Business 4 March 2015

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www.bristolpost.co.uk

GLEEM OF HOPE

The one-year-old cleaning firmthat has entered Post awards – p4

THE IMPORTANCE OFA HAPPY MEDIUM

Is the role played by our mid-market firms undervalued? Wehighlight the role of MSBs in Bristol and the surrounding region to

see if they could be better supported

BUSINESS PULSE SPECIAL REPORT

042015MAR

ALE AND HEARTY

Leading brewer joins Bristol’sbuoyant beer industry – page 5

PARKING MANOEUVRE

Parking space entrepreneurstrikes deal with rival – page 3

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2 We d n e s d a y, M a rc h 4, 2015 3We d n e s d a y, M a rc h 4, 2015 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

� Left, Jamie Breese, who will be auctioneer on the night, with Freddy Bird, executive chef and director of Lido Bristol

D eve l o p m e n t Pa r k i n g

Building set tobegin on newoffice scheme� BUILDING is set to begin on anew office development afterNorth Somerset Council agreed tolease part of it to give thedeveloper confidence aboutmaking the investment.

Dowlas is behind 26,000-sq-ftEnterprise House on the WestonGateway Business Park, close toJunction 21 of the M5 motorway.

The building will have space for250 workers next to WorleParkway rail station.

The location and expected hugeinvestment in a new nuclearpower plant at Hinkley Point inSomerset should make it anattractive location.

But to make sure it goes ahead,the local authority has made theunusual step of taking a 15-yearlease on a more than half thespace – 16,300 square feet. It willten sub-let the space.

Council leader Nigel Ashtonsaid: “The acquisition of the headlease on Enterprise House isanother positive example of thecouncil’s resolve to continuestimulating economicdevelopment and regeneration.

“Enabling Enterprise House tobe built sooner rather than laterwill be a key trigger to unlockingfurther development of theGateway site and therefore thejobs and business rates that willgenerate.

“This bold step will providethe catalyst to unlock more than900 jobs, a significantcontribution towards the overalltarget of 9,000 jobs across thewhole of the Junction 21Enterprise Area.”

Lord Mayor’s Charity Gala Dinner

Make the headlines Chance to Beeditor for day among auction lots

HOW do you fancy editing theBristol Post for the day?T hat’s one of them o n e y - c a n’t-buy experi-ences being offered at a

business event later this year.The Lord Mayor’s Charity Gala

Dinner, which is supported by thePo s t , is raising money for the city’smost disadvantaged children.

Targeted at the business, financialand legal services community, thedinner takes place at the Bristol Mar-riott Royal Hotel on Thursday, April30. The event is in aid of The LordMayor of Bristol’s Children Appeal,which gives 1,650 disadvantaged chil-dren vouchers for food, clothing andgifts at Christmas.

The dinner’s first gold sponsor hasalready been announced as ‘Million-a i re s ’ Mentor’ Bev James and itssecond gold sponsor can be revealedas Ashfords LLP.

Auction lots to date include privatebehind-the-scenes tours ofRolls-Royce and the Tower of London.Lots range from signed artwork andjewellery to a joint membership ofLido Bristol.

As well as taking the helm at thePo s t , other money-can’t-buy exper-iences up for grabs include joiningthe train driver on the high-speedservice from Bristol to London,donated by First Great Western.

But charity volunteers are callingon businesses in Bristol and acrossthe South West to donate more auc-tion prizes, to help raise money fordisadvantaged children.

Jamie Breese, director of BusinessShowcase South West, is volunteer-

ing his event-management services tothe charity and securing sponsorshipand auction donations.

He will be donating his profession-al services on the night, too, as auc-t i o n e e r.

Jamie, who stars in DiscoveryChannel’s Auction Kings, said: “T hiswill be one of the great events of theyear in Bristol, and we are askingpeople to donate prizes.

“These need to be auction lotswhich generate interest so dinnerguests bid generously. The more

money we raise, the more we can helpthe city’s most disadvantaged chil-d re n . ”

The event includes a drinks re-ception and sumptuous three-coursedinner, the auction and raffle, plusworld-class live entertainment.

Chairman of The Lord Mayor ofBristol’s Children Appeal Bruce Sim-monds added: “We are extremelygrateful for all the support we havereceived to date from the businesscommunity, through sponsorship,ticket sales, auction and raffle prize

d o n at i o n s. ”Other companies which have

already donated items for auctioninclude Lido Bristol, F Hinds Jew-ellers, Divine Divas, Sanlam WealthManagement, Bristol ChiropracticCentre and Art Jayne Ltd.� Tickets are now sold out, please goto https://galadinner2015.e v entbrite.c o. u k for the waiting list.

Businesses and organisations in-terested in donating prizes or spon-sorship packages should emailinfo@g aladinner2015.com.

Fu n d ra i se r

Prove your staff are smartest in charity quiz

SMEs

Selling up Pa r k i n gspace entrepreneurcuts deal with rival

IF you think your staff have what ittakes to be crowned the brainiest inBristol then a charity is offering youthe chance to put that to the test.

Businesses are being encouraged toenter teams in a fundraising quiz inaid of the Brandon Trust, which sup-ports people with learning diffi-c u l t i e s.

Brains for Brandon will take placeon Thursday, March 26, at the GrandThistle Hotel, and will see businessesfrom across the Bristol area battlingit out.

Over the course of six rounds, thequiz will test the grey cells of thosetaking part while they enjoy a

three-course dinner and entertain-ment, with local stand-up comicCerys Nelmes performing.

Organisers say the eventwill also provide an excel-lent chance to networkwith clients.

The charity special-ises in offering peoplewith learning diffi-culties the ability to liveas normal lives as pos-sible. As well as offeringindividual support, theyalso run summer camps forch i l d re n .

The trust’s corporate fundraiser

Erin Lawton said: “We have some fab-ulous local celebrities coming includ-

ing Jack FM’s Downsy, Bristolchef Dean Edwards, Paulina

and Ed from Heart FM andthe hilarious CerysNelmes (p i c t u re d ), allhosting a round each.

“Come and win thetitle of ‘Bristol’s Brain-iest’. It will be perfect for

networking, rewardingyour team and client hos-

pitality so basically ticks allthe CSR boxes while having a

fun night out.”Prices are £500 per table (ten guests)

or £55 a ticket and include a red carpetwelcome, pre-dinner drinks recep-tion, three-course meal, entertain-ment, auction and raffle andcomplimentary goody bag. There willalso be an after-party. The event willstart at 6.30pm.

For further information about theBrains for Brandon quiz and how youcan get involved e-mail Erin Lawtonat [email protected].

Anyone who wants to stayovernight can take advantage of dis-counted rates at the hotel.

To find out more about the work ofthe Brandon Trust see www.brandon-tr ust.org.

How to develop andgrow a business� HIGH street businesses canget advice and find out aboutwhat support is available at anevent later this month.

Bristol’s Enterprising HighStreets is a collaborationbetween Bristol City Council, theFederation of Small Businesses(FSB), City of Bristol College, theChartered Institute of Marketing,Destination Bristol and theBusiness Growth Service.

With a practical focus on howto develop and grow a business,there will also be presentationsfrom experts on topics such asthe importance of effectivemarketing and making yourbusiness more sustainable.

Several small businesses fromacross the city will beshowcased and the event shouldbe a good networkingo p p o r t u n i t y.

The event is at City of BristolCollege on March 12. Visithttp://bristolshighstr eets.eventbrite.co.uk for more details.

N etwo r k i n g

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)[email protected]


AN entrepreneur who started a busi-ness renting out driveways as park-ing spaces has sold the company to arival backed by two Dragons from theBBC business pitching show.

Damian Rooney, 40, set up his businessthree years ago after having success rentingout his own driveway in Redcliffe on theYourParkingSpace website.

He then did the same for his neighbourbefore deciding to take it a step further.

“It was at this point that I realised therewas a real business here,” he said.

“The concept of driveway rentals was al-most unknown then and for people I spoke toit was a no-brainer.

“It gave them a significant extra income forsimply allowing someone to park in theirempty driveway.”

Damian set up Bargain Parking and builtup his offering to 1,000 spaces rented outacross the South West, with 70 per cent ofthem in Bristol.

He said: “It’s a really exciting time in the

parking industry, it’s moving rapidly, and theold way of doing things is changing.

“I look at companies like Airbnb in thehotel industry and see a real opportunity tomake a similar impact in the parking in-d u s t r y. ”

Now he has done a deal to go into part-nership with the site that first inspired him,Yo u r Pa rk i n g S p a c e.

Young entrepreneur and founder HarrisonWoods, 24, persuaded Theo Paphitis and PeterJones to invest £60,000 in the business whenhe appeared on Dra gons’ Den in 2012.

He said: “2015 is a big year for YourPark-ingSpace and acquiring Bargain Parking is ahuge coup for the business.”

SMALL and medium-sized firms are beingurged to bid for government contracts after newmeasures for faster payment were intro-duced.

New rules mean public sector bod-ies must pay undisputed invoiceswithin 30 days, which should helpsmaller firms where cash flow iscritical. In Bristol 49.2 per cent ofSMEs cite late payment as ahindrance to growth.

Figures show government isspending more with SMEs, totalling£11.b billion in 2014. It has relaunched itsContracts Finder website – www.gov.uk/con -tracts-finder – to help firms find the oppor-tunities after 42 per cent of Bristol SMES saidthey didn’t know where to look. The reforms

also simply the bidding process, scrapping somered tape on lower value contracts.

One local organisation which has hadsuccess is the Bristol-based Centre for

Sustainable Energy, which employs50 people. It won a contract to de-velop a national digital open homeshub and to support development ofmore local homes networks aroundthe country, letting visitors see

first-hand what energy-saving fea-tures may mean in their own homes.Chief executive Simon Roberts, pic -

t u re d , said: “The result is a far betterprogramme than the Department for Energy

and Climate Change would have designed them-selves or than we could have done without theirfunding.”

� Damian Rooney of Bargain Parking, left, and Harrison Woods of YourParkingSpace

South Bristol ‘enjoying renaissance’Commercial property

SOUTH Bristol is finally making its markafter what seems like decades in thedoldr ums.

T hat’s according to city commercial prop-erty specialist Paul Williams from BrutonKnowles who said a series of recent devel-opments is helping to shift Bristol’s creativeaxis south of the River Avon.

He said: “South Bristol is enjoyingsomething of a renaissance in terms of busi-nesses looking for commercial property.

“It’s not just a question of lower rents thisside of the river, it’s also about new, youngbusiness needing to be seen in the hip andtrendy locations.”

Paul said infrastructure projects such asthe South Bristol Link Road and the Met-roBus project would greatly improve access-ibility to and from the area. The new FilwoodGreen Business Park, which provides a range

of starter offices and workshop spaces is dueto open next month.

An example of a site Paul believes haspotential is Clue House, which he is currentlymarketing, on Central Park commercial es-tate in Hengrove, formerly home to BergerPaints. It is midway between the city centreand the Bottle Yard Studios.

Paul said: “For so long considered the poorrelation, South Bristol will succeed on its ownterms, not by aping the business parks on thenorth Bristol fringe, but by forging its ownidentity based on creativity and innovation.

“The ‘Media Mile’ is starting to look morelike a ‘Golden Triangle’, bounded by theTemple Studios, The Paintworks and BathRoad Studios on one side, extending out to theBottle Yard Film Studios in Whitchurch andencompassing Filwood Green BusinessPa rk . ”

New rules to mean improved cash flow

Tracey Bentham, family

“Family businesses arethe backbone of thenation’s economy – theyare our unsung heroes –and they make amassive contribution to

The Bristol MBAFind out moreOpen Evening 25 March, Watershed, Bristol City Centrewww.uwe.ac.uk/bristolmba

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� Left, Jamie Breese, who will be auctioneer on the night, with Freddy Bird, executive chef and director of Lido Bristol

D eve l o p m e n t Pa r k i n g

Building set tobegin on newoffice scheme� BUILDING is set to begin on anew office development afterNorth Somerset Council agreed tolease part of it to give thedeveloper confidence aboutmaking the investment.

Dowlas is behind 26,000-sq-ftEnterprise House on the WestonGateway Business Park, close toJunction 21 of the M5 motorway.

The building will have space for250 workers next to WorleParkway rail station.

The location and expected hugeinvestment in a new nuclearpower plant at Hinkley Point inSomerset should make it anattractive location.

But to make sure it goes ahead,the local authority has made theunusual step of taking a 15-yearlease on a more than half thespace – 16,300 square feet. It willten sub-let the space.

Council leader Nigel Ashtonsaid: “The acquisition of the headlease on Enterprise House isanother positive example of thecouncil’s resolve to continuestimulating economicdevelopment and regeneration.

“Enabling Enterprise House tobe built sooner rather than laterwill be a key trigger to unlockingfurther development of theGateway site and therefore thejobs and business rates that willgenerate.

“This bold step will providethe catalyst to unlock more than900 jobs, a significantcontribution towards the overalltarget of 9,000 jobs across thewhole of the Junction 21Enterprise Area.”

Lord Mayor’s Charity Gala Dinner

Make the headlines Chance to Beeditor for day among auction lots

HOW do you fancy editing theBristol Post for the day?T hat’s one of them o n e y - c a n’t-buy experi-ences being offered at a

business event later this year.The Lord Mayor’s Charity Gala

Dinner, which is supported by thePo s t , is raising money for the city’smost disadvantaged children.

