMITED

Swindon

1,789

137,431

283

A group engaged in the sale, service, body repair rental. and contract hire of motor vehicles.

1

130

NE

SPECIAL METALS WIGGIN LIMITED

Hereford

-3,665

136,900

584

The manufacture and sale of nickel alloys.

6

131

123

APETITO LIMITED

Trowbridge

21,390

136,393

1,151

The supply of frozen prepared meals and pastry products to the cost sector and food service markets, and the delivery of products directly to consumers' homes.

5

132

111

ZIMMER BIOMET UK LIMITED

Swindon

6,350

130,542

306

The sale and marketing of medical devices and other orthopaedic equipment.

17

133

129

T. H. WHITE HOLDINGS LIMITED

Devizes

-1,644

127,734

568

A group engaged in the supply and service of agricultural, construction and professional grass machinery, the sale and svce of 4 wheel drive vehicles & mechanical installations.

-4

134

135

C.M. DOWNTON (HAULAGE CONTRACTORS) LIMITED

Gloucester

2,835

127,319

1,229

A group engaged in haulage contracting and storage.

4

135

127

MEIYUME (UK) LIMITED

Trowbridge

3,015

126,868

684

The manufacture, import and distribution of toiletries, cosmetics and personal care products.

3

136

134

GS YUASA BATTERY SALES UK LIMITED

Swindon

3,751

158,233

95

Wholesale trade of motor vehicle parts and accessories

19

137

140

AGRICULTURAL MORTGAGE CORPORATION P L C(THE)

Andover

44,707

124,924

66

The provision of long-term mortgage finance to farmers and growers in the UK.

0

138

133

COMPUTERSHARE INVESTOR SERVICES PLC

Bristol

21,341

124,884

1,330

The provision of computer share registry services, employee share option plan administration and associated professional services.

0

139

141

GOOCH & HOUSEGO PLC

Ilminster

10,113

124,883

866

Generates, controls, amplifies, connects & measures lasers & light sources.

17

140

NE

FUTURE PLC

Bath

4,400

124,600

698

Publication of special interest consumer magazines and associated websites.

28

141

NE

SANDERSON RECRUITMENT PLC

Bristol

7,734

121,687

66

The provision of contract information technology personnel.

11

142

139

BRISTOL WATER PLC

Bristol

16,400

121,600

518

The provision of a supply of water and related services to the Bristol area.

3

143

NE

LOUNGERS UK LIMITED

Bristol

5,566

121,067

3,002

A cafe bar business.

36

144

NE

KEENWORK LIMITED

Bristol

766

120,921

497

A group engaged in the manufacture of caravans.

4

145

136

THE ENGLISH HERITAGE TRUST

Swindon

8,761

120,794

1,191

A group engaged in the secure the preservation of heritage assets managed by english heritage.

8

146

NE

ALLIANCE PHARMA PLC

Chippenham

22,803

118,208

210

Acquisition, marketing and distribution of pharmaceutical products.

35

147

149

GOOD ENERGY GROUP PLC

Chippenham

2,304

116,915

296

To purchase, generate and sell electricity from renewables, the sale of gas services relating to micro-renewable generation and the development of new electricity generation sites.

22

148

142

HALL & WOODHOUSE LIMITED

Blandford Forum

6,020

114,808

1,431

A group engaged in the brewing and packaging of beer, and the ownership and management of pubs and hotels.

2

149

117

LYONS SEAFOODS LIMITED

Warminster

8,042

114,183

313

The sale of prawns and speciality seafood to the retail, catering, manufacturing and wholesale markets.

-2

150

148

CORIN ORTHOPAEDICS HOLDINGS LIMITED

Cirencester

540

113,988

595

A group engaged in the medical and surgical equipment and or thopaedic appliances.

32

151

144

VITACRESS LIMITED

Andover

5,589

113,158

1,318

A group engaged in the growing, procurement, packing & marketing of watercress, leafy salads, fresh herbs, seedlings and tomatoes.

-2

152

120

BAILEY CARAVANS LIMITED

Bristol

-2,171

112,532

438

The manufacture of caravans.

2

153

NE

BRENT CARS LIMITED

WestonSuper-Mare

1,140

112,313

158

The operation of a car dealership.

40

154

NE

JISC SERVICES LIMITED

Bristol

259

112,267

144

The management of the development and maintenance of the Joint Academic Network for the higher education and research council community.

6

155

NE

CUSTOMADE GROUP HOLDCO LIMITED

Stonehouse

-17,334

112,090

938

A group engaged in the general commercial activities.

Data NA

156

NE

BRISTOL AIRPORT LIMITED

Bristol

40,629

111,997

351

The ownership, operation and management of Bristol Airport, including the provision of services and facilities.

13

157

NE

TRIUMPH AEROSPACE OPERATIONS UK, LTD.

Gloucester

-14,407

110,990

452

Manufacturing and supplying high specification composite structures.

42

158

130

LIBYA OIL SUDAN LIMITED

Bristol

-16

110,722

The purchase and sale of market petroleum products.

9

159

129

T. H. WHITE LIMITED

Devizes

-846

109,366

462

The supply and repair of agricultural machinery, four wheel drive vehicles, professional grass machinery, construc equipment and lorry loader cranes.

-6

160

146

WESTERN PROVIDENT ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Taunton

9,375

108,217

561

A group engaged in the provision of private medical insurance.

1

28 BUSINESS GUIDE 2020

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

Steve Blacker, head of business information at Vistra, introduces the 2020 Western Daily Press Business Guide and considers the economic outlook for the year ahead

W

E are once again delighted to be working with the Western Daily Press on the 2020 Business Guide.

This year’s list of the Top 150 companies in the West is again dominated by UK-based international companies and foreign subsidiaries, with the top spot once again occupied by Imperial Brands, which globally employs more than 30,000 people.

Among the top 20 there has been some jostling for position, with innovative new entrants powering their way into the list, such as Sensata Technologies Holdings, which is one of the world’s leading suppliers of mission-critical sensors and controls.

Other new entries include Magnox Limited at number 39, which is responsible for, among other activities, the safe and secure clean-up of nuclear power stations.

One of this year’s highest risers, moving from 94 to 67, is Monaghan Mushrooms, which is one of the largest mushroom producers in the world. Taylor Maxwell, producer of cladding materials for the construction industry, has also moved from 108 to 71st position.

Once more the Business Guide shows some strong performances across the region, but what is the general economic outlook for 2020?

Outlook for growth The World Bank is forecasting worldwide growth to rise to 2.8 per cent over the next two years and a European regional growth of 2.6 per cent, which is slightly up on the 2.4 per cent in 2019.

Closer to home, the outlook is mixed, which reflects the overall impact of weaker global growth influenced by increasing trade protectionism and domestic weakness in some of the large market economies.

The Office of National Statistics has shown that the UK gross domestic product increased by 0.4 per cent in the last recorded quarter (July–September 2019) with an overall increase by 1.1 per cent compared to the same quarter a year ago. Services remain the strongest contributor to growth, with construction and production also contributing positively.

However, the ONS has stated that the underlying momentum in the UK economy continues to show signs of slowing.

The IHS Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index finished FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

Nadiya Hussein pictured for her BBC programme Time to Eat with Oksana Bowkett on a visit to Monaghan Mushrooms, one of the highest risers in the Top 150

Picture: BBC/Cliff Evans

We still need to tread cautiously the year on a downward trend with December’s index set at 48.5. This index is a measure of how well the economy is performing and is often closely linked to GDP rates. The indexes are bounded between 0 and 100, with scores above 50 indicating expansion and those below indicating contraction.

The December IHS Index of 48.5 is the second lowest level drop since April 2009, also showing that the economy contracted for the third time in the past four months.

The weak reading also suggests that the economy contracted slightly in the fourth quarter as Brexit-related uncertainty increased in the run-up to the general election.

Manufacturing output also fell at a sharp rate that has only been exceeded once since the height of the global financial crisis in early 2009. The vast service sector output also fell for a second successive month, representing the first back-to-back declines since 2009.

This scenario was also reflected in the weak results of the latest Business Confidence Monitor survey carried out by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

This showed that confidence was at its lowest level for a decade, reflecting slow

sales growth and uncertainties in the marketplace. Only 39 per cent of companies are currently seeing a rise in productivity. Investment is also rising slowly and the same is true for overall employment.

It would therefore appear that the uncertainty of Brexit has had an impact on the UK Stock Market and its interest rates. All the indications are that the UK economy is still treading cautiously while waiting for the Brexit process to be finalised.

Cautious optimism Now that there finally appears to be a Brexit conclusion in sight, we can hopefully see some much-needed impetus in the market to push for stronger growth and investment.

However, we still need to be cautious.

Uncertainty will more than likely persist well into the coming year while new trade deals are prepared, and the possibility of another cliff edge scenario at the end of December still exists while the no-deal departure remains on the table.

Helping business seize a world of opportunity As one of the world’s leading trust, fiduciary, fund and corporate service provid-

ers we are helping businesses both locally and globally to be in the best position to tackle uncertain market conditions and to seize the opportunities wherever they arise.

With a global presence across 45 jurisdictions and over 4,500 employees, we provide a range of products and services covering international incorporations, international expansion, fund administration services and international compliance. Wherever in the world you decide to do business, we can help.

In undeniably challenging conditions, with the need to make informed decisions in an uncertain marketplace, companies increasingly rely on accurate and up-to-date intelligence. Our dedicated team in Bristol has been providing business information and compliance product insight for over 30 years, supplying data to over 25,000 companies per year.

We also offer a comprehensive antimoney laundering solution.

To find out more about these services or the many other legal, regulatory and compliance services offered by Vistra in Bristol, and globally, please visit www. vistra.com or call us on 0117 923 0600. » Vistra supplies the data for the Western Daily Press Business Guide 2020 Top 150.

BUSINESS GUIDE 2020 29

Ecotricity’s Dale Vince in front of his company’s Stroud HQ

Richard Bache looks at some of the most interesting companies in the Western Daily Press Top 150

M

ANy of the biggest firms in the West enter 2020 with substantial changes on the horizon. Imperial Brands, the south Bristolbased perennial leader of this list, is currently on the hunt for a new chief executive.

In October, Alison Cooper announced she was standing down once a replacement had been identified.

If she remains in post until May she will have chalked up a decade at the top of the FTSE 100 stalwart.

She has been one of the leading businesswomen in Britain for the past decade and is one of only six women who lead FTSE 100 companies.

The tobacco giant issued a profits warning in October, following a backlash against vaping – vital to its long-term growth strategy – in the United States.

Elsewhere in the Top 10, Honda of the UK made the bombshell announcement last year that it was closing its huge plant at Swindon.

Depending on exactly how quickly it winds down its UK operations, this could be the final year it appears in the upper echelons of this list.

There was one new entrant in the Top 10, Sensata Technologies Holding PLC. The tech giant is listed on the New york Stock Exchange but the holding company moved its headquarters from the Netherlands to Royal Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire in late 2017 and this is the first full-year figures it has recorded in the West. The firm employs more than 21,000 people across the globe and its high-tech sensors are used in multiple sectors, including aerospace and automotive.

Here we assess some of the more intriguing movers within the Top 150: 15 – C&J Clark limited The historic Somerset shoe manufacturer endured a difficult 2019, culminating in the loss of 170 jobs just before Christmas.

Eighty of the job losses were at its headquarters in Street.

The redundancies came following changes to its business operations under a newly-appointed CEO. The firm was founded in Street in 1825 by brothers Cyrus and James Clark.

It remains in family ownership and has been known throughout its near 200-year history for operating by Quaker principles.

Giorgio Presca replaced Mike Shearwood as the new chief executive officer at the shoe retailer last March.

It was also announced in November that its factory in Street would close, with the loss of dozens of jobs.

The firm, which opened the new ‘robot-assisted’ technology factory in 2017, said it was because targets were not being met.

30 BUSINESS GUIDE 2020

From bags and bars to fast cars Its shoe museum at its Street headquarters, which housed more than 1,500 artefacts dating from the Roman period to the modern day, closed in September.

45 – Dick Lovett Swindon-based car dealership group Dick Lovett enjoyed record turnover of more than £560 million.

It largely deals in upmarket marques – including Ferrari, BMW and Land Rover.

It credited the opening of a Land Rover dealership in Melksham with helping it reach new highs.

One of its highlights of 2020 is a special collaboration with Aston Martin and British Airways to create a limited-edition Concorde-themed car.

Launched last November, Aston Martin Bristol, part of the Dick Lovett family, commissioned ten Concorde-themed vehicles from the carmaker’s ‘Q department’.

Although the luxury marque is a favourite of James Bond, its Q department is a bespoke personalisation service, rather than 007’s beloved lab that creates secret weapons.

The car, the DBS Superleggera Concorde Edition, is available to buy now for the princely sum of £321,350, before being manufactured and delivered in October.

