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www.bristolpost.co.uk

CONSTRUCTION CRISIS

Skills shortage could hold backjobs creation boost – page 2

GROWTH FUNDING

How to find the right finance foryou to expand – pages 8&9

VAT MAN STRIKES BACK

Meet the tax adviser dedicatedto helping smaller firms – p6&7

IT’S MUSIC TOOUR EARS...New deal opens up exciting future for firm thatcreates apps tailored to your favourite sounds

TECH

282015JAN

– see page 3

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2 We d n e s d a y, January 28, 2015 3We d n e s d a y, January 28, 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

IF sitting around compilingmusic playlists sounds morelike your perfect weekend thana job, one Bristol companycould be your ideal employer.

Based on the top three floors of theold Prudential Building in WineStreet, MixRadio is a well estab-lished tech firm that employs 180people at its Bristol HQ.

The MixRadio app is a hassle-freeway for people to listen to music viatheir smart phone, designed to beyour own personal radio station.

Users can choose a genre thenclick on the playlist, curated by ateam living like a modern-day ver-sion of Rob Gordon in NickHor nby’s story High Fidelity.

You can also pick three artists youlike and it will compile a mix for youof similar music or, once you’ve usedit more, ask it to create a mix basedon all your likes and dislikes.

The mixes can be downloaded soyou can play them offline too, idealin areas where the connection is notso fast. The company operates in 31countries so that’s handy in moreremote areas... such as Cornwall.

Chief technology officer SteveRobbins explains: “We are aboutgetting people to play and listen tomusic with limited effort.”

Founded in 1999 by musicianPeter Gabriel as OD2, the companyhas gone through a number ofchanges in ownership, name andformat. In 2007 it became NokiaMixRadio, last year Microsoft tookover and now it has been sold toKorean-based global messaginggiant LINE.

The latest move could open upnew opportunities for the firm,which has been tied to Nokia hand-sets up to now.

Bosses remain tight-lipped aboutwhether that will change, only say-ing it will continue to come pre-in-stalled on all Lumina handsets butclearly the break from its previousowners opens the possibility of newmarkets through other manufactur-e r s.

Steve believes it’s an exciting time

for the company. The 41-year-old,who expresses his own music tasteby wearing a Pearl Jam T-shirt forthis interview, said: “We have beenincredibly lucky with LINE acquir-ing us because their culture and theway we operate are very similar.”

LINE’s HQ is in Seoul but the firmis committed to keeping MixRadioin Bristol.

“This deal means security for us,”said Steve. “We have got a greatfuture. For me and my team it’s ahuge opportunity.

“We are actively recruiting at themoment across the board for bothsenior and junior developers.”

The biggest group in Bristol is a60-strong team of developers, whichSteve heads, but the office alsohouses the product management,design and finance teams as well as

people who handle relations withrecord labels and artists and ofcourse those who compile the playl i s t s.

While there are other music ser-vices out there, Steve believes it’sthat personal touch which makesMixRadio different.

“We have the human element too,”he said. “It’s not just algorithms andm a ch i n e s. ”

MixRadio has begun expansionacross new devices and platformssuch as home audio and wearabletechnology including Adidas mi-Coach smart watch and recentlylaunched its own recommendationengine with the aim of deliveringthe next level of personalised musiclistening.

LINE is a mobile messenger appwith 170 million active users in 230

Eco n o my Te c h

Year ended onwhimper, saysWest expert� THE West economy sloweddown “to a whimper” at the end oflast year.

UK GDP statistics for the fourthquarter were published yesterday,showing growth slowed to 0.5 percent from 0.7 the previous quarter.

And that was echoed in localfeeling from companies,according to Business West.

Managing director Phil Smith,pictur ed, said: “The latest figuresreveal a slowdownin GDP in thelast quarterof 2014,re a ff i r m i n gwhat wesaw in ourlocalbusinesssurveyduring thesame period.

“The overallmessage is still thatof a recovery but one thatreinforces the economy’sfundamental weaknesses whichstill need to be addressed.

“Last year had the hallmarks ofan historic year in which the UKfinally pulled out of a cripplingrecession. However, our surveyshowed that our local economyclosed out on a whimper, withdecreases in most majorindicators including sales,recruitment and confidence.”

But Phil added: “The UKeconomy can regain its dynamismand achieve sustained growth.”

Labour

Crisis fears Rapid growth exposesshortage of young skilled workers

LEADERS in the constructionindustry are warning of alooming skills crisis as com-panies look to recruit to meetthe growing demand.

Gary Higgins and Ben Milsom,founders of GBRS Recruitment, TimStringer, director of Integral Buildand Gemma Day, director of de-veloper Dowlas, have voiced concernsas the sector continues to grow as theeconomy picks up speed.

Gemma, whose firm is the enablingdeveloper at Weston-super-Mare’s

Junction 21 enterprise area, said:“We are experiencing lots of enquir-ies at our site and together with ourpartners have already finished somep ro j e c t s.

“As things continue to pick up I amstarting to see a strain on skills whichis a concern.

“What can we do? There is nomagic bullet but engaging students ata younger age is one way.”

Tim, of Aztec West-based IntegralBuild, added: “We have certainlyfound sourcing key trades, specific-ally traditional ones such as plas-tering and bricklaying, more difficultover the last year or so.

“This is proving to be an issuegoing into 2015 and we can’t see itgetting any better, especially as the

industry gets busier. It does seems tome that the average age of the trades-men is gradually getting older andthis is a major concern for the future.Is it that young people are not excitedabout these trades?

“I would guess this is the case andthe industry as a whole needs to lookat itself very carefully to work out thebest way to encourage school chil-dren and young adults – both maleand female – that this is a greatindustry to be a part of.”

Ben, who co-founded GBRS Re-cruitment three years ago and hasseen it grow to a turnover close to £2.5million, said: “It won’t apply to every-body but generally we have foundthat young people don’t place asmuch value on a career in construc-

tion, as maybe they should.“Certainly for many it’s seen as a

seasonal or in-between job but theindustry has huge growth and earn-ing potential.

“There has also been a lot of debatearound whether younger people inthe UK have the skills to fill morespecialist roles. We think they do –it’s just a questions of finding andtraining them.”

Fellow director Gary added: “Find-ing the next generation of young con-struction leaders is vital as the fasterthan expected recovery has resultedin a nationwide shortage of trainedworkers – with the number of brick-layers out of work dwindling to just1,775 in August from a peak of 15,425back in 2009.”

C o n st r u c t i o n

New projects could bring thousands of jobs

Workers more likely tobe given offers to stay� BRISTOL workers are more likelyto be made better offers by theirbosses keen to hang on to them inthe face of competition.

Recruiter Randstad found 10 percent of people moving jobs in Bristolwere made country offers by theircurrent boss, compared with justfour per cent across the whole ofthe South West. The survey foundthat 21 per cent of those polled inBristol said they were more likely tobe made a counter-offer than fiveyears ago. This is higher than the 15per cent recorded in the rest of theSouth West and the UK average of13 per cent. On average, employeesin Bristol expected the counter-offers to be at least 18 per cent oftheir current salary for them toaccept.

Ruth Jacobs, managing directorof Randstad Business Support,said: “As the Bristol jobs marketgoes from strength to strength, weare beginning to see a rise incounter offers to staff in an attemptto retain talent. There is growingdemand for skilled employees asBristol’s tech industry booms andthe city cements its position as akey hub for start-ups in the UK.”

She said another factor wasBristol was attracting overseasinvestment, citing South Africa’sMMI Holdings acquiring Bristolbased finance-tech company BlueSpeck with plans to invest locally.

National Insurance cutwould spark jobs boom� A CUT in national insurance couldcreate more than 5,500manufacturing jobs across theregion, according to a firm ofbusiness advisers.

Bristol-based BDO is calling forpolitical parties to backmanufacturers with a temporary cutin the so-called jobs tax.

Paul Falvey, tax partner and headof manufacturing for BDO in theSouth West, said: “Manufacturing isa vital sector for the region and theUK as a whole, and it is themedium-sized businesses thatprovide us with the biggestuntapped potential in both domesticand international markets.”

The call is part of the firm’sMid-Market Manifesto, whichargues that medium-sizedbusinesses which make things areundervalued and overlooked byGovernment policy. In the SouthWest, medium-sized manufacturersalready employ more than 110,000people, generate £18 billion inrevenue and contribute £833 millionto the region’s export value.

E m p l oy m e n t

J o bs

The right mix Music app makersbegin expansion into the future

THE construction industry could de-liver 6,300 new jobs each year in theSouth West with many of themaround Bristol.

The figures come from the annualConstruction Skills Network reportpredicts 3.6 per cent growth in theregion from 2015-2019.

Big projects driving that growth in-clude the proposed nuclear reactorHinkley Point C in Somerset, bighousing developments around Filton,the expansion of Cribbs Causeway’sThe Mall and ongoing work at BristolAir port.

However, the Construction In-

dustry Training Board (CITB) iswarning that the growing demandwill only widen the skills gap.

The CITB is calling for people wholeft the industry in the downturn toreturn to help meet demand.

Roger Stone, p i c t u re d , CITB sectorstrategy manager for the South West,said, “This report is terrific news forthe region and shows the construc-tion industry is making a strongc o m e b a ck .

“Worryingly, though, constructionis facing a skills gap, with projectspotentially held back due to a lack ofskilled workers.

“T hat’s why CITB is working withindustry to attract the next gen-eration of workers and en-courage skilledtradespeople who left theindustry in the reces-sion to return.

“This positive fore-cast shows that now isthe right time to start, orreturn, to a rewardingcareer in construction.”

The CITB is calling forsteps to help the industry meetgrowing demand and help the eco-n o my.

It wants:� Continued commitment from

all parties to deliver the Na-tional Infrastructure Plan.

� Improved careers ad-vice to raise the status ofconstruction and at-tract the next genera-tion of constructionwo rke r s.

� Government invest-ment in the energy effi-

ciency and retrofit market,to complement the many

new-build projects and help the UKmeet its environmental targets.

Assistant Editor (Business)Gavin Thompson

Call 0117 934 3336Email gavin.thompson

@b-nm.co.ukTwitter @gavin_thompson1

Get in touch

Advertising RobertRodgersonCall07828 941469Email ro b e r t . ro d g e r s o n@b-nm.co.uk

Advertising JaneChapman

Call 01179 343025Email jane.chapman

@b-nm.co.uk

countries. That’s a lot of potentialfor MixRadio, although Steve saysit’s not so easy.

“We have just started conversa-tions with LINE about how they canhelp us,” said Steve. “We will look atnew markets but it takes time to getit right. Creating personal recom-mendations is really difficult out-side of Western markets. Forexample in India, different regionshave different languages and cul-tures – you can’t just play the samemusic for all of India.”

T hat’s one reason the firm alsohas small teams in the countries inwhich it operates, to add local know-ledge of music and the industry.

While the company’s reach growsaround the globe, the heart of thebusiness remains tucked away herein Bristol. Stay tuned.

Legal firms warnedto keep eye on costsB R I S T O L’S legal firms have beenwarned to keep costs under controlat a cash-critical time of year.

The lead-up to January 31 is acritical time with firms facing in-voices for quarterly rent, VAT andprofessional indemnity insuranceas well as tax deadlines, while theirrevenues are often at their lowestpoint. Ian Cooper, p i c t u re d , head ofprofessional practices at Smith &Wi l l i a m s o n’s Bristol office, said thedrive to expand as the economyrecovers is an addi-tional threat

“In our re-cent surveyof lawfir ms,t h re equar tersre portedi n c re a s e dcompeti-tion, withpressure onfees and maintain-ing profitability the biggest chal-lenges in the current climate,” saidIan. “The survey suggested thatinvesting in technology and open-ing new service lines are the mainways that firms are responding tothe economic upturn. However,firms need to be wary of expandingtoo quickly and causing costs torun ahead of cash coming in. Allthis can put cash flow under severepressure. Cash flow must be closelymonitored. If necessary, firms mayneed to consider negotiating ashort-term bank loan, asking part-ners to minimise their drawings orput more money into the firm.”

F i n a n ces

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

Transpor t

Rail electrification depot landmark celebratedA MAJOR landmark towards theelectrification of the rail linebetween London and Bristol wasreached with the completion of theshell of depot in Stoke Gifford wherethe trains will be serviced.

Hitachi Rail Europe celebrated theend of the external building at themaintenance centre, close to Park-way station just outside Bristol.

The new facility will support andmaintain the Class 800/801 trains thecompany is delivering through Agil-ity Trains for the Department forTranspor t’s £5.7 billion Intercity Ex-press Programme. The trains will berunning on the Great Western MainLine from 2017.

The event was a significant mile-

stone in the £80-million developmentof the site, which started in August2013 and is scheduled to be com-pleted by the end of the year.

Work will now start on the interiorfit-out of the facility.

Rail Minister Claire Perry, right,said: “We are investing recordamounts building a world-class rail-way as part of our long-term eco-nomic plan. Hitachi’s new InterCityExpress trains will provide moreseats, more services and better jour-neys for passengers, transformingtrain travel for thousands along theGreat Western Main Line.”

Andy Barr, chief operating officerof Hitachi Rail Europe, said: “Ta s ke dwith housing and maintaining the

Class 800/801 Great Western MainLine fleet, this facility will play acrucial role in ensuring our rollingstock delivers the optimumlevel of service to passen-gers on the route.

“I can’t emphasiseenough how much wevalue the hard work ofVolkerFitzpatrick andthe local supply chainin delivering thisground-breaking facil-i t y. ”

Once finished, the depotwill comprise a maintenancebuilding, office and staff accommod-ation, stabling and servicing roads,and a carriage wash machine.

Paul Lilley, contracts manager forVolkerFitzpatrick, said: “Vo l ke r -Fitzpatrick made a commitment to

engage with the communityduring the construction

phase to help Hitachibuild on a legacy for thecoming 27 years. We arecontinuously engagingwith local schools andcolleges, providingwork experience, ap-

prenticeships and sitevisit opportunities.“We look forward to

spreading our success andclose collaboration to ensure there isa lasting legacy of support when theconstruction works are completed.”

� Chief technology officer Steve Robbins at MixRadio’s offices in Wine Street Photograph: Michael Lloyd

BUSINESS WEST MANIFESTO - PAGE 10

� Gary Higgins and Ben Milsom, right, GBRS Recruitment

� Tim Stringer, of Integral Build

� Big projects creating a growing demand for skilled labour include those atHinkley Point, above, and Bristol Airport, below

� Gemma Day

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2 We d n e s d a y, January 28, 2015 3We d n e s d a y, January 28, 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

IF sitting around compilingmusic playlists sounds morelike your perfect weekend thana job, one Bristol companycould be your ideal employer.

Based on the top three floors of theold Prudential Building in WineStreet, MixRadio is a well estab-lished tech firm that employs 180people at its Bristol HQ.

The MixRadio app is a hassle-freeway for people to listen to music viatheir smart phone, designed to beyour own personal radio station.