Targeted at the business, financialand legal services community, thedinner takes place at the Bristol Mar-riott Royal Hotel on Thursday, April30. The event is in aid of The LordMayor of Bristol’s Children Appeal,which gives 1,650 disadvantaged chil-dren vouchers for food, clothing andgifts at Christmas.

The dinner’s first gold sponsor hasalready been announced as ‘Million-a i re s ’ Mentor’ Bev James and itssecond gold sponsor can be revealedas Ashfords LLP.

Auction lots to date include privatebehind-the-scenes tours ofRolls-Royce and the Tower of London.Lots range from signed artwork andjewellery to a joint membership ofLido Bristol.

As well as taking the helm at thePo s t , other money-can’t-buy exper-iences up for grabs include joiningthe train driver on the high-speedservice from Bristol to London,donated by First Great Western.

But charity volunteers are callingon businesses in Bristol and acrossthe South West to donate more auc-tion prizes, to help raise money fordisadvantaged children.

Jamie Breese, director of BusinessShowcase South West, is volunteer-

ing his event-management services tothe charity and securing sponsorshipand auction donations.

He will be donating his profession-al services on the night, too, as auc-t i o n e e r.

Jamie, who stars in DiscoveryChannel’s Auction Kings, said: “T hiswill be one of the great events of theyear in Bristol, and we are askingpeople to donate prizes.

“These need to be auction lotswhich generate interest so dinnerguests bid generously. The more

money we raise, the more we can helpthe city’s most disadvantaged chil-d re n . ”

The event includes a drinks re-ception and sumptuous three-coursedinner, the auction and raffle, plusworld-class live entertainment.

Chairman of The Lord Mayor ofBristol’s Children Appeal Bruce Sim-monds added: “We are extremelygrateful for all the support we havereceived to date from the businesscommunity, through sponsorship,ticket sales, auction and raffle prize

d o n at i o n s. ”Other companies which have

already donated items for auctioninclude Lido Bristol, F Hinds Jew-ellers, Divine Divas, Sanlam WealthManagement, Bristol ChiropracticCentre and Art Jayne Ltd.� Tickets are now sold out, please goto https://galadinner2015.e v entbrite.c o. u k for the waiting list.

Businesses and organisations in-terested in donating prizes or spon-sorship packages should emailinfo@g aladinner2015.com.

Fu n d ra i se r

Prove your staff are smartest in charity quiz

SMEs

Selling up Pa r k i n gspace entrepreneurcuts deal with rival

IF you think your staff have what ittakes to be crowned the brainiest inBristol then a charity is offering youthe chance to put that to the test.

Businesses are being encouraged toenter teams in a fundraising quiz inaid of the Brandon Trust, which sup-ports people with learning diffi-c u l t i e s.

Brains for Brandon will take placeon Thursday, March 26, at the GrandThistle Hotel, and will see businessesfrom across the Bristol area battlingit out.

Over the course of six rounds, thequiz will test the grey cells of thosetaking part while they enjoy a

three-course dinner and entertain-ment, with local stand-up comicCerys Nelmes performing.

Organisers say the eventwill also provide an excel-lent chance to networkwith clients.

The charity special-ises in offering peoplewith learning diffi-culties the ability to liveas normal lives as pos-sible. As well as offeringindividual support, theyalso run summer camps forch i l d re n .

The trust’s corporate fundraiser

Erin Lawton said: “We have some fab-ulous local celebrities coming includ-

ing Jack FM’s Downsy, Bristolchef Dean Edwards, Paulina

and Ed from Heart FM andthe hilarious CerysNelmes (p i c t u re d ), allhosting a round each.

“Come and win thetitle of ‘Bristol’s Brain-iest’. It will be perfect for

networking, rewardingyour team and client hos-

pitality so basically ticks allthe CSR boxes while having a

fun night out.”Prices are £500 per table (ten guests)

or £55 a ticket and include a red carpetwelcome, pre-dinner drinks recep-tion, three-course meal, entertain-ment, auction and raffle andcomplimentary goody bag. There willalso be an after-party. The event willstart at 6.30pm.

For further information about theBrains for Brandon quiz and how youcan get involved e-mail Erin Lawtonat [email protected].

Anyone who wants to stayovernight can take advantage of dis-counted rates at the hotel.

To find out more about the work ofthe Brandon Trust see www.brandon-tr ust.org.

How to develop andgrow a business� HIGH street businesses canget advice and find out aboutwhat support is available at anevent later this month.

Bristol’s Enterprising HighStreets is a collaborationbetween Bristol City Council, theFederation of Small Businesses(FSB), City of Bristol College, theChartered Institute of Marketing,Destination Bristol and theBusiness Growth Service.

With a practical focus on howto develop and grow a business,there will also be presentationsfrom experts on topics such asthe importance of effectivemarketing and making yourbusiness more sustainable.

Several small businesses fromacross the city will beshowcased and the event shouldbe a good networkingo p p o r t u n i t y.

The event is at City of BristolCollege on March 12. Visithttp://bristolshighstr eets.eventbrite.co.uk for more details.

N etwo r k i n g



AN entrepreneur who started a busi-ness renting out driveways as park-ing spaces has sold the company to arival backed by two Dragons from theBBC business pitching show.

Damian Rooney, 40, set up his businessthree years ago after having success rentingout his own driveway in Redcliffe on theYourParkingSpace website.

He then did the same for his neighbourbefore deciding to take it a step further.

“It was at this point that I realised therewas a real business here,” he said.

“The concept of driveway rentals was al-most unknown then and for people I spoke toit was a no-brainer.

“It gave them a significant extra income forsimply allowing someone to park in theirempty driveway.”

Damian set up Bargain Parking and builtup his offering to 1,000 spaces rented outacross the South West, with 70 per cent ofthem in Bristol.

He said: “It’s a really exciting time in the

parking industry, it’s moving rapidly, and theold way of doing things is changing.

“I look at companies like Airbnb in thehotel industry and see a real opportunity tomake a similar impact in the parking in-d u s t r y. ”

Now he has done a deal to go into part-nership with the site that first inspired him,Yo u r Pa rk i n g S p a c e.

Young entrepreneur and founder HarrisonWoods, 24, persuaded Theo Paphitis and PeterJones to invest £60,000 in the business whenhe appeared on Dra gons’ Den in 2012.

He said: “2015 is a big year for YourPark-ingSpace and acquiring Bargain Parking is ahuge coup for the business.”

SMALL and medium-sized firms are beingurged to bid for government contracts after newmeasures for faster payment were intro-duced.

New rules mean public sector bod-ies must pay undisputed invoiceswithin 30 days, which should helpsmaller firms where cash flow iscritical. In Bristol 49.2 per cent ofSMEs cite late payment as ahindrance to growth.

Figures show government isspending more with SMEs, totalling£11.b billion in 2014. It has relaunched itsContracts Finder website – www.gov.uk/con -tracts-finder – to help firms find the oppor-tunities after 42 per cent of Bristol SMES saidthey didn’t know where to look. The reforms

also simply the bidding process, scrapping somered tape on lower value contracts.

One local organisation which has hadsuccess is the Bristol-based Centre for

Sustainable Energy, which employs50 people. It won a contract to de-velop a national digital open homeshub and to support development ofmore local homes networks aroundthe country, letting visitors see

first-hand what energy-saving fea-tures may mean in their own homes.Chief executive Simon Roberts, pic -

t u re d , said: “The result is a far betterprogramme than the Department for Energy

and Climate Change would have designed them-selves or than we could have done without theirfunding.”

� Damian Rooney of Bargain Parking, left, and Harrison Woods of YourParkingSpace

South Bristol ‘enjoying renaissance’Commercial property

SOUTH Bristol is finally making its markafter what seems like decades in thedoldr ums.

T hat’s according to city commercial prop-erty specialist Paul Williams from BrutonKnowles who said a series of recent devel-opments is helping to shift Bristol’s creativeaxis south of the River Avon.

He said: “South Bristol is enjoyingsomething of a renaissance in terms of busi-nesses looking for commercial property.

“It’s not just a question of lower rents thisside of the river, it’s also about new, youngbusiness needing to be seen in the hip andtrendy locations.”

Paul said infrastructure projects such asthe South Bristol Link Road and the Met-roBus project would greatly improve access-ibility to and from the area. The new FilwoodGreen Business Park, which provides a range

of starter offices and workshop spaces is dueto open next month.

An example of a site Paul believes haspotential is Clue House, which he is currentlymarketing, on Central Park commercial es-tate in Hengrove, formerly home to BergerPaints. It is midway between the city centreand the Bottle Yard Studios.

Paul said: “For so long considered the poorrelation, South Bristol will succeed on its ownterms, not by aping the business parks on thenorth Bristol fringe, but by forging its ownidentity based on creativity and innovation.

“The ‘Media Mile’ is starting to look morelike a ‘Golden Triangle’, bounded by theTemple Studios, The Paintworks and BathRoad Studios on one side, extending out to theBottle Yard Film Studios in Whitchurch andencompassing Filwood Green BusinessPa rk . ”

New rules to mean improved cash flow

Tracey Bentham, family

“Family businesses arethe backbone of thenation’s economy – theyare our unsung heroes –and they make amassive contribution to

The Bristol MBAFind out moreOpen Evening 25 March, Watershed, Bristol City Centrewww.uwe.ac.uk/bristolmba

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Cleaning up 1,000th customer asfirm teams up with water charity

Moor the merrier B rewe rsaim to double production

BR I S T O L’S growing reputa-tion for breweries has beengiven a boost by the arrivalof multi-award winningMoor Beer Company in the

c i t y.The brewery moved its operation

from the Somerset Levels to an in-dustrial unit on Days Road in Bristol,just behind Temple Meads Station.

It has carried out a complete re-furbishment with the installation ofseven fermentation tanks and a bot-tling line.

And now it has added a brewery tapoutlet for its beers open seven days aweek offering off sales, tasting ses-sions and catering for parties and

private functions.Currently seven people are em-

ployed in the business, with the hopeto grow in future, brewing around20-30 different beers each year whichare offered in kegs, casks and bottlesranging in strength from 3.8 per centto a rather more potent 9.5 per cent.

The firms beers are unfined, whichmeans they don’t use the fish productor finings to settle the brew. Thisleaves them looking hazy and thefirm says it gives a bigger aroma andricher flavour.

The Moor Beer Company is ownedand operated by former US Armyofficers Justin and Maryann Hawke.Justin said: “Our new premises hasgiven us the capacity to grow and wehave plans to double and perhapstreble production and our workforcein the next few years.

“We will be installing anotherseven fermentation tanks and a can-

WORK has started on the transform-ation of a landmark building on Bris-tol’s waterfront into one and twobedroom apartments.

Bridge Quay, the former officebuilding located close to BristolBridge, is being redeveloped into 59waterside apartments by Urban &Civic plc.

It is the latest in the trend of officesbeing converted into flats under atemporary relaxation in planningrules called permitted developmentr i g h t s.

Each apartment has been designedwith picture windows and its ownbalcony to provide views across theFloating Harbour and city centre.

This development will incorporate

photovoltaic solar panels on the roofand the basement is retained toprovide secure parking and cyclestora g e.

Adam Pratt, development directorat Urban & Civic’s Bristol office, said:“We are really excited about the re-development of Bridge Quay. It is agreat building in an outstanding wa-terside location in the heart of thecity centre.”

He added: “The structure has al-lowed us to design generously sizedapartments. Residents will be able toenjoy light, bright living spaces withBristol’s amenities on the doorstep.”

Work on Bridge Quay started lastmonth and the apartments will belaunched on the market in April.

Offices being turned into waterside apartments

Devolution ‘threatto Bristol companies’� COMPANIES in Bristol could behit by more devolution to Wales,politicians and business leadershave warned.

With 90 per cent of the Welshpopulation living within 50 miles ofthe English border and 138 millionjourneys being taken between thetwo countries each year, differenttax and transport policies could bedetrimental for firms on the Englishside of the bridge.

Business West raised the issue atan event in Westminster attendedby, among others, Bristol Airportchief executive Robert Sinclair andWest of England Local EnterprisePartnership Colin Skellett.

Business West managingdirector Phil Smith said:“Businesses are concerned thatthe potential devolution of new tax,borrowing and economicdevelopment powers to Wales onMarch 1 is happening too quickly,and without sufficientconsideration or evidence of thelikely impact of these changes tobusinesses in England.”

North Somerset MP Liam Foxadded: “The West of England, andthe Bristol area in particular, isdoing very well economically. Wedo not need anti-competitivemeasures Introduced under theguise of devolution. There is noadvantage to UK plc for costlyshifting resources around for nooverall gain.”

Sue Turner, communicationsdirector at Bristol Port, said shehad “serious concerns” aboutmore power going Wales.

“The implications of any furtherdevolvement must be fullyassessed in order to avoiddestabilising business in transport,energy and a range of othersectors. We currently have a verycompetitive level playing field – itisn’t always perfect but we are alltreated the same.”

TV firm Endemolsnaps up city office� TELEVISION productioncompany Endemol has signed a10-year lease on a new office inBristol.

Property firm Savills has letspace at Embassy House, above,on Queens Avenue, Clifton, toEndemol UK Ltd on behalf ofKames Capital.

The leading production companyis taking space on the second floortotalling 5,176 sq ft (480 sq m),and will pay an annual rent of£80,228.

The building is now full. Otheroccupiers include Rider LevettBucknall, Specialist Publicationsand SACO.

