Business 30 April 2014

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302014APR

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2 We d n e s d a y, April 30, 2014 3We d n e s d a y, April 30, 2014 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

� SXS Events founder Johnny Palmer; below, in his new warehouse

AN events company with cli-ents including Apple, Nikeand Airbus is expanding itsBristol headquarters – des-pite most of its work being in

London.SXS Events has bought the ware-

house next door to its Brislingtonbase so that it can offer new services,such as video and photo studios.

The move commits the 15-year-oldfirm to Bristol as it continues tog row.

Founder Johnny Palmer, 31, said:“Despite over 80 per cent of our workbeing in London, the whole teamagrees that we would never want tomove the business away from Bristol

Eve n ts

C h a r i ty

Fu n d Click if you give a monkey’s

QUARTET CommunityFoundation has launched anew online platform forsmall businesses looking tocontribute to a charitable

fund.Giveamonkeys is a new charity

brand that aims to give individualsand businesses which want to givecash an opportunity to do so andnotice a real difference from theird o n at i o n .

A dozen companies have alreadysigned up to the campaign, donatingfunds and benefiting from their as-sociation to the cause.

Quartet Community Foundation isan organisation that has been helpingdonors support charities in the Westof England for more than 25 years.

It is one of the longest-establishedcommunity foundations in the UK.Since its foundation in 1986 it hasdistributed more than £35 million in

grants and manages an endowmentfund of over £21 million.

But as Caroline Duckworth, chiefexecutive, points out: “Local char-ities and voluntary groups across theWest of England are doing great workwith the funding they get from ourdonors. But we would welcome moreof both.

“So we set out to reach a wideraudience of potential givers – in par-ticular, younger people, perhaps withsmall, but growing, businesses and adesire to put something back intotheir local communities.”

Quartet Community Foundationcalled upon the services of Colour &Thing – a brand and digital com-munications agency in Bristol – tocreate something completely new inthe world of fundraising. The resultwas giveamonke ys.co.uk.

Dom Lane, of Colour & Thing, said:“We ’ve developed a charity brandwhich is provocative rather than in-stitutional, a message which is directrather than needy, and a mobile-firstdigital platform which makes givingto causes and sharing on social mediareally simple.

“Giveamonkeys.co.uk is all aboutsupporting what matters to the user,defined in terms of outcomes ratherthan specific charities. It's a micros-ite designed to make it as easy aspossible for individuals and busi-nesses to get the picture and make areal difference without having tospend ages searching for a benefi-c i a r y.

“Donate to one of four funds andQuartet will distribute your cash foryou via grants to the relevant local

charities that need it most.“We ’ve sidestepped newsletters,

using Facebook and Twitter to tellbeneficiaries’ stories. And each stepon the giveamonke ys.co.uk user jour-ney is easily shared.

“Every visitor can help spread theword and engage with what’s beingachieved through their donations. It’scrowdfunding for local causes, if youl i ke.

“It’s up and running. Now we justneed people to get involved.”

Commercial property

Caution urged as office stats show mixed results

Credit union launchesbusiness loan service� A CREDIT union has launched itsfirst business loans, aimed at smallfirms in the area.

Somerset Savings and Loanscredit union, based in Portishead,has committed £150,000 tobusiness development loans toencourage growth in the localeconomy and support job creation.

Treasurer Paul Urch said the movereflected the increasing maturity ofthe credit union in the localmarketplace.

He said: “We have a simplebusiness model – we borrow andlend locally, keeping wealth in thecommunity, providing a sensibledividend to savers and affordableloans to our members. We have theappetite to lend and we aredetermined to demonstrate wevalue your business, whether it is awell-established SME or a start-up.”

A typical loan of £10,000 over fiveyears would result in repayments of£222.44 per month, with a totalinterest charge of £3,346.67.

Redhead’s continentalservices in demand� LOGISTICS business RedheadInternational says growing demandfor its services to France andGermany reflect an increasedappetite for exporting from there g i o n .

The firm, which opened a depot inBristol two years ago, offers a48-hour door-to-door service toboth countries.

The demand for its services hasbeen particularly strong frombusinesses looking to transportbetween one and four palletsinter nationally.

Managing director, Tony Suggitt,said: “Bristol and the South Westhave been an important part of thecompany’s plans since we openedthe office in the city in 2012. To seedemand for our German and Frenchservices growing, despite therecession, is really positive.”