A standard version of the Superleggera

has a top speed of 211mph which, while not a patch on Concorde’s top speed of more than 1,300mph, is rapid by anyone’s standards.

The Concorde edition will feature reclaimed solid metal from Concorde, a Concorde silhouette on the side and, best of all, a registration approved by the Civil Aviation Authority.

Aaron Allnutt, dealer principal at Aston Martin Bristol, said: “The Filton runway sits just opposite from our workshop doors, and we are neighbours with Aerospace – the home of the Bristol Concorde.”

46 – Hargreaves Lansdown The Bristol-based investment giant was embroiled in the fallout of investors being trapped in one of the funds it previously recommended.

Bosses at the firm, which has grown rapidly in recent years, elected not to take their bonuses on the back of the ongoing problems at Neil Woodford’s flagship fund.

As part of its response to the controversy, the firm, which has its headquarters on Anchor Road, also waived platform fees, which is reportedly costing £360,000 per month.

In August, chief executive Chris Hill said: “I am determined that we learn from events such as these. I have apolo-

gised to all clients who have been impacted by the recent problems because we all share their disappointment and frustration.”

The firm is due to announce its sixmonth results next week, which could provide insight on what impact negative headlines surrounding the Woodford fund have had on it.

71 – Taylor Maxwell Taylor Maxwell, which marked its 60th birthday in 2019, is one of the biggest movers on the Western Daily Press Top 150.

The building materials group jumped 37 places to 71 in the list, with turnover up nearly £83m, exceeding £200m for the first time.

It was founded in Bristol in 1959 and has retained its headquarters in the city ever since, with its current HQ being in a Grade II listed building in Clifton.

The company specialises in brick, cladding, timber and masonry.

It has 14 regional offices and has been a strong performer in recent Sunday Times ‘Fast Track’ league tables.

92 – Ecotricity The Stroud-based green energy company continues to move up our list.

Founder Dale Vince is one of the West’s highest-profile businessman, through his role with the company and through his ownership of Forest Green Rovers Football Club.

Ecotricity sponsors the League Two club and has raised its profile through the eco-friendly initiatives for which Rovers have won global respect.

In an era where headlines are dominated by the likes of Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion protesters, the renewable energy generated by companies such as Ecotricity continues to make up a greater share of Britain’s energy mix.

In its most recent full-year financial reports, Ecotricity recorded turnover growth of 38.9 per cent.

It said it had experienced success in attracting high-volume business customers.

95 – Cotswold Motor Company The flagship dealership of the Cotswold Motor Company competes only with eavesdropping base GCHQ as the most FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

belonging to the poultry tycoon Faccenda family.

As part of the transition, Cargill’s fresh chicken assets were transferred from Sun Valley Foods into Freemans of Newent, leading to the surge in its turnover.

The limited edition Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Concorde Edition

prominent building as motorists approach Cheltenham on the A40 from the M5.

The eye-catching multi-storey showroom stocks a huge array of new and used BMW and Mini cars, plus a separate motorbike division. It also has a showroom in Hereford.

Annual turnover was up £25m to £173m, although it noted that uncertainties surrounding Brexit remained a potential risk.

104 – Mulberry Somerset-based fashion icon Mulberry saw profits and turnover nudge downwards on the back of the turmoil on the high street.

The administration of House of Fraser

impacted one of its biggest stockists in the UK. However, growth in Asia – particularly in Japan and South Korea – gives it reason for optimism. International sales now account for more than 30 per cent of total group revenue.

The latest financial results of the Chilcompton-based manufacturer of luxury leather goods suggest the firm’s focus is on its own digital distribution channels, rather than relying on struggling retailers.

New product launches include branching out into sunglasses.

Much of the leather used in handbags crafted in Somerset is imported from the EU, leading to it warning of the risk of any potential tariffs.

Chris Hill, CEO of Hargreaves Lansdown

113 – Freemans of Newent Freemans of Newent is a new entrant in the Western Daily Press Top 150, thanks to a joint venture by bigger fresh food businesses.

Freemans of Newent traces its history back to a small-scale chicken farm founded in the 1950s. But it now has a turnover of more than £150m and is one of Britain’s biggest poultry businesses, supplying many of the most popular restaurant chains and supermarkets.

More than 2,500 people work across its UK chicken operations.

The company is owned by food giant Avara, and its rapid recent growth comes on the back of a joint venture between Cargill’s UK fresh chicken business and the chicken, duck and turkey business

127 – G-TEKT Brockworth-based G-TEKT has shot up the table, but as the company’s biggest client is Honda’s Swindon plant it is doubtful that the momentum will be maintained.

The firm is a specialist supplier of high-quality metal pressings and subassemblies, plus the associated tooling.

Its latest set of accounts saw turnover increase by nearly £34m, but it admitted the departure of Honda would result in a significant loss of income.

Nevertheless it remained confident of its future success, saying several key orders had been won to begin the process of replacing Honda revenue.

It added that it would continue to attempt to diversify its customer base.

143 – Loungers Fast-expanding Bristol-founded cafe bar chain Loungers saw turnover increase by more than 30 per cent in its latest accounts.

The company was founded on North Street in the Southville area of the city in 2002. As it comes of age 18 years later, it now has more than 150 bars and floated on the AIM last year.

It has defied the gloom afflicting high streets and the pub/casual dining sector to become a presence across Britain.

It continues to add sites rapidly – with it confident of adding 20 to its portfolio this year, approximately one every fortnight.

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

BUSINESS GUIDE 2020 31

The University of Bristol and its students contribute £720 million to the West’s economy

Economy given major boost by our universities The West of England is blessed with a number of leading universities that are bringing the best out of students, but here we look at their wider impact on the regional economy

W

HEN we think of universities our minds wander to romantic notions, picturing places of social and cultural importance where countless generations are inspired to study diligently and become better, more rounded individuals.

What doesn’t receive so much attention are the huge impacts universities have on the entire economy. From jobs to investments, their influence reaches practically every facet of our daily lives.

There’s no argument that the higher education sector is of the utmost importance to the UK economy, society and individuals.

Universities employ around one million people throughout the country and, through their direct activities, generate and deliver taxes to the Exchequer of around £20 billion, according to Oxford Economics.

On top of this, they play an important part in supporting a wide range of industries with supply chains stretching far and wide, supporting GDP and jobs, as the impact ripples through the economy.

In the wider consumer sector, the presence of universities is strongly felt as their own staff and employees within their supply chains all spend money on

32 BUSINESS GUIDE 2020

retail, accommodation, leisure and transport, not to mention international students and visitors to those students.

Each of these channels, in turn, generates more GDP, jobs and tax receipts.

So how do our many universities in the West fare when it comes to their own economic impact on the region?

The University of Bristol is part of the Russell Group, which found that its 24 member universities injected some £87bn into the national economy – the equivalent of eight months’ UK-wide expenditure on the NHS. A separate study commissioned by the University of Bristol found the establishment and its students were responsible for contributing about £720 million to the West of England’s economy. It also found that one in every 49 jobs in the area was “to some degree” dependent on the university’s existence.

It employs around 6,000 people, more than the number employed by all the GP practices in the Local Enterprise Partnership area and twice as many as those employed at Bristol Airport.

Professor Hugh Brady, vice-chancellor and president of the University of Bristol, pictured above, said: “The findings from the Russell Group, coupled with our own research, highlight the importance of research-intensive uni-

versities such as Bristol. We are proud to play such a vital role in the region’s economy, driving growth and innovation.

“Aside from our economic impact, it’s important to remember that higher education institutions contribute in many other ways which are difficult to quantify using standard metrics.

“It’s clear that, in the future, cities are unlikely to thrive without the social, cultural and economic impact of worldclass universities.”

He continued: “In addition to their financial contribution, Bristol students drive inward investment, volunteer in the community, set up businesses, support the city’s hospitality and retail sectors, cultural organisations and sporting activities, and play a huge role in making the city such a vibrant and creative place.

“Our staff are also important contributors to Bristol’s cultural, sporting and non-profit sectors.

They are intimately involved in the city’s wider educational activities through leadership roles within schools and the Bristol Learning City partnership, as well as access and participation programmes such as Into Bristol, Access to Bristol and Bristol Scholars.”

The University of the West of England (UWE), also in Bristol, is the largest university in the West of England with

just under 30,000 students and around 3,000 directly-employed members of staff.

A recent report highlighted the fact that UWE contributed some £400m to the West’s economy, equivalent to 1.3 per cent of the area’s entire economic output. The report also showed the university’s tax contribution alone amounted to £88m, the equivalent of £47 for every resident in the West, reached through a combination of staff National Insurance contributions, income tax, indirect taxes such as VAT and the council tax paid by staff.

A spokesperson for the university said: “UWE Bristol makes a substantial contribution to the economy of the West of England. It does so through its own operations, its purchases of goods and services from local suppliers, the wage-financed spending of its staff and the expenditure of its additional students and their visitors.

“In total, UWE Bristol is estimated to have supported 8,280 jobs in the West of England, or one in every 79 people in employment in the area.

“Some 59 per cent was as a result of the university’s expenditure, with the remainder of jobs stimulated by additional students’ and their visitors’ spending.

“The university contributes around FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

Ziylo leads the way

O

ne of the best adverts for the research being done at the West’s universities is Ziylo.

The University of Bristol spin-out was sold in August 2018 to a Danish pharmaceutical giant in a deal that could ultimately be worth $800 million.

Ziylo, which was only founded in november 2014, has pioneered exciting diabetes research at the Unit DX incubator.

The St Philip’s-based firm was spun out of research into glucose molecule binding being done at the University of Bristol.

It is the brainchild of CeO Dr Harry Destecroix, pictured, a 31-year-old entrepreneur who gained his PhD in 2013, and Professor Anthony Davis, a world leader in synthetic molecule research. novo nordisk bought it because it believed its medical research could transform the way diabetes is treated.

At the time of the takeover, Dr Destecroix said: “novo nordisk, as

£400m to the West of England economy.

This is equivalent to 1.3 per cent of the local economy. As a result of this activity, the university, its employees, additional students and their visitors supported a £88.7m tax contribution to the Exchequer.

“The university had a major impact on businesses and the local economy through its role in the supply of graduate talent and a significant proportion of the thousands of graduates from the university annually are employed within the city-region, including many of those attracted to study at UWE Bristol from elsewhere.”

Up the M5 to the University of Gloucestershire and the money generated for the national economy is broadly in line with UWE, at around £400m, with about half of that estimated to be retained in the South West.

Vice-chancellor Stephen Marston, pictured facing page, right, said a recent economic impact assessment report underlined the university’s commitment “to be a key contributor to the economic growth, prosperity and wellbeing of the county”.

He continued: “The report estimates that the university’s activities and spending support almost 3,000 jobs in the South West region. Our staff and students alone spend more than £28m in the county and commit more FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

than 10,000 hours of volunteering each year.

“One of the major findings is the value our students and graduates bring to businesses and public sector organisations in the region. More than 3,000 students a year undertake a placement or internship which generates an estimated £4m of impact.

“This includes teacher training for 480 students carrying out placements in local schools, with many going on to find their first teaching job in the county.”

Over at the University of Bath, recentlyappointed vice-chancellor, Professor Ian White, pictured below, believes the university’s world-leading research is the foundation upon which to build even more success.

Professor White said: “The founding vision of Bath, that of providing a rigorous and relevant education to students, and serving society through worldclass research, resonates profoundly with me. I firmly believe that Bath can build on its considerable success to date, maintaining quality and enhancing innovation.”

He added: “Bath is known for excellence in teaching and research, for enabling a superb student experience and for providing outstanding preparation for your later life.

“Our staff are international experts in their subject areas and use their research

One of the major ❝ ❝ findings is the value our

students and graduates bring to businesses and public sector organisations

and discoveries to ensure that our teaching incorporates the most relevant topics and reflects latest understanding.”

University of Gloucestershire vicechancellor Stephen Marston added: “One of the major benefits is that the university attracts new talent to the county with almost a third of our graduates choosing to start their careers in Gloucestershire.

“Our goal is to increase this in future years and we are looking to expand our relationships with local employers to provide them with a direct pool of talent.

“As the report shows, one of the major impacts of the university is through the skills, creativity and talents of our graduates, contributing to productivity in the labour market.

“This is a good benchmark against which to measure our progress as we realise our ambitious plans to grow our university and expand our links with businesses and other organisations in the county.”

the leader in the diabetes field, is the ideal company to maximise the potential of the Ziylo glucose binding molecules in glucose responsive insulins and diabetes applications, and it brings hope of a truly groundbreaking treatment to diabetes patients.”

Keith MacDonald, chairman and co-founder of Unit DX, said: “Ziylo is the first major success coming out of the Unit DX Scientific Incubator.

It was set up to incubate the next generation of science companies and help develop a new breed of science entrepreneur.