Chris Meredith, director ofbusiness space at Savills Bristol,said: “We are very pleased to havesecured the letting of the finaloffice suite at Embassy House toEndemol. Requirements for primeoffice accommodation in Bristolremains high and we expect this tocontinue in 2015, with the TMTsector continuing to fuel demand.”

ning line which will support the in-ternational demand for our beerwhich takes about 30 per cent of ourtotal production.

“Export and domestic markets areimportant for growth but we alsowant to develop the local market andour Brewery Tap is key to thisstrate g y.”

Richard Kennedy, a partner atchartered accountants Francis Clarkhelped the firm buy the property andsecure a grant from the RegionalGrowth Fund.

“We are now preparing a claim forResearch and Development Tax Re-lief regarding the development ofnew brews,” he said.

“As well as being an ideal facilityfor expansion and developing newproducts, the new premises are in asuperb central location and I’m surethat when word gets around it willbecome a Bristol ‘must-go-to’ p l a c e. ”

Refurbishments tomeet rising demand� REFURBISHMENT opportunitiesneed to be exploited in the Bristoloffice market to meet a risingdemand for grade A space as thecity awaits the next wave ofdevelopment, according toproperty consultancy JLL.

Across the big six officemarkets, Bristol recorded thesecond highest number of dealsover 10,000 sq ft in 2014, 18 intotal, surpassed onlyby Manchester,whichrecorded 28,J L L’s officemarketre p o r tshowed.

In termsof totaltake-up for2014, Bristolcame in thirdplace at 870,000sq ft, ahead of Birmingham, Leedsand Glasgow. Manchester andEdinburgh came in first andsecond place respectively.

Bristol recorded one of thelowest grade A vacancy rates ofthe six markets at 1.1 per cent.This compares to a 1.6 per centaverage across the core sixmarkets outside London, thelowest level for 10 years.

Jeremy Richards, pictur ed, headof JLL’s Bristol office, said:“Looking ahead, we expectdemand for Grade A office spacein Bristol to continue to rise.

“With businesses in Londonfaced with rising costs and theprospect of an undersupply ofoffice space over the next three tofive years, we expect to see agrowing number of relocations – orpart-relocations – to Bristol.Around 23 million sq ft of officesare needed in London, butcurrently just 10 million are beingp ro v i d e d .

“In addition, Bristol willeffectively be brought closer to thecapital by the electrification of theGreat Western railway line and thiswill no doubt boost demandf u r t h e r.

“Bristol’s latest speculativedevelopment schemes, 2 GlassWharf and 66 Queen Square, nowhave tenants for the whole or partso we expect the next wave ofdevelopment to start. However, inthe meantime, refurbishmentopportunities need to be exploitedto meet demand as these can bedelivered more quickly than newschemes.”

WITH Bristol being home to such adynamic array of businesses NextGeneration Data (NGD) is delightedto be involved with this year’s pres-tigious Bristol Post Business Awardsprogramme and especially excited tobe sponsoring the Best Creative orTechnological Award category.

The Business Awards have attrac-ted a high calibre of entrants over theyears. They play a key role in en-couraging innovation, entrepreneur-ship and achievement within thelocal business community while en-suring exceptional success is fullyrecognised and rewarded.

Vision, innovation, creativity, dif-ferentiation and drive are all essen-tial ingredients for achieving andsustaining profitable businessgrowth and world-class reputation inthe fast moving and highly compet-itive creative and technology indus-tries. The judging criteria for ouraward category is indicative of thesequalities and in tune with our ownbusiness values and credentials hav-

ing rapidly established NGD as one ofE u ro p e ’s fastest growing and mostprofitable data centre operators: bydaring to be different, more innov-

Celebrating Bristol’sworld-class tech talent

ative, more flexible, and more re-sponsive than our competitors.

NGD’s success in establishing aworld-class mega data centre hub in

the area well away from London of-fers local businesses, large and small,the benefit of affordable word-classfacilities for supporting their criticalIT, cloud and data storage require-ments. Already ‘home’ to some verylarge government and multinationalorganisations, BT, CGI, IBM andWipro included, NGD is also fast be-coming a haven for businesses here inBristol with Computershare Techno-logy Services (UK), Hub Network Ser-vices, UNIT4, Ovo Energy andSouthern Telecom already amongthem.

And just as the railways and mo-torways did in the last two centuries,we fully recognise how in this digitalage a truly world-class data centrewill help deliver the region furthertalent, opportunity and economicprosperity. We wish all entrants tothis year’s Best Creative or Tech-nological Award the very best of for-tune and success.� w w w. n g d . c o . u k

Service industry Eco n o m i cs

Sponsor profile Proper ty

Office space

Proper ty

D r i n ks


Rupert [email protected]

THE CATEGORIES

� Innovator of the Year,sponsored by Aon� Export Award, sponsoredby Mazars� Marketing Campaign of theYe a r� Best Creative orTechnological Business,sponsored by NextGeneration Data� Young Entrepreneur of theYear, sponsored by Renishaw� Lifetime achievementaward, sponsored by PunterSouthall� Retailer of the Year,sponsored by BroadmeadBristol BID� Family Business of theYear, sponsored by BOMG ro u p� Large Business of the Year,sponsored by Smith &Williamson� Small Business of the Year,sponsored by Lloyds Bank� Start-up Business of theYear, sponsored by Jordans� Environmental BusinessAward, sponsored by NuffieldHealth� Contribution to theCommunity, sponsored byFirst Great Western� Customer Service Award,sponsored by DestinationBristol� Leisure and TourismBusiness of the Year,sponsored by QBE

� Justin Hawke, co-owner of Moor Beer Company

� BridgeQuay

� NGD’sworld-classmega datacentre hub

A CLEANING company whichstarted up a year ago hascelebrated with a giveawayto its 1,000th customer and anew relationship with a Bris-

tol-based charity.Gleem, which started life in Janu-

ary last year as Tidy and Shiny undermanaging director Joe Edwards, hasalso moved into new offices in KingS t re e t .

And as it hopes to cap off a greatfirst year, the firm will be enteringthis year’s Bristol Post BusinessAw a rd s.

The company is working withFrank Water, a Montpelier-basedcharity which supports and fundsclean water projects in India, bydonating one per cent of its profits.

Gleem gave away a bottle of bubblyand some bottles of Frank Water toEsta Porter of Southville, who wasthe company’s 1,000th customer.

Since starting up a year ago, Gleemnow has an office of staff looking afterits 20 cleaners who operate in officesand homes around Bristol and Bath.

During the next 12 months it plansto diversify into window cleaning andcarpet cleaning and is asking cus-tomers to suggest other services itcan provide, such as dog walking orgarden landscaping.

Joe said: “Growing Gleem andkeeping the service modern and in-teresting has been really enjoyable,plus it has enabled us to supportFrank Water, a local charity here inBristol.

“Personally, I’ve enjoyed develop-ing new skills which have come fromcreating a startup. I’m pleased withthe tone and service Gleem sets. Theindustry seemed to be missing asimple yet fun cleaning brand andnow we are filling that gap.”

The company decided to link upwith Frank Water to support thework it does in working on sustain-able solutions to issues around cleanwater access.

Children in India who are having totravel to collecting water should be inschool and the water that they

struggle to collect is often unhygien-i c.

Frank Water is working on edu-cating and providing equipment tohelp supply clean water to those inneed.

Joe said: “We are proud to say thatwe donate one per cent of all ourprofits to Frank Water and we arelooking forward to the next eventwhere we’ll be able help out.”

Katie Alcott, Frank Water’sfounder and CEO, said: “We ’rethrilled that Gleem and its customershave chosen to support Frank Water.

“All donations from Gleem willfund safe drinking water and goodquality sanitation for some of thepoorest, most vulnerable communit-

ies in the world. As small but am-bitious organisation, based in theSouth West, Frank Water and Gleemmake natural partners. We’re lookingforward to demonstrating howGleem’s donations will changepeople’s lives.”

� The awards will be presented at agala dinner at the Passenger Shed onJune 25. To enter the awards, becomea sponsor or attend the ceremony, goto bristolpost.co.uk/businessaw ards.

� Gleem celebrates its 1,000thcustomer. Annabelle Hunt, JonShepherd, Lucy Kane, JosephEdwards, Esta Porter, SarikaSeshadri Pic: Michael Lloyd

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Cleaning up 1,000th customer asfirm teams up with water charity

Moor the merrier B rewe rsaim to double production

BR I S T O L’S growing reputa-tion for breweries has beengiven a boost by the arrivalof multi-award winningMoor Beer Company in the

c i t y.The brewery moved its operation

from the Somerset Levels to an in-dustrial unit on Days Road in Bristol,just behind Temple Meads Station.

It has carried out a complete re-furbishment with the installation ofseven fermentation tanks and a bot-tling line.

And now it has added a brewery tapoutlet for its beers open seven days aweek offering off sales, tasting ses-sions and catering for parties and

private functions.Currently seven people are em-

ployed in the business, with the hopeto grow in future, brewing around20-30 different beers each year whichare offered in kegs, casks and bottlesranging in strength from 3.8 per centto a rather more potent 9.5 per cent.

The firms beers are unfined, whichmeans they don’t use the fish productor finings to settle the brew. Thisleaves them looking hazy and thefirm says it gives a bigger aroma andricher flavour.

The Moor Beer Company is ownedand operated by former US Armyofficers Justin and Maryann Hawke.Justin said: “Our new premises hasgiven us the capacity to grow and wehave plans to double and perhapstreble production and our workforcein the next few years.

“We will be installing anotherseven fermentation tanks and a can-

WORK has started on the transform-ation of a landmark building on Bris-tol’s waterfront into one and twobedroom apartments.

Bridge Quay, the former officebuilding located close to BristolBridge, is being redeveloped into 59waterside apartments by Urban &Civic plc.

It is the latest in the trend of officesbeing converted into flats under atemporary relaxation in planningrules called permitted developmentr i g h t s.

Each apartment has been designedwith picture windows and its ownbalcony to provide views across theFloating Harbour and city centre.

This development will incorporate

photovoltaic solar panels on the roofand the basement is retained toprovide secure parking and cyclestora g e.

Adam Pratt, development directorat Urban & Civic’s Bristol office, said:“We are really excited about the re-development of Bridge Quay. It is agreat building in an outstanding wa-terside location in the heart of thecity centre.”

He added: “The structure has al-lowed us to design generously sizedapartments. Residents will be able toenjoy light, bright living spaces withBristol’s amenities on the doorstep.”

Work on Bridge Quay started lastmonth and the apartments will belaunched on the market in April.

Offices being turned into waterside apartments

Devolution ‘threatto Bristol companies’� COMPANIES in Bristol could behit by more devolution to Wales,politicians and business leadershave warned.

With 90 per cent of the Welshpopulation living within 50 miles ofthe English border and 138 millionjourneys being taken between thetwo countries each year, differenttax and transport policies could bedetrimental for firms on the Englishside of the bridge.

Business West raised the issue atan event in Westminster attendedby, among others, Bristol Airportchief executive Robert Sinclair andWest of England Local EnterprisePartnership Colin Skellett.

Business West managingdirector Phil Smith said:“Businesses are concerned thatthe potential devolution of new tax,borrowing and economicdevelopment powers to Wales onMarch 1 is happening too quickly,and without sufficientconsideration or evidence of thelikely impact of these changes tobusinesses in England.”

North Somerset MP Liam Foxadded: “The West of England, andthe Bristol area in particular, isdoing very well economically. Wedo not need anti-competitivemeasures Introduced under theguise of devolution. There is noadvantage to UK plc for costlyshifting resources around for nooverall gain.”

Sue Turner, communicationsdirector at Bristol Port, said shehad “serious concerns” aboutmore power going Wales.

“The implications of any furtherdevolvement must be fullyassessed in order to avoiddestabilising business in transport,energy and a range of othersectors. We currently have a verycompetitive level playing field – itisn’t always perfect but we are alltreated the same.”

TV firm Endemolsnaps up city office� TELEVISION productioncompany Endemol has signed a10-year lease on a new office inBristol.

Property firm Savills has letspace at Embassy House, above,on Queens Avenue, Clifton, toEndemol UK Ltd on behalf ofKames Capital.

The leading production companyis taking space on the second floortotalling 5,176 sq ft (480 sq m),and will pay an annual rent of£80,228.

The building is now full. Otheroccupiers include Rider LevettBucknall, Specialist Publicationsand SACO.

Chris Meredith, director ofbusiness space at Savills Bristol,said: “We are very pleased to havesecured the letting of the finaloffice suite at Embassy House toEndemol. Requirements for primeoffice accommodation in Bristolremains high and we expect this tocontinue in 2015, with the TMTsector continuing to fuel demand.”

ning line which will support the in-ternational demand for our beerwhich takes about 30 per cent of ourtotal production.

“Export and domestic markets areimportant for growth but we alsowant to develop the local market andour Brewery Tap is key to thisstrate g y.”

Richard Kennedy, a partner atchartered accountants Francis Clarkhelped the firm buy the property andsecure a grant from the RegionalGrowth Fund.

“We are now preparing a claim forResearch and Development Tax Re-lief regarding the development ofnew brews,” he said.

“As well as being an ideal facilityfor expansion and developing newproducts, the new premises are in asuperb central location and I’m surethat when word gets around it willbecome a Bristol ‘must-go-to’ p l a c e. ”

Refurbishments tomeet rising demand� REFURBISHMENT opportunitiesneed to be exploited in the Bristoloffice market to meet a risingdemand for grade A space as thecity awaits the next wave ofdevelopment, according toproperty consultancy JLL.