The firm has seven depots acrossthe UK and Ireland and a turnover of£30 million a year.

F i n a n ce

Lo g i st i cs

Happy home Growing SXS stickingwith ’creative and vibrant’ B r i sto l

B R I S T O L’S office take-up has soared76 per cent since the end of 2013, butmost of the deals are for smallerpremises, according to the latest stat-i s t i c s.

The figures for the first quarterfrom Colliers International showthat business is picking up, butdespite all the talk of the economygrowing to pre-recession levels, thesector has not reached that pointye t .

James Preece, from the BroadQuay-based firm, said: “The firstquarter stats reveal rather a mixedpicture, with larger numbers of smal-ler deals, many of them in thesub-3,000 sq ft bracket.

“After a disappointing finish to lastyear, city centre take-up in Bristol is

up by an impressive 76 per centquar ter-on-quar ter.

“Pipeline deals look promising forthe remainder of the year andpoor quality stock contin-ues to be taken out of themarket for permitteddevelopment into res-idential accommoda-tion.

“This all points to afast-moving andfast-recovering sector.However, with no dealsover 25,000 sq ft and take-updown on the same quarter of2013, some caution should be takenbefore celebrating the return of theboom times.”

James, p i c t u re d , said professional

and financial services continued todominate the city centre, but therehad been an increase in

demand from recruitment con-sultants, who appear to be

expanding.“The recent trend for

grade Coffice stock being con-verted for alternativeuses has removed some95,000 sq ft from the mar-

ket in Q1.“This, combined with

better economic conditions,is encouraging businesses to re-

locate to better specification of-f i c e s. ”

The out-of-town market is recov-ering well, with total take-up of

108,000 sq ft – more than double theprevious quarter and nine per centup on the five-year average for Q1.

Headline deals saw Broadcom tak-ing 25,000 sq ft at 910 Aztec West. TheNHS also took 24,000 sq ft at High-wood Pavilions, at Cribbs Causeway.

“Average deal size out-of-town forQ1 was around 6,000 sq ft, with thenumber of deals up 38 per cent on thesame quarter of 2013,” said James.

“After taking an unexpected a dipin Q4 2013, take-up has bounced backin the first quarter of 2014.

“Both the city centre and theout-of-town office markets haveshown significant improvement andthe current level of requirements in-dicates this should continuethroughout this year.”

Assistant Editor (Business)Gavin Thompson

Call 0117 934 3336Email gavin.thompson

@b-nm.co.ukTwitter @gavin_thompson1

Get in touch

Writer Rupert JanischEmail [email protected]

Advertising RobertRodgerson

Call07828 941469Email ro b e r t . ro d g e r s o n

@b-nm.co.uk

Advertising JaneChapmanCall 01179 343025Email [email protected]

Advertising ShamaAbokor, Regional

Business AccountExecutive

Call 0117 934 3426Emailshama.abokor@

b-nm.co.uk

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)[email protected]

Rupert [email protected]

N etwo r k i n g

Sign up today for the next Bristol Connected...THE Bristol Post is holding anextra-special Bristol Connected busi-ness networking event... at the un-usual location of Bristol Zoo.

The event will be the third BristolConnected, with the first two over-subscribed within days of free ticketsbeing made available.

This time, the event is in asso-ciation with Clifton Asset Manage-ment and has the themeAuto-enrolment: Are You Ready?

It will feature a selection of topspeakers – to be announced at a laterdate – from the workplace pensionsfield, who will be able to answerquestions about how businesses canand should be preparing for the loom-ing issue of auto-enrolment.

It’s an issue no business with em-

ployees can afford to ignore and whilemany larger firms are already signedup, smaller businesses face getting togrips with the issue soon.

There will also be the usual net-working opportunities.

Post assistant editor (business),Gavin Thompson, said: “We ’re ex-cited about this extra-special BristolConnected because it will give busi-nesses the chance to start tackling thebiggest headaches they face in the

coming months. But also because it’sat such a great venue. And because ofthat, we’re able to increase the ticketnumbers so that more people cancome along.