“In a very short period of time, the incubator has grown to house 25 high-quality sciencedriven companies and has been instrumental in retaining Bristol’s world-class scientific talent and research.” nove nordisk, which is one of the biggest drugs companies in europe, said it believed the glucose binding molecules discovered by the Ziylo team have the potential to lead to the development of glucose responsive insulins, which can potentially remove the risk of hypoglycaemia and ensure optimal glucose control for people with diabetes.

BUSINESS GUIDE 2020 33

Tourism set to cash in on a year of celebrations A series of major anniversaries means 2020 should be a year to remember for the South West’s tourism industry if it plays its cards right, writes Richard Bache

W

ITh its cosmopolitan cities, stunning countryside and spectacular coastline the South West isn’t exactly short of things to shout about when it comes to tourism.

But with a truly staggering number of anniversaries to celebrate in 2020, visitors have even more reason to come to the West. Some of the region’s most popular attractions are marking major milestones and have arranged multiple events to reap the financial reward from them.

Salisbury Cathedral in Wiltshire has the small matter of its 800th birthday to celebrate. And it is 400 years since the Pilgrim Fathers set sail from Plymouth for America in the Mayflower.

On a similar nautical theme – though crossing the Atlantic in the other direction – it is 50 years since Brunel’s ss Great Britain returned to Bristol.

That summer of 1970 also saw the first Glastonbury Festival, and it is fair to say that the team at Worthy Farm are planning the mother of all parties for 2020.

And in the Wye Valley and Forest of Dean a number of events have been arranged to mark the 250th birthday of British tourism itself.

It is little known that the Wye is the birthplace of British tourism, but just as those wise Georgians knew that coming West was the best use of their leisure time, it remains the same 250 years later.

The value of tourism is sometimes under-appreciated, but it shouldn’t be, as it is one of the most important sectors

34 BUSINESS GUIDE 2020

of the British economy, particularly in the South West. Indeed, forecasts from VisitBritain, the national tourism agency, indicate that 2020 is set to be a record year for inbound tourism to the UK. The continued relative weakness of the pound has added to the attractiveness of a break in Britain for overseas visitors.

Armed with their euros, dollars and renminbi, they are predicted to spend a record £26.6 billion in 2020, a 6.6 per cent increase on spending in 2019 which, when all the calculations are finalised, is expected to top out at £25bn.

The number of overseas visits to the UK is forecast to rise in 2020 to 39.7 mil-

lion, the highest ever, and up 2.9 per cent on 2019, which was expected to see about 38.5 million visits by year end.

Looking longer-term, during the last decade inbound tourism visits to the UK have grown 33 per cent when comparing 2010 to the 2020 forecast, and spending by 58 per cent.

VisitBritain director, Patricia Yates, said: “Tourism is one of the UK’s most valuable export industries and these results show our continued ability to attract international visitors in a fiercely competitive global market.

“We are seeing success in growing tourism from our long-haul, high-

spending markets including the US, our largest and most valuable inbound market, and from markets that are crucial for our future such as China. Working with partners globally we are telling customers about experiences they can only have here, converting the inspiration to visit into bookings and driving growth from tourism across the nations and regions, boosting local economies.”

One of the initiatives to help ensure the West benefits from overseas tourists is the Great West Way, which was launched in late 2018.

The impact of the touring route between London and Bristol has been significant and was recognised immediately within the travel industry. It won the launch campaign of the year at the Travolution awards in November.

Director David Andrews said: “We are beyond thrilled to win this award.”

In November it arranged a major event where tourism operators across the route met with international and domestic travel buyers at Windsor for its Travel Trade Marketplace. Buyers were taken to venues such as The Wave, the new surfing venue near Bristol; the National Trust’s Dyrham Park in South Gloucestershire and Marlborough College in Wiltshire, which lists the Duchess of Cambridge as a former pupil.

Florence Wallace, head of travel trade at Great West Way, said: “We achieved what we set out to do with this event, which was to bring travel industry professionals together to create mutually beneficial relationships and bookable product, which ultimately drives tourFRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

It’s a big year for Salisbury Cathedral and for the ss Great Britain, below left, and Glastonbury Festival, below right

Picture: Martin Cook/SWNS.com

ism to England and the Great West Way. “As well as being attended by travel trade buyers from around the globe – including the USA, Germany, Netherlands and Russia – the event saw attendance from some of the UK’s most prestigious travel industry representatives.”

If the marketing professionals of organisations like VisitBritain and the Great West Way are seeking to monetise the country and region’s charms in 2020 they are only following in the footsteps of William Gilpin, who is credited with kick-starting British tourism in 1770.

His ‘Wye Tour’, which marks its 250th anniversary this year, is the inspiration for a series of events in Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire as the Wye Valley and Forest of Dean seek to capitalise on their status as the birthplace of British tourism.

As a place of spectacular natural beauty the Wye Valley is also seeking to celebrate its wilder and remoter areas by making a thing of switching-off from the stresses of the modern world.

Wellness and health breaks are a growing market and the chance to go wild among its ancient forests, wild rivers and rocky outcrops is very attractive.

Switching off and reconnecting with nature is one of its selling points.

There are new places to stay in this region where England meets Wales, all with the common theme of direct access to nature. Visitors can also learn new skills such as how to preserve foods and cut down on waste, as well as making gin at a new distillery. Plus, there’s the FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

chance to take part in a wellbeingfocused break that includes forest bathing and gratitude journalling.

Launched in November by the Prince of Wales in Ross-on-Wye, Gilpin 2020 heralds a year of anniversary activities, including an augmented reality project – Museum Without Walls – talks, exhibitions and vintage rowing trips.

The year also sees a bigger than ever River Festival take place between May 2 and 17. It will journey down from Hereford along the Wye to Symonds Yat and then on to Monmouth before finishing at Tintern in Monmouthshire.

The festival will unite local artists,

musicians and dancers with naturalists, geologists and environmentalists for a series of performances, shows, installations and adventures, including a major art show in Tintern Abbey.

The Pilgrim Fathers crossed a somewhat more significant body of water than the Wye when they set off from Plymouth on the Mayflower in 1620.

Plymouth, which bills itself as Britain’s Ocean City, is at the centre of 400th anniversary celebrations. The Mayflower Week in September is the culmination of a series of events taking place in 11 other locations across England.

On September 16, a four-nations civic ceremony commemorating the Mayflower’s journey and legacy will take place on the day of the Mayflower departure, attended by representatives from the UK, US and the Netherlands, and the Wampanoag native people.

The ceremony is part of a wider week of Mayflower-themed activity in Plymouth, including daily fly-bys and The Royal Marines Rehabilitation Triathlon.

Then the natural amphitheatre of Plymouth Sound will play host to the Mayflower Muster.

On September 19 and 20, Plymouth’s heritage as one of the world’s foremost Naval bases – dating back to 1691 – will be marked. The Royal Navy, in partnership with the US and Dutch Armed Forces, will create a spectacular festival including live displays, interactive demonstrations and a host of other activities over two days, signalling the end of Mayflower Week.

While a 400-year anniversary is not to be scoffed at, Salisbury is looking further into its past this year. It has launched Salisbury 2020: City on the move, a year-long programme of events and activities marking the 800th anniversary of the laying of Salisbury Cathedral’s first foundation stone and the development of Salisbury.

The story behind the anniversary begins in the early 1220s when Bishop Richard Poore moved the cathedral and its community from Old Sarum to its present site. Driven by the need to access fresh water, and desperate to escape bad weather, royal supervision and regular harassment by soldiers stationed at Old Sarum Castle, his actions

Working with partners ❝ ❝ globally we are telling

customers about experiences they can only have here, converting the inspiration to visit into bookings and driving growth from tourism

changed the community and landscape of south Wiltshire forever.

The anniversary programme is themed around movement, with three ‘pillars’ or key areas of activity: physical and technological events and ones that explore developments in thought and ideas across the last eight centuries.

Plans for the anniversary were accelerated in the wake of the Novichok atrocity, which dented Salisbury’s tourism numbers significantly.

Robin McGowan, chief executive of Salisbury Business Improvement District, said: “Salisbury 2020 will be a fantastic celebration of our city, and we’re pleased the BID is a supporting partner.”

Wiltshire Creative executive director, Sebastian Warrack, and artistic director, Gareth Machin, said: “We are putting the final touches to a year of performances and events in our venues.”

A pair of 50th anniversaries that are being marked in the West this year are the return of the ss Great Britain to Bristol and the first Glastonbury Festival.

Some 100,000 people assembled on Bristol harbourside in July 1970 when the famous vessel returned to the city where Brunel built her. She was towed under the Clifton Suspension Bridge for the first time (Brunel’s other masterpiece had not been built when she left the Great Western Dockyard in 1843) after an 8,000-mile journey across the Atlantic. She had been scuttled off the Falklands in 1937 and it was only after a huge fundraising effort that she was rescued from the seabed and towed home.

She has since been lovingly restored and recent investment has seen a huge upgrade in the visitor experience. The opening of the Being Brunel museum in 2018 has been a huge hit with tourists.

Although the full details of the Bristol Harbour Festival on July 17 to 19 have yet to be revealed, it is a safe bet that the milestone will be marked.

As ever, tickets sold out for Glastonbury within minutes after being released in October. More than two million people tried to snap them up before the lineup was even revealed. Sir Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift and Diana Ross are among the big names announced so far.

The festival has grown to become one of the biggest annual events in the West, bringing millions of pounds of spending to its visitor economy.

A 2007 study showed it had an annual economic impact of £73 million. More than a decade later that figure is sure to be above £100m. It’s all a little different from the first festival, where tickets (including free milk) only cost £1!

BUSINESS GUIDE 2020 35

Partners hard at work to soften the Honda blow The most seismic news to hit the West’s economy in 2019 was undoubtedly the announcement that the giant Honda factory in Swindon would close. We look at the efforts to steer the town towards a post-Honda future

W

Hen carmaker Honda announced plans to close its plant on the outskirts of Swindon in February last year, putting 3,500 jobs at risk, it sent shockwaves not just through the town but throughout the South West.

The announcement of 950 more job losses in October at a second Honda site next door – Honda Logistics, which supplies it with parts – compounded the disappointment. Other suppliers across the region will also suffer.

The Japanese firm has stated repeatedly that its decision had nothing to do with Brexit. Its reasoning is that, in order to remain competitive globally, it must focus more on electric vehicles.

In a statement, the carmaker said the decision was part of that strategy as it focused on production bases in its biggest markets — China, the US and Japan.

More than one in 10 cars made in the UK was built at Honda’s Swindon plant, one of several opened by Japanese carmakers in Britain in the 1980s. Cars from its Civic range are exported to more than 70 countries worldwide.

Whether Brexit-related or not, the looming 2021 closure is a devastating blow that has cast a long shadow over

36 BUSINESS GUIDE 2020

Swindon and prompts the question on everyone’s lips: ‘What next?’.

Speaking about what the Government had done and could do to soften the blow of losing the Honda plant in 2021, Chancellor Sajid Javid said it was “absolutely determined” to work with Honda and the borough council to ensure the site turned into something that still had thousands of people employed in highvalue jobs.

He added: “In Swindon we will work on skills in the area, we will work with Honda, because it’s very important to the local economy.”

But the closure will have far-reaching impacts beyond the Honda site itself. It is believed that when any large manufacturing plant closes, for every direct job lost at that site there will be a further three or four jobs lost further down the supply chain.

Action to help Honda workers and the affected supply chain companies is being coordinated by a group of partners from across the public and private sector, called the Honda and Supply Chain Coordinating Steering Group.

This organisation, led and funded by Swindon Borough Council, was established last February and has the job of identifying where resources can be deployed to support the workforce during phased redundancies between now

and the end of car production at the South Marston factory in 2021.

The group co-ordinates actions across areas including matching skills of the workforce to local opportunities, support for the supply chain, future opportunities for the site, community wellbeing and Swindon’s continued economic growth.

Oliver Donachie, the Conservative cabinet’s member for economy and place, pictured left, said: “We have a clear target of 2021 to address the use of the site, redeployment of the Honda associates through training and new job opportunities and extending support to the wider communities impacted by this move.

“We will continue to work with unions, associates, Honda UK and the Government’s task group to achieve the best outcomes for Swindon.”

The council’s leader, David Renard, added his view that the council would be seeking inward investments: “This news is devastating for the families, but we need to reassure businesses and investors that Swindon is resilient and has a bright future. Swindon remains open for business.”

Swindon’s opposition Labour group leader, Jim Grant, said the focus should be on attracting a buyer for the site.

He said: “We need as much as money as possible to hold as a contingency in order to attract a new manufacturer to the Honda plant.

“It is high quality and will be of interest to other employers, but they may need

We need to reassure ❝ ❝ businesses and investors that

Swindon is resilient and has a bright future. Swindon remains open for business alterations to it and other towns and cities across the country will be competing for their relocation.