Across the big six officemarkets, Bristol recorded thesecond highest number of dealsover 10,000 sq ft in 2014, 18 intotal, surpassed onlyby Manchester,whichrecorded 28,J L L’s officemarketre p o r tshowed.

In termsof totaltake-up for2014, Bristolcame in thirdplace at 870,000sq ft, ahead of Birmingham, Leedsand Glasgow. Manchester andEdinburgh came in first andsecond place respectively.

Bristol recorded one of thelowest grade A vacancy rates ofthe six markets at 1.1 per cent.This compares to a 1.6 per centaverage across the core sixmarkets outside London, thelowest level for 10 years.

Jeremy Richards, pictur ed, headof JLL’s Bristol office, said:“Looking ahead, we expectdemand for Grade A office spacein Bristol to continue to rise.

“With businesses in Londonfaced with rising costs and theprospect of an undersupply ofoffice space over the next three tofive years, we expect to see agrowing number of relocations – orpart-relocations – to Bristol.Around 23 million sq ft of officesare needed in London, butcurrently just 10 million are beingp ro v i d e d .

“In addition, Bristol willeffectively be brought closer to thecapital by the electrification of theGreat Western railway line and thiswill no doubt boost demandf u r t h e r.

“Bristol’s latest speculativedevelopment schemes, 2 GlassWharf and 66 Queen Square, nowhave tenants for the whole or partso we expect the next wave ofdevelopment to start. However, inthe meantime, refurbishmentopportunities need to be exploitedto meet demand as these can bedelivered more quickly than newschemes.”

WITH Bristol being home to such adynamic array of businesses NextGeneration Data (NGD) is delightedto be involved with this year’s pres-tigious Bristol Post Business Awardsprogramme and especially excited tobe sponsoring the Best Creative orTechnological Award category.

The Business Awards have attrac-ted a high calibre of entrants over theyears. They play a key role in en-couraging innovation, entrepreneur-ship and achievement within thelocal business community while en-suring exceptional success is fullyrecognised and rewarded.

Vision, innovation, creativity, dif-ferentiation and drive are all essen-tial ingredients for achieving andsustaining profitable businessgrowth and world-class reputation inthe fast moving and highly compet-itive creative and technology indus-tries. The judging criteria for ouraward category is indicative of thesequalities and in tune with our ownbusiness values and credentials hav-

ing rapidly established NGD as one ofE u ro p e ’s fastest growing and mostprofitable data centre operators: bydaring to be different, more innov-

Celebrating Bristol’sworld-class tech talent

ative, more flexible, and more re-sponsive than our competitors.

NGD’s success in establishing aworld-class mega data centre hub in

the area well away from London of-fers local businesses, large and small,the benefit of affordable word-classfacilities for supporting their criticalIT, cloud and data storage require-ments. Already ‘home’ to some verylarge government and multinationalorganisations, BT, CGI, IBM andWipro included, NGD is also fast be-coming a haven for businesses here inBristol with Computershare Techno-logy Services (UK), Hub Network Ser-vices, UNIT4, Ovo Energy andSouthern Telecom already amongthem.

And just as the railways and mo-torways did in the last two centuries,we fully recognise how in this digitalage a truly world-class data centrewill help deliver the region furthertalent, opportunity and economicprosperity. We wish all entrants tothis year’s Best Creative or Tech-nological Award the very best of for-tune and success.� w w w. n g d . c o . u k

Service industry Eco n o m i cs

Sponsor profile Proper ty

Office space

Proper ty

D r i n ks


Rupert [email protected]

THE CATEGORIES

� Innovator of the Year,sponsored by Aon� Export Award, sponsoredby Mazars� Marketing Campaign of theYe a r� Best Creative orTechnological Business,sponsored by NextGeneration Data� Young Entrepreneur of theYear, sponsored by Renishaw� Lifetime achievementaward, sponsored by PunterSouthall� Retailer of the Year,sponsored by BroadmeadBristol BID� Family Business of theYear, sponsored by BOMG ro u p� Large Business of the Year,sponsored by Smith &Williamson� Small Business of the Year,sponsored by Lloyds Bank� Start-up Business of theYear, sponsored by Jordans� Environmental BusinessAward, sponsored by NuffieldHealth� Contribution to theCommunity, sponsored byFirst Great Western� Customer Service Award,sponsored by DestinationBristol� Leisure and TourismBusiness of the Year,sponsored by QBE

� Justin Hawke, co-owner of Moor Beer Company

� BridgeQuay

� NGD’sworld-classmega datacentre hub

A CLEANING company whichstarted up a year ago hascelebrated with a giveawayto its 1,000th customer and anew relationship with a Bris-

tol-based charity.Gleem, which started life in Janu-

ary last year as Tidy and Shiny undermanaging director Joe Edwards, hasalso moved into new offices in KingS t re e t .

And as it hopes to cap off a greatfirst year, the firm will be enteringthis year’s Bristol Post BusinessAw a rd s.

The company is working withFrank Water, a Montpelier-basedcharity which supports and fundsclean water projects in India, bydonating one per cent of its profits.

Gleem gave away a bottle of bubblyand some bottles of Frank Water toEsta Porter of Southville, who wasthe company’s 1,000th customer.

Since starting up a year ago, Gleemnow has an office of staff looking afterits 20 cleaners who operate in officesand homes around Bristol and Bath.

During the next 12 months it plansto diversify into window cleaning andcarpet cleaning and is asking cus-tomers to suggest other services itcan provide, such as dog walking orgarden landscaping.

Joe said: “Growing Gleem andkeeping the service modern and in-teresting has been really enjoyable,plus it has enabled us to supportFrank Water, a local charity here inBristol.

“Personally, I’ve enjoyed develop-ing new skills which have come fromcreating a startup. I’m pleased withthe tone and service Gleem sets. Theindustry seemed to be missing asimple yet fun cleaning brand andnow we are filling that gap.”

The company decided to link upwith Frank Water to support thework it does in working on sustain-able solutions to issues around cleanwater access.

Children in India who are having totravel to collecting water should be inschool and the water that they

struggle to collect is often unhygien-i c.

Frank Water is working on edu-cating and providing equipment tohelp supply clean water to those inneed.

Joe said: “We are proud to say thatwe donate one per cent of all ourprofits to Frank Water and we arelooking forward to the next eventwhere we’ll be able help out.”

Katie Alcott, Frank Water’sfounder and CEO, said: “We ’rethrilled that Gleem and its customershave chosen to support Frank Water.

“All donations from Gleem willfund safe drinking water and goodquality sanitation for some of thepoorest, most vulnerable communit-

ies in the world. As small but am-bitious organisation, based in theSouth West, Frank Water and Gleemmake natural partners. We’re lookingforward to demonstrating howGleem’s donations will changepeople’s lives.”

� The awards will be presented at agala dinner at the Passenger Shed onJune 25. To enter the awards, becomea sponsor or attend the ceremony, goto bristolpost.co.uk/businessaw ards.

� Gleem celebrates its 1,000thcustomer. Annabelle Hunt, JonShepherd, Lucy Kane, JosephEdwards, Esta Porter, SarikaSeshadri Pic: Michael Lloyd

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The Business Pulse survey

‘MID-MARKET FIRMS ARE ENGINE FOR CITY’S GROWTH’Medium-sizedbusinesses are oftenunder valued. In the latestinstalment of theBusiness Pulse we lookat what the future holdsfor these workhorses ofthe economy

Paul Falvey

“As policy makers striveto re-balance theeconomy and we beginthe run-in to a GeneralElection, now is a goodtime to reflect on andrecognise the significantcontribution ofmid-market firms.

THE A380 double-decker super jumbo will fi-nally break even in 2015.

T hat’s according to results published by Air-bus Group, the parent company ofplane-maker Airbus which employs4,000 people in Filton on the edge ofBristol.

The company, which also in-cludes helicopter, defence andspace divisions as well as makingpassenger planes, also revealed itwill increase production of itssmaller single aisle A320 aircraftto 50 every month in 2017. At thesame time it will cut the number ofA330 planes it makes to just six permonth.

It also said it was “closely monitoring” theA400M military transport plane programmeafter delays and setbacks in production. Theplane is important locally because the wings aremade at Filton, before being shipped to Spainfor final assembly. The RAF’s recently tookdelivery of its first A400M, which it named Cityof Bristol.

The firm delivered 30 of the A380 super jum-bos last year and the plane has a list price of $428million (£278 million), which gives some idea ofthe level of investment involved.

Overall, Airbus Group enjoyed a record yearin 2014. Group revenues increased five per centto a record $60.7 billion (£44.2 billion), up from �

$57.6 billion (£42 billion) in 2013.Earnings before tax increased 54 per cent to $4

billion (£2.9 billion) up from $2.6 billion (£1.9billion).

Commercial Aircraft revenues rose seven percent, driven by the overall increase in deliveriesto a record 629 aircraft (FY 2013: 626 deliveries)and a more favourable delivery mix including 30A380s compared to 25 in 2013. In the fourth

quarter, the first A350 XWB was delivered toQatar Airways

And it has a backlog order book of6,386 aircraft, providing solid plat-

form for growth.“We achieved a significant im-

provement in profitability andcash generation in 2014 thanks to arecord order book and strong op-

erational performance in mosta re a s, ” said Tom Enders, Airbus

Group chief executive. “We deliveredmore commercial aircraft than ever be-

fore, including the first A350, and our netorders were, once again, more than twice thenumber of deliveries. Due to strong demand forsingle aisle aircraft we have decided to increaseproduction of our A320 family to 50 aircraft permonth from 2017 onwards.

“At the same time, we have decided to tem-porarily reduce A330 production to six aircraftper month in 2016. Most importantly, we con-firm the A380 break-even for 2015.

“We are focused on tackling our variousoperational challenges, including the A350 andA400M ramp-up and costs, first A320neo de-liveries, boosting helicopter sales, and con-tinuing the reshaping of our defence and spacepor tfolio.”

Airbus flying high as A380super jumbo finally takes off

� Colin Skellett, Chairman, West of EnglandLEP: “This is a fascinating insight into the issuesaffecting what is becoming an increasinglyimportant part of the economy here in the SouthWe s t .

“I am pleased that the findings of theBusiness Pulse survey show that the LocalEnterprise Partnership is recognised as animportant facilitator for funding.

“It is also good to see that the work we havebeen involved with to encourage growth andcreate new jobs through the Regional GrowthFund appears to have had a positive impact onbusiness and the local economy.”

COLIN SKELLETT

JAMES DURIE

� PaulFalvey

� James Durie, Executive Director of BristolChamber at Business West: “As the BusinessPulse survey highlights, mid-market firms aretoo often the ‘unsung heroes’ of the economy.With just over 2,500 of these businesses inBristol and the South West, their contribution indriving sustainable growth and jobs should notbe underestimated.

“There remains much to be done toencourage this growth. As the surveyillustrates, many businesses without theresources of larger organisations can miss thehelp and support available through publiclyfunded programmes.

“We recognise this and our focus is onensuring that the right joined up support is putin place through our Business West offer, LEPGrowth hubs, and our delivery of the UKTIcontract in the South West.

“In particular, our international trade servicesare relevant for many MSBs and our role atBusiness West is to encourage and stimulatetheir appetite for international expansion bymaking them aware of the support that isavailable via our #GetExporting campaign.”

MEDIUM-sized businessesmake a huge contributionto the UK economy. Theyproduce a combined £1 tril-lion in turnover each year

and account for 6.2 million jobs.However, research from accountancy

and business advisory firm BDO LLPsuggests this valuable element of theUK economy is still too often under-val-ued and overlooked.

This is why the latest Business Pulsespecial report, published today by BDOin partnership with the Bristol Post,looks closely at the role of MSBs inBristol and the surrounding region;examining how they could be betterleveraged and supported.

With input from a steering groupincluding Bristol mayor George Fer-guson, Colin Skellett (chairman of theWest of England Local Enterprise Part-nership), James Durie (executive dir-

private sector jobs. But what’s more,these businesses have the potential todeliver even more if they are given theright support.”

So what support do MSBs in Bristoland the greater region need in order tomaximise their potential? The Busi-ness Pulse survey asked respondents topinpoint the barriers to growth as wellas who is best placed to help themovercome these.

Almost half (48 per cent) identifiedthe burden of red tape and bureaucracyas being the biggest inhibitor to achiev-ing growth, closely followed by accessto investment, which more than four inten (44 per cent) businesses claimedwas a major hurdle.

The majority (58 per cent) of respond-ents identified banks as the most im-portant source of funding for MSBs,with the West of England Local En-terprise Partnership (LEP) also seen asan important conduit for financial sup-port (53 per cent).

Paul added: “Bristol and the greatercity region is home to a number ofinnovative and ambitious mid-marketfirms who are the engine for much ofthe city’s growth. However, these com-panies are often too large to benefitfrom policies tailored towards smallerbusinesses, yet too small to garner theattention commanded by the largestcor porates.

“In our Mid-Market Manifesto we

have outlined a number of practicalpolicy recommendations that couldmake a real difference to MSBs inBristol and the wider economy if theywere adopted by Government. One ofthese is to make it easier to accesscapital from the Regional Growth Fund(RGF) in order to aid expansion.

“It is pleasing to see that this chimeswith feedback from the survey, with thelocal LEP, which works closely with theRGF, highlighted as one of the mostimportant sources to assist MSBs withfuture growth.”