“However, tickets for previousevents have gone very quickly, sod o n’t delay in signing up.”� Bristol Connected:‘Auto-Enrolment – Are You Ready?’takes place on Wednesday, June 4,at Bristol Zoo’s Clifton Pavilion.Doors open at the earlier time of5.30pm for networking and achance to look around, with thespeakers starting at 6.15pm. Therewill be refreshments plus morenetworking time after the speakers.

To register for free tickets, searchBristol Connected on Eventbrite.

as it’s such a creative, vibrant andaffordable city.”

The firm bought the 20,000 sq ftwarehouse and some brownfield landwith it for storage as part of itsgrowth strategy.

Johnny said: “In the last 18 months,the company has seen phenomenalgrowth and as we come to the end ofour financial year, we’re on track todouble our turnover (from £991,000 toaround £2 million) and triple ourp ro f i t .

“This has put us in a great positionto purchase the new premises to in-crease our capacity so we can be moreefficient, especially with building liveevent infrastructure. The economy isgood for young, nimble companieslike ours and the future is bright, sonow is definitely the right time toinvest in the future.”

The business puts on events forcustomers including the RAF, Shell,Axa and London Fashion Week,providing services including design,fabrication, live audio, lighting, videoproduction, set building, rigging andlive event infrastructure.

It has grown from humble begin-n i n g s.

Johnny moved to the UK from Tas-mania as a teenager. He founded thebusiness in a garage in 1998, initiallyas a sound and lighting provider forparties, weddings and presentations.

It grew into an event design andproduction business and has pro-duced more than 5,000 events tod at e.

Johnny said: “I am so proud of whatwe have achieved as a company in thelast 15 years; it’s been an incrediblejourney and I have no doubt the next15 hold just as much promise.”

Johnny Palmer

“The economy is goodfor young, nimblecompanies like ours andthe future is bright, sonow is definitely the righttime to invest in thef u t u re . ”

� GrahamRandall, ofBDO, with IanMuir, BristolConnected, ata previouseventPic: Michael Lloyd

EE on coursefor six million4G customers� BRISTOL-based communicationsgiant EE is on course to reach sixmillion 4G customers by the end ofthe year.

The company, which began life asRabbit before becoming Orange andnow EE, is a significant employer inthe city.

It was the first to market with 4Ginternet services and has used thatto steal a march on its rivals.

Chief financial officer, NealMilsom, said: “We are deliveringstrong, consistent commercialperformance and continue tosuccessfully create value throughour award-winning network.

“We signed up nearly 900,000 4Gcustomers in a single quarter, withover one in four new customersopting for EE’s exclusivedouble-speed 4GEE Extra plans.

“In line with our vision to providethe best network and best service,we’re also further improvingcustomer service across allchannels to support our long-termg ro w t h . ”

The firm has 5,100 corporatecustomers as it grows its businessmarket, with the 4G network nowreaching 72 per cent of thepopulation of the UK, or 46 millionpeople.

The first quarter results releasedyesterday showed EE, whichemploys 15,000 people across theUK, increased turnover 3.6 per centyear-on-year to £1.55 billion.

Chief marketing officer, GerryMcQuade, recently told a businessaudience in the city that beinglocated here was a key part of EE’ssuccess.

Speaking at the BusinessShowcase South West, at ColstonHall, he said the universities and aplethora of high-tech andengineering companies in the areagave EE access to a talent pool thathelped drive its business.

Carl reaches final withSpotify headphones� THE designer of a set ofheadphones that gives the listeneraccess to Spotify using the mobilephone network has reached the finalof a national contest.

Carl Thomas, 31, from StokeGifford, will now pitch his businessto Moonpig founder Nick Jenkins,Holly Tucker, thefounder ofNot on theHighS t re e t ,andPeterWilliams,founderof JackWills, attheO x f o rd s h i rehome of Sir RichardBranson.

Carl, pictur ed, came up with theheadphones idea after getting in atangle at the gym trying to listen tomusic while exercising. His wirelessproduct seemed the ideal solution.

He will be pitching against 29other entrepreneurs from around thecountry. The winner gets £5,000 ofinvestment plus mentoring,including legal, branding andmarketing advice, and networkingopportunities.

Communications

Te c h n o l o g y

� A billboard in the centre of Bristol advertising the Quartet Community Foundation’s new online campaign

Caroline Duckworth

“We set out toreach a wideraudience ofpotential givers –in particular,younger people,perhaps with small,but growing,businesses.”