Users can choose a genre thenclick on the playlist, curated by ateam living like a modern-day ver-sion of Rob Gordon in NickHor nby’s story High Fidelity.

You can also pick three artists youlike and it will compile a mix for youof similar music or, once you’ve usedit more, ask it to create a mix basedon all your likes and dislikes.

The mixes can be downloaded soyou can play them offline too, idealin areas where the connection is notso fast. The company operates in 31countries so that’s handy in moreremote areas... such as Cornwall.

Chief technology officer SteveRobbins explains: “We are aboutgetting people to play and listen tomusic with limited effort.”

Founded in 1999 by musicianPeter Gabriel as OD2, the companyhas gone through a number ofchanges in ownership, name andformat. In 2007 it became NokiaMixRadio, last year Microsoft tookover and now it has been sold toKorean-based global messaginggiant LINE.

The latest move could open upnew opportunities for the firm,which has been tied to Nokia hand-sets up to now.

Bosses remain tight-lipped aboutwhether that will change, only say-ing it will continue to come pre-in-stalled on all Lumina handsets butclearly the break from its previousowners opens the possibility of newmarkets through other manufactur-e r s.

Steve believes it’s an exciting time

for the company. The 41-year-old,who expresses his own music tasteby wearing a Pearl Jam T-shirt forthis interview, said: “We have beenincredibly lucky with LINE acquir-ing us because their culture and theway we operate are very similar.”

LINE’s HQ is in Seoul but the firmis committed to keeping MixRadioin Bristol.

“This deal means security for us,”said Steve. “We have got a greatfuture. For me and my team it’s ahuge opportunity.

“We are actively recruiting at themoment across the board for bothsenior and junior developers.”

The biggest group in Bristol is a60-strong team of developers, whichSteve heads, but the office alsohouses the product management,design and finance teams as well as

people who handle relations withrecord labels and artists and ofcourse those who compile the playl i s t s.

While there are other music ser-vices out there, Steve believes it’sthat personal touch which makesMixRadio different.

“We have the human element too,”he said. “It’s not just algorithms andm a ch i n e s. ”

MixRadio has begun expansionacross new devices and platformssuch as home audio and wearabletechnology including Adidas mi-Coach smart watch and recentlylaunched its own recommendationengine with the aim of deliveringthe next level of personalised musiclistening.

LINE is a mobile messenger appwith 170 million active users in 230

Eco n o my Te c h

Year ended onwhimper, saysWest expert� THE West economy sloweddown “to a whimper” at the end oflast year.

UK GDP statistics for the fourthquarter were published yesterday,showing growth slowed to 0.5 percent from 0.7 the previous quarter.

And that was echoed in localfeeling from companies,according to Business West.

Managing director Phil Smith,pictur ed, said: “The latest figuresreveal a slowdownin GDP in thelast quarterof 2014,re a ff i r m i n gwhat wesaw in ourlocalbusinesssurveyduring thesame period.

“The overallmessage is still thatof a recovery but one thatreinforces the economy’sfundamental weaknesses whichstill need to be addressed.

“Last year had the hallmarks ofan historic year in which the UKfinally pulled out of a cripplingrecession. However, our surveyshowed that our local economyclosed out on a whimper, withdecreases in most majorindicators including sales,recruitment and confidence.”

But Phil added: “The UKeconomy can regain its dynamismand achieve sustained growth.”

Labour

Crisis fears Rapid growth exposesshortage of young skilled workers

LEADERS in the constructionindustry are warning of alooming skills crisis as com-panies look to recruit to meetthe growing demand.

Gary Higgins and Ben Milsom,founders of GBRS Recruitment, TimStringer, director of Integral Buildand Gemma Day, director of de-veloper Dowlas, have voiced concernsas the sector continues to grow as theeconomy picks up speed.

Gemma, whose firm is the enablingdeveloper at Weston-super-Mare’s

Junction 21 enterprise area, said:“We are experiencing lots of enquir-ies at our site and together with ourpartners have already finished somep ro j e c t s.

“As things continue to pick up I amstarting to see a strain on skills whichis a concern.

“What can we do? There is nomagic bullet but engaging students ata younger age is one way.”

Tim, of Aztec West-based IntegralBuild, added: “We have certainlyfound sourcing key trades, specific-ally traditional ones such as plas-tering and bricklaying, more difficultover the last year or so.

“This is proving to be an issuegoing into 2015 and we can’t see itgetting any better, especially as the

industry gets busier. It does seems tome that the average age of the trades-men is gradually getting older andthis is a major concern for the future.Is it that young people are not excitedabout these trades?

“I would guess this is the case andthe industry as a whole needs to lookat itself very carefully to work out thebest way to encourage school chil-dren and young adults – both maleand female – that this is a greatindustry to be a part of.”

Ben, who co-founded GBRS Re-cruitment three years ago and hasseen it grow to a turnover close to £2.5million, said: “It won’t apply to every-body but generally we have foundthat young people don’t place asmuch value on a career in construc-

tion, as maybe they should.“Certainly for many it’s seen as a

seasonal or in-between job but theindustry has huge growth and earn-ing potential.

“There has also been a lot of debatearound whether younger people inthe UK have the skills to fill morespecialist roles. We think they do –it’s just a questions of finding andtraining them.”

Fellow director Gary added: “Find-ing the next generation of young con-struction leaders is vital as the fasterthan expected recovery has resultedin a nationwide shortage of trainedworkers – with the number of brick-layers out of work dwindling to just1,775 in August from a peak of 15,425back in 2009.”

C o n st r u c t i o n

New projects could bring thousands of jobs

Workers more likely tobe given offers to stay� BRISTOL workers are more likelyto be made better offers by theirbosses keen to hang on to them inthe face of competition.

Recruiter Randstad found 10 percent of people moving jobs in Bristolwere made country offers by theircurrent boss, compared with justfour per cent across the whole ofthe South West. The survey foundthat 21 per cent of those polled inBristol said they were more likely tobe made a counter-offer than fiveyears ago. This is higher than the 15per cent recorded in the rest of theSouth West and the UK average of13 per cent. On average, employeesin Bristol expected the counter-offers to be at least 18 per cent oftheir current salary for them toaccept.

Ruth Jacobs, managing directorof Randstad Business Support,said: “As the Bristol jobs marketgoes from strength to strength, weare beginning to see a rise incounter offers to staff in an attemptto retain talent. There is growingdemand for skilled employees asBristol’s tech industry booms andthe city cements its position as akey hub for start-ups in the UK.”

She said another factor wasBristol was attracting overseasinvestment, citing South Africa’sMMI Holdings acquiring Bristolbased finance-tech company BlueSpeck with plans to invest locally.

National Insurance cutwould spark jobs boom� A CUT in national insurance couldcreate more than 5,500manufacturing jobs across theregion, according to a firm ofbusiness advisers.

Bristol-based BDO is calling forpolitical parties to backmanufacturers with a temporary cutin the so-called jobs tax.

Paul Falvey, tax partner and headof manufacturing for BDO in theSouth West, said: “Manufacturing isa vital sector for the region and theUK as a whole, and it is themedium-sized businesses thatprovide us with the biggestuntapped potential in both domesticand international markets.”

The call is part of the firm’sMid-Market Manifesto, whichargues that medium-sizedbusinesses which make things areundervalued and overlooked byGovernment policy. In the SouthWest, medium-sized manufacturersalready employ more than 110,000people, generate £18 billion inrevenue and contribute £833 millionto the region’s export value.

E m p l oy m e n t

J o bs

The right mix Music app makersbegin expansion into the future

THE construction industry could de-liver 6,300 new jobs each year in theSouth West with many of themaround Bristol.

The figures come from the annualConstruction Skills Network reportpredicts 3.6 per cent growth in theregion from 2015-2019.

Big projects driving that growth in-clude the proposed nuclear reactorHinkley Point C in Somerset, bighousing developments around Filton,the expansion of Cribbs Causeway’sThe Mall and ongoing work at BristolAir port.

However, the Construction In-

dustry Training Board (CITB) iswarning that the growing demandwill only widen the skills gap.

The CITB is calling for people wholeft the industry in the downturn toreturn to help meet demand.

Roger Stone, p i c t u re d , CITB sectorstrategy manager for the South West,said, “This report is terrific news forthe region and shows the construc-tion industry is making a strongc o m e b a ck .

“Worryingly, though, constructionis facing a skills gap, with projectspotentially held back due to a lack ofskilled workers.

“T hat’s why CITB is working withindustry to attract the next gen-eration of workers and en-courage skilledtradespeople who left theindustry in the reces-sion to return.

“This positive fore-cast shows that now isthe right time to start, orreturn, to a rewardingcareer in construction.”

The CITB is calling forsteps to help the industry meetgrowing demand and help the eco-n o my.

It wants:� Continued commitment from

all parties to deliver the Na-tional Infrastructure Plan.

� Improved careers ad-vice to raise the status ofconstruction and at-tract the next genera-tion of constructionwo rke r s.

� Government invest-ment in the energy effi-

ciency and retrofit market,to complement the many

new-build projects and help the UKmeet its environmental targets.

Assistant Editor (Business)Gavin Thompson

Call 0117 934 3336Email gavin.thompson

@b-nm.co.ukTwitter @gavin_thompson1

Get in touch

Advertising RobertRodgersonCall07828 941469Email ro b e r t . ro d g e r s o n@b-nm.co.uk

Advertising JaneChapman

Call 01179 343025Email jane.chapman

@b-nm.co.uk

countries. That’s a lot of potentialfor MixRadio, although Steve saysit’s not so easy.

“We have just started conversa-tions with LINE about how they canhelp us,” said Steve. “We will look atnew markets but it takes time to getit right. Creating personal recom-mendations is really difficult out-side of Western markets. Forexample in India, different regionshave different languages and cul-tures – you can’t just play the samemusic for all of India.”

T hat’s one reason the firm alsohas small teams in the countries inwhich it operates, to add local know-ledge of music and the industry.

While the company’s reach growsaround the globe, the heart of thebusiness remains tucked away herein Bristol. Stay tuned.

Legal firms warnedto keep eye on costsB R I S T O L’S legal firms have beenwarned to keep costs under controlat a cash-critical time of year.

The lead-up to January 31 is acritical time with firms facing in-voices for quarterly rent, VAT andprofessional indemnity insuranceas well as tax deadlines, while theirrevenues are often at their lowestpoint. Ian Cooper, p i c t u re d , head ofprofessional practices at Smith &Wi l l i a m s o n’s Bristol office, said thedrive to expand as the economyrecovers is an addi-tional threat

“In our re-cent surveyof lawfir ms,t h re equar tersre portedi n c re a s e dcompeti-tion, withpressure onfees and maintain-ing profitability the biggest chal-lenges in the current climate,” saidIan. “The survey suggested thatinvesting in technology and open-ing new service lines are the mainways that firms are responding tothe economic upturn. However,firms need to be wary of expandingtoo quickly and causing costs torun ahead of cash coming in. Allthis can put cash flow under severepressure. Cash flow must be closelymonitored. If necessary, firms mayneed to consider negotiating ashort-term bank loan, asking part-ners to minimise their drawings orput more money into the firm.”

F i n a n ces

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

Transpor t

Rail electrification depot landmark celebratedA MAJOR landmark towards theelectrification of the rail linebetween London and Bristol wasreached with the completion of theshell of depot in Stoke Gifford wherethe trains will be serviced.

Hitachi Rail Europe celebrated theend of the external building at themaintenance centre, close to Park-way station just outside Bristol.

The new facility will support andmaintain the Class 800/801 trains thecompany is delivering through Agil-ity Trains for the Department forTranspor t’s £5.7 billion Intercity Ex-press Programme. The trains will berunning on the Great Western MainLine from 2017.

The event was a significant mile-

stone in the £80-million developmentof the site, which started in August2013 and is scheduled to be com-pleted by the end of the year.

Work will now start on the interiorfit-out of the facility.

Rail Minister Claire Perry, right,said: “We are investing recordamounts building a world-class rail-way as part of our long-term eco-nomic plan. Hitachi’s new InterCityExpress trains will provide moreseats, more services and better jour-neys for passengers, transformingtrain travel for thousands along theGreat Western Main Line.”

Andy Barr, chief operating officerof Hitachi Rail Europe, said: “Ta s ke dwith housing and maintaining the

Class 800/801 Great Western MainLine fleet, this facility will play acrucial role in ensuring our rollingstock delivers the optimumlevel of service to passen-gers on the route.

“I can’t emphasiseenough how much wevalue the hard work ofVolkerFitzpatrick andthe local supply chainin delivering thisground-breaking facil-i t y. ”

Once finished, the depotwill comprise a maintenancebuilding, office and staff accommod-ation, stabling and servicing roads,and a carriage wash machine.

Paul Lilley, contracts manager forVolkerFitzpatrick, said: “Vo l ke r -Fitzpatrick made a commitment to

engage with the communityduring the construction

phase to help Hitachibuild on a legacy for thecoming 27 years. We arecontinuously engagingwith local schools andcolleges, providingwork experience, ap-

prenticeships and sitevisit opportunities.“We look forward to

spreading our success andclose collaboration to ensure there isa lasting legacy of support when theconstruction works are completed.”

� Chief technology officer Steve Robbins at MixRadio’s offices in Wine Street Photograph: Michael Lloyd

BUSINESS WEST MANIFESTO - PAGE 10

� Gary Higgins and Ben Milsom, right, GBRS Recruitment

� Tim Stringer, of Integral Build

� Big projects creating a growing demand for skilled labour include those atHinkley Point, above, and Bristol Airport, below

� Gemma Day

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4 We d n e s d a y, January 28, 2015 5We d n e s d a y, January 28, 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

TALENTED young business-woman Anna Pepler oversaw18 per cent growth in her com-pany in 2014, winning morethan 100 new clients and be-

coming a fellow of her industry bodyin the same year.

Aged just 27, Anna is the youngestdirector and shareholder of Bristol-based The HR Dept, heading a team of13 at the company’s city branch inWinterbourne Down alongside twoother directors who are 10 and 20 yearsher senior.

Last year she was also given thestatus of Fellow of the Chartered In-stitute of Personnel and Development(FCIPD), an achievement usuallymade by professionals with manyye a r s ’ more experience.

Anna’s impressive performancehas made her optimistic of a goodchance in our Women in BusinessAwards 2015, in which she is nominatedfor Young Entrepreneur of the year.

Meanwhile The HR Dept (Bristol)

Ltd is also nominated for Business ofthe Year, following its continuedgrowth and its considerable amount ofwork in the local business community,as well as its rare status as a leadingSME from Bristol which has a nation-wide footprint.

The company’s managing directorSue Tumelty visited No. 10 DowningStreet late last year as part of a selectlist of SME owners invited there tomark Small Business Saturday.