Another area identified in BDO’sMid-Market Manifesto is temporarilyreducing employers’ National Insur-ance (NI) for manufacturing compan-

ies when they take on new staff.Paul, who is also head of manufac-

turing for BDO in the South West,believes this would be another import-ant step in the right direction.

He said: “Manufacturing is a vitalsector for the region and the UK as awhole, and it is the medium-sized busi-nesses that provide the biggest un-tapped potential in both domestic andinternational markets.

“In the South West, mid-sized man-ufacturers already employ more than110,000 people and generate £18bn inrevenue, but another 5,500-plus newjobs in the sector would be created inthe region over the next Parliament ifNI was temporarily reduced.”

ector of Bristol Chamber at BusinessWest), and a wide cross section of lead-ers of local businesses, the survey firstaddressed how the role of medi-um-sized companies is likely to changeover the coming years.

The overwhelming majority (87 percent) of respondents believe MSBs willplay an important or much more im-portant role in the local economy overthe next five years.

When asked what specific qualitiesthese companies bring to the table, thestand-out factors highlighted weretheir ability to quickly grasp oppor-tunities, passion and commitment tosucceed and quality of customer care.

Paul Falvey, tax partner at BDO inBristol, said: “As policy makers striveto re-balance the economy and we beginthe run-in to a General Election, now isa good time to reflect on and recognisethe significant contribution ofmid-market firms.

“In the South West alone, despitemaking up less than one per cent of allfirms, MSBs provide £65 billion in rev-enue and create 21 per cent (451,000) of

NIC RILEY

� Nic Riley, managing director,Limbs & Things, St Philip’sbased manufacturer of medicaltraining products: “We arefortunate in that we have beenable to fund all of our growthinternally over the last decade andso are not exposed to some of theissues other businesses face insecuring external sources offinance to expand.

“However, the burden of redtape and bureaucracy is a bigchallenge for a medium-sizedbusiness such as ours because alot of organisation is needed tostay on top of legislation and ifthere is no internal resource forthis then it has to be outsourcedat a cost.

“What’s more, the resourcescommitted to this arenon-productive – it is not activitythat is going to help us win ordersor satisfy customers.

“It is great to be based in andpart of a successful and growingcity, but more does need to bedone by local authorities tosupport medium sized businessesand encourage them to set uphere rather than abroad.”

Ae ros pa ce


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The Business Pulse survey

‘MID-MARKET FIRMS ARE ENGINE FOR CITY’S GROWTH’Medium-sizedbusinesses are oftenunder valued. In the latestinstalment of theBusiness Pulse we lookat what the future holdsfor these workhorses ofthe economy

Paul Falvey

“As policy makers striveto re-balance theeconomy and we beginthe run-in to a GeneralElection, now is a goodtime to reflect on andrecognise the significantcontribution ofmid-market firms.

THE A380 double-decker super jumbo will fi-nally break even in 2015.

T hat’s according to results published by Air-bus Group, the parent company ofplane-maker Airbus which employs4,000 people in Filton on the edge ofBristol.

The company, which also in-cludes helicopter, defence andspace divisions as well as makingpassenger planes, also revealed itwill increase production of itssmaller single aisle A320 aircraftto 50 every month in 2017. At thesame time it will cut the number ofA330 planes it makes to just six permonth.

It also said it was “closely monitoring” theA400M military transport plane programmeafter delays and setbacks in production. Theplane is important locally because the wings aremade at Filton, before being shipped to Spainfor final assembly. The RAF’s recently tookdelivery of its first A400M, which it named Cityof Bristol.

The firm delivered 30 of the A380 super jum-bos last year and the plane has a list price of $428million (£278 million), which gives some idea ofthe level of investment involved.

Overall, Airbus Group enjoyed a record yearin 2014. Group revenues increased five per centto a record $60.7 billion (£44.2 billion), up from �

$57.6 billion (£42 billion) in 2013.Earnings before tax increased 54 per cent to $4

billion (£2.9 billion) up from $2.6 billion (£1.9billion).

Commercial Aircraft revenues rose seven percent, driven by the overall increase in deliveriesto a record 629 aircraft (FY 2013: 626 deliveries)and a more favourable delivery mix including 30A380s compared to 25 in 2013. In the fourth

quarter, the first A350 XWB was delivered toQatar Airways

And it has a backlog order book of6,386 aircraft, providing solid plat-

form for growth.“We achieved a significant im-

provement in profitability andcash generation in 2014 thanks to arecord order book and strong op-

erational performance in mosta re a s, ” said Tom Enders, Airbus

Group chief executive. “We deliveredmore commercial aircraft than ever be-

fore, including the first A350, and our netorders were, once again, more than twice thenumber of deliveries. Due to strong demand forsingle aisle aircraft we have decided to increaseproduction of our A320 family to 50 aircraft permonth from 2017 onwards.

“At the same time, we have decided to tem-porarily reduce A330 production to six aircraftper month in 2016. Most importantly, we con-firm the A380 break-even for 2015.

“We are focused on tackling our variousoperational challenges, including the A350 andA400M ramp-up and costs, first A320neo de-liveries, boosting helicopter sales, and con-tinuing the reshaping of our defence and spacepor tfolio.”

Airbus flying high as A380super jumbo finally takes off

� Colin Skellett, Chairman, West of EnglandLEP: “This is a fascinating insight into the issuesaffecting what is becoming an increasinglyimportant part of the economy here in the SouthWe s t .

“I am pleased that the findings of theBusiness Pulse survey show that the LocalEnterprise Partnership is recognised as animportant facilitator for funding.

“It is also good to see that the work we havebeen involved with to encourage growth andcreate new jobs through the Regional GrowthFund appears to have had a positive impact onbusiness and the local economy.”

COLIN SKELLETT

JAMES DURIE

� PaulFalvey

� James Durie, Executive Director of BristolChamber at Business West: “As the BusinessPulse survey highlights, mid-market firms aretoo often the ‘unsung heroes’ of the economy.With just over 2,500 of these businesses inBristol and the South West, their contribution indriving sustainable growth and jobs should notbe underestimated.

“There remains much to be done toencourage this growth. As the surveyillustrates, many businesses without theresources of larger organisations can miss thehelp and support available through publiclyfunded programmes.

“We recognise this and our focus is onensuring that the right joined up support is putin place through our Business West offer, LEPGrowth hubs, and our delivery of the UKTIcontract in the South West.

“In particular, our international trade servicesare relevant for many MSBs and our role atBusiness West is to encourage and stimulatetheir appetite for international expansion bymaking them aware of the support that isavailable via our #GetExporting campaign.”

MEDIUM-sized businessesmake a huge contributionto the UK economy. Theyproduce a combined £1 tril-lion in turnover each year

and account for 6.2 million jobs.However, research from accountancy

and business advisory firm BDO LLPsuggests this valuable element of theUK economy is still too often under-val-ued and overlooked.

This is why the latest Business Pulsespecial report, published today by BDOin partnership with the Bristol Post,looks closely at the role of MSBs inBristol and the surrounding region;examining how they could be betterleveraged and supported.

With input from a steering groupincluding Bristol mayor George Fer-guson, Colin Skellett (chairman of theWest of England Local Enterprise Part-nership), James Durie (executive dir-

private sector jobs. But what’s more,these businesses have the potential todeliver even more if they are given theright support.”

So what support do MSBs in Bristoland the greater region need in order tomaximise their potential? The Busi-ness Pulse survey asked respondents topinpoint the barriers to growth as wellas who is best placed to help themovercome these.

Almost half (48 per cent) identifiedthe burden of red tape and bureaucracyas being the biggest inhibitor to achiev-ing growth, closely followed by accessto investment, which more than four inten (44 per cent) businesses claimedwas a major hurdle.

The majority (58 per cent) of respond-ents identified banks as the most im-portant source of funding for MSBs,with the West of England Local En-terprise Partnership (LEP) also seen asan important conduit for financial sup-port (53 per cent).

Paul added: “Bristol and the greatercity region is home to a number ofinnovative and ambitious mid-marketfirms who are the engine for much ofthe city’s growth. However, these com-panies are often too large to benefitfrom policies tailored towards smallerbusinesses, yet too small to garner theattention commanded by the largestcor porates.

“In our Mid-Market Manifesto we

have outlined a number of practicalpolicy recommendations that couldmake a real difference to MSBs inBristol and the wider economy if theywere adopted by Government. One ofthese is to make it easier to accesscapital from the Regional Growth Fund(RGF) in order to aid expansion.

“It is pleasing to see that this chimeswith feedback from the survey, with thelocal LEP, which works closely with theRGF, highlighted as one of the mostimportant sources to assist MSBs withfuture growth.”

Another area identified in BDO’sMid-Market Manifesto is temporarilyreducing employers’ National Insur-ance (NI) for manufacturing compan-

ies when they take on new staff.Paul, who is also head of manufac-

turing for BDO in the South West,believes this would be another import-ant step in the right direction.

He said: “Manufacturing is a vitalsector for the region and the UK as awhole, and it is the medium-sized busi-nesses that provide the biggest un-tapped potential in both domestic andinternational markets.

“In the South West, mid-sized man-ufacturers already employ more than110,000 people and generate £18bn inrevenue, but another 5,500-plus newjobs in the sector would be created inthe region over the next Parliament ifNI was temporarily reduced.”

ector of Bristol Chamber at BusinessWest), and a wide cross section of lead-ers of local businesses, the survey firstaddressed how the role of medi-um-sized companies is likely to changeover the coming years.

The overwhelming majority (87 percent) of respondents believe MSBs willplay an important or much more im-portant role in the local economy overthe next five years.

When asked what specific qualitiesthese companies bring to the table, thestand-out factors highlighted weretheir ability to quickly grasp oppor-tunities, passion and commitment tosucceed and quality of customer care.

Paul Falvey, tax partner at BDO inBristol, said: “As policy makers striveto re-balance the economy and we beginthe run-in to a General Election, now isa good time to reflect on and recognisethe significant contribution ofmid-market firms.

“In the South West alone, despitemaking up less than one per cent of allfirms, MSBs provide £65 billion in rev-enue and create 21 per cent (451,000) of

NIC RILEY

� Nic Riley, managing director,Limbs & Things, St Philip’sbased manufacturer of medicaltraining products: “We arefortunate in that we have beenable to fund all of our growthinternally over the last decade andso are not exposed to some of theissues other businesses face insecuring external sources offinance to expand.

“However, the burden of redtape and bureaucracy is a bigchallenge for a medium-sizedbusiness such as ours because alot of organisation is needed tostay on top of legislation and ifthere is no internal resource forthis then it has to be outsourcedat a cost.

“What’s more, the resourcescommitted to this arenon-productive – it is not activitythat is going to help us win ordersor satisfy customers.

“It is great to be based in andpart of a successful and growingcity, but more does need to bedone by local authorities tosupport medium sized businessesand encourage them to set uphere rather than abroad.”

Ae ros pa ce


EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3


THE rise of shopping onlineand click-and-collect fromstore has been good for thelogistics and distribution in-dustry. People want wider

choice but shops don’t want to havetheir stock taking up expensive retailspace, so goods are stored in hugewarehouses and delivered whenneeded.

That lifestyle change for time-poorconsumers is one of the factors driv-ing growth in the distribution andlogistics sector.

And it’s a growth Bristol has beenwell-placed to capitalise on. Sitting atthe cross roads of the M4 and M5, thearea offers good access to the North,South Wales, South West and thecorridor towards London. The Bris-tol Port and Bristol Airport offerroutes to global markets too.

Thrings, says demand from retailersis having an impact on the sector.

He says there hasn’t yet been ahuge amount of pressure on rents butthat the incentives have disap-p e a re d .

“The two years’ free rent periodwhich was being offered to tempttenants has largely gone and is back

to normal six months’ free on afive-year lease,” he said.

“There is generally felt tobe a dearth of good space,

particularly there is adearth in the 30-100,000square foot category.

“Last year take upwas 2.5 million square

feet. We’ve got under 2million square feet of

space at the moment. At thesame rate we will soon run

out of space, unless somebodystarts building.”

Which is, of course, the obviousanswer. Build more. But there’s notmuch happening yet.

“Developers generally don’t havemuch enthusiasm for speculativebu i l d i n g , ” said David, right.

“One of the issues will be where?

There are not huge amounts of land.Almost nothing in South Bristol,t h e re ’s some allocation at Filton butonly around 60,000 square feet.

“That might appeal to the buildersmerchants who like to be among thechimney stacks. But if you are ahaulier and want to be away fromhomes there’s really just Avon-mouth.”

One developer, however, isat least dipping its toe inthe market.

St Modwen’s has se-cured planning consentto build 107,000 sq ft ofwarehouse and indus-trial units at its 212 acredevelopment, Access 18,off junction 18 of the M5 inAvo n m o u t h .

Pete Davies, senior devel-opment manager at the company,said: “Access 18 is one of our keycommercial development sites underway in the South West. Developed inphases and easily accessible from theM5, it’s an ideal location for busi-nesses looking to expand their dis-tribution and industrial operationsin the region.

“Following this new planning con-sent, work will start shortly on thefirst of three new commercial units.“This first building will provide37,000 sq ft of prime warehouse andindustrial accommodation through2015, which is available for purchaseor rent.”

This £150 million scheme is hometo businesses including national

paper distributor Antalis; ca-tering suppliers Nisbet;

greetings card manufac-turer Budget GreetingsCards; Richard AustinAlloys and FlexipadsWorld Class Ltd.