“There may also be grants to attract a new manufacturer to the plant that need match-funding, and Honda’s employees may need training to adapt their skills to a different sort of manufacturing. All this will cost money.”

He added: “Honda was such a crucial employer to Swindon we cannot leave its FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

A car transporter leaving Swindon’s Honda plant, which the company will be closing next year, with the loss of thousands of jobs; bottom: Len McCluskey, leader of the Unite union, addressing Honda workers outside the Houses of Parliament

Taking acTion

E

xamples of initial actions progressed by the Honda and supply Chain Coordinating steering Group include: » Working with national agencies such as the Department for Work and Pensions, Education Funding Agency, Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, local colleges, the National Careers Service and others to provide a package of support for staff looking to either find new jobs locally or start up their own businesses. » The creation of a community wellbeing information pack for those people affected, highlighting the freeto-use support available locally both for employees and their families. » Engaging with local and national stakeholders to organise a 2020 ‘Meet the Buyer’ event supporting supply chain businesses to look for future contracts. » Supporting Honda of the UK Manufacturing in understanding how its South Marston site could be used in the future to provide the most impactful legacy for the community and economy, while maintaining a local agenda aimed at ensuring it remains a core employment site. » Ensuring Swindon’s need for additional investment and support is heard at a national level working with the town’s MPs and Local Enterprise Partnership.

employees in the lurch. We have to do all we can to find them new employment.”

Leading the charge to safeguard the Honda site’s future is Julia Stucky, Swindon Borough Council’s business and economy manager and a key figure in the Honda and Supply Chain Steering Group.

She said: “The supply chain group is part of the national task force, making contact with direct suppliers so they are aware of the support available should they need it while looking for new contracts on the market.

“A group suggesting ideas to Honda for the future of the site is still in its early stages. There’s lots going on and a lot of activity, but it’s a complicated and slow process.”

Councillor Donachie, who is also on the steering group, continued: “It is paramount we ensure that the most approFRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

priate support is in place for workers when they need it.

“The pace and nature of our support needs to dovetail with the companies’ timescales and processes as redundancies are phased between now and the end of production at the plant in 2021.

“The companies are putting a huge amount of support in place for associates and part of the work of the steering group is to bolster those efforts in the right way, at the right time.

“We are continuing to reach out to Honda’s supply chain to support their goal of identifying potential new customers for when the factory eventually closes, while also assisting Honda of the UK Manufacturing as it considers the future of the site.

“There is a great deal still to do, but we will continue to work closely with the companies to put the necessary support in place.”

BUSINESS GUIDE 2020 37

Richard Bache looks at a manufacturing sector in the West that faces considerable challenges

T

HERE are undoubtedly negative sentiments at the start of 2020 concerning British manufacturing.

The West is not immune to these and the announcement last year that Honda was closing its huge plant in Swindon (see Page 36) was devastating.

Yet there are truly reasons for optimism, too – not least due to the region’s enduring excellence in aerospace and engineering.

Earlier this month, Rolls-Royce unveiled a £25 million development at Filton that will create components for UltraFan, a revolutionary new engine design. It has secured 150 good jobs and the advanced manufacturing hub is surely an exemplar of how British manufacturing can lead the world.

The site will use low-energy, lowemissions processes, reducing waste by maximising raw materials.

The aviation industry can no longer afford to just pay lip service to climate change and sustainability issues. In a world where Greta Thunberg, Australian bushfires and Extinction Rebellion protests are a PR nightmare for the sector, it must not only act, but be seen to be acting in a meaningful way.

Rolls-Royce says the jet engine technologies that will be developed here are set to transform flight, reduce emissions and set new benchmarks for efficiency.

The composite technology hub will develop fan blades and fan cases that significantly reduce weight in a jet engine, lowering fuel consumption and emissions. It says the engines being developed there will cut fuel burn and CO2 by more than 25 per cent, compared to earlier Trent engine models.

Alan Newby, Rolls-Royce aerospace technology and future programmes director, said: “This incredible new facility exemplifies our commitment to creating cleaner, more efficient forms of power. Our highly-skilled employees will use the latest technology, materials and manufacturing techniques to develop components that will contribute to lighter, quieter, more powerful jet engines with fewer emissions.”

The fan blades are made by manufacturing techniques that build up hundreds of layers of carbon-fibre materials, pre-filled with state-of-the-art toughness-enhanced resin material. Heat and pressure are then applied, and each blade is finished with a thin titanium leading edge, which offers extreme protection against erosion, foreign objects and bird strikes.

They will benefit from manufacturing techniques that have been developed in partnership with the National Composites Centre in Bristol, and research conducted at the Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre at the University of Bristol, as well as several other universi38 BUSINESS GUIDE 2020

Industry offered hope amid the gloom ties and research centres based in the UK and in Europe.

Another firm integral to the West Country’s aerospace cluster is also looking forward to a bright future. Late last year Dowty Propellers opened a new state-of-the-art site in Gloucester years after the firm was hit by a fire.

The 183,000sq ft building at Gloucester Business Park in Brockworth was inaugurated on December 4.

Dowty’s headquarters and blade manufacturing facility in Staverton was devastated in a fire in 2015. Cynics might have thought it would never be replaced.

But nearly five years later it has found a new home in Brockworth.

The firm is a leading manufacturer of propeller systems for both civilian and military aircraft and hovercraft, including the RAF’s and the USAF’s Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules military transport planes.

The hub will see all of the production of Dowty Propellers brought onto the site, from production of propeller sys-

tems to the administrative offices.

The site is also on the grounds of the original Gloster Aircraft Aerodrome, where Britain’s first jet-powered aircraft performed trials and the Gloster Meteor was built and flown. A section of the runway now sits in the entrance hall of the new headquarters, with a further section in the Jet Age Museum.

Ian Whittle, son of British turbojet engine inventor Sir Frank Whittle, unveiled the display at the museum.

Jonathan Chestney, engineering leader at Dowty Propellers, said: “The section of runway doesn’t look exciting but what it represents is huge. We have big links with Gloucestershire; it is great to have links with that heritage.

“Remaining in Gloucestershire, and coming back to Brockworth, helps to ground us in that history and propel us forwards.”

The facility will incorporate the latest ‘Brilliant Factory’ technology which equips machines with sensors, allowing data to be analysed in real time.

Inside the Rolls-Royce Composite Technology Facility in Bristol

At the unveiling ceremony last month, president Oliver Towers said: “Today’s inauguration underscores Dowty Propellers’ firm commitment to continuing its leadership in creating, manufacturing and supporting the most sustainable, efficient and robust propeller systems.

“It also is an unequivocal testament to our employees, who met the challenge of literally rebuilding Dowty Propellers from the ground up in what is widely seen as one of the most remarkable recoveries in the aviation industry.”

Seeing the recovery – literally from the flames – of a firm such as Dowty should be an inspiration to other manufacturers.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics earlier this month attributed the UK economy sliding into decline in November to the weakness of the manufacturing sector.

The ONS said monthly gross domestic product declined 0.3 per cent in November after growth in the previous two months. Economists had predicted that the economy would remain flat, with zero growth for the month.

Rob Kent-Smith, head of GDP at the ONS, said: “Overall, the economy grew slightly in the latest three months, with growth in construction pulled back by weakening services and another lacklustre performance from manufacturing.”

GDP decline in November was heavily driven by continuing troubles in the manufacturing sector, which saw output fall 1.7 per cent during the month, according to the new figures.

Even some of the region’s most successful engineering and manufacturing firms are experiencing difficulties.

Gloucestershire-based Renishaw recently confirmed proposals to shed 200 roles in the UK in the face of challenging trading conditions. It has entered into consultation with staff over a compulsory redundancy programme, that could affect six per cent of its UK workforce.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

The biggest bright spot ❝ ❝ for the West’s manufacturing

and engineering sector in late 2019 was undoubtedly the performance of the Bloodhound land speed record car

Andy Green alongside Bloodhound in the Kalahari Desert

The business has five sites in Gloucestershire, including its headquarters at Wotton-under-Edge, plus a major factory at Miskin, near Cardiff, which was the former factory site of Bosch. It also has operations in Edinburgh, Exeter, Castle Donington and York.

In first-quarter results for its current financial year, published in October, Renishaw said it was focused on improving productivity while undertaking further initiatives to reduce its cost base. Its profits for the quarter were down sharply from £32.6m to £4.3m.

Chief executive, William Lee, said: “We appreciate that this news will be very disappointing and concerning for our UK colleagues. I would like to thank them for their continued support for the business during this challenging period.”

He added: “We remain confident in the long-term prospects for Renishaw and committed to the company’s strategy of delivering growth through the development and introduction of innovative and patented products.”

Globally, Renishaw employs 5,000 people, located in 36 countries.

It is rightly confident that the issues it faces are cyclical, but with car manufacturing in the UK it looks like some of its biggest problems are structural. Not only did Honda announce its departure from the UK last year but new car sales sank to a six-year low in 2019 due to low consumer confidence and uncertainty over the treatment of diesel vehicles, the automotive industry has said.

Preliminary figures released by trade body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show 2.3 million new cars were registered in the UK in 2019, down 2.3 per cent on the previous 12 months. It is the third consecutive year of decline and is the lowest annual total since 2013.

The future of driving cars powered by an internal combustion engine – at least in British cities – looks uncertain.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

Various cities, including Bristol and Bath in the West, are in the process of imposing clean air zones and other more radical measures to tackle air pollution.

Bristol City Council is bidding to ban privately-owned diesel cars from part of the city at certain times.

Meanwhile, Birmingham – the spiritual home of Britain’s motoring industry – is reported to be considering a ban on journeys through the city centre.

We are at the early stages of this movement, but the direction of travel is clear.

Hopes that electric car manufacturing might be the answer took a blow when Sir James Dyson decided to pull the plug on his own electric car project last autumn.

Although the vehicle was going to be manufactured in Singapore, hundreds of engineers and designers were working on the £2.5 billion project.

Dyson is hopeful that most of these highly-skilled employees will be deployed elsewhere within its booming consumer product business.

Sir James, best known for his vacuum

cleaners, said engineers had developed a “fantastic electric car” but it was not commercially viable.

In an email to workers, he said the company had unsuccessfully tried to find a buyer for the project, launched in 2017. Some 523 people were working on the car, with just shy of 500 of them based in Wiltshire.

Sir James said the achievements of the engineering team had been “immense”, given the enormity and complexity of the project.

He added: “The Dyson Automotive team has developed a fantastic car; they have been ingenious in their approach while remaining faithful to our philosophies. However, though we have tried very hard throughout the development process, we simply can no longer see a way to make it commercially viable.

Car manufacturers – as evidenced by Honda’s departure – are keen to concentrate their electric car efforts in the areas of the globe that will ultimately be the biggest markets – i.e. Asia.

Jonathan Chestney, engineering leader, and Gaizka Bilbao, new facility leader, at Dowty

The biggest bright spot for the West’s manufacturing and engineering sector in late 2019 was undoubtedly the performance of the Bloodhound land speed record car.

It blasted across the South African desert at an astonishing 628mph in its final test run of the year. As an illustration of quite how quick it was going, it took pilot Andy Green nearly two miles to bring Bloodhound to a halt.

By way of comparison, while large passenger planes cruise at speeds nearing 600mph, they usually land at well below 200mph so that they don’t run out of runway.

Bloodhound, which started life in Bristol but is now based at Berkeley Green in Gloucestershire, has been carrying out tests on a dried-out lake bed in the Kalahari Desert before it attempts to break the world land speed record in the next 12 to 18 months.

The speeds were ramped up during the autumn test period as the team learned more about its performance.

The car was propelled by an EJ200 jet engine normally found in a Eurofighter Typhoon fighter plane and hit the fivemile marker in only 50 seconds.

It was driven by former Royal Air Force fighter pilot and current world land speed record-holder Andy Green.

The test runs are part of a programme to examine how much drag the car creates in a number of scenarios and at various speeds. Data gathered on each run will be used to determine the size of the rocket that will be fitted for the attempt to break the record of 763mph – faster than the speed of sound – set in 1997.

The Bloodhound project was on the cusp of collapse in 2018 after it fell into administration. However, Yorkshire businessman Ian Warhurst bought the car and has since invested significant funds into the project, which opened its new HQ in Gloucestershire last year.

Mr Warhurst said it could cost approximately £10m to power the record bid.

But he said the success of the testing programme and huge social media interest had convinced him that corporate backers would now have the confidence to support the project.

He is hopeful the funding materialises and that Bloodhound ultimately joins the West Country’s rich history of manufacturing some of the fastest and most famous vehicles ever built.

BUSINESS GUIDE 2020 39

Richard Bache looks at a West industry that has truly become a box office smash for the region

T

HE coming-of-age movie has long been a Hollywood trope.

But it could easily be argued that 2019 was the year that the West’s film and television industry genuinely matured into a major force.