With a network of licensees oper-ating independent branches of TheHR Dept in more than 60 territoriesaround the UK, Sue is uniquely placedto relay the concerns of small busi-

n e s s e s.And as a small business itself, The

HR Dept’s Bristol operation developedstrongly in 2014, with turnover reach-ing £669,000 for which Anna was in-dividually responsible for salesfigures of more than £120,000.

She also mentored a winning teamof young businesspeople at RedlandGreen School in last year’s Young En-terprise competition, and used her en-trepreneurial skills to introduceseveral schemes within The HR Deptwhich have now been rolled out acrossthe licensee network.

“It’s been a great year,” she said,“not only for me but for everyone in-volved at The HR Dept.

“The nature of what we do and theclients we work with, most of whichare small businesses, means that ourproducts and services have a real im-pact on their growth. It’s very satis-fying, extremely rewarding and anexciting company to be part of.

“Becoming a FCIPD was a greatachievement and one that I’m de-lighted to have made. In terms of theperformance of the business, that’sbeen great too but it’s come from put-ting our clients first and seeing theresults follow.”

Anna in running as youngentrepreneur of the year

Global operator enjoying flavourof international trade success

A FOOD ingredients manufac-turing company has doubledits turnover while increas-ing profit over five years.TasteTech was founded in

1992 with the purpose of encapsu-lating food ingredients for the chew-ing gum market.

It has grown steadily and signi-ficantly over the past 21 years andnow produces encapsulated ingredi-ents and food flavourings that im-prove shelf life, flavour longevity andproduct function across the bakery,confectionery, chewing gum andsports nutrition sectors.

Managing director Janis Sintonsaid: “We are highly respected by ourcustomers for our specialist expert-ise, quality and service delivery andnow operate globally in 32 countries.

“We ’ve utilised the support from

Business West and UK Trade & In-vestment (UKTI) to ensure our visionis focused appropriately across allbusiness functions from human re-sources to health and safety and pro-duction efficiencies, to businessstrategy and finance.”

TasteTech is an ambitioushigh-growth company which set outin 2007 to double its turnover andincrease net profit to over 10 per centwithin five years.

Janis, p i c t u re d , said: “As an activemember of the Chamber of Com-merce and a beacon member we seethe benefits of our membership suchas networking, learning from eventsand feedback from our peers, as in-valuable to support our growth am-b i t i o n s. ”

Having initially joined the cham-ber for advice and support with ex-port documentation (chambermembers receive up to50 per cent discount off their exportdocumentation charges), over theyears TasteTech has taken advantageof the range of specialist support and

training on offer.Its management team has benefited

from strategic development andcoaching and mentoring whichhelped them to set their growtha g enda.

Access to the export doc-umentation and UKTI ser-vice has beeninstrumental inTasteTech selling itsproducts in new over-seas markets.

It regularly uses thedocumentation serviceto ensure it has the rightpaperwork for its exportsand their products get totheir chosen markets on time.

Janis said: “The international sup-port we have received from UKTI hasbeen invaluable.

“We have utilised services such asGateway to Global Growth which wasa year long programme whichprovided us with strategic support todiversify into new markets.

“We ’ve also been successful in ap-

MEXICO is being tipped as the hotcountry to export to in 2015, withgovernments of both counties lookingto promote trade.

The aims of these initiatives are topromote better understandingbetween the countries, developstronger business links and improvecultural and academic relations.

The British perception of Mexico is

often outdated. Mexico is a moderncountry with a dynamic economy; itsyoung population of 112 million and agrowing middle class.

Mexico has an impressive range offree trade agreements (includingwith the EU), and it has a strategiclocation between the US and LatinAmerica. Mexican companies aresteadily reducing their dependency

on trade with the US and often look toBritish companies to support theirrapidly growing manufacturing plat-form. From luxury goods and shop-ping centres, to food and drink,automotive and aerospace technolo-gies, to education and healthcare,prospects in Mexico are said to beexciting. There is a new BritishCentre for Business in Mexico City,

Dynamic Mexico’s the hot export tip for 2015Record entries forWomen in Business� THE Bristol and Bath Women inBusiness Awards has seen arecord number of entries.

A total of 83 nominations weremade for the awards, 12 morethan last year.

And the Woman Of The Yearprize attracted particular interest,with 21 businesswomennominated.

Gavin Thompson, assistanteditor (business) at the BristolPost, said: “We ’re delighted to seemore and more women puttingthemselves forward for awardssuch as these.

“I’m keen for our Businesspages to properly reflect thediverse nature of the city’sbusiness community.

“And it’s clear from the calibreof entries that there are someincredible women in business inBristol and Bath.

“The judges will face a realchallenge in drawing up the list offinalists, let alone deciding theeventual winner.

“To be honest, I’m ratherpleased not to have to make thatdecision!”

The finalists will be named innext week’s Business and thewinners are revealed at a galadinner at the Bristol City CentreMarriott on March 19.

To sponsor a category or booktickets for the night, visitw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t . c o . u k / w i b a .

Make the mostof ‘passpor tp ro g ra m m e ’� BUSINESSES are urged to takeadvantage of a support scheme tohelp them to export.

There are only 30 places left thisyear of the Passport to Exportprogramme in the South West, sofirms should act now if they areserious about trading overseas.

The scheme is designed to helpentrepreneurs who may thinkexporting would be a good way togrow their business but don’tknow where to start. The benefitsof expanding internationally areclear to see, with exportingbusinesses on average generatinggrowth rates of more than 30 percent after just two years.

But there’s a whole host ofquestions that people want toknow the answers to when firstconsidering export.

Not only are there time zone

plying for a European Regional De-velopment Fund grant which hassupported our export objectives.”

Through a subscription to a rangeof e-newsletters, TasteTech has been

able to keep up-to-date with events,information and advice to sup-

port their business growth.Janis concluded: “T he

support we have gainedfrom Business West hasbeen important to ourgrowth and expansionove r s e a s.

“We would recommendany company to contact

Business West for strategicsupport and access to a wide

range of business services.”Phil Smith, managing director at

Business West, said: “We ’re delightedto have been able to supportTasteTech on their growth journey.This is just one of many exampleswhere we can provide a variety ofservices, information and tools tohelp local businesses start-up innov-ate and grow.”

BUSINESS in Bristol could save acombined £70 million by appealingagainst their business rates valu-ation – but only if they move quickly.

The Chancellor has introduced acut off date of March 31, after whichnew appeals will only be able to claimrefunds back to that date.

Figures supplied by rates expertsCVS show that three-quarters of busi-nesses with Bristol City have not yet

appealed their rating valuation.That means there could be £70 mil-

lion of refunds if they appealed suc-cessfully. But if they wait until afterthe end of March, that figure falls to£23 million.

CVS chief executive Mark Rigbysaid: “The vast majority of businessesare well aware that they can claimrefunds on overpaid business ratesbecause of the discrepancy between

previous property valuations and ac-tual business rates bills.

“However, crucially there are nowonly two months left for businesses inBristol to submit appeals where noaction has been taken and, because ofthe Chancellor’s new regulations,where £47 million in refunds is at riskof being lost.

“We are saying to these businesses,‘wake up, take action, and don’t missout’. With pressure on businesses sogreat at the moment, the last thingthey need is a tax grab from Gov-ernment which this blatantly is.”

Alan Morrish, partner at commer-cial property agency Alder King’sBristol office, also urged firms to actand criticised the Treasury for theway the change had been handled.

“The deadline of March 31 2015 was

Move quick – you couldsave your share of £70m

hidden away in the small print of theChancellor’s Autumn Statement lastye a r, ” he said.

“Business rates are notoriouslycomplex and it’s hardly surprisingthat many ratepayers wouldn’t beaware of this deadline.”

Alan said his firm had secured anumber of ground-breaking de-cisions from the Valuation Tribunalover appeals opening up the prospectof refunds for other companies.

“We have had great success at ap-peal for clients over the past year,securing business rates reductionsworth over £7.5 million in sectorsincluding self-catering holiday cot-tages, telecoms, offices and manu-f acturing,” he said.

“No one likes to see up to five yearsof overpaid business rates being kept

by the Government when there is aperfectly legitimate way of securingthe full refund, but only by getting theappeal submitted by the end ofM a rch . ”

The most common grounds for ap-peal is a material change of circum-stances affecting the property such aschange of use or physical change ofthe local area.

Revaluations are supposed to hap-pen every five years but the last onewas put back two years.

George Osborne announced a longoverdue review of business rates inthe Autumn Statement, somethingthis publication had been campaign-ing for as the current system is out ofdate, restricts growth and does notgive enough control of spending tolocal bodies.

Women in Business

Business rates

Tra d e Ad v i ce

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

designed by Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen, offering a strategic base forUK companies wishing to set-up tem-porary office in the city. UK Trade &Investment Mexico has built a team ofstaff ready to offer businesses insightacross all key sectors in the country.� Business West is planing eventsto promote trade too. Emailinter national@businesswest.co.uk

Rupert JanischBusiness@b-nm.co.uk

differences and logistical andresource issues to deal with butbusinesses are worry about how tofind new customers and potentialbusiness partners.

There are also questions aroundhow and when they will get paidand how to tackle the languageand culture barriers of diversemarkets such as Brazil, China andIndia. Even some of the EUmarkets closer to home – France,Germany, Poland, etc. – havevarious barriers to overcome.

Trade & Investment’s Passportto Export scheme was set up tohelp overcome such hurdles as theGovernment sees exporting as keyto getting the economy on the rightpath.

The scheme pairs you with aninternational trade adviser, whowill prepare your business to dealwith the demands of exporting.

After joining, firms get access totraining and workshops, planningsessions and subsidies.

Trade advisers can help onissues from researching potentialmarkets, finding new agents anddistributors or updating websitesfor use in different countries.

The scheme costs £250 to join.A UKTI spokesman said:

“Nobody will tell you that exportingis easy but for those who enter theworld of international trade therewards can be huge! Selling to anew market is a fascinating andexciting experience and if youdon’t take advantage of theopportunities that exporting offersthen somebody else will.

“And don’t forget to keep yourpassport up-to-date as you’ll betaking plenty of trips overseas.”

UKTI spokesman

“Nobody will tell youexporting is easy but forthose who enter theworld of internationaltrade rewards can behuge

� Food flavourings being tested at TasteTech in Bristol

SPONSORED BY

in association with

� The HR Department team in Bristol including Anna Peplar, front right, and Sue Tumelty next to her

The categories� Woman of the Year, sponsoredby PPC

� Young Entrepreneur of the Year,sponsored by EY

� Mentor of the Year, sponsoredby Mentor Media Training

� Contribution to the Community,sponsored by The Mall CribbsCauseway

� Women in the Workplace Award

� New Business of the Year,sponsored by YourStreet GiftC a rd s

� Business of the Year

� Award for Innovation

� Marketing Campaign of the Year

� Female Apprentice of the Year,sponsored by Crest Nicholson

� Outstanding Contribution toBusiness in Bristol and Bath,sponsored by UWE

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4 We d n e s d a y, January 28, 2015 5We d n e s d a y, January 28, 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

TALENTED young business-woman Anna Pepler oversaw18 per cent growth in her com-pany in 2014, winning morethan 100 new clients and be-

coming a fellow of her industry bodyin the same year.

Aged just 27, Anna is the youngestdirector and shareholder of Bristol-based The HR Dept, heading a team of13 at the company’s city branch inWinterbourne Down alongside twoother directors who are 10 and 20 yearsher senior.

Last year she was also given thestatus of Fellow of the Chartered In-stitute of Personnel and Development(FCIPD), an achievement usuallymade by professionals with manyye a r s ’ more experience.

Anna’s impressive performancehas made her optimistic of a goodchance in our Women in BusinessAwards 2015, in which she is nominatedfor Young Entrepreneur of the year.

Meanwhile The HR Dept (Bristol)

Ltd is also nominated for Business ofthe Year, following its continuedgrowth and its considerable amount ofwork in the local business community,as well as its rare status as a leadingSME from Bristol which has a nation-wide footprint.

The company’s managing directorSue Tumelty visited No. 10 DowningStreet late last year as part of a selectlist of SME owners invited there tomark Small Business Saturday.

With a network of licensees oper-ating independent branches of TheHR Dept in more than 60 territoriesaround the UK, Sue is uniquely placedto relay the concerns of small busi-

n e s s e s.And as a small business itself, The

HR Dept’s Bristol operation developedstrongly in 2014, with turnover reach-ing £669,000 for which Anna was in-dividually responsible for salesfigures of more than £120,000.

She also mentored a winning teamof young businesspeople at RedlandGreen School in last year’s Young En-terprise competition, and used her en-trepreneurial skills to introduceseveral schemes within The HR Deptwhich have now been rolled out acrossthe licensee network.

“It’s been a great year,” she said,“not only for me but for everyone in-volved at The HR Dept.

“The nature of what we do and theclients we work with, most of whichare small businesses, means that ourproducts and services have a real im-pact on their growth. It’s very satis-fying, extremely rewarding and anexciting company to be part of.

“Becoming a FCIPD was a greatachievement and one that I’m de-lighted to have made. In terms of theperformance of the business, that’sbeen great too but it’s come from put-ting our clients first and seeing theresults follow.”

Anna in running as youngentrepreneur of the year

Global operator enjoying flavourof international trade success

A FOOD ingredients manufac-turing company has doubledits turnover while increas-ing profit over five years.TasteTech was founded in

1992 with the purpose of encapsu-lating food ingredients for the chew-ing gum market.

It has grown steadily and signi-ficantly over the past 21 years andnow produces encapsulated ingredi-ents and food flavourings that im-prove shelf life, flavour longevity andproduct function across the bakery,confectionery, chewing gum andsports nutrition sectors.

Managing director Janis Sintonsaid: “We are highly respected by ourcustomers for our specialist expert-ise, quality and service delivery andnow operate globally in 32 countries.

“We ’ve utilised the support from

Business West and UK Trade & In-vestment (UKTI) to ensure our visionis focused appropriately across allbusiness functions from human re-sources to health and safety and pro-duction efficiencies, to businessstrategy and finance.”

TasteTech is an ambitioushigh-growth company which set outin 2007 to double its turnover andincrease net profit to over 10 per centwithin five years.

Janis, p i c t u re d , said: “As an activemember of the Chamber of Com-merce and a beacon member we seethe benefits of our membership suchas networking, learning from eventsand feedback from our peers, as in-valuable to support our growth am-b i t i o n s. ”

Having initially joined the cham-ber for advice and support with ex-port documentation (chambermembers receive up to50 per cent discount off their exportdocumentation charges), over theyears TasteTech has taken advantageof the range of specialist support and

training on offer.Its management team has benefited

from strategic development andcoaching and mentoring whichhelped them to set their growtha g enda.

Access to the export doc-umentation and UKTI ser-vice has beeninstrumental inTasteTech selling itsproducts in new over-seas markets.

It regularly uses thedocumentation serviceto ensure it has the rightpaperwork for its exportsand their products get totheir chosen markets on time.

Janis said: “The international sup-port we have received from UKTI hasbeen invaluable.