Design and build op-portunities are available

from 10,000 sq ft to 300,000sq ft on a leasehold or pur-

chase basis.In addition to this speculative

build, St Modwen’s has signed apre-let deal with parcel distributionfirm myHermes to expand opera-tions into a new 43,100 sq ft ware-housing on the Access 18 site. Aplanning application has been sub-mitted and work could start quickly.

If St Modwen’s speculative schemes

CHARITIES have been told there’s no such thingas a free shop anymore… After years of beingable to take their pick of vacant retail premisesin all but the most prestigious of shoppinglocations, charities across the UK are being

obliged to revise their expectations as increased de-mand and changing usage begins to affect supply.

During the recession landlords and stakeholderswere desperate to get charities into vacant units ratherthan contemplate rows of empty and boarded ups h o p s.

The Government backed a nationwide campaignfronted by Mary Portas in a bid to try to put ourstruggling high streets back on their feet.

As retailers moved out, charity chains and pop-upstores moved in. In many cases they were the onlysectors left standing, helping to keep West Country highstreets ticking over during the downturn.

The growth of charity shops hit a peak in 2013 withsome 10,000 reported across the UK. In some High Streetlocations it seemed that the not-for-profit retail outletswere in danger of outnumbering conventional retailers,potentially undermining rental values.

But now the retail property market is recovering,charities are finding their choices are becoming in-creasingly constricted. As supply diminishes and rentsbegin to rise once more, landlords are starting to thinktwice before allowing vacant properties to go for low or‘peppercor n’ re n t s.

In some fringe locations, landlords may have foundentirely new uses for their vacant retail property,turning abandoned shop premises over to residential oralternative commercial uses.

To d ay ’s rapidly changing retail property market isplacing a question mark over what had been a virtualyear-on-year expansion programme for the charitysector. Inevitably there is a limit to the number ofcharity shops which can be viable in any given loc-at i o n .

As commercial property specialists we are active inthe not-for-profit sector – and carry out important workacquiring premises or negotiating leases on behalf of anumber of leading UK charities.

In response to the ever-changing market trends wehave set up a special hotline for those charities who findthemselves struggling to maintain their existing prop-erty portfolio – let alone identifying new shop outlets.

Many charities are still looking for additional storeoutlets but they won’t be as spoilt for choice as theywere four or five years ago.

During the downturn charities were often able to taketheir pick of business locations on very low rents or insome cases rent free. With an 80 per cent reduction inbusiness rates also available in most cases, charityoccupiers were able to trade successfully in some verymarginal locations, as well as picking up units in betterlocations at below market value.

But the rapidly recovering economy has reignitedinterest in all commercial property and this increasingdemand could impact on charity operations, partic-ularly where the charity has little or no security oftenure as a condition of being allowed to occupy onconcessionary terms.

We have heard of some extreme cases where charitieshave taken on a shop on a short lease, fitted it up andfound staff only to learn the landlord had taken it backag ain.

It seems clear that the changing retail market couldput pressure on the charity sector as a whole, as theyseek to maintain income from their retail operations.

Charities running into difficulties finding new ornegotiating new leases can ring the Bruton KnowlesCharity Shop hotline on 0117 287 2101.

High street recovery will placepressure on charity shops

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

The logistics and distributionsector employs 38,000people across the Bristolarea. But, as GavinThompson reports, it is fastrunning out of space

The sector now employs 38,000people in the West of England – Bris-tol, South Gloucestershire, NorthSomerset and Bath & North-EastSomerset.

But despite the 550 hectares of landin the Avonmouth and SevernsideEnterprise Area – the largest brown-field site in Europe – it seems theindustry is running out of optionswhen it comes to property.

Industrial take-up in the SouthWest totalled 1.1 million square feetin the fourth quarter of 2014, ac-cording to Phil Cranstone, right, as-sociate director for industrial agencyat property consultants DTZ in Bris-tol. But he says the lack of supply heldback take up around the city.

“There was quite a lot of activity inperipheral locations over the secondhalf of the year,” he said. “T he

Ministry of Defence approval enablesIES to distribute military equipmentCase study

Property Matters

SPACED OUT: DISTRIBUTION FIRMS RUNNING OUT OPTIONS

attract tenants it should encourageothers to take the plunge.

The proposed new M49 Junction,which was awarded funding in thelast Budget, could help encouragedevelopment as it will improve mo-torway access around Avonmouth.

There will be some second-handstock back on the market, such as the67,000 square foot City Link site atCribbs Causeway following the firmgoing bust. But it’s the bigger spec-ulative schemes that will be needed ifthe sector is to grow to its potential.

Phil, from DTZ, added: “D eve l o p e r sare beginning to consider speculativedevelopment in the South West. Anylarger scale speculative developmentwill be more likely to happen towardsthe end of 2015 and into 2016, either ondistribution land in Avonmouth or atthe Rolls-Royce East Works site inFilton.”

Timing is everything for de-velopers. Too late and they miss theopportunity, too soon and they are leftwith very expensive empty build-i n g s.

It’s understandable that they arecautious. But the signs are that thetime is now.

Phil Cranstone

“The strong competitionbetween occupiers andthe lack of good qualityopportunities meansBristol currently has thehighest industrial rentsoutside of London.

well-documented lack of stock andland space in the Bristol area is evid-ent here, with no deals above 50,000 sqft recorded in Bristol or Avonmouth,two grade B transactions in the sur-rounding areas of Yate (63,000 sq ft toAmazon), and in Portishead (51,000 sqft to Masters Golf).”

Phil says there are only two grade Abuildings currently available inthe region, both in Avon-mouth – the remaining334,000 sq ft of Crossflow550 and the 270,000 sq ft250 G. Park which isnow being openly mar-ke t e d .

“The strong compet-ition between occupiersand the lack of good qual-ity opportunities meansBristol currently has thehighest industrial rents outsideof London,” he said.

“This is expected to grow by afurther 1.3 per cent on average peryear by 2019, having already seenmodest growth to the current £7.50per sq ft.”

David Mears, commercial propertypartner at Bristol-based law firm

Paul WilliamsHead of AgencyBruton Knowlespaul.williams@ brutonknowles.co.uk 0117 287 2101

Expert eye

Property of the Week

� PACKAGING, logistics andengineering company IES has secured akey accreditation that will allow it todistribute military equipment.

It should open up new markets for thefirm and help it to grow quickly.

IES has been accredited for theprestigious Military Packager ApprovalScheme (MPAS) by the Ministry ofDefence.

It is the first company in the country tosecure the approval after starting fromscratch, rather than being transferredover from the MoD’s previous packagingapproval scheme.

The accreditation has been awardedto only 26 other companies across theUK who meet the MoD’s stringentstandards that certify them to packagegoods for the defence industry.

Packer Piotr Strug undertook variousstages of training and assessment,including intensive online training and afive-day expert course culminating in aseries of practical exams.

Meanwhile, the firm implemented newISO 9000 management processes,which were audited by an MoDapproved external certification body.

It has been involved with the exportpacking business since 1991 and hassupplied this service to companies suchas Rolls-Royce, GE and Intel.

Over the past three years turnover hasincreased by 30 per cent. Moresignificantly, the business has grownfrom a £4.5 million turnover in 2005 to a£7.5 million turnover in 2014, an

increase of an impressive 66 per cent.At the same time IES has expanded

from employing 31 people to 45 people.Having recently taken on new packagingstaff, the new accreditation will enable itto grow further and take on more staff.

The firm is fortunate that it has beenable to buy the Avonmouth base it usedto lease and has room to keep growing.

Sales director Matt Boyd said: “It isextremely important for our businessthat we have secured the MPASregistration and certification from theMoD. It will open up a whole new area ofbusiness for us and we are confidentthat we will win some big contracts,which will have a positive impact, bothon the local economy and us.

“We are forecasting high growth overthe next three years and predict morerecruitment will be needed to help uscarry out the extra work required.

“There are numerous companies inthe South West who supply parts to theMoD and they all need a packagingsupplier who has this essential MPASre g i s t r a t i o n . ”Matt Boyd

“ It will open up a wholenew area of business for usand we are confident thatwe will win some bigcontracts, which will have apositive impact, both on thelocal economy and us.

� From left,Matt Boyd,

sales directorat IES, Piotr

Strug, packerat IES andMinistry of

Defencere p re s e n t a t i v e

Bob Deary.Bristol

packaging,logistics andengineering

company IEShas secured

an MoDa c c re d i t a t i o nthat will allowit to work forthe defence

industry

In association with

0117 287 2101brutonknowles.co.uk

Open Plan Office Suite To LetClue House, Petherton Road, Bristol BS14 9BZ

Contact: [email protected] Joint Agents Knight Frank

• Flexible well-lit office space

• c.2,000 - 4,924 sq ft

(185.8 - 457.4 sq m)

• 15 on-site car parking spaces

• 2 miles from Temple Meads station

BK code:2764

EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3


THE rise of shopping onlineand click-and-collect fromstore has been good for thelogistics and distribution in-dustry. People want wider

choice but shops don’t want to havetheir stock taking up expensive retailspace, so goods are stored in hugewarehouses and delivered whenneeded.

That lifestyle change for time-poorconsumers is one of the factors driv-ing growth in the distribution andlogistics sector.

And it’s a growth Bristol has beenwell-placed to capitalise on. Sitting atthe cross roads of the M4 and M5, thearea offers good access to the North,South Wales, South West and thecorridor towards London. The Bris-tol Port and Bristol Airport offerroutes to global markets too.

Thrings, says demand from retailersis having an impact on the sector.

He says there hasn’t yet been ahuge amount of pressure on rents butthat the incentives have disap-p e a re d .

“The two years’ free rent periodwhich was being offered to tempttenants has largely gone and is back

to normal six months’ free on afive-year lease,” he said.

“There is generally felt tobe a dearth of good space,

particularly there is adearth in the 30-100,000square foot category.

“Last year take upwas 2.5 million square

feet. We’ve got under 2million square feet of

space at the moment. At thesame rate we will soon run

out of space, unless somebodystarts building.”

Which is, of course, the obviousanswer. Build more. But there’s notmuch happening yet.

“Developers generally don’t havemuch enthusiasm for speculativebu i l d i n g , ” said David, right.

“One of the issues will be where?

There are not huge amounts of land.Almost nothing in South Bristol,t h e re ’s some allocation at Filton butonly around 60,000 square feet.

“That might appeal to the buildersmerchants who like to be among thechimney stacks. But if you are ahaulier and want to be away fromhomes there’s really just Avon-mouth.”

One developer, however, isat least dipping its toe inthe market.

St Modwen’s has se-cured planning consentto build 107,000 sq ft ofwarehouse and indus-trial units at its 212 acredevelopment, Access 18,off junction 18 of the M5 inAvo n m o u t h .

Pete Davies, senior devel-opment manager at the company,said: “Access 18 is one of our keycommercial development sites underway in the South West. Developed inphases and easily accessible from theM5, it’s an ideal location for busi-nesses looking to expand their dis-tribution and industrial operationsin the region.

“Following this new planning con-sent, work will start shortly on thefirst of three new commercial units.“This first building will provide37,000 sq ft of prime warehouse andindustrial accommodation through2015, which is available for purchaseor rent.”

This £150 million scheme is hometo businesses including national

paper distributor Antalis; ca-tering suppliers Nisbet;

greetings card manufac-turer Budget GreetingsCards; Richard AustinAlloys and FlexipadsWorld Class Ltd.

Design and build op-portunities are available

from 10,000 sq ft to 300,000sq ft on a leasehold or pur-

chase basis.In addition to this speculative

build, St Modwen’s has signed apre-let deal with parcel distributionfirm myHermes to expand opera-tions into a new 43,100 sq ft ware-housing on the Access 18 site. Aplanning application has been sub-mitted and work could start quickly.

If St Modwen’s speculative schemes

CHARITIES have been told there’s no such thingas a free shop anymore… After years of beingable to take their pick of vacant retail premisesin all but the most prestigious of shoppinglocations, charities across the UK are being

obliged to revise their expectations as increased de-mand and changing usage begins to affect supply.

During the recession landlords and stakeholderswere desperate to get charities into vacant units ratherthan contemplate rows of empty and boarded ups h o p s.

The Government backed a nationwide campaignfronted by Mary Portas in a bid to try to put ourstruggling high streets back on their feet.

As retailers moved out, charity chains and pop-upstores moved in. In many cases they were the onlysectors left standing, helping to keep West Country highstreets ticking over during the downturn.

The growth of charity shops hit a peak in 2013 withsome 10,000 reported across the UK. In some High Streetlocations it seemed that the not-for-profit retail outletswere in danger of outnumbering conventional retailers,potentially undermining rental values.

But now the retail property market is recovering,charities are finding their choices are becoming in-creasingly constricted. As supply diminishes and rentsbegin to rise once more, landlords are starting to thinktwice before allowing vacant properties to go for low or‘peppercor n’ re n t s.

In some fringe locations, landlords may have foundentirely new uses for their vacant retail property,turning abandoned shop premises over to residential oralternative commercial uses.

To d ay ’s rapidly changing retail property market isplacing a question mark over what had been a virtualyear-on-year expansion programme for the charitysector. Inevitably there is a limit to the number ofcharity shops which can be viable in any given loc-at i o n .

As commercial property specialists we are active inthe not-for-profit sector – and carry out important workacquiring premises or negotiating leases on behalf of anumber of leading UK charities.

In response to the ever-changing market trends wehave set up a special hotline for those charities who findthemselves struggling to maintain their existing prop-erty portfolio – let alone identifying new shop outlets.