Bristol is, of course, the place that gave the world Cary Grant and Wallace & Gromit, so the city was hardly a naive ingenue stepping off the bus at Sunset Boulevard previously. In 2019, though, it became a leading light on the global stage.

The arrival of Channel 4, US streaming giant Netflix snapping up multiple West productions and many of the year’s biggest shows being filmed in the region highlighted its growth.

The breadth and scale of productions being shot in the region was astonishing.

The West’s glorious countryside and scenic cities are well-established favourites of location scouts.

There was no better example of that than at the Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles earlier this month, when war epic 1917 picked up best film and best director for Sam Mendes.

Much of the movie was shot on Salisbury Plain (after the Western Daily Press broke the story on objections from heritage bodies of plans to dig trenches for the film set).

All involved with the film will now have fingers crossed for Oscar recognition next month.

Being a backdrop for the camera, though, is no longer enough, with the West becoming a much bigger player in the production of Hollywood films and big-budget television series.

Cotswold villages, Georgian Bath and scenic Somerset are no longer just pretty faces being picked up for brief, casual flings, but part of a blossoming love affair the silver screen has with the West. And this has a serious economic impact.

The Trial of Christine Keeler, which has received critical acclaim, was one of the BBC’s biggest hits over Christmas and the New Year.

And the filming of the drama of the Profumo scandal that rocked the 1960s was shot over 17 weeks in Bristol.

The city’s restaurateurs and hoteliers will certainly have enjoyed a considerable boost from the cast and crew being in the city so long.

It is the burgeoning number of production companies and specialist firms that provide the technical expertise for an ever-expanding number of shoots that is really driving growth, though.

It has led to the head of the BBC in the region describing Bristol as the ‘Hollywood of the South West’.

Stephanie Marshall, pictured right, made her comments after The Trial Of Christine Keeler debuted on BBC One. The six-part series was one of a num40 BUSINESS GUIDE 2020

Sophie Cookson

Sophie Cookson in The Trial of Christine Keeler

The South West’s ber of shows filmed in the city in 2019, including the upcoming Agatha Christie thriller The Pale Horse (BBC One), factual Novichok poisoning drama Salisbury (BBC Two), gameshows like The Crystal Maze and CBeebies series Andy’s Aquatic Adventures.

Earlier in 2019, BBC One’s long-running drama Poldark came to a close after filming five series in the city.

According to Bristol Film Office figures, more than £16 million was generated by filming activity in Bristol in 2018/19. Much of that was at The Bottle Yard Studios, which on its own created 485 jobs.

Stephanie said: “Bristol’s media industry has gone from strength to strength and is now the biggest production hub in the south outside of London. TV holds up a mirror to our society and is a powerful way to spread positive messages.

But before a single frame ends up on our televisions and phones, it has already provided hundreds of people with work.”

Stephanie, who has oversight of BBC content from Swindon to the Isles of Scilly, added: “Bristol has always been well known for its natural history, factual and radio output. Now with many of the biggest, most talked about BBC dramas like The Trial of Christine Keeler and Salisbury being filmed here, Bristol has truly become the Hollywood of the South West.”

Those sentiments were echoed by the

show’s executive producer Douglas Rae. He said it was “remarkable” that the team was able to find everything it needed in Bristol.

Mr Rae said: “What you have created here in Bristol is very special. To be able to produce a major drama with over 80 speaking parts and up to 500 people working on it, and to find everything you need in one city that you can get around so easily compared to London, is a remarkable thing. Bristol deserves a Bafta for the best place to make drama.”

Rebecca Ferguson, the series producer, said: “Filming at the Bottle Yard Studios and in Bristol has been a wonderful experience. The crew, the people of Bristol, the beauty of the city and surrounding countryside have provided Keeler with the perfect backdrop to create 1960s London. I will be a vocal advocate of filming in Bristol and dearly hope to come back soon.”

Much of the series, penned by Baftawinner Amanda Coe, was shot at The Bottle Yard Studios. Opened by Bristol City Council in 2010, the studios’ eight sets have become a go-to spot for UK and international TV and film produc-

ers, helping the city earn the Unesco City of Film status in 2017.

The site, which operated for more than 50 years as a winery and bottling plant, is now an established base for film and television production in the West of England, attracting major UK and overseas productions of all sizes. Eight stages are available at competitive rates, just 15 minutes from Bristol city centre. It also offers a giant green screen studio, extensive back lot, workshop areas, production offices, costume and make-up rooms, dressing rooms, storage, private roadways and parking.

Productions made there have included Broadchurch, Wolf Hall, Sherlock: The Abominable Bride, and many more.

Site director, Fiona Francombe, said: “It’s an extremely exciting time for the city. The UK is seeing record film and high-end TV production; more than £3 billion-worth in 2018. Bristol’s facilities, crew and locations are consistently attracting a good portion of that business, with many production companies returning time and again following good experiences, often after expert assistance from the city’s Film Office.”

It now also offers diploma courses to FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

A scene from 1917, much of which was flmed on Salisbury Plain

Bristol’s media ❝ ❝ industry has gone from

strength to strength and is now the biggest production hub in the south outside of London

n in The Trial of Christine

new perspectives

T

own Hollywood 16-19 year olds in film and TV production, and stage and screen production arts, taught on site.

According to a report from the University of the West of England (UWE) in 2015/16, the latest for which figures are available, independent media companies in the West of England generated £140.3 million for the local economy.

The UWE report also estimated that these industries employ around 3,700 people: 1,000 at BBC Bristol, 1,200 in independent companies and 1,500 freelancers. It is certain that those numbers will have increased – not least due to the arrival of Channel 4 in Bristol last year.

The broadcaster opened one of its new regional hubs – one of only three in the country – at the Finzels Reach development in the city centre.

It moved into state-of-the-art premises in the Fermentation Buildings, which as their names suggest were originally built as part of the production of that wonderful aid to creativity – beer.

Jonathan Allan, Channel 4’s chief commercial officer, said: “We looked at a number of different sites in Bristol, but the Fermentation Buildings stood out for us as offering both a great location at the heart of the city in reach of transport links, and an historic industrial building with superb facilities on hand for our staff.”

Staff began to move into the building in the autumn and the commissioning FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

work will begin in earnest this year.

Among the key hires announced by the broadcaster are Sacha Mirzoeff, formerly of Bristol-based Marble Films and a former BBC Documentaries executive, as factual commissioning editor and head of hub at Bristol.

Daniel Fromm, meanwhile, has joined as commissioning editor for Popular Factual. He was previously at RDF Television, having worked in the industry for more than 20 years.

Commissioning departments represented in the new creative hub will include drama, factual, popular factual, as well as creative diversity, supporting on and off-screen diversity.

The West is home to the BBC Natural History Unit and its excellence is known across the globe.

Fresh recognition was give in the New Year Honours List, with Bristol-based cinematographer and presenter Gordon Buchanan being awarded an MBE for services to conservation and wildlife film-making. He has been involved in popular shows such as the Big Cat Diary series, Springwatch and Autumnwatch.

US giant Netflix is among the major players to strengthen its commissioning links with Bristol companies.

It announced a new natural history series with a Bristol television production company following Our Planet.

The streaming service muscled into what has been seen as BBC territory with

the programme, narrated by Sir David Attenborough, last year. In July, it announced Oceans, with each episode focusing “on a different ocean, combining the disciplines of oceanography, geography and earth sciences”.

Sir David is not involved in the new series, which is being made by Victoria Street-based Freeborne Media Ltd, the natural history production company set up by James Honeyborne, the creator of Blue Planet II. Honeyborne left the Natural History Unit, and Netflix later signed a deal with his production company. The behemoth has also teamed up with renowned Bristol animator Aardman.

It will be exclusively screening the Spike Island-based animator’s new film Robin Robin for Christmas 2020.

The Christmas Day premiere of Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death was the most-watched programme on British television in 2008.

More than 14 million people tuned in on BBC1 for the popular double-act’s first new made-for-television special in 13 years.

The television landscape is very different in 2020, though, with wellfinanced streaming services ruling the roost.

In interviews, leading figures at Aardman admitted that working with Netflix secured global distribution that the BBC simply could not match.

he first black-owned television production company in Bristol launched in 2019.

Blak Wave was set up by Michael Jenkins and Dr Mena Fombo, and is the only black-owned TV production firm out of 140 in the city.

The owners say they are aiming to create content from a “fresh perspective”, giving a voice to those under-represented on television.

Dr Fombo is a Bristol-based equality and diversity campaigner and the founder of Black Girl Convention – a movement to ensure that women of African and Caribbean heritage have ‘a sense of home’ by sharing experiences.

She has a background in filmmaking, including heading up the creative production agency eight at Knowle West Media Centre.

She said: “You’ve heard of a rogue wave, well now a Blak Wave is coming, and we’re inviting everyone to jump on board and ride it. This will be great for the industry, particularly in the South West.”

Mr Jenkins is a film-maker whose recent documentary about St Pauls Carnival won wide acclaim. he has also made content for the BBC and Channel 4. he said: “I’ve been a film-maker for the past seven years and more often than not, when I enter a commissioning room, I’m the only black person in it.

“Blak Wave is a huge opportunity to invest in developing new narratives and tell untold stories that reflect the population.”

Blak Wave is being incubated by production company Drummer TV, which makes entertainment and factual programming for Channel 4, BBC1, BBC3, Channel 5, CBBC and British Sign Language Broadcast Television.

Tamsin Summers and Rachel Drummond hay, directors of Drummer TV, added: “When Drummer started we were one of only a handful of production companies owned by women and now Blak Wave is paving the way for BAMe-led TV in our region.

“We’re thrilled to be supporting them. There’s a misconception that the under-represented want to make niche programming and Mike and Mena will prove this wrong with ideas that are broad, big and bold.”

BUSINESS GUIDE 2020 41

Last year was a tough one for farmers, but could there be better times on the horizon?

Sue Bradley reports on the West’s agricultural industry

U

NCeRTAINTy over Brexit and future trade deals, challenging weather and sustained criticism of the agricultural industry… all in all 2019 was a pretty trying year for farmers in the West.

Profits within many sectors were generally down and, while the favourable summer weather resulted in good yields of grass and cereals, prolonged rain later on brought misery to many in the arable and livestock sectors, especially those unable to harvest later crops like maize, or sow valuable overwintering barley, wheat, oats and rye.

At the same time, TB has continued to be the bane of cattle farmers in the region and controversy still surrounds its management; the review over Natural england’s sudden decision to revoke general licences for the control of wild birds in the face of the legal challenge from Wild Justice is eagerly awaited; and the ban on the use of neonicotinoid seed dressings for oilseed rape and sugar beet continues to be contentious for some arable growers.

Concerns over global warming and conflicting messages regarding animal welfare have led to increased attacks on the consumption of meat and dairy from some scientists, along with vegans and climate change campaigners. The Tenant Farmers Association says the onslaught of a great deal of unfair and un-evidenced condemnation, including provocative TV documentaries and negative social media posts, has added to a feeling of gloom among its members. yet for all their problems, many within the farming industry detect a hint of optimism as the new year gets underway, not least from the promise of decisive action from a newly-elected Government intent on forging a future outside of the european Union once the UK leaves on January 31.

There are also indications of growing demand for food and drink produced by more extensive agricultural systems, which is music to the ears of those whose businesses are based on organic and free-range principles.

Generally, figures from Defra show profits fell across most farms in 2018/9, with only cereals and general cropping enterprises showing an increase compared with the year before.

Dairy businesses were particularly hard hit, down by 39 per cent in real terms compared with 2017/8, due to increases in feed, labour and machinery

42 BUSINESS GUIDE 2020

Farmers see light at the end of the tunnel costs, to which the weather was a contributory factor.

A client survey undertaken by the West-based accountancy firm Old Mill found that comparable dairy profits in the year to March 31, 2019 fell from 5.9p/ litre to 2.69p/litre.

“Having worked in the agricultural sector for nearly 20 years, I don’t believe the industry has ever faced such uncertain times,” says Old Mill’s rural director Richard Haines.

Many have blamed Brexit for disastrous drops in commodity prices, but Mr Haines believes it’s not the only contributory factor, with changes in consumer eating habits and unrealistic expectations of what farms should be like also responsible.

“I believe the true issue is the constant misrepresentation of UK agriculture promoted largely through social media campaigns,” he says.

On a positive note, Mr Haines points to several Conservative manifesto pledges that he believes will help farming businesses.

They include encouragement for the public sector to ‘buy British’; a move to increase the annual quota under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers’ Scheme from 2,500 to 10,000; an uncompromising stance on existing environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards; the aim to have 80 per cent of UK trade covered by free trade agreements in the next three years; and plans to roll out gigabit broadband throughout the country by 2025.