“We have utilised services such asGateway to Global Growth which wasa year long programme whichprovided us with strategic support todiversify into new markets.

“We ’ve also been successful in ap-

MEXICO is being tipped as the hotcountry to export to in 2015, withgovernments of both counties lookingto promote trade.

The aims of these initiatives are topromote better understandingbetween the countries, developstronger business links and improvecultural and academic relations.

The British perception of Mexico is

often outdated. Mexico is a moderncountry with a dynamic economy; itsyoung population of 112 million and agrowing middle class.

Mexico has an impressive range offree trade agreements (includingwith the EU), and it has a strategiclocation between the US and LatinAmerica. Mexican companies aresteadily reducing their dependency

on trade with the US and often look toBritish companies to support theirrapidly growing manufacturing plat-form. From luxury goods and shop-ping centres, to food and drink,automotive and aerospace technolo-gies, to education and healthcare,prospects in Mexico are said to beexciting. There is a new BritishCentre for Business in Mexico City,

Dynamic Mexico’s the hot export tip for 2015Record entries forWomen in Business� THE Bristol and Bath Women inBusiness Awards has seen arecord number of entries.

A total of 83 nominations weremade for the awards, 12 morethan last year.

And the Woman Of The Yearprize attracted particular interest,with 21 businesswomennominated.

Gavin Thompson, assistanteditor (business) at the BristolPost, said: “We ’re delighted to seemore and more women puttingthemselves forward for awardssuch as these.

“I’m keen for our Businesspages to properly reflect thediverse nature of the city’sbusiness community.

“And it’s clear from the calibreof entries that there are someincredible women in business inBristol and Bath.

“The judges will face a realchallenge in drawing up the list offinalists, let alone deciding theeventual winner.

“To be honest, I’m ratherpleased not to have to make thatdecision!”

The finalists will be named innext week’s Business and thewinners are revealed at a galadinner at the Bristol City CentreMarriott on March 19.

To sponsor a category or booktickets for the night, visitw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t . c o . u k / w i b a .

Make the mostof ‘passpor tp ro g ra m m e ’� BUSINESSES are urged to takeadvantage of a support scheme tohelp them to export.

There are only 30 places left thisyear of the Passport to Exportprogramme in the South West, sofirms should act now if they areserious about trading overseas.

The scheme is designed to helpentrepreneurs who may thinkexporting would be a good way togrow their business but don’tknow where to start. The benefitsof expanding internationally areclear to see, with exportingbusinesses on average generatinggrowth rates of more than 30 percent after just two years.

But there’s a whole host ofquestions that people want toknow the answers to when firstconsidering export.

Not only are there time zone

plying for a European Regional De-velopment Fund grant which hassupported our export objectives.”

Through a subscription to a rangeof e-newsletters, TasteTech has been

able to keep up-to-date with events,information and advice to sup-

port their business growth.Janis concluded: “T he

support we have gainedfrom Business West hasbeen important to ourgrowth and expansionove r s e a s.

“We would recommendany company to contact

Business West for strategicsupport and access to a wide

range of business services.”Phil Smith, managing director at

Business West, said: “We ’re delightedto have been able to supportTasteTech on their growth journey.This is just one of many exampleswhere we can provide a variety ofservices, information and tools tohelp local businesses start-up innov-ate and grow.”

BUSINESS in Bristol could save acombined £70 million by appealingagainst their business rates valu-ation – but only if they move quickly.

The Chancellor has introduced acut off date of March 31, after whichnew appeals will only be able to claimrefunds back to that date.

Figures supplied by rates expertsCVS show that three-quarters of busi-nesses with Bristol City have not yet

appealed their rating valuation.That means there could be £70 mil-

lion of refunds if they appealed suc-cessfully. But if they wait until afterthe end of March, that figure falls to£23 million.

CVS chief executive Mark Rigbysaid: “The vast majority of businessesare well aware that they can claimrefunds on overpaid business ratesbecause of the discrepancy between

previous property valuations and ac-tual business rates bills.

“However, crucially there are nowonly two months left for businesses inBristol to submit appeals where noaction has been taken and, because ofthe Chancellor’s new regulations,where £47 million in refunds is at riskof being lost.

“We are saying to these businesses,‘wake up, take action, and don’t missout’. With pressure on businesses sogreat at the moment, the last thingthey need is a tax grab from Gov-ernment which this blatantly is.”

Alan Morrish, partner at commer-cial property agency Alder King’sBristol office, also urged firms to actand criticised the Treasury for theway the change had been handled.

“The deadline of March 31 2015 was

Move quick – you couldsave your share of £70m

hidden away in the small print of theChancellor’s Autumn Statement lastye a r, ” he said.

“Business rates are notoriouslycomplex and it’s hardly surprisingthat many ratepayers wouldn’t beaware of this deadline.”

Alan said his firm had secured anumber of ground-breaking de-cisions from the Valuation Tribunalover appeals opening up the prospectof refunds for other companies.

“We have had great success at ap-peal for clients over the past year,securing business rates reductionsworth over £7.5 million in sectorsincluding self-catering holiday cot-tages, telecoms, offices and manu-f acturing,” he said.

“No one likes to see up to five yearsof overpaid business rates being kept

by the Government when there is aperfectly legitimate way of securingthe full refund, but only by getting theappeal submitted by the end ofM a rch . ”

The most common grounds for ap-peal is a material change of circum-stances affecting the property such aschange of use or physical change ofthe local area.

Revaluations are supposed to hap-pen every five years but the last onewas put back two years.

George Osborne announced a longoverdue review of business rates inthe Autumn Statement, somethingthis publication had been campaign-ing for as the current system is out ofdate, restricts growth and does notgive enough control of spending tolocal bodies.

Women in Business

Business rates

Tra d e Ad v i ce

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

designed by Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen, offering a strategic base forUK companies wishing to set-up tem-porary office in the city. UK Trade &Investment Mexico has built a team ofstaff ready to offer businesses insightacross all key sectors in the country.� Business West is planing eventsto promote trade too. Emailinter national@businesswest.co.uk

Rupert JanischBusiness@b-nm.co.uk

differences and logistical andresource issues to deal with butbusinesses are worry about how tofind new customers and potentialbusiness partners.

There are also questions aroundhow and when they will get paidand how to tackle the languageand culture barriers of diversemarkets such as Brazil, China andIndia. Even some of the EUmarkets closer to home – France,Germany, Poland, etc. – havevarious barriers to overcome.

Trade & Investment’s Passportto Export scheme was set up tohelp overcome such hurdles as theGovernment sees exporting as keyto getting the economy on the rightpath.

The scheme pairs you with aninternational trade adviser, whowill prepare your business to dealwith the demands of exporting.

After joining, firms get access totraining and workshops, planningsessions and subsidies.

Trade advisers can help onissues from researching potentialmarkets, finding new agents anddistributors or updating websitesfor use in different countries.

The scheme costs £250 to join.A UKTI spokesman said:

“Nobody will tell you that exportingis easy but for those who enter theworld of international trade therewards can be huge! Selling to anew market is a fascinating andexciting experience and if youdon’t take advantage of theopportunities that exporting offersthen somebody else will.

“And don’t forget to keep yourpassport up-to-date as you’ll betaking plenty of trips overseas.”

UKTI spokesman

“Nobody will tell youexporting is easy but forthose who enter theworld of internationaltrade rewards can behuge

� Food flavourings being tested at TasteTech in Bristol

SPONSORED BY

in association with

� The HR Department team in Bristol including Anna Peplar, front right, and Sue Tumelty next to her

The categories� Woman of the Year, sponsoredby PPC

� Young Entrepreneur of the Year,sponsored by EY

� Mentor of the Year, sponsoredby Mentor Media Training

� Contribution to the Community,sponsored by The Mall CribbsCauseway

� Women in the Workplace Award

� New Business of the Year,sponsored by YourStreet GiftC a rd s

� Business of the Year

� Award for Innovation

� Marketing Campaign of the Year

� Female Apprentice of the Year,sponsored by Crest Nicholson

� Outstanding Contribution toBusiness in Bristol and Bath,sponsored by UWE

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6 We d n e s d a y, January 28, 2015 7We d n e s d a y, January 28, 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

The Big Interview

MOST of us have some per-sonal motivation to dowhat we do in business.Mark Chesham is drivento help smaller busi-

nesses stand up against the system.With views formed by witnessing

the impact of the miners’ strikes inSouth Wales in the 1980s, the directorof indirect tax services at MooreSte phens’ office in Bristol is passion-ate about offering nationallyrenowned advice to businesses whichmight not expect to be able to affordit.

Almost three decades of experiencein dealing in VAT and with tax in-vestigations have taught Mark thatmany smaller businesses can rarelyafford to dispute assessments andpenalties, even when they are not ac-tually at fault.

Combine this with a hardeningstance from HMRC on penalisingcompanies, along with figures whichshow a worryingly large number ofincorrect assessments, and Mark’sexpertise has never been in higherdemand among the business com-m u n i t y.

“A lot of my views were formedduring the miners’ strikes in Wales inthe 1980s,” he said. “I was a student inAberystwyth at the time and we had alink up with one of the pits. I saw whatthe effect of the closures was, and also

how the community worked togeth-e r.

“I always remember a represent-ative from the local Tesco coming tostand on the picket line. They realisedthat their trade was almost totallydependent on the mining com-m u n i t y.

“Since then I’ve always sympath-ised with people, or organisations,who might have seemed powerless butwho stood up against injustice.

“So nowadays I particularly like tosupport smaller businesses, becauseto be quite honest they’re an easy

VAT EXPERT MARK STANDS UP FORBristol is home to oneof the UK’s foremostexperts on VAT. RupertJanisch meets MarkChesham, of MooreStephens.

start working back in 1988.A year later, in 1989, the Berlin Wall

came down, rendering much ofM a rk ’s discourse obsolete. In themeantime a career in VAT, initiallywith Customs and Excise, had star-ted.

“I worked for Customs & Excise forabout three years,” he said, “thenended up joining KPMG after the bigaccountancy firms started bringingin specialists to advise their clients.

“They established a specialist in-surance unit in Bristol in 1994, so Imoved to Bristol from London. Over-

My working dayWake up at? 6.30amWhat do you have for breakfast? Muesli and strong coffeeWhat time do you start work? Somewhere between 7.30am and 8amWhat happens in your typical working day? Generally a mix of clientadvisory work, meetings with someone from my referral network (mostof my work comes from referrals) and drafting articles.What time do you go home? If I’m in the office, I generally leave forhome around 4.30pm but will then spend an hour or so dealing withemails etc once I’m at home.Do you take work home/attend evening functions? Yes to both,although I try always to keep my weekends free.

Name: Mark CheshamAge: 52Place of birth: St Mary Cray,KentSchool: Walsingham School(long-since demolished); UCWAberystwythFirst job: Varnishing woodenwindow frames at a doubleglazing companyHero or inspiration: I’m inspiredby people, oftenpowerless, whostand upagainstinjusticere g a rd l e s sof personalcost. RosaParks (right)would be anexample.

Vital statistics

all, I spent nine years with KPMG,before moving to PwC and spendingsix years with them.

“But I always knew that there werelots of small and medium-sized busi-ness which couldn’t afford to takeVAT advice from a Big 4 provider, sothere was a market there to providegood commercial advice to SMEs.

“I worked as a sole trader for a whilebut the move to Moore Stephensmeans I can bring the benefits of awider network of accounting special-ists to my clients both within the UKand internationally.”

Financial Services, Mark is knownacross the UK as one of an authorityon the topic.

It took him six months to write the80,000-word book, which was origin-ally published in 2012 and which he iscurrently updating, with a new edi-tion due in the early part of this year.

He also regularly writes technicalarticles on tax issues and in fact is nostranger to academia, having beenhalfway through a PhD on compar-ative political theory of various East-ern European states when a shortageof cash forced him to postpone it and

target for HMRC.“Multinationals can afford to spend

the legal and accountancy fees neededto challenge these assessments butmore often than not, due to the costsinvolved, it makes sense for smallercompanies to pay up.

“But that’s what I’m looking to do –support smaller businesses with topquality, affordable advice and makesure that they’re properly represen-ted when it comes to dealing with theRevenue. And of course, that mix ofservice levels and affordability hasalso proved attractive to larger busi-nesses too, many of which have beenclients of mine for a number ofye a r s. ”

Having worked for both KPMG andPwC in his time, Mark brings “Big 4”experience to a smaller firm. He star-ted working with Moore Stephens in2011 after previously operating a suc-cessful sole trader practice since2005.

Accountants across Bristol regu-larly refer him work when they wantto tap into his expertise on VAT, aftermany years specialising in indirecttaxes for the financial services andinsurance sectors.

But it is not only in Bristol and theSouth West where his reputation isknown. As the author of VAT and

“ I’ve alwayssympathised withpeople, ororganisations, whomight have seemedpowerless but whostood up againstinjustice. So nowadaysI particularly like tosupport smallerbusinesses.

EQUIPMENT that produces odourless ink hashelped a Bristol company win a big new client.

Clip will provide conference and exhibitionsupplies to Avonmouth-based Yankee Candle.

It won the work partly because it had investedin new odourless printing technology –something which appealed to the candle makeras smell is central to its products.

Paul Runacres, head of sales and marketing atClip, said: “Often exhibitions stands and pro-motional displays can smell of ink but weinvested £45,000 to buy new printing machines

in order to produce odourless print, somethingthat appealed to Yankee Candle.”

Clip has already made the graphics for Yan-ke e ’s start-of-year conference which was at-tended by 150 people.

Emma Huws, of Yankee Candle, said: “P re -viously we have worked with a number ofdifferent companies that all deal with one partof the exhibition and conference solution – n owby working with Clip we are working with acompany that can provide all of the services,and to a very high standard.”

Sweet smell of success for ink company

A BUSINESS that makes games forchildren with special needs has beenpraised as one of 10 “future leaders”in the creative sector. Sun & MoonStudios won plaudits for its work with

EyeGaze technology which allows children tocontrol a PC using their eyesight.

Its game, Eye Can Fly, is designed for allabilities and can be controlled with EyeGaze aswell as a mouse or keyboard.

Creative producer Dylan Shipley said: “We ’revery proud of what we’ve achieved and the factthat it’s already having a big impact on thequality of life of the people who are playingit.”

Founded in 2008, Sun & Moon Studios is ananimation, design and software productionhouse. It creates content from TV animation tocorporate films and smart phone games.

The firm, based at Paintworks in Bath Road,Bristol, was chosen by a team of judges led byCreative England.

Dylan added: “We wouldn’t have been able tomake Eye Can Fly without support fromCreative England. They not only helped fin-ancially, but gave us the push to put our headstogether to design our first game IP froms c r at ch . ”

Sun & Moon also joined three other Bristolfirms on a list of 50 businesses from acrossEngland who have turned a creative idea into acommercial success.

They were Clifton-based app developerMubaloo, Long Ashton games developerGround Shatter and Park Street-based an-imation studio Rumpus Animation.