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� SXS Events founder Johnny Palmer; below, in his new warehouse

AN events company with cli-ents including Apple, Nikeand Airbus is expanding itsBristol headquarters – des-pite most of its work being in

London.SXS Events has bought the ware-

house next door to its Brislingtonbase so that it can offer new services,such as video and photo studios.

The move commits the 15-year-oldfirm to Bristol as it continues tog row.

Founder Johnny Palmer, 31, said:“Despite over 80 per cent of our workbeing in London, the whole teamagrees that we would never want tomove the business away from Bristol

Eve n ts

C h a r i ty

Fu n d Click if you give a monkey’s

QUARTET CommunityFoundation has launched anew online platform forsmall businesses looking tocontribute to a charitable

fund.Giveamonkeys is a new charity

brand that aims to give individualsand businesses which want to givecash an opportunity to do so andnotice a real difference from theird o n at i o n .

A dozen companies have alreadysigned up to the campaign, donatingfunds and benefiting from their as-sociation to the cause.

Quartet Community Foundation isan organisation that has been helpingdonors support charities in the Westof England for more than 25 years.

It is one of the longest-establishedcommunity foundations in the UK.Since its foundation in 1986 it hasdistributed more than £35 million in

grants and manages an endowmentfund of over £21 million.

But as Caroline Duckworth, chiefexecutive, points out: “Local char-ities and voluntary groups across theWest of England are doing great workwith the funding they get from ourdonors. But we would welcome moreof both.

“So we set out to reach a wideraudience of potential givers – in par-ticular, younger people, perhaps withsmall, but growing, businesses and adesire to put something back intotheir local communities.”

Quartet Community Foundationcalled upon the services of Colour &Thing – a brand and digital com-munications agency in Bristol – tocreate something completely new inthe world of fundraising. The resultwas giveamonke ys.co.uk.

Dom Lane, of Colour & Thing, said:“We ’ve developed a charity brandwhich is provocative rather than in-stitutional, a message which is directrather than needy, and a mobile-firstdigital platform which makes givingto causes and sharing on social mediareally simple.

“Giveamonkeys.co.uk is all aboutsupporting what matters to the user,defined in terms of outcomes ratherthan specific charities. It's a micros-ite designed to make it as easy aspossible for individuals and busi-nesses to get the picture and make areal difference without having tospend ages searching for a benefi-c i a r y.

“Donate to one of four funds andQuartet will distribute your cash foryou via grants to the relevant local

charities that need it most.“We ’ve sidestepped newsletters,

using Facebook and Twitter to tellbeneficiaries’ stories. And each stepon the giveamonke ys.co.uk user jour-ney is easily shared.

“Every visitor can help spread theword and engage with what’s beingachieved through their donations. It’scrowdfunding for local causes, if youl i ke.

“It’s up and running. Now we justneed people to get involved.”

Commercial property

Caution urged as office stats show mixed results

Credit union launchesbusiness loan service� A CREDIT union has launched itsfirst business loans, aimed at smallfirms in the area.

Somerset Savings and Loanscredit union, based in Portishead,has committed £150,000 tobusiness development loans toencourage growth in the localeconomy and support job creation.

Treasurer Paul Urch said the movereflected the increasing maturity ofthe credit union in the localmarketplace.

He said: “We have a simplebusiness model – we borrow andlend locally, keeping wealth in thecommunity, providing a sensibledividend to savers and affordableloans to our members. We have theappetite to lend and we aredetermined to demonstrate wevalue your business, whether it is awell-established SME or a start-up.”

A typical loan of £10,000 over fiveyears would result in repayments of£222.44 per month, with a totalinterest charge of £3,346.67.

Redhead’s continentalservices in demand� LOGISTICS business RedheadInternational says growing demandfor its services to France andGermany reflect an increasedappetite for exporting from there g i o n .

The firm, which opened a depot inBristol two years ago, offers a48-hour door-to-door service toboth countries.

The demand for its services hasbeen particularly strong frombusinesses looking to transportbetween one and four palletsinter nationally.

Managing director, Tony Suggitt,said: “Bristol and the South Westhave been an important part of thecompany’s plans since we openedthe office in the city in 2012. To seedemand for our German and Frenchservices growing, despite therecession, is really positive.”