Further optimism comes from advances in areas such as sexed semen, leading to fewer bull calves; selective breeding to reduce antibiotic use and, in the case of arable farming, the use of

techniques such as cover crops, companion cropping and partnerships with livestock farmers to address issues such as soil erosion.

Indeed, one West company is working to change the future of arable farming robots designed to maximise food production while reducing its cost on the environment.

Salisbury-based agritech start-up The Small Robot Company is working with farmers to replace ground-compacting tractors with lightweight technology that will monitor, seed, feed and weed crops autonomously, with minimal waste.

It says its technology has the ability to cut chemicals by 95 per cent, while its no-till robotics will help prevent soil erosion and run-offs, reducing cultivation emissions by up to 90 per cent.

The robots, known as ‘Tom, Dick and Harry’, will be available to lease through a Farming as a Service (FaaS) scheme.

In December, SRC announced it was working with the Warwickshire-based company RootWave to use ‘weed-zapping’ technology to provide automated and precision weeding, which it says will provide a non-chemical alternative to the herbicide glyphosate.

The innovation, which uses electricity to kill unwanted species, has received funding from the Government’s Innovate UK grant programme, with more than £1 million committed to date, and has already completed its in-lab proofof-concept stage. An initial prototype will undergo field trials this year and is anticipated to be commercially available from the autumn of 2021.

“With up to 95 per cent of chemicals wasted in the current farming system, this new non-chemical weeding technology will be significantly more naturefriendly and better for biodiversity,” said SRC co-founder Sam Watson-Jones.

At the same time, the company says it has achieved a world first by developing technology for its crop monitoring robot

to cover 20 hectares a day, collecting around six terabytes of data that will provide farmers with a per-plant view of their fields.

Technologies like those being pioneered by SRC are the latest tools in the arsenal to fight climate change, an issue the president of the National Farmers’ Union, Minette Batters, says will figure highly in 2020, a year that she predicts will be “monumental”.

She describes farmers as already being a long way down the road to meeting the union’s ambitious target of making British agriculture net zero by 2040, and sees a raft of business opportunities emerging from this work. To this end, the NFU will continue working with the Government to implement effective incentives within the new Agriculture Bill, she says.

At the same time, Ms Batters, pictured left, who has a tenanted farm near Salisbury, is demanding that the Government upholds the UK’s high standards of animal welfare, environmental production and food safety as it enters trade negotiations and not betray farmers by allowing imports of food produced in ways that are illegal here. She reiterated this at the Oxford Farming Conference with a call for a food standards commission to scrutinise future trade deals.

Ms Batters is calling on farmers to be ambitious in 2020 and beyond. “We have a fantastic story to tell – from the value we put on animal welfare and environmental protection to the value we put on quality, nutritious, great-tasting food,” she says.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

The Small Robot Company’s tech team Robin Jackson, Nemo Scott-Robinson and Susant Ray with the next generation weed-mapping robot Tom

We have a fantastic ❝ ❝ story to tell – from the value

we put on animal welfare and environmental protection to the value we put on quality, nutritious, great-tasting food

The Country Land Association has had an active year dealing with a range of issues. In recent weeks it has written to the chief executive of the Environment Agency to highlight the impact of major flooding events and call for a review of agreements for controlled flooding on agricultural land given their increasing frequency. It has also spoken to the Rural Payments Agency to discuss the Farming Recovery Fund and the impact of wet weather on Basic Payment Scheme and agri-environment scheme commitments. The reduction or removal of abstraction licences without compensation has also come under its radar, along with rural crime and fly-tipping.

Director of the CLA South West, Ann Maidment, says the organisation’s new ‘Rural Powerhouse’ campaign is designed to raise the profile of the British farming industry.

“Rural businesses cover everything from farming and food production to tourism, housing and energy production,” she says. “Owing to their location and unique services, they often have to be agile and explore opportunities across different sectors. This entrepreneurism, though, can be hampered by a lack of investment, Government support and excessive red tape. We are determined to create a lasting impact with this campaign.”

Meanwhile, the Tenant Farmers Association wants the Government to play its part in seeking to develop exports on a global scale and says the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board has a FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

crucial role to play in ensuring that its £65 million of annual levy income is delivering real benefit to the industry.

“Wider and deeper regulation of retail and food service supply chains will also be needed to ensure fair returns to primary producers and the long-term protection of consumer interests in quality, environmental impact, as well as price,” says chief executive George Dunn.

Richard Clothier, of Wyke Farms in Somerset, agrees that a greater focus on the environmental impact of farmers should be expected, and says farmers will need to lobby the Government to ensure incomes do not drop as a result of the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy “We are likely to see more currency volatility which could cause more price volatility in the commodity markets,” predicts Mr Clothier, whose products are exported globally.

“The Government is likely to be in a rush to do trade deals post-Brexit; we will need to make sure that farmers get a level playing field in these trade deals.

“Exports will become even more important to UK farmers as world populations continue to rise and people in Asia get wealthier.”

Over at the Royal Bath and West of England Society, chief executive Rupert Cox is looking forward to the new “decisive” Government bringing the stability that the farming sector is craving, but he also cautions that the farming community must recognise the changing eating habits of the UK’s population.

“It must react positively by producing food that is wanted, and not just what has always been produced,” he says.

While Defra figures for British agriculture in 2019 were generally down, some sectors have reason to be cheerful.

These include the Pasture Fed Livestock Association, which reports rapidly growing interest in its grass-fed meat from butchers, farm shops and retailers, particularly in the wake of television programmes questioning the future of meat eating in the UK. Membership of the organisation currently stands at more than 550 members – up 100 or more since the previous year – with many being based in the South West.

“Our certified Pasture for Life farmers are well placed to benefit from the rising number of consumers seeking ethicallyproduced and environmentally-friendly meat,” says spokeswoman Sara Gregson, who expects a continuing growth in demand to be an incentive for more farmers to switch to 100 per cent pasture-fed systems in 2020.

Bristol-based fresh-range, which specialises in delivering short, light and fast food supply chains direct from local producers to online grocery, public sector and private customers, describes 2019 as “a turning point in the ethical food space”, with a 58 per cent increase in sales in its first three quarters.

“The increased awareness of food’s role in the climate and biodiversity crisis appears to have led to a change in

consumer behaviour,” says founder and chief executive, Rich Osborn.

“We’ve seen an enormous acceleration in our growth in the first three quarters of 2019 versus the same period a year ago. In 2020, we will continue to build on strong organic growth in the retail home delivery space by launching an awareness campaign around some of our most sustainable producers designed to engage ethical consumers in more cities across the UK. “We will support our current B2B customers such as universities and schools with a greater range of sustainable produce and scale up our infrastructure to deliver more short supply chains from sustainable producers to each of the public sectors across more regions across the UK.” Over at Blagdon-based Yeo Valley, Tim Mead says farming is living through “interesting times”, particularly in the debate over dairy versus plant-based milk products. He says organic farmers need to be proactive in promoting the benefits their products bring to the environment.

“As an organic farmer I fundamentally believe that healthy soil is fundamentally created by herbivores,” he says. “For the world, it’s a choice of do you want sustainable food or unsustainable food?

“I think there are lots of people with money-making options who are driving the agendas at the moment. If you look at all the trendy food solutions it’s all about manufacturing things, which is attractive for big business.”

Mr Mead says he is discerning a move towards more natural products that he thinks will continue in 2020.

“People are looking for healthy, organic food,” he says. “Our natural yogurt is doing particularly well. I would say that sugar is an issue in the consciousness of people looking to move towards more healthy food.

“Yogurt sales were down five per cent last year in total – we’re competing with all the multinationals. Generally milk, butter and natural yogurt sales are OK – people recognise that organic products are a sustainable type of farming.”

Politics, global warming and the dayto-day vagaries of the weather… farmers have certainly had to be resilient in 2019 and John Wilesmith, from the Three Counties Society, says he is confident that this quality will continue to stand those involved in the agricultural industry in good stead in 2020.

“This area alone is full of amazing farming businesses which have worked on some remarkable business models which have stood up to these challenges,” he states.

BUSINESS GUIDE 2020 43

Food’s vertical lift-off

Charlie Guy is co-founder of LettUs Grow Picture: JackWisealPhotography

Richard Bache looks at a pioneering West start-up company that is hoping to transform how we farm

A

nYOnE asked to picture a West Country farming scene in their mind is likely to imagine cattle grazing on rolling hills, orchards full of apple trees carrying a bountiful crop, or potentially strawberries being picked in the Cheddar valley.

And, of course, they would be right to do so.

But maybe people asked to carry out that task in the future would instantly think of warehouses in urban areas stacked full of rapidly-growing plants.

If that is to become a reality, companies such as Bristol-based LettUs Grow could be among the pioneers responsible.

The firm, which is based in St Philip’s in Bristol, near the railway tracks approaching Bristol Temple Meads from the east, was founded in 2015. Earlier this month it received £2.35 million in seed funding. The investment round was led by Longwall Venture Partners LLP. LettUs Grow has designed a patentpending indoor farming system for greenhouse and vertical farms to address global food security and sustainability concerns. These indoor farms need no fertile land to operate, use zero pesticides and are designed to provide a con-

44 BUSINESS GUIDE 2020

sistent, predictable and climate-resilient food supply all year round.

LettUs Grow’s offering is centred on two core products: a novel aeroponic system and integrated farm management software called Ostara.

Its approach to aeroponics has allowed it to show growth rate increases of above 70 per cent across a range of crops, compared to current vertical farming methods such as hydroponics.

Ostara automates and controls the whole indoor farm, while collecting data on plants, overseeing inputs to crop growth and allowing farmers to trace crops from seed to sale, making operations more efficient.

Having built one of the world’s most advanced indoor aeroponic growing facilities – in a disused railway tunnel – in 2019 and with a growing pipeline of sales with key clients, LettUs Grow is well positioned to become a global leader in the indoor farming technology supply chain.

The investment will allow it to build its second state-of-the-art aeroponic research centre, scale its existing technology, deliver on its growing sales pipeline and accelerate new product lines to market.

Charlie Guy, co-founder and manag-

ing director of LettUs Grow, said: “This investment gives us a platform to really accelerate in 2020 and scale up the delivery of our game-changing technology to farmers across the country.

“We’re seeing rising demand from around the world for new technologies to help farmers grow crops in ways that mitigate against the effects of climate change and ever-increasing extreme weather events.”

Rebecca Todd, investment director at Longwall Ventures, an early stage technology investor, said: “Food security is an emerging major international challenge, especially in this era of unpredictable climate that we are now entering.

“We at Longwall are excited to be backing LettUs Grow in the development of game-changing technology that has the potential to make a real difference by making food growing more efficient, predictable, controllable and local.”

Investors across the globe have been touting vertical farming for some years as a potential game-changer in terms of producing food in the event of extreme climate change and to cope with increasing population numbers.

It is also being developed in countries where geopolitical issues make food supply a concern.

Countries such as Qatar – which has been under an economic embargo with the Saudi-led bloc in the Gulf – and Hong Kong, which relies on China for much of its food, are among the keenest proponents of vertical farming.

LettUs Grow was recognised at a major entrepreneurial awards event last year.

Mr Guy was named UK Entrepreneur of the Year at the Shell Enterprise Development Awards, winning £30,000.

He said: “I am truly honoured to have won amongst such an impressive group of finalists. Making it through the competitive process for the national competition is fantastic validation for the potential impact of our technology. It’s a testament to the amazing work from our whole team over the past three years.”

Ana Avaliani, head of the enterprise hub at the Royal Academy of Engineering and one of the award judges, said: “Charlie has all of the makings of an entrepreneur: his vision for the company – to grow the world’s leading vertical farming business – was evident in every aspect of the presentation, and his passion to feed people in a more sustainable way was clear.

“I’m excited to watch the business scale and expand into markets outside the UK.” FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

The National College for Nuclear and, inset, an artist’s impression of Gravity (top) and the new Premier Inn in Bridgwater

Positioned for growth C

OLLABOrATION was a word that cropped up in presentation after presentation at the annual business conference run by Sedgemoor District Council on the theme ‘well-connected for growth’.

Guest speakers from the private and public sectors, and their audience, explored the best way to exploit the potential for economic growth provided by the excellent connectivity enjoyed by the district and its neighbouring cities.

Among the ideas highlighted were smart cities, smart campuses and motorways redesigned as a public transport network with automated vehicles and stations.

It could be argued that Sedgemoor is already taking full advantage of its location at the heart of the South West because it is the fastest growing in Somerset. In the period between 2010 and 2015, Sedgemoor attracted more than £400 million in investment.

Its politicians and businesses are not complacent, however, as they know there are even bigger prizes to come. For example, work is well underway on the new road that will open up Gravity – set to become the UK’s leading innovation campus.

The 635-acre Enterprise Zone has permission for more than two million square feet of employment space that should deliver around 4,000 highcalibre job opportunities and contribute FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

SEDGEMOOR DISTRICT COUNCIL £500m to the local economy.