Creative England chief executive said thereport showed that talent and opportunity

could be found across the country, not just inLondon.

Secretary of State Sajid Javid, himself aBristolian, addressed the launch event. He said:“The whole economy is growing, but thecreative sector is in a league of its own, growingthree times faster than the rest, and generating£8.8 million an hour for the UK.

“But we can’t be complacent. I want to seethis growth continue as a central part of ourlong-term economic plan and we’ll doeverything we can to help make the years aheadeven more successful.”

Game-makers win praiseas ‘future sector leaders’

As businesses look to overseas markets toenable them to grow, Mark’s knowledge ofinternational VAT regulations and under-standing of the continental make-up is be-coming increasingly useful. That unfinishedPhD on European political theory may havenot been completely redundant, after all.

Mark said that businesses need to be awareof ever changing European and domestic le-gislation. One example is that from the start of2015 anyone (regardless of whether or not theyare VAT registered) selling broadcasting orelectronic services to consumers in the EUwill be liable to account for VAT in the coun-tries where the service is consumed.

He said: “Businesses which are doingsomething different, undertaking a newtransaction – commonly property deals, orselling new products or making ventures intocustomer bases in Europe – need to be aware ofthe VAT implications of doing so.

“A lot of what I do is cross-border inter-national work. In that respect it’s great to bepart of Moore Stephens, because the companyhas businesses in more than 100 countries andif I need to take any additional advice thenthere is a network there to enable me to dot h at . ”

The administrative and cost burdens of VATcan be the bane on the existence of any busi-ness, especially since 2011 when the rate roseto 20 per cent. Mark’s expertise, therefore, is inhigh demand.

“Larger companies come to me wanting to

My downtime

What’s your perfectweekend?Sunshine, a goodmeal with my wifeand friends andwatching Arsenalwin.

What’s yourfavourite book orfilm or TV show?Book – Homage toCatalonia byGeorge Orwell;Film – The ThirdMan; TV – TheThick of It orDad’s Army.

know whether they are dealing with VAT asefficiently as possible and whether there areany cost savings available,” he said.

“Many of my clients are having problemswith HMRC and they don’t know what to doabout it. Often those referrals come fromother accountants because they don’t havein-house VAT expertise.

“Initially I’ll provide a review of why theproblem has arisen and whether the assess-ment raised by the Revenue is correct – eitherfactually or technically, for example has itbeen made in time. I will also look at anyinterest charged to check that it has beencorrectly calculated.

“Then it’s a case of deciding, on that basis,how to take it forward. If the assessment isright then it might be that you need to try andagree Time To Pay (TTP) arrangements, tohelp you out on the cash flow side.

“If you think the Revenue is wrong, then youneed to know how to take that forward, dis-cuss it with them and, if all else fails, how tosubmit an appeal.

“My clients know that if they ring up ouroffice they can talk to me, whereas if theyphone up one of the larger companies thework will be done by someone further downthe line.

“T hat’s the type of personal service I’mlooking to offer and I know that these days,with the business landscape changing the wayit is, there are many businesses of all sizeswho can benefit from it.”

What is yourhobby? Flyfishing

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

� Dylan Shipley and Louis Jones at Sun and Moon Studios

THE UNDERDOG

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6 We d n e s d a y, January 28, 2015 7We d n e s d a y, January 28, 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

The Big Interview

MOST of us have some per-sonal motivation to dowhat we do in business.Mark Chesham is drivento help smaller busi-

nesses stand up against the system.With views formed by witnessing

the impact of the miners’ strikes inSouth Wales in the 1980s, the directorof indirect tax services at MooreSte phens’ office in Bristol is passion-ate about offering nationallyrenowned advice to businesses whichmight not expect to be able to affordit.

Almost three decades of experiencein dealing in VAT and with tax in-vestigations have taught Mark thatmany smaller businesses can rarelyafford to dispute assessments andpenalties, even when they are not ac-tually at fault.

Combine this with a hardeningstance from HMRC on penalisingcompanies, along with figures whichshow a worryingly large number ofincorrect assessments, and Mark’sexpertise has never been in higherdemand among the business com-m u n i t y.

“A lot of my views were formedduring the miners’ strikes in Wales inthe 1980s,” he said. “I was a student inAberystwyth at the time and we had alink up with one of the pits. I saw whatthe effect of the closures was, and also

how the community worked togeth-e r.

“I always remember a represent-ative from the local Tesco coming tostand on the picket line. They realisedthat their trade was almost totallydependent on the mining com-m u n i t y.

“Since then I’ve always sympath-ised with people, or organisations,who might have seemed powerless butwho stood up against injustice.

“So nowadays I particularly like tosupport smaller businesses, becauseto be quite honest they’re an easy

VAT EXPERT MARK STANDS UP FORBristol is home to oneof the UK’s foremostexperts on VAT. RupertJanisch meets MarkChesham, of MooreStephens.

start working back in 1988.A year later, in 1989, the Berlin Wall

came down, rendering much ofM a rk ’s discourse obsolete. In themeantime a career in VAT, initiallywith Customs and Excise, had star-ted.

“I worked for Customs & Excise forabout three years,” he said, “thenended up joining KPMG after the bigaccountancy firms started bringingin specialists to advise their clients.

“They established a specialist in-surance unit in Bristol in 1994, so Imoved to Bristol from London. Over-

My working dayWake up at? 6.30amWhat do you have for breakfast? Muesli and strong coffeeWhat time do you start work? Somewhere between 7.30am and 8amWhat happens in your typical working day? Generally a mix of clientadvisory work, meetings with someone from my referral network (mostof my work comes from referrals) and drafting articles.What time do you go home? If I’m in the office, I generally leave forhome around 4.30pm but will then spend an hour or so dealing withemails etc once I’m at home.Do you take work home/attend evening functions? Yes to both,although I try always to keep my weekends free.

Name: Mark CheshamAge: 52Place of birth: St Mary Cray,KentSchool: Walsingham School(long-since demolished); UCWAberystwythFirst job: Varnishing woodenwindow frames at a doubleglazing companyHero or inspiration: I’m inspiredby people, oftenpowerless, whostand upagainstinjusticere g a rd l e s sof personalcost. RosaParks (right)would be anexample.

Vital statistics

all, I spent nine years with KPMG,before moving to PwC and spendingsix years with them.

“But I always knew that there werelots of small and medium-sized busi-ness which couldn’t afford to takeVAT advice from a Big 4 provider, sothere was a market there to providegood commercial advice to SMEs.

“I worked as a sole trader for a whilebut the move to Moore Stephensmeans I can bring the benefits of awider network of accounting special-ists to my clients both within the UKand internationally.”

Financial Services, Mark is knownacross the UK as one of an authorityon the topic.

It took him six months to write the80,000-word book, which was origin-ally published in 2012 and which he iscurrently updating, with a new edi-tion due in the early part of this year.

He also regularly writes technicalarticles on tax issues and in fact is nostranger to academia, having beenhalfway through a PhD on compar-ative political theory of various East-ern European states when a shortageof cash forced him to postpone it and

target for HMRC.“Multinationals can afford to spend

the legal and accountancy fees neededto challenge these assessments butmore often than not, due to the costsinvolved, it makes sense for smallercompanies to pay up.

“But that’s what I’m looking to do –support smaller businesses with topquality, affordable advice and makesure that they’re properly represen-ted when it comes to dealing with theRevenue. And of course, that mix ofservice levels and affordability hasalso proved attractive to larger busi-nesses too, many of which have beenclients of mine for a number ofye a r s. ”

Having worked for both KPMG andPwC in his time, Mark brings “Big 4”experience to a smaller firm. He star-ted working with Moore Stephens in2011 after previously operating a suc-cessful sole trader practice since2005.

Accountants across Bristol regu-larly refer him work when they wantto tap into his expertise on VAT, aftermany years specialising in indirecttaxes for the financial services andinsurance sectors.

But it is not only in Bristol and theSouth West where his reputation isknown. As the author of VAT and

“ I’ve alwayssympathised withpeople, ororganisations, whomight have seemedpowerless but whostood up againstinjustice. So nowadaysI particularly like tosupport smallerbusinesses.

EQUIPMENT that produces odourless ink hashelped a Bristol company win a big new client.

Clip will provide conference and exhibitionsupplies to Avonmouth-based Yankee Candle.

It won the work partly because it had investedin new odourless printing technology –something which appealed to the candle makeras smell is central to its products.

Paul Runacres, head of sales and marketing atClip, said: “Often exhibitions stands and pro-motional displays can smell of ink but weinvested £45,000 to buy new printing machines

in order to produce odourless print, somethingthat appealed to Yankee Candle.”

Clip has already made the graphics for Yan-ke e ’s start-of-year conference which was at-tended by 150 people.

Emma Huws, of Yankee Candle, said: “P re -viously we have worked with a number ofdifferent companies that all deal with one partof the exhibition and conference solution – n owby working with Clip we are working with acompany that can provide all of the services,and to a very high standard.”

Sweet smell of success for ink company

A BUSINESS that makes games forchildren with special needs has beenpraised as one of 10 “future leaders”in the creative sector. Sun & MoonStudios won plaudits for its work with

EyeGaze technology which allows children tocontrol a PC using their eyesight.

Its game, Eye Can Fly, is designed for allabilities and can be controlled with EyeGaze aswell as a mouse or keyboard.

Creative producer Dylan Shipley said: “We ’revery proud of what we’ve achieved and the factthat it’s already having a big impact on thequality of life of the people who are playingit.”

Founded in 2008, Sun & Moon Studios is ananimation, design and software productionhouse. It creates content from TV animation tocorporate films and smart phone games.

The firm, based at Paintworks in Bath Road,Bristol, was chosen by a team of judges led byCreative England.

Dylan added: “We wouldn’t have been able tomake Eye Can Fly without support fromCreative England. They not only helped fin-ancially, but gave us the push to put our headstogether to design our first game IP froms c r at ch . ”

Sun & Moon also joined three other Bristolfirms on a list of 50 businesses from acrossEngland who have turned a creative idea into acommercial success.

They were Clifton-based app developerMubaloo, Long Ashton games developerGround Shatter and Park Street-based an-imation studio Rumpus Animation.

Creative England chief executive said thereport showed that talent and opportunity

could be found across the country, not just inLondon.

Secretary of State Sajid Javid, himself aBristolian, addressed the launch event. He said:“The whole economy is growing, but thecreative sector is in a league of its own, growingthree times faster than the rest, and generating£8.8 million an hour for the UK.

“But we can’t be complacent. I want to seethis growth continue as a central part of ourlong-term economic plan and we’ll doeverything we can to help make the years aheadeven more successful.”

Game-makers win praiseas ‘future sector leaders’

As businesses look to overseas markets toenable them to grow, Mark’s knowledge ofinternational VAT regulations and under-standing of the continental make-up is be-coming increasingly useful. That unfinishedPhD on European political theory may havenot been completely redundant, after all.

Mark said that businesses need to be awareof ever changing European and domestic le-gislation. One example is that from the start of2015 anyone (regardless of whether or not theyare VAT registered) selling broadcasting orelectronic services to consumers in the EUwill be liable to account for VAT in the coun-tries where the service is consumed.

He said: “Businesses which are doingsomething different, undertaking a newtransaction – commonly property deals, orselling new products or making ventures intocustomer bases in Europe – need to be aware ofthe VAT implications of doing so.

“A lot of what I do is cross-border inter-national work. In that respect it’s great to bepart of Moore Stephens, because the companyhas businesses in more than 100 countries andif I need to take any additional advice thenthere is a network there to enable me to dot h at . ”

The administrative and cost burdens of VATcan be the bane on the existence of any busi-ness, especially since 2011 when the rate roseto 20 per cent. Mark’s expertise, therefore, is inhigh demand.

“Larger companies come to me wanting to

My downtime

What’s your perfectweekend?Sunshine, a goodmeal with my wifeand friends andwatching Arsenalwin.

What’s yourfavourite book orfilm or TV show?Book – Homage toCatalonia byGeorge Orwell;Film – The ThirdMan; TV – TheThick of It orDad’s Army.

know whether they are dealing with VAT asefficiently as possible and whether there areany cost savings available,” he said.

“Many of my clients are having problemswith HMRC and they don’t know what to doabout it. Often those referrals come fromother accountants because they don’t havein-house VAT expertise.

“Initially I’ll provide a review of why theproblem has arisen and whether the assess-ment raised by the Revenue is correct – eitherfactually or technically, for example has itbeen made in time. I will also look at anyinterest charged to check that it has beencorrectly calculated.

“Then it’s a case of deciding, on that basis,how to take it forward. If the assessment isright then it might be that you need to try andagree Time To Pay (TTP) arrangements, tohelp you out on the cash flow side.

“If you think the Revenue is wrong, then youneed to know how to take that forward, dis-cuss it with them and, if all else fails, how tosubmit an appeal.

“My clients know that if they ring up ouroffice they can talk to me, whereas if theyphone up one of the larger companies thework will be done by someone further downthe line.

“T hat’s the type of personal service I’mlooking to offer and I know that these days,with the business landscape changing the wayit is, there are many businesses of all sizeswho can benefit from it.”

What is yourhobby? Flyfishing

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

� Dylan Shipley and Louis Jones at Sun and Moon Studios

THE UNDERDOG

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8 We d n e s d a y, January 28, 2015 9We d n e s d a y, January 28, 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

AS the economy grows, morebusinesses are looking forfinance to fuel their own ex-pansion. At the same time,getting hold of the money is

becoming a little easier but it’s just asimportant to get it right.

Growth is a business opportunitybut also a threat and any owner ormanager needs to properly assess tomake sure they find the right path fortheir company.

“The first thing anyone will look atwhen you are raising money is willyou be using it effectively,” s ay sDavid Roper, a partner at the Bristoloffice of business advisers Smith &Williamson. “Effective means usingthe money to generate profit becauseif you are taking on debt you have toservice it – pay the interest – and

“And the other is Europe – that isconcern, although the fact we havehad falling fuel prices has helpedmost business so that has been acompensating factor.”

But overall, the picture is positivefor those looking for a cash injectionto fuel their growth.

“At the moment it’s getting easier,”

says David. “T here’s much more li-quidity out there. Banks have gotmore money, they’ve loosened up andhave got an appetite to lend, there’sno doubt about that.

“We are seeing a considerable in-crease in companies talking to usabout doing things.

“Some of that is the loosening up of

liquidity with cash available and alsoa bit of latent demand where peoplehave been sitting on their hands forfive or six years waiting for the rightmoment.

“Owner managers are certainlytrying to get out there to do things.”

And that’s good news for jobs andprosperity in our city.

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

There are a range of invest-ment options out there forfirms with a strong businesscase. Gavin Thompson looksat the which form of financecould be the right fit for yourcompany

eventually pay it back.“If you can’t show you can do that,

you won’t get the money.”David says lenders look at a num-

ber of factors when weighing upwhether to back a business.