The firm has seven depots acrossthe UK and Ireland and a turnover of£30 million a year.

F i n a n ce

Lo g i st i cs

Happy home Growing SXS stickingwith ’creative and vibrant’ B r i sto l

B R I S T O L’S office take-up has soared76 per cent since the end of 2013, butmost of the deals are for smallerpremises, according to the latest stat-i s t i c s.

The figures for the first quarterfrom Colliers International showthat business is picking up, butdespite all the talk of the economygrowing to pre-recession levels, thesector has not reached that pointye t .

James Preece, from the BroadQuay-based firm, said: “The firstquarter stats reveal rather a mixedpicture, with larger numbers of smal-ler deals, many of them in thesub-3,000 sq ft bracket.

“After a disappointing finish to lastyear, city centre take-up in Bristol is

up by an impressive 76 per centquar ter-on-quar ter.

“Pipeline deals look promising forthe remainder of the year andpoor quality stock contin-ues to be taken out of themarket for permitteddevelopment into res-idential accommoda-tion.

“This all points to afast-moving andfast-recovering sector.However, with no dealsover 25,000 sq ft and take-updown on the same quarter of2013, some caution should be takenbefore celebrating the return of theboom times.”

James, p i c t u re d , said professional

and financial services continued todominate the city centre, but therehad been an increase in

demand from recruitment con-sultants, who appear to be

expanding.“The recent trend for

grade Coffice stock being con-verted for alternativeuses has removed some95,000 sq ft from the mar-

ket in Q1.“This, combined with

better economic conditions,is encouraging businesses to re-

locate to better specification of-f i c e s. ”

The out-of-town market is recov-ering well, with total take-up of

108,000 sq ft – more than double theprevious quarter and nine per centup on the five-year average for Q1.

Headline deals saw Broadcom tak-ing 25,000 sq ft at 910 Aztec West. TheNHS also took 24,000 sq ft at High-wood Pavilions, at Cribbs Causeway.

“Average deal size out-of-town forQ1 was around 6,000 sq ft, with thenumber of deals up 38 per cent on thesame quarter of 2013,” said James.

“After taking an unexpected a dipin Q4 2013, take-up has bounced backin the first quarter of 2014.

“Both the city centre and theout-of-town office markets haveshown significant improvement andthe current level of requirements in-dicates this should continuethroughout this year.”

Assistant Editor (Business)Gavin Thompson

Call 0117 934 3336Email gavin.thompson

@b-nm.co.ukTwitter @gavin_thompson1

Get in touch

Writer Rupert JanischEmail [email protected]

Advertising RobertRodgerson

Call07828 941469Email ro b e r t . ro d g e r s o n

@b-nm.co.uk

Advertising JaneChapmanCall 01179 343025Email [email protected]

Advertising ShamaAbokor, Regional

Business AccountExecutive

Call 0117 934 3426Emailshama.abokor@

b-nm.co.uk



N etwo r k i n g

Sign up today for the next Bristol Connected...THE Bristol Post is holding anextra-special Bristol Connected busi-ness networking event... at the un-usual location of Bristol Zoo.

The event will be the third BristolConnected, with the first two over-subscribed within days of free ticketsbeing made available.

This time, the event is in asso-ciation with Clifton Asset Manage-ment and has the themeAuto-enrolment: Are You Ready?

It will feature a selection of topspeakers – to be announced at a laterdate – from the workplace pensionsfield, who will be able to answerquestions about how businesses canand should be preparing for the loom-ing issue of auto-enrolment.

It’s an issue no business with em-

ployees can afford to ignore and whilemany larger firms are already signedup, smaller businesses face getting togrips with the issue soon.

There will also be the usual net-working opportunities.

Post assistant editor (business),Gavin Thompson, said: “We ’re ex-cited about this extra-special BristolConnected because it will give busi-nesses the chance to start tackling thebiggest headaches they face in the

coming months. But also because it’sat such a great venue. And because ofthat, we’re able to increase the ticketnumbers so that more people cancome along.

“However, tickets for previousevents have gone very quickly, sod o n’t delay in signing up.”� Bristol Connected:‘Auto-Enrolment – Are You Ready?’takes place on Wednesday, June 4,at Bristol Zoo’s Clifton Pavilion.Doors open at the earlier time of5.30pm for networking and achance to look around, with thespeakers starting at 6.15pm. Therewill be refreshments plus morenetworking time after the speakers.