Sedgemoor is able to attract and support such enterprises as it has a proactive council that fosters development, aided by a planning team consistently topping the national performance league tables. It enjoys excellent road, rail and air connections combined with an outstanding natural environment.

Its experience of working on nationally significant infrastructure projects, such as Hinkley Point C power station, has elevated its economic aspirations and helped it achieve them.

Despite its largely rural character, which contributes to the rich quality of life, the district has a proud manufacturing heritage and a pioneering spirit.

These attributes have made it easy for Sedgemoor to embrace its role as an emerging hub of innovative, high-value, technology-based businesses.

It stands ready to make a vital contribution to the industrial strategy for the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership (HotSW LEP) area, which has an economy as big as Birmingham or Liverpool. The strategy identifies high-potential sectors for its focus, and these – clean energy, high-tech engineering and digital futures – play to the district’s strengths.

Working collaboratively with the LEP,

the cities of Plymouth and Exeter, Bristol Airport, Gravity, Somerset Chamber of Commerce and others, Sedgemoor believes it has the spark to ignite the South West and deliver clean growth along the M5 corridor.

As host to sections of the supply chain for three generations of nuclear power plants, the National College for Nuclear Southern Hub and Somerset Energy Innovation Centres, Sedgemoor is well placed to develop pioneering low-carbon energy production.

With three junctions of the motorway, the district has seen logistics and distribution businesses thrive, along with leading food and drink brands. A strong skills base has grown up around its advanced manufacturing and engineering companies, nurtured by expertise of the nationally respected Bridgwater and Taunton College.

Traditional, as well as emerging sectors, have stimulated Sedgemoor’s rapid growth. Its population is increasing faster than the county average, as is its economy in GVA terms. Its transition from lower to higher paid jobs and towards a more knowledge-based economy is gaining traction, thanks in part to inward investment and the influence of Hinkley Point C. With the arrival of Gravity, this trend can only continue.

Sedgemoor’s buoyancy is borne out by the completion – in just over a decade – of a regional centre for rural business and livestock auctions, a Morrisons distribution centre, Mulberry factory, hospital, police centre, swimming pool, theatre, three schools, link roads, a retail park extension, an Advanced Engineering Centre and an Energy Skills Centre.

These in turn have drawn more relocations and developments, including a raft of new hotels such as the Bridgwater Mercure, Travelodge, Premier Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Ibis.

There is capacity still at Bridgwater Gateway – a mixed-use commercial development of more than 40 hectares overlooking Junction 24 of the M5, offering industrial and office space as well as retail and a hotel.

On the other side of the junction is more land at Huntworth earmarked for development. To the north of the town, at Junction 22, the well-established Isleport Business Park is being extended in a second phase that will almost double the employment space available. » If you are interested in investing in Sedgemoor, relocating part or all of your business here or starting up, contact the Inward Investment and Growth team at Sedgemoor District Council. It can assist with a wide range of support from land searches to introductions and more.

Contact Economic.development@sedgemoor.gov.uk.

BUSINESS GUIDE 2020 45

Battening down the hatches for ‘perfect storm’ Mark Taylor on how the hospitality sector is tackling rising costs and fragile demand

A

SK Michelin-starred chef Josh Eggleton what the main challenges are when it comes to running restaurants in 2020 and the response is quick and unequivocal.

“Rising costs, increased rates and the still unknown impact of Brexit – restaurants are facing a lot of challenges just to survive,” says the chef/owner of The Pony & Trap gastropub in Chew Magna.

He also runs several other businesses in the Bristol area, including The Kensington Arms pub in Redland and fish and chip restaurant Salt & Malt in Wapping Wharf.

Eggleton is certainly not alone in his view. Talk to restaurant and pub operators across the West Country and there is a general sense that a perfect storm may well be brewing for the year ahead as fewer diners eat out and costs across the board keep on increasing.

It’s a concern borne out by the latest industry figures. Around 16 pubs, bars and restaurants closed in the UK every day last year and the number of restaurants that fell into insolvency in the first half of 2019 was almost 1,500 – up a quarter compared to the previous year.

As well as food price inflation, the restaurant sector continues to suffer from a combination of rising rents and energy bills.

There’s also the increase in staff costs, something that is set to prove an even bigger headache for businesses when the national minimum wage goes up in April.

Hourly pay for people over 25 will increase by 6.2 per cent to £8.72, a rise

46 BUSINESS GUIDE 2020

that is sure to affect the majority of young people working in the hospitality industry.

Of course, most operators are happy to reward good staff by paying them a decent salary, and it helps with morale and retention at a time when it’s increasingly hard to find skilled staff.

But the added costs of wage bills will have to be absorbed by the businesses in more ways than simply putting menu prices up. Customers already feeling the financial pinch won’t be prepared to pay more when they eat out, as many casual dining restaurant chains have seen to their cost with the closures of big high street brands like Jamie’s Italian.

Veteran restaurateur Mitch Tonks acknowledges the challenges and problems faced by the industry but his Rockfish chain of West Country seafood restaurants continued to expand in 2019, with more new openings planned for this year, including a second Dorset site in Poole launching at the end of the month.

Tonks says although Brexit uncertainty was a “slight distraction” simply because his team were trying to work out what might happen with fish prices and availability, it didn’t affect customer numbers too much.

“I think Brexit is a poor excuse if restaurants weren’t busy,” says Tonks, who concedes that customers are spending a little less when dining out and looking more for deals and set menus.

With eight restaurants in Dorset and Devon, he says it’s staffing that has been the main issue.

“Finding good staff is tough and skills

are in short supply. We have had to think outside the box by giving people shorter hours, better pay and a fun environment to work in. We have a whole strategy for attracting and keeping people because they are the biggest asset we have.”

But Tonks is in no doubt that April’s rise in the minimum wage will also impact on his operation.

“A minimum wage of almost £9 is going to be tough, especially when you factor National Insurance contributions and holiday and pension costs. That will bring it up to more like £12 per hour for the business, so we will have to be as efficient as we can to make it work for us all.”

UK Hospitality, which represents more than 700 companies in a sector that employs over 3.2 million people, has already called for the Government to cut business rates to provide some relief for restaurants as they deal with the imminent hike in wages, but for chef/owners like Josh Eggleton, long-term solutions in reducing costs even include a change in the way he sources his ingredients.

“There was a definite impact on consumer confidence last year, particularly around the general election,” says Eggleton. “People were tightening their purse strings and we felt that at The Pony & Trap.

“The majority of our produce is from the South West, but the cost is consistently going up with suppliers so we are now putting a big focus on developing our kitchen garden at the pub.

“We have vegetable patches in the field next door to the pub, polytunnels, an orchard and low-maintenance ‘nodig’ beds. The garden is still in an incu-

bation period as we work on taking it from a kitchen garden to producing the lion’s share of all the vegetables, fruit and herbs for our menu.”

In much the same way Eggleton is uncompromising in growing the best produce for his kitchen, Mitch Tonks sources the finest sustainable seafood he can get his hands on, but he says there has been a 20 per cent increase in customers choosing locally caught fish. This change in consumer habits is timely as Tonks has recently collaborated with a local trawler in Brixham which supplies his restaurants exclusively. It has been such a success that he’s now planning a second vessel.

“Over the years we have been trying to get our guests to eat more local fish, simply because I believe it to be the best in the world. We have seen local fish being FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

Chef Josh Eggleton and, bottom, veteran restaurateur Mitch Tonks

Picture: Ed Schofield

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

the predominant choice now with 60 per cent of guests eating what’s caught locally, which is great to see.

“I like to know the quality of the fish every day and I want our guests to eat the best, so as a business we buy fish direct from the Brixham market auction and fillet, portion and deliver it ourselves to our restaurants daily.

“But I had always dreamed of going one step further and getting into fishing.

With the Rockfish trawler, our aim was to get fish straight into our premises but also make the boat more sustainable by using the smaller, less valued fish and basically pay a good price for everything that comes up. It has worked a treat and it has been a great thing for all parties concerned.”

Of course, it’s not just the restaurant industry that’s battening down the hatches for any approaching ‘perfect storms’. Pubs are also facing their own challenges, but after years of pubs shutting at an alarming rate, 2019 saw the closure rate slow down, with big investments from large regional breweries.

Across the West Country, the likes of London-based Fuller’s and Cornwall’s St Austell Brewery have been snapping up pubs that might otherwise be closing for good.

St Austell Brewery acquired six new pubs in the West Country in 2019, including The Bridge Inn at Dulverton in Somerset, the Red Lion Inn at Cricklade in Wiltshire and The Rising Sun at Pensford, near Bristol. These new acquisitions take the estate up to 180 pubs in the West Country, with two breweries and 1,500 employees.

St Austell’s retail director, Steve Worrall, says the company has continued to build for the future with a £13.5m capital investment in its pubs as well as opening its new Hare Brewery at Warmley, near Bristol, which produces the popular Bath Ales brand of beers.

In 2019, St Austell also reached the landmark figure of brewing 150,000 barrels of its own beer brands – equivalent to 43.2 million pints. It’s the first time that they’ve reached this milestone in the brewery’s 168-year history.

“The underlying business remained strong in 2019 and we experienced growth across our pub business, as well as our brewing and brands. We bought six new pubs and will continue to look for more sites throughout our heartland of the South West this year.”

Worrall says that like-for-like sales in St Austell’s managed pubs are looking positive as we enter 2020, with sales on food, drinks and accommodation being well ahead of the market.

“Our beer brands also saw positive growth in 2019 with Proper Job, Tribute and Korev leading the field for St Austell Brewery beers and Sulis – the Bath Ales lager – continuing to see impressive sales growth in pubs throughout the South West.

“The performance of our pubs has been solid, despite consumer uncertainty around Brexit. The relative weakness of sterling has undoubtedly contributed to the continued growth in domestic tourism and also in attracting more international holidaymakers to Britain. But we need to make sure that,

Finding good staff is ❝ ❝ tough and skills are in short

supply. We have had to think outside the box by giving people shorter hours, better pay and a fun environment to work in

post-Brexit, we can still attract and retain talent from the EU to work in the hospitality sector.

“After January 30, we will continue to focus on what we can control – with a clear acquisition strategy. We know the types of pubs that make long-term sustainable businesses and they are the ones we are interested in buying. Our great relationships, particularly with independent operators, make people more likely to come and speak with us if they are considering putting a property on the market.”

But there’s no room for complacency, even within a successful business like St Austell Brewery, and Worrall keeps a close eye on consumer trends.

“People are continuing to drink lower quantities per visit but choosing better quality drinks, which is driving growth in the premium beer category.

“In addition to this, consumers are seeking out brands that lead on their sustainability credentials – an opportunity for brewers like us, who pride themselves on authentic brewing processes and high-quality ingredients.

No- and low-alcohol drinks are also a trend which is likely to grow in popularity.

“In the past decade, we’ve adapted our pub offering to suit the changing habits of consumers. Food and accommodation now account for over 50 per cent of the revenue in our managed pub estate. In terms of our hotels and inns, we have over 400 rooms in total across our managed estate and we’re opening two new managed houses at Easter – the Harbour Light in Paignton and the Rock Point Inn in Lyme Regis.

“The beer and pub industry is facing unprecedented challenges, including cost inflation, rising beer duty and the changing face of the high street. That being said, pubs are still the lifeblood of communities across the West Country and there are still plenty of opportunities to grow and develop our estate.

“Operators who focus on quality food, drink and accommodation will continue to thrive in the future. It’s vital that we keep talking to our customers, to understand the experiences that they’re looking for.

“We are there to provide exceptional, memorable experiences – as long as we keep doing that, our guests will reward us with their custom.”

BUSINESS GUIDE 2020 47

Cirque Bijou has travelled the world with its shows

City firms are ready to sparkle Bristol regularly picks up accolades as one of the best places to grow businesses. Here Hannah Baker picks some firms that have an exciting 2020 to look forward to Moonraker VFX Moonraker (formerly Coffee and TV Bristol) was founded in 2013 and specialises in high-end, big-budget television and film.

This year, the award-winning Cliftonbased company will be the only special effects firm working on two landmark BBC series – Perfect Planet, produced by Silver Back Films, and Green Planet, by BBC Studios.

In the spring, Moonraker will finish its work for the newly refurbished Bodmin Jail attraction. The firm worked as a partner on a project to create immersive content and physical effects for the attraction, including scenes on Bodmin Moor and shipwrecks on Cornwall’s coastline.

Moonraker is also expanding in Bristol and will be fitting out a new floor as it grows to between 30 and 40 staff.

Creative director, Simon Clarke, pictured above, said: “We are excited to be growing our visitor attraction side of the business and achieving further worldwide recognition for our ongoing projects.

“I think Bristol needs to shout about itself a bit more; we have so much talent here. As an alternative to working in 48 BUSINESS GUIDE 2020

London, if you are in the visual effects industry, it’s a great place to work.”