Many charities are still looking for additional storeoutlets but they won’t be as spoilt for choice as theywere four or five years ago.

During the downturn charities were often able to taketheir pick of business locations on very low rents or insome cases rent free. With an 80 per cent reduction inbusiness rates also available in most cases, charityoccupiers were able to trade successfully in some verymarginal locations, as well as picking up units in betterlocations at below market value.

But the rapidly recovering economy has reignitedinterest in all commercial property and this increasingdemand could impact on charity operations, partic-ularly where the charity has little or no security oftenure as a condition of being allowed to occupy onconcessionary terms.

We have heard of some extreme cases where charitieshave taken on a shop on a short lease, fitted it up andfound staff only to learn the landlord had taken it backag ain.

It seems clear that the changing retail market couldput pressure on the charity sector as a whole, as theyseek to maintain income from their retail operations.

Charities running into difficulties finding new ornegotiating new leases can ring the Bruton KnowlesCharity Shop hotline on 0117 287 2101.

High street recovery will placepressure on charity shops

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

The logistics and distributionsector employs 38,000people across the Bristolarea. But, as GavinThompson reports, it is fastrunning out of space

The sector now employs 38,000people in the West of England – Bris-tol, South Gloucestershire, NorthSomerset and Bath & North-EastSomerset.

But despite the 550 hectares of landin the Avonmouth and SevernsideEnterprise Area – the largest brown-field site in Europe – it seems theindustry is running out of optionswhen it comes to property.

Industrial take-up in the SouthWest totalled 1.1 million square feetin the fourth quarter of 2014, ac-cording to Phil Cranstone, right, as-sociate director for industrial agencyat property consultants DTZ in Bris-tol. But he says the lack of supply heldback take up around the city.

“There was quite a lot of activity inperipheral locations over the secondhalf of the year,” he said. “T he

Ministry of Defence approval enablesIES to distribute military equipmentCase study

Property Matters

SPACED OUT: DISTRIBUTION FIRMS RUNNING OUT OPTIONS

attract tenants it should encourageothers to take the plunge.

The proposed new M49 Junction,which was awarded funding in thelast Budget, could help encouragedevelopment as it will improve mo-torway access around Avonmouth.

There will be some second-handstock back on the market, such as the67,000 square foot City Link site atCribbs Causeway following the firmgoing bust. But it’s the bigger spec-ulative schemes that will be needed ifthe sector is to grow to its potential.

Phil, from DTZ, added: “D eve l o p e r sare beginning to consider speculativedevelopment in the South West. Anylarger scale speculative developmentwill be more likely to happen towardsthe end of 2015 and into 2016, either ondistribution land in Avonmouth or atthe Rolls-Royce East Works site inFilton.”

Timing is everything for de-velopers. Too late and they miss theopportunity, too soon and they are leftwith very expensive empty build-i n g s.

It’s understandable that they arecautious. But the signs are that thetime is now.

Phil Cranstone

“The strong competitionbetween occupiers andthe lack of good qualityopportunities meansBristol currently has thehighest industrial rentsoutside of London.

well-documented lack of stock andland space in the Bristol area is evid-ent here, with no deals above 50,000 sqft recorded in Bristol or Avonmouth,two grade B transactions in the sur-rounding areas of Yate (63,000 sq ft toAmazon), and in Portishead (51,000 sqft to Masters Golf).”

Phil says there are only two grade Abuildings currently available inthe region, both in Avon-mouth – the remaining334,000 sq ft of Crossflow550 and the 270,000 sq ft250 G. Park which isnow being openly mar-ke t e d .

“The strong compet-ition between occupiersand the lack of good qual-ity opportunities meansBristol currently has thehighest industrial rents outsideof London,” he said.

“This is expected to grow by afurther 1.3 per cent on average peryear by 2019, having already seenmodest growth to the current £7.50per sq ft.”

David Mears, commercial propertypartner at Bristol-based law firm

Paul WilliamsHead of AgencyBruton Knowlespaul.williams@ brutonknowles.co.uk 0117 287 2101

Expert eye

Property of the Week

� PACKAGING, logistics andengineering company IES has secured akey accreditation that will allow it todistribute military equipment.

It should open up new markets for thefirm and help it to grow quickly.

IES has been accredited for theprestigious Military Packager ApprovalScheme (MPAS) by the Ministry ofDefence.

It is the first company in the country tosecure the approval after starting fromscratch, rather than being transferredover from the MoD’s previous packagingapproval scheme.

The accreditation has been awardedto only 26 other companies across theUK who meet the MoD’s stringentstandards that certify them to packagegoods for the defence industry.

Packer Piotr Strug undertook variousstages of training and assessment,including intensive online training and afive-day expert course culminating in aseries of practical exams.

Meanwhile, the firm implemented newISO 9000 management processes,which were audited by an MoDapproved external certification body.

It has been involved with the exportpacking business since 1991 and hassupplied this service to companies suchas Rolls-Royce, GE and Intel.

Over the past three years turnover hasincreased by 30 per cent. Moresignificantly, the business has grownfrom a £4.5 million turnover in 2005 to a£7.5 million turnover in 2014, an

increase of an impressive 66 per cent.At the same time IES has expanded

from employing 31 people to 45 people.Having recently taken on new packagingstaff, the new accreditation will enable itto grow further and take on more staff.

The firm is fortunate that it has beenable to buy the Avonmouth base it usedto lease and has room to keep growing.

Sales director Matt Boyd said: “It isextremely important for our businessthat we have secured the MPASregistration and certification from theMoD. It will open up a whole new area ofbusiness for us and we are confidentthat we will win some big contracts,which will have a positive impact, bothon the local economy and us.

“We are forecasting high growth overthe next three years and predict morerecruitment will be needed to help uscarry out the extra work required.

“There are numerous companies inthe South West who supply parts to theMoD and they all need a packagingsupplier who has this essential MPASre g i s t r a t i o n . ”Matt Boyd

“ It will open up a wholenew area of business for usand we are confident thatwe will win some bigcontracts, which will have apositive impact, both on thelocal economy and us.

� From left,Matt Boyd,

sales directorat IES, Piotr

Strug, packerat IES andMinistry of

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In pictures Bristol Distinguished Address Series

Law of the jungle Speaker tells ofupheavals in global legal market

Business diary

Email your business events [email protected] are sometimescancelled without us beingnotified so please check withorganisers before travelling.

Business Models andStructural Choices: Seminarseries focuses on how businessmodels can maximiseproductivity and growth. ESRCResearch Seminar Series, today,UWE Bristol, Frenchay Campus.Email: [email protected].

Confidence in Business - Keysto Success: Unlock the What,How and Why of your business.Four linked morning eventsstarting today aimed at Bristolbusiness women coveringbranding, marketing,presentation skills and finance.This is a series of free eventspresented by women for women.w w w. b l u e o r c h i d . c o . u k / e v e n t s .

Bristol Distinguished Address:James Timpson, chief executiveof Timpson, gives the address atUWE Frenchay Campus from6pm today.

Networking with FreelanceMum: The networking event youcan take your kids to. Extendedspecial for InternationalWo m e n ’s Day with guestspeakers Rev Helen Johnson,business coach Gail Gibson andrecruitment specialist HelenSanders, March 10, 10am-2pm.Lunch provided by Relish.www.fr eelancemum.co.uk.

Smart Cities - tech solutions tourban transport challenges:Panel event hosted by BondDickinson at its Temple Quayoffices about how connectedtechnology and data could helptraffic problems. From 11.30am,March 16. Email [email protected].

Bristol Business Exhibition:Sponsored by Bristol CityCouncil and Destination Bristol,this event attracts more than 500delegates, typically businessowners and decision makersfrom the SME sector. March 17at M shed. See w w w. b r i s t o lbusinessexhibition.co.uk.

Walk & Swim Netwalk forWomen in Business: Meet atthe Lido for coffee, walk to theGorge, along the Promenade toClifton Downs and return to Lidoaround 10.30am for coffee. Thena swim and sauna pass and stayfor a couple of hours. March 19.Book via Eventbrite.

Bristol Post and BathChronicle Women In BusinessAwards 2015: The winners willbe revealed at a gala awardsdinner at the Bristol City CentreMarriott on March 19. To booktickets for the night, visitwww.bristolpost.co.uk/ wiba. Ifyou’re talking about the awardson social medial, use #wiba.

The Lord Mayor’s CharityDinner: Enjoy a drinks receptionfollowed by a three-coursedinner, live entertainment andauction, in aid of The Lord Mayorof Bristol’s Children Appeal onApril 30 at the Bristol MarriottRoyal Hotel. Book ticketsthrough Eventbrite and help raisemoney for the city’s mostdisadvantaged children. [email protected] forsponsorship opportunities.

CHANGE was the topic forMatthew Layton, managingpartner of Clifford ChanceLLP, when he addressed thebusiness community as part

of the Bristol Distinguished AddressS e r i e s.

M at t h ew ’s lecture was entitled: “Ajourney of change – past, present andfuture – the development of the globallegal market”.

The event was hosted by the BristolPost and sister paper the WesternDaily Press.

The British legal industry is facinga decade of new challenges and op-portunities with increasing compet-ition and unprecedented disruption –from within and outside the market.

Technology will be a major driverfor change but transformation, in-novation and cultural change withinany professional services firm

presents particular challenges.Matthew reflected on the key ele-

ments of the successful developmentof the global legal market in thecontext of Clifford Chance and lookedforward to the challenges and op-portunities that lie ahead.

The Bristol Distinguished AddressSeries is one of the highlights of theUniversity calendar and is a uniqueopportunity to hear about the chal-lenges, issues and decisions beingmade at the highest level of strategicleadership, directly from the leadersof organisations driving UK businessperfor mance.

The series is delivered by the Bris-tol Business School in partnershipwith ACCA, Bristol City Council,Bristol Junior Chamber, Bristol Post,Business West, CBI, CMI, FSB,ICAEW, IoD, and the West of EnglandL E P.

Lessons on job skills for youngsters

In pictures Bristol Junior Chamber hustings

BUSINESSES were invited to findout how they can engage morewith schools.

Seeing is Believing gave peoplethe chance to see the impact ofwork done by Business in theCommunity, meeting some of theschoolchildren and mentors.

The event, at KPMG’s TempleStreet offices in Bristol, gave at-tendees information about Busi-ness Class, a programme with thegoal of widening young people’sunderstanding of what they needto be employable and the skillsthey need in the jobs market.

THE Bristol Junior Chamber (BJC)held hustings for the Bristol NorthWest parliamentary seat. The hust-ings were held at the Bristol offices ofnational law firm Clarke Willmott

LLP. Three of the candidates for the BristolNorth West seat, sitting MP Charlotte Leslie(Conservative), Darren Jones (Labour) andClare Campion-Smith (Liberal Democrats)took part in the Hustings. James Durie,executive director of Business West chairedthe Hustings.

The three candidates debated the following

topics in front of BJC members, (1) the Eco-nomy and Business, (2) Education and Skillsand (3) Local Devolution and Transport.

BJC president Karl Brown said the Hust-ings were a fantastic opportunity for cham-ber members to hear the policies and views ofeach candidate on important business issues.Karl also added that the BJC membershipconsists of many future business leaders inBristol who are keen to ensure thatwhichever government is elected providesthe right conditions for businesses to thriveand succeed.

Candidates state case tobusiness leaders of future

In pictures Seeing is Believing

� From left, Stephen Rosser, chief executive of Clarke Willmott LLP, Charlotte Leslie, Bristol Junior ChamberPresident Karl Brown, Clare Campion-Smith, Darren Jones, James Durie, executive director of Business West

� From left, Ian Mean, Western Daily Press editor, speaker Matthew Layton,managing partner of Clifford Chance LLP, Laura Vega, Business andManagement student at UWE Bristol; Professor Nicholas O’Regan,Associate Dean (Research and Innovation) Bristol Business School, UWE

Part of the Local World group

AN Event Services provide audio visual equipmentand support for all your event needs. We offer aprofessional and experienced approach withpre-show, on-site and post-show technical support.

Staging your event doesn’thave to cost a fortune...

Whatever the event, we’ve got it covered

Call us on: 01684 575832Email us at: [email protected] us at : www.aneventservices.co.uk

EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3


In pictures Bristol Distinguished Address Series

Law of the jungle Speaker tells ofupheavals in global legal market

Business diary

Email your business events [email protected] are sometimescancelled without us beingnotified so please check withorganisers before travelling.

Business Models andStructural Choices: Seminarseries focuses on how businessmodels can maximiseproductivity and growth. ESRCResearch Seminar Series, today,UWE Bristol, Frenchay Campus.Email: [email protected].

Confidence in Business - Keysto Success: Unlock the What,How and Why of your business.Four linked morning eventsstarting today aimed at Bristolbusiness women coveringbranding, marketing,presentation skills and finance.This is a series of free eventspresented by women for women.w w w. b l u e o r c h i d . c o . u k / e v e n t s .

Bristol Distinguished Address:James Timpson, chief executiveof Timpson, gives the address atUWE Frenchay Campus from6pm today.

Networking with FreelanceMum: The networking event youcan take your kids to. Extendedspecial for InternationalWo m e n ’s Day with guestspeakers Rev Helen Johnson,business coach Gail Gibson andrecruitment specialist HelenSanders, March 10, 10am-2pm.Lunch provided by Relish.www.fr eelancemum.co.uk.

Smart Cities - tech solutions tourban transport challenges:Panel event hosted by BondDickinson at its Temple Quayoffices about how connectedtechnology and data could helptraffic problems. From 11.30am,March 16. Email [email protected].