To register for free tickets, searchBristol Connected on Eventbrite.

as it’s such a creative, vibrant andaffordable city.”

The firm bought the 20,000 sq ftwarehouse and some brownfield landwith it for storage as part of itsgrowth strategy.

Johnny said: “In the last 18 months,the company has seen phenomenalgrowth and as we come to the end ofour financial year, we’re on track todouble our turnover (from £991,000 toaround £2 million) and triple ourp ro f i t .

“This has put us in a great positionto purchase the new premises to in-crease our capacity so we can be moreefficient, especially with building liveevent infrastructure. The economy isgood for young, nimble companieslike ours and the future is bright, sonow is definitely the right time toinvest in the future.”

The business puts on events forcustomers including the RAF, Shell,Axa and London Fashion Week,providing services including design,fabrication, live audio, lighting, videoproduction, set building, rigging andlive event infrastructure.

It has grown from humble begin-n i n g s.

Johnny moved to the UK from Tas-mania as a teenager. He founded thebusiness in a garage in 1998, initiallyas a sound and lighting provider forparties, weddings and presentations.

It grew into an event design andproduction business and has pro-duced more than 5,000 events tod at e.

Johnny said: “I am so proud of whatwe have achieved as a company in thelast 15 years; it’s been an incrediblejourney and I have no doubt the next15 hold just as much promise.”

Johnny Palmer

“The economy is goodfor young, nimblecompanies like ours andthe future is bright, sonow is definitely the righttime to invest in thef u t u re . ”

� GrahamRandall, ofBDO, with IanMuir, BristolConnected, ata previouseventPic: Michael Lloyd

EE on coursefor six million4G customers� BRISTOL-based communicationsgiant EE is on course to reach sixmillion 4G customers by the end ofthe year.

The company, which began life asRabbit before becoming Orange andnow EE, is a significant employer inthe city.

It was the first to market with 4Ginternet services and has used thatto steal a march on its rivals.

Chief financial officer, NealMilsom, said: “We are deliveringstrong, consistent commercialperformance and continue tosuccessfully create value throughour award-winning network.

“We signed up nearly 900,000 4Gcustomers in a single quarter, withover one in four new customersopting for EE’s exclusivedouble-speed 4GEE Extra plans.

“In line with our vision to providethe best network and best service,we’re also further improvingcustomer service across allchannels to support our long-termg ro w t h . ”

The firm has 5,100 corporatecustomers as it grows its businessmarket, with the 4G network nowreaching 72 per cent of thepopulation of the UK, or 46 millionpeople.

The first quarter results releasedyesterday showed EE, whichemploys 15,000 people across theUK, increased turnover 3.6 per centyear-on-year to £1.55 billion.

Chief marketing officer, GerryMcQuade, recently told a businessaudience in the city that beinglocated here was a key part of EE’ssuccess.

Speaking at the BusinessShowcase South West, at ColstonHall, he said the universities and aplethora of high-tech andengineering companies in the areagave EE access to a talent pool thathelped drive its business.

Carl reaches final withSpotify headphones� THE designer of a set ofheadphones that gives the listeneraccess to Spotify using the mobilephone network has reached the finalof a national contest.

Carl Thomas, 31, from StokeGifford, will now pitch his businessto Moonpig founder Nick Jenkins,Holly Tucker, thefounder ofNot on theHighS t re e t ,andPeterWilliams,founderof JackWills, attheO x f o rd s h i rehome of Sir RichardBranson.

Carl, pictur ed, came up with theheadphones idea after getting in atangle at the gym trying to listen tomusic while exercising. His wirelessproduct seemed the ideal solution.

He will be pitching against 29other entrepreneurs from around thecountry. The winner gets £5,000 ofinvestment plus mentoring,including legal, branding andmarketing advice, and networkingopportunities.

Communications

Te c h n o l o g y

� A billboard in the centre of Bristol advertising the Quartet Community Foundation’s new online campaign

Caroline Duckworth

“We set out toreach a wideraudience ofpotential givers –in particular,younger people,perhaps with small,but growing,businesses.”