“They will look at the track recordof the company, how big is the market,is it growing and who are the peopleinvolved – are they experienced?” hesays. “T hat’s why management buy-outs usually have an advantage.There is already a stable manage-ment team in place but perhaps theyneed money to grow or take advant-age of an opportunity.

“Sometimes they might need to addsomething to the team such as afinance director or experienced man-aging director to reassure lenders.

“It comes down to what are therisks of the investment?”

The role of people like David is towork with companies at an earlystage to find out what they wantmoney for and look for the mostappropriate methods.

They can also advise on handy taxincentives that can make you moreattractive for investors. If you qualifyfor Enterprise Investment Scheme(EIS) or Seed EIS tax relief it meansinvestors are getting cash back aspart of cost of their investment

The job has become somewhat easi-er as the lending climate has eased,although there are some factors that

� BUILDING, repairs andmaintenance specialist MDBuilding Services Limited (betterknown as Emmdee), is on target toachieve an impressive 30 per centyear on year growth rate, as aresult of a series of big new clientwins.

The company, whose clientsinclude social landlords, localauthorities, charities, insurancecompanies and nationalcommercial organisations, deliversits works and services throughoutthe Midlands, South Wales, Southand South West of England.

Supported by RBS InvoiceFinance, Emmdee has almostcompleted the first year of its 505Plan, a strategic growth plan

which aims to see the companyachieve its goal of £50 millionturnover in the next five years. Inorder to ensure that adequatefunding is in place to supportthese impressive expansion plans,RBS Invoice Finance hasincreased the company’s facilityfrom £600,000 to £800,000.

Emmdee was formed in 1998 bySteve Devlin and Les Mitchell.From its beginnings as a localBristol based building andmaintenance company, theorganisation has grown steadilyand organically, employing over200 people from several offices

including near Ashton Gate inBristol.

Steve, a director, said: “2014has been excellent and we havesecured some significant newcontract wins which are helping usto achieve our growth ambitions.

“Forming the 505 plan has beena critical element of securing ourfuture, it sets out the ambition ofthe business perfectly, giving us alla direction of where we want tobe. It was developed by aleadership group made up ofcolleagues at all levels of thebusiness and as a result the wholeorganisation is dedicated todelivering and achieving this goal.

“Since its implementation at thestart of last year, the business has

‘Support has improved working capital position’Invoice financing

Funding enablesfurniture makerto shave costs

Bank loan

� HAPPY Days opened its firstnursery in Bristol last weekend, onthe Almondsbury Business Centre inBradley Stoke.

The new nursery is one of three itplans to open in the city in 2015,and the first demonstration of aconcerted effort by the business toexpand out of Devon and Cornwalland into Bristol.

None of this would have beenpossible without £3.9 million ofinvestment secured last April fromLiving Bridge – formerly called ISISEquity Partners – adding to previousfunding of £1.2 million secured inApril 2012.

To get the funding, Happy Daysneeded to demonstrate a successfulhistory of growth with its leaseholdmodel. Together, its nurseries havean operating capacity of more than

Happy Days opens nurseriesafter £3.9 million investment

Eq u i ty

Growth

HOW TO FUEL EXPANSION THROUGH FINDING RIGHT FINANCE FOR YOU

1,000 places, employing 400 staffand the company turns over morethan £5 million.

Managing director Jackie Arthursaid: “We now have a strongfinancial covenant from the supportof ISIS, which has funded severalnew nurseries, as well as there-siting or expansion of others inour portfolio.

“It’s a really exciting time for us.This extra investment showsconfidence in the management teamand in our strategy for growth.

“We ’ve made some greatdevelopments with our nurseriesover the past few years and thetalented team I have here is ready togo and take us to the next level.”

David Roper

“Lenders will look at thetrack record of thecompany, how big is themarket, is it growing andwho are the peopleinvolved – are theyexperienced?

could dampen the more positivemood.

“There are some potential greyclouds on the horizon,” says David.“One is the election because of theuncertainty about what the govern-ment will be. Thankfully we haven’tseen a real impact from this yet butwe may well do.

grown in every field and as a resultwe have also been able to makemany improvements to ouroperations.

“We have invested more than£500,000 in the last six months onnew vehicles alone, put effectivetraining plans for all of our staffinto action, refurbished andexpanded our Bristol and Exeteroffices, launched a new regionaloffice in Birmingham, increasedour staff numbers and alsoimproved our IT systems andi n f r a s t r u c t u re . ”

Fellow director Les added: “Theincreased finance facility has reallyimproved our working capitalposition and is helping us tog ro w. ”

WHAT FORM OF FINANCE IS FOR YOU?

� From left, Emmdee owners Steve Devlin and Les Mitchell with Mike Pinch from RBS Invoice Finance Pic: Dan Regan

� Bank loan: If you have got assetsto secure it against then the banksare the place to start.

Banks are looking for businessassets as well as your ability toservice loans. If you are loss makingand don’t have assets, you’reunlikely to get a loan

On the other hand, if you are anestablished business with a historyof profitability looking to expand,t h e re ’s a very good chance.

� Factoring and invoice financing:A different form of borrowing, itfrees up cashflow from moneypeople owe you. It’s not lending assuch, a third party buys your debtsand gives you some of the moneyup front in return for keeping apercentage when they get paid orfee. It’s commonly used byimporters and exporters who haveorders secured and have to buy

materials and supplies but won’tgetting paid until after they’ved e l i v e re d .

This kind of finance can beprovided by banks or a number ofalternative lenders, such as UltimateFinance, based in Aztec West.

If you use this form of finance, youhave to be confident your businesswill keep growing to keep themoney going around. The otherdownside is the fees will take a sliceof your profits, although sometimesyou can offset these by negotiatingbetter terms with your suppliers whocan have more confidence they willget paid once they know you have abigger player behind you.

� Equity investment: Often usedfor big capital investments or byearly-stage companies where youdon’t have the assets to borrowagainst. Instead the lender isbacking you to succeed and

believing they’ll get their returnfurther down the line. That meansyour business plan has to be strongand you have to be believable.

One type of equity investor is aso-called angel. This could be afriend or family member ofsomething more formal.

There are also private equity fundswith plenty of cash but many havespecific criteria such as the numberof years you have been trading, thesize of the business or the sector.

Some such funds will look tomake a return by selling their stakelater on while others will take anannual dividend out of the business.Either way they tend to belonger-term investors.

Equity investors may well want tobe more involved in the business,using their experience to keep youon the right path. Someentrepreneurs find this can be morevaluable in the long-term than the

money. The downside is that if youare successful, it’s an expensiveway to borrow as you are givingaway a slice of your business.

� Crowd funding: This is becomingmore popular, particularly amongstart-ups, and we are beginning tosee some raising reasonable sumsof money.

It involves inviting all-comers toinvest in your business, often inreturn for equity but sometimes inreturn for rewards, such asexclusive products or membership.

It appeals to many becauseanyone can do it through an onlineplatform, but that doesn’t meananyone can do it well.

The most successful campaignswill need just as much diligence aswhen seeking any other form oflending.

Bristol-based Fundsurfer, whichstarted as a rewards-based crowd

funding website, has recentlyexpanded to offer more of aconsultation service fororganisations looking to crowd fund.

� Pension-led funding: Stillsomething of a niche market,pioneered by Pill-based CliftonAsset Management, this allowspeople to invest their pension pot intheir own business. It is a usefuloption for firms where the real valueis in their intellectual property, skillsand intangible assets as these canbe considered as part of thebusiness value.

� Mix it up! Sometimes the bestform of lending is more than one. Ifyou have some equity investment,for example, it might help a bank orother lender to see you as a goodbet for a loan. After all, it meanssomeone else thinks you are worththe gamble.

� PAUL Glover started hisworkshop designing and creatingbespoke handcrafted furniture fromhumble beginnings with just oneemployee.

Today, Redfield-based PaulGlover Furniture is celebrating theimpressive milestone of reaching asignificant seven-figure turnover,along with an equally impressiveorder book of commissions from theUK and overseas.

After being educated at Colston’sSchool, Bristol, where woodworkwas not on the curriculum, Paul wona place at Rycotewood College inThame, Oxfordshire, specialising indesign and fine craftsmanship. Hestarted to learn his trade, graduatingas top student in his year.

Now he employs 22 people andhis furniture is sought after byindividuals, designers and A-listcelebrities worldwide.

More than 80 per cent of thefirm’s order book is generated in theUK, with customers includingfurniture in houses, super yachtsand private jets. But as the UKmarket was struggling, Paul lookedoverseas and with help from UKTrade and Investment moved intoRussia, tapping into a clientele notimpacted by the UK economy.

Paul said: “Working with woodhas always been an ambition ofmine since a very young age. I ampassionate about what I do andhope the pieces of furniture wedesign and create leave a lastinglegacy for the future generation toadmire and enjoy.

“It’s not always been easy andI’ve experienced the ups and downsany business faces over time,however, if you believe in yourproduct and build a trusted team ofadvisers around you, you can

succeed even in challenging marketconditions.”

Each week, more than five tonnestimber from managed andsustainable forests arrive at Paul’sworkshop.

As the business grows, he hasinvested in a new drying oven,funded with a bank loan fromB a rc l a y s .

Costing £30,000, the Schubertoven, manufactured in the UK, is

expected to be cost neutral withinfive to six years and is designed toincrease drying capacity, improveefficiency and provide a reduction ofgas emissions.

The waste including shavings isrecycled into briquettes which inturn heat the veneering workshop.

Paul added: “This new piece ofequipment will stand us in goodstead for the future as our strategyfor growth globally continues.”

� Paul Glover of Paul Glover Furniture

� First customers Vicky and Harry Bartlett with manager Julie Bright andsupervisor Emma Reading at Happy Days Nursery in Bradley Stoke

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8 We d n e s d a y, January 28, 2015 9We d n e s d a y, January 28, 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

AS the economy grows, morebusinesses are looking forfinance to fuel their own ex-pansion. At the same time,getting hold of the money is

becoming a little easier but it’s just asimportant to get it right.

Growth is a business opportunitybut also a threat and any owner ormanager needs to properly assess tomake sure they find the right path fortheir company.

“The first thing anyone will look atwhen you are raising money is willyou be using it effectively,” s ay sDavid Roper, a partner at the Bristoloffice of business advisers Smith &Williamson. “Effective means usingthe money to generate profit becauseif you are taking on debt you have toservice it – pay the interest – and

“And the other is Europe – that isconcern, although the fact we havehad falling fuel prices has helpedmost business so that has been acompensating factor.”

But overall, the picture is positivefor those looking for a cash injectionto fuel their growth.

“At the moment it’s getting easier,”

says David. “T here’s much more li-quidity out there. Banks have gotmore money, they’ve loosened up andhave got an appetite to lend, there’sno doubt about that.

“We are seeing a considerable in-crease in companies talking to usabout doing things.

“Some of that is the loosening up of

liquidity with cash available and alsoa bit of latent demand where peoplehave been sitting on their hands forfive or six years waiting for the rightmoment.

“Owner managers are certainlytrying to get out there to do things.”

And that’s good news for jobs andprosperity in our city.

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

There are a range of invest-ment options out there forfirms with a strong businesscase. Gavin Thompson looksat the which form of financecould be the right fit for yourcompany

eventually pay it back.“If you can’t show you can do that,

you won’t get the money.”David says lenders look at a num-

ber of factors when weighing upwhether to back a business.

“They will look at the track recordof the company, how big is the market,is it growing and who are the peopleinvolved – are they experienced?” hesays. “T hat’s why management buy-outs usually have an advantage.There is already a stable manage-ment team in place but perhaps theyneed money to grow or take advant-age of an opportunity.

“Sometimes they might need to addsomething to the team such as afinance director or experienced man-aging director to reassure lenders.

“It comes down to what are therisks of the investment?”

The role of people like David is towork with companies at an earlystage to find out what they wantmoney for and look for the mostappropriate methods.

They can also advise on handy taxincentives that can make you moreattractive for investors. If you qualifyfor Enterprise Investment Scheme(EIS) or Seed EIS tax relief it meansinvestors are getting cash back aspart of cost of their investment

The job has become somewhat easi-er as the lending climate has eased,although there are some factors that

� BUILDING, repairs andmaintenance specialist MDBuilding Services Limited (betterknown as Emmdee), is on target toachieve an impressive 30 per centyear on year growth rate, as aresult of a series of big new clientwins.

The company, whose clientsinclude social landlords, localauthorities, charities, insurancecompanies and nationalcommercial organisations, deliversits works and services throughoutthe Midlands, South Wales, Southand South West of England.

Supported by RBS InvoiceFinance, Emmdee has almostcompleted the first year of its 505Plan, a strategic growth plan

which aims to see the companyachieve its goal of £50 millionturnover in the next five years. Inorder to ensure that adequatefunding is in place to supportthese impressive expansion plans,RBS Invoice Finance hasincreased the company’s facilityfrom £600,000 to £800,000.

Emmdee was formed in 1998 bySteve Devlin and Les Mitchell.From its beginnings as a localBristol based building andmaintenance company, theorganisation has grown steadilyand organically, employing over200 people from several offices

including near Ashton Gate inBristol.

Steve, a director, said: “2014has been excellent and we havesecured some significant newcontract wins which are helping usto achieve our growth ambitions.

“Forming the 505 plan has beena critical element of securing ourfuture, it sets out the ambition ofthe business perfectly, giving us alla direction of where we want tobe. It was developed by aleadership group made up ofcolleagues at all levels of thebusiness and as a result the wholeorganisation is dedicated todelivering and achieving this goal.

“Since its implementation at thestart of last year, the business has

‘Support has improved working capital position’Invoice financing

Funding enablesfurniture makerto shave costs

Bank loan

� HAPPY Days opened its firstnursery in Bristol last weekend, onthe Almondsbury Business Centre inBradley Stoke.

The new nursery is one of three itplans to open in the city in 2015,and the first demonstration of aconcerted effort by the business toexpand out of Devon and Cornwalland into Bristol.

None of this would have beenpossible without £3.9 million ofinvestment secured last April fromLiving Bridge – formerly called ISISEquity Partners – adding to previousfunding of £1.2 million secured inApril 2012.

To get the funding, Happy Daysneeded to demonstrate a successfulhistory of growth with its leaseholdmodel. Together, its nurseries havean operating capacity of more than

Happy Days opens nurseriesafter £3.9 million investment

Eq u i ty

Growth

HOW TO FUEL EXPANSION THROUGH FINDING RIGHT FINANCE FOR YOU

1,000 places, employing 400 staffand the company turns over morethan £5 million.

Managing director Jackie Arthursaid: “We now have a strongfinancial covenant from the supportof ISIS, which has funded severalnew nurseries, as well as there-siting or expansion of others inour portfolio.

“It’s a really exciting time for us.This extra investment showsconfidence in the management teamand in our strategy for growth.

“We ’ve made some greatdevelopments with our nurseriesover the past few years and thetalented team I have here is ready togo and take us to the next level.”