TalktotheRainbow A team of LGBTQ+ and allied counsellors and therapists is opening a centre in Bristol in February covering everything related to sexuality, sexual orientation, gender and sex.

Hugo Minchin, director and cofounder at TalktotheRainbow, said: “The LGBTQ+ community in the South West is facing a massive mental health crisis.

“It’s a harsh reality but, quite frankly, people are dying.

“We aim to step in to offer support and care at a time when no one else really is. That is our biggest project currently.”

The company is also planning to recruit in 2020 and wants to attract as many LGBTQ+ therapists as possible. It is also in discussions with dance therapists to provide group therapy for trans adults.

Mr Minchin says the company is hoping for support from Bristol City Council, Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol University, UWE and other large employers.

“We want to work together to develop support and counselling to staff and students as well as provide outreach, work-

shops and training to management and HR,” he said.

“Bristol, in many ways, is a trailblazer for inclusivity, diversity and acceptance.

Yet we still see a massive need for more investment from the Government to make it a level playing field.

“There needs to be more investment in minority groups, as well as a concentrated effort to aid with diversity and inclusion.”

Crest Nicholson South West The Bristol-based housebuilder is launching a number of developments in the South West this year, including Brooklands Park at Harry Stoke and Langley Point in Chippenham this month.

Brooklands Park is part of a £229 million development at Harry Stoke being delivered in partnership with Sovereign Housing Association. A total of 114 properties are being released as part of the first phase.

Langley Point, near Chippenham railway station, includes 44 one- and twobedroom apartments.

“Our goal is always to create highquality housing both for the people of the South West and for those from further afield looking to move into the

area,” said Sandra Dixon, sales and marketing director, pictured below.

“Bristol has historically been held back by poor transport links to the rest of the country, being tucked away in the South West corner.

“This has improved dramatically over the years [and] the new super-fast train from Bristol to London Paddington has just launched, so we’re expecting more and more businesses to see Bristol as a viable place to be.”

Ms Dixon believes 2020 will be a pivotal year for the economy and says demand for housing is likely to rise.

Mobius Works Mobius Works, which fits out and refurbishes commercial, residential and industrial buildings, is gearing up for a big year with international expansion as well as a major project in Bris-

tol.

The company, whose clients include Hawthorn Leisure, Punch Taverns, Star Pubs and Mitchells & Butlers, recorded a turnover of £4.8m for the last financial year – more than doubling its 2018 total – and is projecting £7m turnover for the financial year ending March 2020.

Since the company launched in 2017, staff numbers have grown from three

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

partnership with Bristol-based British Corner Shop.

The company has moved its warehousing and fulfilment from Essex to Yate and will start working with BCS in earnest this month.

“This partnership with the British Corner Shop will expedite our business with their retail expertise and global reach of British expats,” said co-founder Neil Elliott. “[This means] that SirGordonBennett.com will start to become the business we hoped it would become – promoting and selling quality British craftsmanship, goods and gifts across the world.”

Mr Elliott believes Bristol is an ideal place for a start-up business such as his.

He said: “It has a real sense of a startup community, which is one of the reasons I started SirGordonBennett in Bristol.

“I think the faster rail link to London will be a huge boost. And as long as the city keeps promoting Bristol as a centre for start-ups, I think the future is bright.”

Looking to the year ahead, he added: “I think that whether people voted to leave or remain in the EU it has become evident that people need to buy more British products.”

Picture: Michael Lloyd

founders to 49 permanent employees.

This month, Mobius is bringing one of Poland’s biggest seafood quick service restaurant chains, North Fish, to the Bull Ring in Birmingham.

It is also planning an office fit-out for a premier retailer in Hammersmith in London and numerous independent fitouts for commercial and retail businesses, including Let us Grow, Small Goods coffee shop and Artworks Office.

Founder and managing director, Lee Bignell, pictured right, said: “Bristol will carry on being a good alternative to London where businesses can invest and base themselves.

Hopefully a steady political outlook will help get these projects off the ground.”

Cirque Bijou The Bristol-based company produces shows internationally for commercial clients, public and private events.

This month it is travelling to Taiwan as the first British company invited to produce the centrepiece show of the Taiwan Lantern Festival, which is attended by 10,000 people a day.

The company will also be touring again this year with its Extraordinary Bodies production What Am I Worth? It FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

features deaf, disabled and non-disabled artists working together.

“We’re excited to be moving into our third decade as a circus production company,” said Billy Alwen, co-artistic director of Cirque Bijou.

“We’ve been based in Bristol since day one and the past 20 years have seen us travel all over the world with our shows, so it feels incredibly special to come home to Bristol each time and reflect on how far we’ve come as a company.”

This year will mark the company’s 17th year of involvement with the Bristol Harbour Festival and it will also be developing its Kitchen Circus project in partnership with Knowle West Media Centre and Travelling Light Theatre.

Mr Alwen added: “In these uncertain times, it’s difficult to know quite what’s around the corner.

“For us as a company, things like Brexit have led us to look for opportunities beyond Europe and taken us towards new and exciting projects in places such as Taiwan and Kazakhstan.”

SirGordonBennett.com The Clifton-based online store, which sells British goods and gifts, has been trading for a year and recently began a

School Circle School Circle describes itself as the Airbnb for schools, helping those in the South West and South Wales make it easy to rent out their facilities to the local community outside of teaching hours.

Husband and wife, Tim and Rachel Sanderson, set up School Circle at the end of 2018 and wanted to offer a model that not only generated additional income for schools, but also connected communities.

The company will start working with four new schools this month and has plans to work with two more by the end of March.

Mr Sanderson said: “We are excited to help our partnership schools generate much-needed extra income to put back into the educational system.”

The team is currently based in co-working offices, and the business will be looking to expand as well as grow the number of schools it works with into double figures.

Changing Social Changing Social was founded by Steve Crompton in 2018 to help companies adopt Microsoft technologies in their businesses.

The company has already grown to six people and has clients in retail, engineering and financial services in the UK, US and Singapore.

Changing Social is predicting revenues of more than £1.5m in 2020 and is planning to open an office in Newcastle in the first quarter of the year.

Mr Crompton says he also plans to

It has a real sense of a ❝ ❝ start-up community, which is

one of the reasons I started in Bristol. I think the faster rail link to London will be a huge boost. And as long as the city keeps promoting Bristol as a centre for start-ups, I think the future is bright

open an office in the US in the third quarter of this year and Singapore in the fourth, while doubling the size of the Bristol team.

“The growth of the business excites me,” he said. “Changing Social has had a fantastic start in our first year.”

It is also working with a number of organisations to ensure that having a disability, such as visual impairment or dyslexia, is no longer a disadvantage to using Microsoft systems.

The company is currently based near The Galleries but plans to move offices in the second quarter.

Mr Crompton is also hoping to take on a second apprentice this month.

“We would like to stay central to attract and retain talent, but also stay close to the Bristol’s thriving tech community,” he added.

Plume Plume, a digital agency in Bristol that offers online training, celebrated its fifth birthday in 2019.

The business saw turnover grow 78 per cent in the last financial year and moved from a co-working space to its own office.

Plume will be redeveloping an e-learning platform for Absolute Dogs – a company that offers dog training courses to people around the world. It is also planning to grow the team in 2020 and increase revenue as more companies turn to online training.

Managing director Kaine Shutler, pictured left, described 2019 as “pretty amazing” as the company began to “specialise in our niche”..

He added: “We’ve really seen the demand for our services increase and we’ve been amazed at how receptive everyone has been.

“It’s a really exciting industry to be in, but to remain top of our game we need the right people.

“Bristol is definitely the place to be to meet a mix of techies and creatives.” » Hannah Baker is the business editor of Bristol Live and the Bristol Post and runs Business Live in the West.

BUSINESS GUIDE 2020 49

Investment off the pitch is critical to sustained sporting success. Richard Bache looks at what is in store for the West’s professional teams

What a new Bath Rugby stadium at The Rec would look like – an artist’s impression of the West Stand exterior at night

P

OSSIBLY the biggest planning battle in the West will be played out in Bath this year over proposals to massively revamp Bath Rugby’s home at

The Rec. The Stadium for Bath project team are seeking permission for a multi-millionpound state-of-the-art 18,000-seater stadium.

The proposals are controversial – to put it mildly – with some in the World Heritage City bitterly opposed to development.

At a media briefing just before Christmas, Bath Rugby chief executive, Tarquin McDonald, refused to put a cost on the project, but admitted it would be at least £30 million.

He said: “We believe passionately in what we’re trying to do here. We want to create one of the most amazing places in the world to play and watch rugby. The test of our ambition is to create somewhere for everyone.”

There is a vocal contingent against the club’s plans, but Mr McDonald is confident they are in the minority.

Addressing some of the challenges the club will face, he said: “We don’t own this land. It’s a functional floodplain. It’s a conservation area, surrounded by heritage assets, in a World Heritage Site. It’s important to get this right. We won’t be allowed not to have an exceptional design.”

He said one of the key design features – and most controversial – is raising the pitch 3.8 metres out of the floodplain, with a 550-space car park underneath.

In recent years, the club – which several decades ago dominated English rugby – has fallen behind Gallagher Premiership rivals off the pitch.

Bristol Bears, who have been transformed since moving to Ashton Gate and being re-branded, are playing in front of crowds and at a stadium that have totally eclipsed what can currently be provided down the A4.

And they have no intention of standing still – with work continuing apace on a £11.5m training ground in Failand.

The club has said the new training ground helped it attract one of the world’s best players to Ashton Gate next season. According to head coach Pat Lam, Fijian star Semi Radradra was blown away by the proposals.

During the recruitment process Lam took him to the building site.

“I took him to Ashton Gate first and foremost and he was blown away,” he said. “I took him out on the surface and he said: ‘Is it always as good as this?’

“Then I showed him the plans of the new training facility and then I took him up there. It is all going to be done in May 50 BUSINESS GUIDE 2020

Clubs building for the future and it is going to be the best training facility in rugby in the northern hemisphere, I reckon.”

The new training ground will have three grass pitches, an all-weather floodlit pitch, indoor training facilities, a gym and changing rooms, plus offices.

Bristol Sport bosses have meanwhile moderately scaled back their plans for a sport and convention centre and two hotels next to Ashton Gate after more than a year of listening to local residents and planners.

Ashton Gate Stadium will formally submit a planning application next month, it is understood. The development would be a major £100m investment in south Bristol and could bring between 400 and 500 jobs.

Ashton Gate Stadium first unveiled its plans for a major development on land to the west of the ground back in September 2018. The initial plans were for a 4,000-capacity basketball arena for the Bristol Flyers and conference centre, together with two hotels, business space and residential flats, as well as housing on Long Ashton car park land.

After the failure of Bristol Sport to secure the go-ahead for a new stadium at Ashton Vale, owner Steve Lansdown invested £40m in the transformation of

the existing Ashton Gate stadium, and also bought up the freehold of various parcels of land.

In Gloucestershire, Forest Green Rovers – at the second attempt in December – gained approval from Stroud District Council for a pioneering wooden stadium near Junction 13 of the M5, designed by Zaha Hadid’s practice.

The football club – which has gained global fame for its forward-looking stance on eco issues – hopes the 5,000-seater stadium will boost its plans to climb the league pyramid.

Owner Dale Vince, however, has criticised newly-elected Stroud Tory MP Siobhan Baillie for throwing a potential spanner in the works. A VAR-style review has tempered the joy of fans of the Nailsworth-based team, with one of the MP’s first acts being to support a ‘call-in’ of the planning permission to the Secretary of State for the Environment.

Further up the M5, fans of non-league Gloucester City were cheered earlier this month with work beginning at their Meadow Park home. The Tigers have been homeless since the 2007 floods.

They hope to be back at Meadow Park for the start of the 2020-21 season after sharing grounds at a number of other West clubs.

Elsewhere in the West, Yeovil Town owner Scott Priestnall says the club is “looking at all options” with a plan for the future of the land at Huish Park set to be drawn up over the coming months.

Priestnall, who completed a takeover in 2019, has expressed a desire to develop it to help boost the club’s revenue streams as it looks to achieve its long-term aim of establishing itself back in the Football League.

Several attempts were made by the club’s former owners, Norman Hayward and John Fry, to build on training pitches at the stadium.

Finally, it remains unclear whether fans of Bristol Rovers will find out in 2020 if hopes of a new stadium away from the Memorial Stadium are realistic.

Several consortia were last year reportedly interested in buying Rovers from owners Dwane Sports, if the consortia could first acquire land for a new stadium.

President Wael Al Qadi has previously said that the people interested in buying the Pirates were considering acquiring the site occupied by the Bristol Fruit Market. However, the market’s majority shareholder, Total Produce, is on the record as saying unless it is made “an offer they can’t refuse” it will be staying.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

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