Bristol Business Exhibition:Sponsored by Bristol CityCouncil and Destination Bristol,this event attracts more than 500delegates, typically businessowners and decision makersfrom the SME sector. March 17at M shed. See w w w. b r i s t o lbusinessexhibition.co.uk.

Walk & Swim Netwalk forWomen in Business: Meet atthe Lido for coffee, walk to theGorge, along the Promenade toClifton Downs and return to Lidoaround 10.30am for coffee. Thena swim and sauna pass and stayfor a couple of hours. March 19.Book via Eventbrite.

Bristol Post and BathChronicle Women In BusinessAwards 2015: The winners willbe revealed at a gala awardsdinner at the Bristol City CentreMarriott on March 19. To booktickets for the night, visitwww.bristolpost.co.uk/ wiba. Ifyou’re talking about the awardson social medial, use #wiba.

The Lord Mayor’s CharityDinner: Enjoy a drinks receptionfollowed by a three-coursedinner, live entertainment andauction, in aid of The Lord Mayorof Bristol’s Children Appeal onApril 30 at the Bristol MarriottRoyal Hotel. Book ticketsthrough Eventbrite and help raisemoney for the city’s mostdisadvantaged children. [email protected] forsponsorship opportunities.

CHANGE was the topic forMatthew Layton, managingpartner of Clifford ChanceLLP, when he addressed thebusiness community as part

of the Bristol Distinguished AddressS e r i e s.

M at t h ew ’s lecture was entitled: “Ajourney of change – past, present andfuture – the development of the globallegal market”.

The event was hosted by the BristolPost and sister paper the WesternDaily Press.

The British legal industry is facinga decade of new challenges and op-portunities with increasing compet-ition and unprecedented disruption –from within and outside the market.

Technology will be a major driverfor change but transformation, in-novation and cultural change withinany professional services firm

presents particular challenges.Matthew reflected on the key ele-

ments of the successful developmentof the global legal market in thecontext of Clifford Chance and lookedforward to the challenges and op-portunities that lie ahead.

The Bristol Distinguished AddressSeries is one of the highlights of theUniversity calendar and is a uniqueopportunity to hear about the chal-lenges, issues and decisions beingmade at the highest level of strategicleadership, directly from the leadersof organisations driving UK businessperfor mance.

The series is delivered by the Bris-tol Business School in partnershipwith ACCA, Bristol City Council,Bristol Junior Chamber, Bristol Post,Business West, CBI, CMI, FSB,ICAEW, IoD, and the West of EnglandL E P.

Lessons on job skills for youngsters

In pictures Bristol Junior Chamber hustings

BUSINESSES were invited to findout how they can engage morewith schools.

Seeing is Believing gave peoplethe chance to see the impact ofwork done by Business in theCommunity, meeting some of theschoolchildren and mentors.

The event, at KPMG’s TempleStreet offices in Bristol, gave at-tendees information about Busi-ness Class, a programme with thegoal of widening young people’sunderstanding of what they needto be employable and the skillsthey need in the jobs market.

THE Bristol Junior Chamber (BJC)held hustings for the Bristol NorthWest parliamentary seat. The hust-ings were held at the Bristol offices ofnational law firm Clarke Willmott

LLP. Three of the candidates for the BristolNorth West seat, sitting MP Charlotte Leslie(Conservative), Darren Jones (Labour) andClare Campion-Smith (Liberal Democrats)took part in the Hustings. James Durie,executive director of Business West chairedthe Hustings.

The three candidates debated the following

topics in front of BJC members, (1) the Eco-nomy and Business, (2) Education and Skillsand (3) Local Devolution and Transport.

BJC president Karl Brown said the Hust-ings were a fantastic opportunity for cham-ber members to hear the policies and views ofeach candidate on important business issues.Karl also added that the BJC membershipconsists of many future business leaders inBristol who are keen to ensure thatwhichever government is elected providesthe right conditions for businesses to thriveand succeed.

Candidates state case tobusiness leaders of future

In pictures Seeing is Believing

� From left, Stephen Rosser, chief executive of Clarke Willmott LLP, Charlotte Leslie, Bristol Junior ChamberPresident Karl Brown, Clare Campion-Smith, Darren Jones, James Durie, executive director of Business West

� From left, Ian Mean, Western Daily Press editor, speaker Matthew Layton,managing partner of Clifford Chance LLP, Laura Vega, Business andManagement student at UWE Bristol; Professor Nicholas O’Regan,Associate Dean (Research and Innovation) Bristol Business School, UWE

Part of the Local World group

AN Event Services provide audio visual equipmentand support for all your event needs. We offer aprofessional and experienced approach withpre-show, on-site and post-show technical support.

Staging your event doesn’thave to cost a fortune...

Whatever the event, we’ve got it covered

Call us on: 01684 575832Email us at: [email protected] us at : www.aneventservices.co.uk

EPB-

E01-

S3

12 We d n e s d a y, M a rc h 4, 2015w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

The back pagePe o p l e� Law firm Clarke Willmott hasre-elected Stephen Rosser as chiefexecutive for a further term,extending his tenure until April 2019.

As part of his re-election, the firmadopted a new three-year strategybased on continuing growth.

Clarke Willmott recently filed itslatest accounts which saw turnovergrow from £33.1 million in 2012/13to £36.2 million in 2013/14 andprofit rise by 33 per cent.

The 2014/15 results are expectedto continue this trend

with budgetedturnover in

excess of £38million.

It has hired55 newemployees inthe past 12

months acrossits six offices

including Bristoland plans to open a

seventh in Cardiff soon.Stephen, pictur ed, said: “No one

in professional services has had aneasy time over the past couple ofyears so we are delighted that wehave come through a difficulteconomic period and started to seereal growth.

“I am very pleased to have beenasked to continue to lead the firmfor the next four years with astrategy that will focus on growingmarket share in our key targetsectors, achieving faster andenhanced service delivery in allpractice areas through continuedinnovation, and maximising ourgeographical spread.”

� Change Real Estate is expandingits team with the appointment ofJames Fothergill as developmentm a n a g e r.

James, inset right, will bringforward the firm’s mixed usedevelopments in Bristol city centreat Sampson Court and RedcliffeSquare – the company’s first inBristol – as well as a furtherdevelopment close by at RedcliffeParade West.

James is a Fellow of the RoyalInstitution of Chartered Surveyors,and brings over 30 years’experience of the property anddevelopment industry, most recentlywith Terramond and AWGDevelopments.

He said: “The opportunity to workwith Change Real Estate to deliver

successful and desirabledevelopments is one I am relishing.”

� Savills Bristol has appointedChloe Clark as senior planner.

Chloe, inset above right, qualifiedas a chartered town planner in 2012and prior to joining Savills sheworked for Hunter Page Planning in

Know your m a r k e t to mushroom your business

PEOPLE often ask me wheth-er entrepreneurs are born,or made, and my answer isalways the same. It’s a bit ofboth!

I didn’t receive a conventional edu-cation because of my fragmented anddifficult family background, but I didreceive an education by using BristolCentral Library as my personalcl a s s ro o m .

My interests have always been ec-lectic so I would spend hours therereading whatever took my fancy. Itwas anything initially, from a historyof dogs, to Winston Churchill andother great leaders. Gradually myinterest turned to reading about mar-kets and business.

I was frequently moving around asa child but would always find a lib-rary where I could go and read up onmy latest venture! I read in The Ex-change & Mart about a fast growingmushroom compound, so started abusiness in the attic above my Dad’sflat in Henbury. It worked really welluntil the smell caused a neighbour tocall the council. They discovered thatas there were no divisions betweenthe attics of neighbouring flats, I hadoccupied the whole rooftop of the

Ad v i ce

entire block with my mushroomgrowing business! By the way thesewe re n’t ‘magic mushrooms’ theywere the edible type which I haddeveloped a market for in local fruitand vegetable shops in Southmead,Henbury, and Westbury-on-Trym. Iwas 12 and my Dad wasn’t happy!

My point is that to achieve anysuccess it’s essential to understandyour market. This means reading, aswell as experiencing it. As soon as Ithought there might be a businessgrowing mushrooms, I realised that Ineeded a place to do it. My Dad’s atticseemed ideal, warm, dry, and secure;all things I needed to accelerate thegrowth of both my mushrooms andmy bank balance!

I read everything I could aboutmushrooms (my product) and alsoread up on selling and finding mar-kets. I decided my market had to belocal as peddling a bike too far wasn’ton my agenda!

As the years went by I realised theimportance of reading and under-standing all aspects of business butfor me the option of a conventionaleducation, which might include uni-versity wasn’t available.

Today we live in a fast movingworld where understanding yourmarket and dealing with aspects of itsdevelopment is essential, so if you areyoung and want to become an en-trepreneur and have the opportunityto go to college or university I would

Cheltenham.Craig O’Brien, director and Savills

head of Bristol planning, said: “It isan incredibly busy time for us withplanning issues remaining high onthe political agenda. We welcomeChloe to the team. She brings awealth of relevant experience andknowledge which will benefitboth us and our clients.”

� BNP Paribas RealEstate has made twoappointments to thefirm’s Bristol office.

Keith Low hasjoined the buildingconsultancy team as anassociate director. Keithpreviously worked withKenningtons in Swindon,and prior to that he was withWatts Group in Bristol.

Laura Green has joined to workfor the agency and residentialconsultancy teams. Laura previously

worked for Rivendale Estates, theproperty investment anddevelopment company based inClifton.

Jeremy Hughes, head ofthe Bristol office for BNPParibas Real Estate,said: “These excitingappointments willfurther strengthen ourgrowing team. Keithhas strong experiencein working withdilapidations andtechnical due diligencefields advising landlords,tenants, vendors andpurchasers and will work withclients to help them make informeddecisions on their propertyportfolios.

“Laura has strong experience inthe property sector and is wellplaced to deal with propertyenquiries, data bases and researchanalysis and will be a major asset tothe team.”

� Recruitment group AlexanderDaniels has appointed two newteam members to its fast-growinghealthcare division.

The firm recruited experiencedNHS and healthcare recruiter

Mike Willmoth to lead theteam last year.

Now Mike has beenjoined by senior NHSconsultant MattFarrington and resourceconsultant Scott

Graham.Both new recruits have

a clinical background in theNHS, Matt as an emergency

medical technician with the SouthCentral Ambulance Service Trustand Scott as a care co-ordinationcentre call handler in Shropshire.

“Alexander Daniels continues to

Your digest of the week in business

� From left, MichaelRees, Alex Joyce,Jack Sutherland,Terri McDonald (MSTherapy Centre),Mark Mullan, RhysMansell, Jo Holburn(Bristol YoungCarers), MichaelSimpson, ToryBrown, Mark Poarch(BRACE Alzheimer'sResearch), RichardThorning, MichaelDonnelly and JessLomath

� Nick Pearce, Mike Willmoth, Matthew Farrington and Scott Graham

� Head of the Bristol office of BNPParibas Real Estate Jeremy Hugheswith new recruits Laura Green andKeith Low

expand and we are constantlylooking for opportunities to moveinto dynamic growth markets suchas healthcare,” says director NickP e a rc e .

“Now three-strong, our healthcaredivision is staffed exclusively bypeople with a track record in thesector who possess an intimateknowledge of both the currenttrends within it and the challenges itfaces.”

� Law firm Bond Dickinson hasappointed Greg Moss as a seniorwealth adviser. A chartered financialplanner and fellow of the PersonalFinance Society, Greg will providefinancial planning and investmentadvice to private wealth clients.

His expertise in financial planningwith particular focus on the areas

of retirement planning, familysuccession planning and

investment managementwill be leveraged tofurther develop theteam’s work ininvestment, pensionand protectionplanning.Partner David Dale

said: “We are delighted tohave recruited a senior

wealth adviser of Greg’s calibreinto our wealth management team.His experience in financial planningacross various areas will prove aninvaluable asset to our current andfuture clients.”

C o m m u n i ty� Three local charities havebenefited to the tune of nearly£9,000 thanks to the fundraisingactivities of the Rolls-RoyceApprentice Association (AA) inBristol.

Representatives from MS TherapyCentre, Bristol Young Carers, andBRACE Alzheimer’s Research eachreceived a cheque for £2,939.58 at aceremony held at the group’s Bristolsite.

Additional funds of £1,225 wereraised for Marie Curie and theBristol Rotary Club, bringing thefunds raised by the AA in 2014 to agrand total of £10,044.

AA chair Sam Marsh, said: “It’sbeen a great year for the AA and ourfantastic charity total wouldn’t havebeen achievable without thegenerosity of everyone who donatedor took part in one of the manycharity events the Bristol AA ledover the past year.”

take it. Not because people say “if youfail you will have a qualification tofall back on” but because the bettereducated you are within your par-ticular field of specialism the lesslikely you are to fail in the firstp l a c e.

Business education is about learn-ing what you need to know to earn aliving. We are fortunate in Bristol, wehave two great universities on ourdoorstep. The University of the Westof England (UWE) is an amazingplace, with a brilliant ethos, offeringa huge resume of specialist businesseducation and is well worth a visit.

Do you need a degree to succeed inbusiness? No you don’t, but you doneed an education of some sort - sowhy not combine the two?

The more knowledge you have themore likely you are to succeed.� Businessman Stephen Fear grewup on a Bristol council estate and ranhis first company from a phone box.

Stephen FearFear Group

Documents

Business 4 March 2015