David Roper

“Lenders will look at thetrack record of thecompany, how big is themarket, is it growing andwho are the peopleinvolved – are theyexperienced?

could dampen the more positivemood.

“There are some potential greyclouds on the horizon,” says David.“One is the election because of theuncertainty about what the govern-ment will be. Thankfully we haven’tseen a real impact from this yet butwe may well do.

grown in every field and as a resultwe have also been able to makemany improvements to ouroperations.

“We have invested more than£500,000 in the last six months onnew vehicles alone, put effectivetraining plans for all of our staffinto action, refurbished andexpanded our Bristol and Exeteroffices, launched a new regionaloffice in Birmingham, increasedour staff numbers and alsoimproved our IT systems andi n f r a s t r u c t u re . ”

Fellow director Les added: “Theincreased finance facility has reallyimproved our working capitalposition and is helping us tog ro w. ”

WHAT FORM OF FINANCE IS FOR YOU?

� From left, Emmdee owners Steve Devlin and Les Mitchell with Mike Pinch from RBS Invoice Finance Pic: Dan Regan

� Bank loan: If you have got assetsto secure it against then the banksare the place to start.

Banks are looking for businessassets as well as your ability toservice loans. If you are loss makingand don’t have assets, you’reunlikely to get a loan

On the other hand, if you are anestablished business with a historyof profitability looking to expand,t h e re ’s a very good chance.

� Factoring and invoice financing:A different form of borrowing, itfrees up cashflow from moneypeople owe you. It’s not lending assuch, a third party buys your debtsand gives you some of the moneyup front in return for keeping apercentage when they get paid orfee. It’s commonly used byimporters and exporters who haveorders secured and have to buy

materials and supplies but won’tgetting paid until after they’ved e l i v e re d .

This kind of finance can beprovided by banks or a number ofalternative lenders, such as UltimateFinance, based in Aztec West.

If you use this form of finance, youhave to be confident your businesswill keep growing to keep themoney going around. The otherdownside is the fees will take a sliceof your profits, although sometimesyou can offset these by negotiatingbetter terms with your suppliers whocan have more confidence they willget paid once they know you have abigger player behind you.

� Equity investment: Often usedfor big capital investments or byearly-stage companies where youdon’t have the assets to borrowagainst. Instead the lender isbacking you to succeed and

believing they’ll get their returnfurther down the line. That meansyour business plan has to be strongand you have to be believable.

One type of equity investor is aso-called angel. This could be afriend or family member ofsomething more formal.

There are also private equity fundswith plenty of cash but many havespecific criteria such as the numberof years you have been trading, thesize of the business or the sector.

Some such funds will look tomake a return by selling their stakelater on while others will take anannual dividend out of the business.Either way they tend to belonger-term investors.

Equity investors may well want tobe more involved in the business,using their experience to keep youon the right path. Someentrepreneurs find this can be morevaluable in the long-term than the

money. The downside is that if youare successful, it’s an expensiveway to borrow as you are givingaway a slice of your business.

� Crowd funding: This is becomingmore popular, particularly amongstart-ups, and we are beginning tosee some raising reasonable sumsof money.

It involves inviting all-comers toinvest in your business, often inreturn for equity but sometimes inreturn for rewards, such asexclusive products or membership.

It appeals to many becauseanyone can do it through an onlineplatform, but that doesn’t meananyone can do it well.

The most successful campaignswill need just as much diligence aswhen seeking any other form oflending.

Bristol-based Fundsurfer, whichstarted as a rewards-based crowd

funding website, has recentlyexpanded to offer more of aconsultation service fororganisations looking to crowd fund.

� Pension-led funding: Stillsomething of a niche market,pioneered by Pill-based CliftonAsset Management, this allowspeople to invest their pension pot intheir own business. It is a usefuloption for firms where the real valueis in their intellectual property, skillsand intangible assets as these canbe considered as part of thebusiness value.

� Mix it up! Sometimes the bestform of lending is more than one. Ifyou have some equity investment,for example, it might help a bank orother lender to see you as a goodbet for a loan. After all, it meanssomeone else thinks you are worththe gamble.

� PAUL Glover started hisworkshop designing and creatingbespoke handcrafted furniture fromhumble beginnings with just oneemployee.

Today, Redfield-based PaulGlover Furniture is celebrating theimpressive milestone of reaching asignificant seven-figure turnover,along with an equally impressiveorder book of commissions from theUK and overseas.

After being educated at Colston’sSchool, Bristol, where woodworkwas not on the curriculum, Paul wona place at Rycotewood College inThame, Oxfordshire, specialising indesign and fine craftsmanship. Hestarted to learn his trade, graduatingas top student in his year.

Now he employs 22 people andhis furniture is sought after byindividuals, designers and A-listcelebrities worldwide.

More than 80 per cent of thefirm’s order book is generated in theUK, with customers includingfurniture in houses, super yachtsand private jets. But as the UKmarket was struggling, Paul lookedoverseas and with help from UKTrade and Investment moved intoRussia, tapping into a clientele notimpacted by the UK economy.

Paul said: “Working with woodhas always been an ambition ofmine since a very young age. I ampassionate about what I do andhope the pieces of furniture wedesign and create leave a lastinglegacy for the future generation toadmire and enjoy.

“It’s not always been easy andI’ve experienced the ups and downsany business faces over time,however, if you believe in yourproduct and build a trusted team ofadvisers around you, you can

succeed even in challenging marketconditions.”

Each week, more than five tonnestimber from managed andsustainable forests arrive at Paul’sworkshop.

As the business grows, he hasinvested in a new drying oven,funded with a bank loan fromB a rc l a y s .

Costing £30,000, the Schubertoven, manufactured in the UK, is

expected to be cost neutral withinfive to six years and is designed toincrease drying capacity, improveefficiency and provide a reduction ofgas emissions.

The waste including shavings isrecycled into briquettes which inturn heat the veneering workshop.

Paul added: “This new piece ofequipment will stand us in goodstead for the future as our strategyfor growth globally continues.”

� Paul Glover of Paul Glover Furniture

� First customers Vicky and Harry Bartlett with manager Julie Bright andsupervisor Emma Reading at Happy Days Nursery in Bradley Stoke

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10 We d n e s d a y, January 28, 2015 11We d n e s d a y, January 28, 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

In pictures Business West Chairman’s Winter Reception

General election Marginal seatsgive region political influence

Business diary

Email your business events togavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk.Events are sometimescancelled without us beingnotified so please check withorganisers before travelling.

Institute of Directors Bristolbranch Wednesday@6: Informalnetworking for members andguests at The Engine Shed from6-8pm, Wednesday, January 28.Free but guests please register bycalling 0117 3707785.

Financial Planning Clinic:One-to-one advice on financialissues and questions fromchartered accountant TonyJames at The Hive,Weston-super-Mare on January29. Free businesses and thosetrading less than a year, otherwise£40. Register atw w w. n o r t h s o m e r s e te n t e r p r i s e a g e n c y. c o . u k .

JLL South West PropertyMarket Review: How willproperty requirements in amultitude of sectors, includinghealthcare, retail and more, lookin the future? Thursday, January29, 6pm, At-Bristol.

Outlook 2015: C o m m e rc i a lproperty agency DTZ presentsanalysis and forecasts for thesector at The Bristol Hotel, from8am on Thursday, February 5.

Financial Planning Clinic:One-to-one advice on financialissues and questions fromchartered accountant TonyJames at The Hive, Weston-super-Mare on February 5. Freebusinesses and those trading lessthan a year, otherwise £40.Register at w w w. n o r t h s o m e r s e te n t e r p r i s e a g e n c y. c o . u k .

Confidence in business - Keysto Success: Unlock the what,how and why of your business.Four linked morning eventsstarting February 5 aimed atBristol businesswomen coveringbranding, marketing, presentationskills and finance. 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 .

66 Queen Square Topping Out:Celebrate major milestone in thecreation of the Grade A officespace, which integrates a Grade IIlisted Georgian terrace within thenew building. Thursday, February5 at 66 Queen Square. Invitationo n l y.

Bristol Connected: Bristol Postnetworking event at the BristolHotel. Thursday, February 5,6-8pm. Register via Eventbrite.

Bristol Post Business AwardsLaunch: Drinks and canapes tocelebrate the launch of this year’sBristol Post Business Awards.From 6pm on February 9 atHargreaves Lansdown. Invitationonly. Contact sarah.wallbridge@localworld.co.uk.

Bristol Distinguished AddressSeries - Peter Mather: BP’sgroup regional vice president,Europe and head of country, UK,delivers the latest in the addressseries supported by the BristolPost. His role has overallresponsibility for the governance,reputation, co-ordination andintegration of all BP's activitiesacross Europe. From 6pm,February 11, at the GlendinningLecture Theatre, FrenchayCampus, UWE.

BRISTOL businesses have agreat opportunity to maketheir voices heard in therun-up to the May generalelection, according to Busi-

ness West.The business support organisation,

which includes the Bristol Chamber,has unveiled its own manifesto, whichcalls for greater devolution of power tothe region and more spending on in-frastructure including rail, roads anddigital connectivity.

Managing director Phil Smith said:“With 50 per cent of Parliamentaryseats in our region being classified asmarginal, compared to a 10 per centnational average, we should be punch-ing above our weight in terms of polit-ical influence.

“There are big challenges aheadthat mean we can no longer be sat-isfied with just muddling through.Continued large public sector cutswill mean a much greater onus on theprivate sector and universities todrive economic growth.

“The next five years will see a majorshift in how the UK is governed as anew raft of powers are devolved to Eng-lish cities.

“This represents the best opportun-ity in our lifetimes to gain greater con-trol of our economic future.”

The manifesto calls for a host of

measures, based on opin-ions from members, in-

cl u d i n g :� Greater devolutionof power with muchmore cross boundaryworking among local

authorities� Rebalance spending

on infrastructure tomatch the economic contri-

butions of towns and cities. Thiswould mean more investment for Bris-tol in particular as it is a net con-tributor to GDP� A new park and ride on the M32� More flexible business permits inthe city’s residents’ parking scheme� Rail investment such as morerolling stock and stations includingdelivering MetroWest phase 2 and pas-senger links from Bristol to Oxford� Not giving Wales the power to setlower air passenger duty, which wouldaid Cardiff at the expense of BristolAir port� Enure businesses have access toworld-class digital infrastructure, set-ting more ambitious targets for up-load and download speeds� Ensure projects such as HinkleyPoint C use local suppliers� More housing to meet demands, re-lease public land for homes and helpsmall and medium-sized housebuild-ers enter the market.

The manifesto was launched at theBusiness West Chairman’s Winter Re-ception, which saw business leadersgather at Leigh Court for drinks,nibbles and discussions.

Event told: ‘Time to talk upSouth West powerhouse’

In pictures Annual Business Guide launch

IT’S time to talk up the South West. Thatwas the message at an event to celebratethe top 150 companies in the West. UWEBristol staged a launch for the AnnualBusiness Guide, produced by Po s t sister

title the Western Daily Press, at its exhibitioncentre in Frenchay.

Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor JaneHarrington told the audience of 130-plus busi-ness leaders that the university wanted towork with them to drive the economy for-w a rd .

“Some four out of five new jobs in the futurewill be in higher skills,” she said. “With ourgraduate employability at over 95 per cent andone of the best in the country there are a lot ofopportunities for young people in the regionto develop higher skills.

“We are keen to serve the region. Skills andthe development of skills are key to the suc-cess of the region’s top 150 companies andS M E s. ”

M e a n wh i l e, P re s s editor Ian Mean used theplatform to warn politicians that they ignorethe region at their peril.

“David Cameron and George Osborne haverecently extolled the virtues of the North ofEngland,” he said. “They talk of the Power-house of the North and how the new rail linkswill increase its attractiveness to business.All well and good, but what about the SouthWe s t ?

“The South West is a powerhouse in its ownright. Those companies listed in this year’stop 150 prove it.

“This region is strong in all sorts ofhigh-level technology, particularly of coursein aerospace, with world-leading companiessuch as Airbus and the nuclear industrythrough EDF.

“Ground-breaking work by innovative com-panies like these and so many others needs tobe recognised far more by the Government.”

Imperial Tobacco, based in WinterstokeRoad, Bristol topped the table. PlanemakerAirbus was the second biggest Bristol firm,followed by PPL WEM – the company behindWestern Power Distribution – then drinkscompany Matthew Clarke Wholesale and fa-cilities management firm Mitie.

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

� Guests at the Business Guide launch Pics: Michael Lloyd World� Paul Olomolaiye, UWE Professor, Nick O’Regan, of UWE, and LucyWicksteed, of UWE

� Simon Taylor, chairman andco-founder, Next Generation Data

� Prof Nicholas O’Regan andPeaches Golding

� Martin Parish, of AON UK, and Kieren Windsor,of AON UK

� John Collins and Trevor Mapondera, ofNurseling Healthcare

� David Doughty, of Excellencia, and MaggieWestgarth, of UWE

� JamieRawsthor neand GeorgeSandersonfrom UWETe a mE n t re p re n e u r

� Jo Greenwood, of Business West, and Engine Shed director Nick Sturgeat the Winter Reception at Leigh Court; inset, Business West chairmanStephen Robertson Pics: Jon Craig photography

� Jo Hawkins of Destination Bristol

� Harvey Nichols general manager Louise Masson � Prof Judith Squires of Bristol University

� Nadia Adbulla of Park Street Events and George Kousouros of SouthGloucestershire Council

LEISURE INVESTMENT

The Assembly,110/112 East Street,Bedminster,Bristol, BS3 4EYLot 51: Town centre PublicHouse, let at £60,000 p.a.Includes manager’s flat.

SHOP

142/146 East Street,Bedminster,Bristol, BS3 4EWLot 52: Let to Wilko Retail Ltd.Lease expires 2024 at£150,000 p.a. Comprises some3,717.2 sq m (40,014 sq ft).

DECEMBER SALE - £80.66m raised 84.6% sold

Monday 9th February 2015The Berkeley, Wilton Place, London SW1X 7RLA

020 7543 6803Online auction catalogue at www.allsop.co.uk

90 auctioncommercial investmentsto include (unless previously sold or withdrawn)

Lot 51

Lot 52

EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3

10 We d n e s d a y, January 28, 2015 11We d n e s d a y, January 28, 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

In pictures Business West Chairman’s Winter Reception

General election Marginal seatsgive region political influence

Business diary

Email your business events togavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk.Events are sometimescancelled without us beingnotified so please check withorganisers before travelling.

Institute of Directors Bristolbranch Wednesday@6: Informalnetworking for members andguests at The Engine Shed from6-8pm, Wednesday, January 28.Free but guests please register bycalling 0117 3707785.

Financial Planning Clinic:One-to-one advice on financialissues and questions fromchartered accountant TonyJames at The Hive,Weston-super-Mare on January29. Free businesses and thosetrading less than a year, otherwise£40. Register atw w w. n o r t h s o m e r s e te n t e r p r i s e a g e n c y. c o . u k .