EPB-E01-S3

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E01-

S3


D eve l o p m e n t

ARCHITECTS based in Red-land are working with a citydeveloper to undertake a£3.5 million renovation ofbuildings in Portland

S q u a re.O’LearyGoss architects has teamed

up with Barnett Developments to cre-ate Portland Heights in the square inSt Paul’s.

The first phase, of 19 energy ef-ficient apartments, was recently com-pleted and the second phase is due tobe finished by the autumn.

Work on the third phase will startin the summer and will involve re-developing a garage into a mix offlats, four townhouses and two officeu n i t s.

The development marks a furtherrenaissance of Portland Square,which was a popular residential areafor prosperous Bristol merchantsduring the 18th and early 19th cen-t u r i e s.

Historic sq u a re ’srevival boostedby £3.5m p ro j e c t

� Lorna Barnett, Nick Barnett,of Barnett Developments, andarchitect Robert O’Leary inPortland Square

Business awards

Cycle post Service delivers majorcash savings for d o c to rs ’ s u rg e r i es

DOCTORS’ surgeries havebeen taking advantage of alocal postal service that de-livers by bicycle to get im-portant documents around

the city.St George Health Centre and Fal-

lodon Way Medical Centre in Hen-leaze are among the customers ofVelopost, a green Bristol deliverys e r v i c e.

Susan Fowler, practice manager atSt George, said the decision savedtime and money.

“We have been using Velopost on adaily basis for almost a year. I use theservice to post to the local areabecause it reduces both the cost ofstamps and time spent sending post,t o o, ” she said.

The centre posts roughly 600 lettersper calendar month. A saving of 20pper letter means they reduce the costof postage by £1,440 a year.

Peter Yates, management supportassistant, oversees all postal corres-pondence for the Fallodon Way Med-ical Centre. He said: “I knew aboutthe service as I had used it at aprevious practice because of the sav-ings offered.

“This practice was sceptical of thepromised delivery time at first, butthe service has proved perfectly sat-isfactory and customer support veryhelpful, too.”

Fallodon posts roughly 500 letters amonth. Velopost estimates the prac-tice is preventing the generation of168,000 grams of CO2 each year.

Peter said: “It is a bonus to be ableto do our part for the environment,t o o. ”

Velopost is an environmentallyfriendly way to post to Bristol andBath. Bikes and electric vehiclesoffer a collection and delivery ser-vice, delivering in less than two days,and for 20 pence less than the cost ofa second class stamp.

Velopost has 14 cyclists covering,on average, 25 miles a day each,delivering 20,000 to 25,000 pieces ofmail around Bristol and Bath eachmonth.

Since it was founded in 2011, it hasdelivered more than 700,000 lettersand estimates its saves around eighttonnes of C02 each year.

Director, Joe Broadway, said: “At atime when staff resources andbudgets are under immense pressure

in the healthcare sector, cost-effect-ive and time-saving solutions arealways welcome. We also appreciatethe important nature of the doc-uments sent in the post, which is whyan increasing amount are choosingto adopt our service.”

WHY the family businessof the year award? Well,it kind of chose us really.After 55 years of incor-poration and still fam-

ily-owned, we at BOM recognise thevalues of a family-run business andare proud to be associated with thisye a r ’s Family Business of the YearAw a rd .

As a Bristol-born business and sup-plying IT services to businesses of allsizes, we feel family-run business is akey area to further developing Bristoland the surrounding areas.

Over the years the city of Bristolhas seen many small family-run busi-nesses develop into some of the city’slargest and most successful compan-ies. As a result of these successes,many of those businesses remain inBristol, offering a great choice of

products and services and driving thelocal economy for local people.

The draw to other cities or towns isappealing to many, but family-runbusiness should remain in Bristoland continue to help drive the city’sg rowth.

At BOM, we know and understandthe struggle at times that running abusiness presents, and awards of thistype are important in showing re-cognition. Such recognition andpraise may just help fuel the next

working day and desire for successwhen things aren’t going to plan.

It’s often refreshing to deal with afamily-run business, where the val-ues are high and good service is themain focus for retention and growthof its customer base – where worki s n’t just a place, it’s where they sharethe challenges together and work as ateam, as family, pushing for the best.

We believe putting people at thecentre will help deliver the goals withthe very DNA of those in the businesswanting the same things. The cityoffers a great support network andwhat better place to start than withthe family-run business.