JLL South West PropertyMarket Review: How willproperty requirements in amultitude of sectors, includinghealthcare, retail and more, lookin the future? Thursday, January29, 6pm, At-Bristol.

Outlook 2015: C o m m e rc i a lproperty agency DTZ presentsanalysis and forecasts for thesector at The Bristol Hotel, from8am on Thursday, February 5.

Financial Planning Clinic:One-to-one advice on financialissues and questions fromchartered accountant TonyJames at The Hive, Weston-super-Mare on February 5. Freebusinesses and those trading lessthan a year, otherwise £40.Register at w w w. n o r t h s o m e r s e te n t e r p r i s e a g e n c y. c o . u k .

Confidence in business - Keysto Success: Unlock the what,how and why of your business.Four linked morning eventsstarting February 5 aimed atBristol businesswomen coveringbranding, marketing, presentationskills and finance. 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 .

66 Queen Square Topping Out:Celebrate major milestone in thecreation of the Grade A officespace, which integrates a Grade IIlisted Georgian terrace within thenew building. Thursday, February5 at 66 Queen Square. Invitationo n l y.

Bristol Connected: Bristol Postnetworking event at the BristolHotel. Thursday, February 5,6-8pm. Register via Eventbrite.

Bristol Post Business AwardsLaunch: Drinks and canapes tocelebrate the launch of this year’sBristol Post Business Awards.From 6pm on February 9 atHargreaves Lansdown. Invitationonly. Contact sarah.wallbridge@localworld.co.uk.

Bristol Distinguished AddressSeries - Peter Mather: BP’sgroup regional vice president,Europe and head of country, UK,delivers the latest in the addressseries supported by the BristolPost. His role has overallresponsibility for the governance,reputation, co-ordination andintegration of all BP's activitiesacross Europe. From 6pm,February 11, at the GlendinningLecture Theatre, FrenchayCampus, UWE.

BRISTOL businesses have agreat opportunity to maketheir voices heard in therun-up to the May generalelection, according to Busi-

ness West.The business support organisation,

which includes the Bristol Chamber,has unveiled its own manifesto, whichcalls for greater devolution of power tothe region and more spending on in-frastructure including rail, roads anddigital connectivity.

Managing director Phil Smith said:“With 50 per cent of Parliamentaryseats in our region being classified asmarginal, compared to a 10 per centnational average, we should be punch-ing above our weight in terms of polit-ical influence.

“There are big challenges aheadthat mean we can no longer be sat-isfied with just muddling through.Continued large public sector cutswill mean a much greater onus on theprivate sector and universities todrive economic growth.

“The next five years will see a majorshift in how the UK is governed as anew raft of powers are devolved to Eng-lish cities.

“This represents the best opportun-ity in our lifetimes to gain greater con-trol of our economic future.”

The manifesto calls for a host of

measures, based on opin-ions from members, in-

cl u d i n g :� Greater devolutionof power with muchmore cross boundaryworking among local

authorities� Rebalance spending

on infrastructure tomatch the economic contri-

butions of towns and cities. Thiswould mean more investment for Bris-tol in particular as it is a net con-tributor to GDP� A new park and ride on the M32� More flexible business permits inthe city’s residents’ parking scheme� Rail investment such as morerolling stock and stations includingdelivering MetroWest phase 2 and pas-senger links from Bristol to Oxford� Not giving Wales the power to setlower air passenger duty, which wouldaid Cardiff at the expense of BristolAir port� Enure businesses have access toworld-class digital infrastructure, set-ting more ambitious targets for up-load and download speeds� Ensure projects such as HinkleyPoint C use local suppliers� More housing to meet demands, re-lease public land for homes and helpsmall and medium-sized housebuild-ers enter the market.

The manifesto was launched at theBusiness West Chairman’s Winter Re-ception, which saw business leadersgather at Leigh Court for drinks,nibbles and discussions.

Event told: ‘Time to talk upSouth West powerhouse’

In pictures Annual Business Guide launch

IT’S time to talk up the South West. Thatwas the message at an event to celebratethe top 150 companies in the West. UWEBristol staged a launch for the AnnualBusiness Guide, produced by Po s t sister

title the Western Daily Press, at its exhibitioncentre in Frenchay.

Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor JaneHarrington told the audience of 130-plus busi-ness leaders that the university wanted towork with them to drive the economy for-w a rd .

“Some four out of five new jobs in the futurewill be in higher skills,” she said. “With ourgraduate employability at over 95 per cent andone of the best in the country there are a lot ofopportunities for young people in the regionto develop higher skills.

“We are keen to serve the region. Skills andthe development of skills are key to the suc-cess of the region’s top 150 companies andS M E s. ”

M e a n wh i l e, P re s s editor Ian Mean used theplatform to warn politicians that they ignorethe region at their peril.

“David Cameron and George Osborne haverecently extolled the virtues of the North ofEngland,” he said. “They talk of the Power-house of the North and how the new rail linkswill increase its attractiveness to business.All well and good, but what about the SouthWe s t ?

“The South West is a powerhouse in its ownright. Those companies listed in this year’stop 150 prove it.

“This region is strong in all sorts ofhigh-level technology, particularly of coursein aerospace, with world-leading companiessuch as Airbus and the nuclear industrythrough EDF.

“Ground-breaking work by innovative com-panies like these and so many others needs tobe recognised far more by the Government.”

Imperial Tobacco, based in WinterstokeRoad, Bristol topped the table. PlanemakerAirbus was the second biggest Bristol firm,followed by PPL WEM – the company behindWestern Power Distribution – then drinkscompany Matthew Clarke Wholesale and fa-cilities management firm Mitie.

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

� Guests at the Business Guide launch Pics: Michael Lloyd World� Paul Olomolaiye, UWE Professor, Nick O’Regan, of UWE, and LucyWicksteed, of UWE

� Simon Taylor, chairman andco-founder, Next Generation Data

� Prof Nicholas O’Regan andPeaches Golding

� Martin Parish, of AON UK, and Kieren Windsor,of AON UK

� John Collins and Trevor Mapondera, ofNurseling Healthcare

� David Doughty, of Excellencia, and MaggieWestgarth, of UWE

� JamieRawsthor neand GeorgeSandersonfrom UWETe a mE n t re p re n e u r

� Jo Greenwood, of Business West, and Engine Shed director Nick Sturgeat the Winter Reception at Leigh Court; inset, Business West chairmanStephen Robertson Pics: Jon Craig photography

� Jo Hawkins of Destination Bristol

� Harvey Nichols general manager Louise Masson � Prof Judith Squires of Bristol University

� Nadia Adbulla of Park Street Events and George Kousouros of SouthGloucestershire Council

LEISURE INVESTMENT

The Assembly,110/112 East Street,Bedminster,Bristol, BS3 4EYLot 51: Town centre PublicHouse, let at £60,000 p.a.Includes manager’s flat.

SHOP

142/146 East Street,Bedminster,Bristol, BS3 4EWLot 52: Let to Wilko Retail Ltd.Lease expires 2024 at£150,000 p.a. Comprises some3,717.2 sq m (40,014 sq ft).

DECEMBER SALE - £80.66m raised 84.6% sold

Monday 9th February 2015The Berkeley, Wilton Place, London SW1X 7RLA

020 7543 6803Online auction catalogue at www.allsop.co.uk

90 auctioncommercial investmentsto include (unless previously sold or withdrawn)

Lot 51

Lot 52

EPB-

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12 We d n e s d a y, January 28, 2015w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

The back pagePe o p l e� EY has appointed Karen Kirkwoodas a partner to lead its Bristol taxpractice as the professional servicesfirm continues to expand its tax teamin the region.

Karen has 20 years’ experienceproviding tax advice and joins fromPwC in London.

Working with mid-market listedand privately owned businesses,Karen advises on sustainable taxstrategies, managing tax risk andopportunity, and meeting reportingobligations. She will oversee all taxservices including the audit of tax,core compliance and bespoke taxadvisory services.

Karen said: “EY has a talentedteam, a clear focus on developing itstax business in the region andsignificant momentum followingmarket leading growth across thefirm nationally in its last financialyear. I look forward to playing animportant role in continuing to buildthe tax practice by getting out intothe market and working closely withnew and existing clients, as well asgrowing our own team.”

K a re n ’s appointment is the latestin a number of senior hires acrossEY’s South West tax team, followingthe appointments of Edward Murphy,a senior manager who specialises incorporate and transaction tax, andChris Ovens a manager whospecialises in tax incentives forinnovative and high tech businesses.James Mohide also joins as amanager in the rapidly expandingprivate client tax team led by JennineWay – a team which has doubled insize in the last 12 months.

� Bristol architect O’LearyGoss hasappointed two new associates,shortly after starting the constructionof a £2.25 million visitor’s centre ongrade one listed Clevedon Pier.

Niall Tainton and Rebecca Ridgeare part of the 12-strong team at theRIBA chartered practice.

Niall, 34, said: “Clevedon Pier’sglass visitor’s centre is a hugelyexciting project which complementsthe pier’s elegant structure. I love myrole at O’LearyGoss. Being involvedin the design process and workingon the fine details of some veryinteresting buildings.”

Rebecca, 28, added: “I amdelighted at my appointment. I’vebeen project architect for a £14million high-spec office conversionwith 139 flats with roof garden andbalconies and I’m thrilled that work isset to start this spring.”

� Digital entrepreneur Mark Masonhas joined the leadership team ofR&D tax credit consultancyForrest Brown.

The appointment shows how thefirm is positioning to meet demandfrom the growing digital technologysector in Bristol.

Mark, founder of award-winningmobile app developer Mubaloo andpreviously creative agency MasonZimbler, joins as executive chairman.

The government-backed R&D taxcredit scheme, administered byHMRC, allows firms that createinnovative products or services toclaim up to 33 per cent tax reliefagainst their R&D investment.

ForrestBrown has already helpedits clients, many of which operate inthe digital space, claim more than£10 million through the schemesince the firm was founded in 2013.

Founder and managing directorSimon Brown said: “Having theopportunity to work alongside Markwas a complete no-brainer for me.He has a great reputation as asuccessful entrepreneur in the UK’sdigital scene, after all he has ‘been

We need more international students and want them to stay

THIS May, the country will goto the polls to elect a new par-liament. If we believe the oldsaying that a week in politicsis a long time, then four

months should be an age.But it doesn’t feel that way. Key

politicians are already rushing tomake themselves heard and settingout proposals that they want to see inparty manifestos.

Recently, Home Secretary TheresaMay delivered one of the first shots inthe campaign but her proposal ap-pears to have been brought down by‘friendly fire’ from colleagues in herown party. And it’s a development thatwe at University Alliance whole-

heartedly welcome.The Home Secretary had proposed

reviving a pledge from the 2010 mani-festo that anybody entering Britainon a student visa should be requiredto leave the country when they gradu-ate and apply for a new visa from theirhome country if they wanted to workin the UK.

Her policy measure was attackedfrom all sides in the higher educationand research ecosystem – from uni-versities, from research and from

� RebeccaTippet andJohn Davieshave beenmadeassociatedirectors ataccountancyandinvestmentmanagementg ro u pSmith &Williamson

Opinion

businesses chiefs including Sir JamesDyson.

The Chancellor of the Exchequerapparently stepped in to quash theidea, fearing it would damage our uni-versities and our economy.

We want politicians to go furtherand pledge to re-introduce thetwo-year post-study work visa allow-ing qualified international graduatesto stay in the UK to work for a limitedt i m e.

This would lead to numerous be-nefits for our country – ensuring ouruniversities maintain our marketshare in global higher education andenhance the UK’s higher educationof fer.

These international studentswould fill crucial skills gaps and helpour economy to grow.

And once they return home, theyhelp build vital global links for thef u t u re.

What Mrs May seems to overlook –which Mr Osborne, former Universit-ies and Science Minister David Wil-letts and others have grasped – is thathigher education is now a global in-dustry, and one, that currently, the UKhas a significant stake in.

UK universities are a huge successstory. Aside from being centres forlearning, creativity and research,they are estimated to be worth£59 billion to the UK economy annu-

Steve WestVice Chancellor, UWE Bristol

there and done it’ himself.“But for me personally, it is the

compelling package of Mark’s vastexperience, his business instincts,his experience of the different stagesof the business lifecycle, his networkand his mentoring that is thecompelling package that willenhance our leadership team.”

Mark said: “Having worked withSimon and his team I’ve witnessed

first-hand the transformative impactthat ForrestBrown deliver for theirclients.

“After speaking with other seniorfigures in the digital community, thelack of awareness of the potentialbenefits of R&D tax relief wasstaggering. ForrestBrown’s ability tocommunicate the potential benefit ina clear and easily understandableway is what makes it stand out.”

Your digest of the week in business

� The Bristol office of accountancyand investment management group,Smith & Williamson, has marked theNew Year with the announcement oftwo senior promotions.

Rebecca Tippet, who works in theassurance and business servicesteam, and John Davies, a privateclient and charities investmentspecialist, have been promoted toassociate directors.

Rebecca has worked for theBristol office for 12 years, havingcompleted her graduate training atthe firm. She works with clients fromSMEs to multi-national groups andAIM-listed companies and has aparticular interest in law firms.

John joined in 2012. He is involvedin the management of investmentson behalf of private clients andcharities.

Managing partner Mike Lea said:“We are very pleased to announcethe promotions of two key membersof our team who are highly valued bytheir clients and colleagues, not justfor the quality of the work that theydo, but for always going the extramile.”

� Martin Thatcher, below, has beeninvited to give a key note speech atthis year’s CiderCON in Chicago, themajor annual gathering of US cidermakers, organised by the UnitedStates Association of Cider Makers.

Martin, chair of the UK’s NationalAssociation of Cider Makers, will besharing the lessons he has learnedover the past 25 years as managingdirector of Somerset- basedThatchers Cider, and how thesecould be applied to the developingUS cider market.

“The UK has the largest cidermarket in the world but it haschanged dramaticallyover recent yearsand willundoubtedlychangeagain overthecomingyears,”saidMartin. “I’mlookingforward tosharing mythoughts with those passionatelyproducing and promoting cider in theUSA.”

Last year, the family-run cidermaker announced that its flagshipbrand Gold would be available in theUS through an exclusive tie-up withInnis & Gunn.

ally and are a major export earner.The annual contribution to the

UK’s national income made by inter-national students is estimated at£5.5 billion.

Beyond this direct economic im-pact, international students studyingin the UK create a global network ofambassadors with an emotional bondor predisposition to trust and supportUK and ‘Brand UK’.

Britain is educating leaders aroundthe world.

T hat’s why we should be trying toattract more international studentsand then encouraging them to stayand work in this country after theirs t u d i e s.

� F o r re s tBrown MDSimonB ro w n ,right, withdigitale n t re p re n e u rMark Masonwho hasjoined thetax creditconsultancy

� NiallTainton andRebeccaRidge havebeenappointedassociatesat Bristola rc h i t e c t sO’LearyGoss

� Karen Kirkwood