BOM would like to wish all thosenominated the very best and we arelooking forward to hearing about thegoals, dreams, visions and successeswe all share in business.

Sponsor profile

Family values are crucial for BOM

� Members of the BOM team during a Microsoft Cloud Services trainingday. The firm offers IT solutions for businesses of all sizes

� Cyclists deliver important documents around the city

Velopost has entered the envir-onmental business category of theBristol Post Business Awards.

Entries for the awards must besubmitted by Friday. To enter, visitthe website at w w w. b r i s t o l -post.co.uk/businessaw ards.


Star t-ups

Agency chief’s ‘delight’ asdozens of firms launched

� Angela Hicks

However, after riots in the city in1831, many merchants decided tomove to Clifton and the square fellinto decline. It became partiallyderelict after the bombing of the citycentre during the Second World War.

Architect Robert O’Leary said:“Portland Square is 200 years old andone of the finest examples of a Geor-gian square in the UK, which wasbadly bombed on December 2, 1940.

“With only around 9,000 gradeone-listed properties in the UK andhalf of those ecclesiastical, PortlandSquare is vital to preserve, protectand improve.

“The five-storey concrete building,dating back to 1973, was completelystripped back to a bare shell andO’LearyGoss and Barnett Develop-ments achieved an excellent industrydesign standard for noise and energy.Portland Heights is set to be nom-inated for two building awards thiss u m m e r. ”

The developers worked with localartist Wei Ong, known as Silent Hobo,to create a new mural at the build-ing’s base to celebrate Bristol’s fam-ous street art culture.

Nick Barnett, of Barnett Develop-

ments, which is based in PortlandSquare, said: “It’s a privilege to workon one of the most up-and-comingareas of Bristol.

“The council is supportive of re-

generating this important historicarea and it is wonderful to partnerO’LearyGoss, which has createdamazing designs in Bristol and sur-rounding areas.”

MORE new businesses are getting startedin North Somerset, according to new fig-u re s.

The North Somerset Enterprise Agencylaunched 39 new firms, creating 44 jobs,between January and March.

The start-ups include an aromatherapist,online crafts seller, hairdresser, landscap-ing company and a property maintenancec o m p a ny.

Agency chief executive, Angela Hicks,said: “We are delighted to report a strongstart to the year in terms of start-up num-bers and also that we have a steady flow ofpotential business owners talking to usabout how we might support them inlaunching their businesses this year.

“Following a year in which the UK's newbusiness numbers swelled by more thanhalf a million, business ambition is clearlyremaining high, which is great news for thelocal and national economies as new com-panies create jobs and, in turn, wealth.

“We are thrilled that so many local busi-nesses are choosing to start out with in-formation, advice and support under theirbelts, as research shows this is the bestapproach to creating a sustainable busi-n e s s. ”

For many start-ups, surviving the firstyear can be a real struggle. But the agencyreports that 33 of the 38 businesses it helpedlaunch in the same period last year are stilltrading.

And looking back further over threeyears, of the 27 firms started in January toMarch 2011, 22 are still going strong.

The enterprise agency is about to open itsown business centre next month, the Hive,based in the Junction 21 Enterprise Area.

The purpose-built centre will be a newhome for the agency, but also a place forbusinesses owners to move when taking

that step out of the back bedroom or garageinto their first office.

Businesses that move in will get freesupport and advice from the agency simplyfor being there.

Angela said: “With our own businessdevelopment centre, The Hive, opening itsdoors at Weston Business Quarter nextmonth, it will enable us to support new andgrowing businesses with more facilitiesand services in addition to our ongoing freeor low-cost business advice, support andtraining,

“This is already looking to be a great yearfor North Somerset business enterprise.”

The agency is a not-for-profit organisa-tion encouraging local enterprise and jobc re at i o n .

Firms in North Somerset looking forsupport can visit w w w. n o r t h s o m e rs e t e n t e r -priseagenc y.co.uk.

S p o n so rs

C a te g o r i es� Business of the Year Bristol,sponsored by UWE Bristol� Young Entrepreneur of the Year� Lifetime Achievement Award,sponsored by Punter Southall� Retailer of the Year, sponsoredby Broadmead Bristol BID� Customer Service Award,sponsored by Broadmead BristolBID� Family Business of the Year,

sponsored by BOM Group� Innovator of the Year� Export Award, sponsored byLloyds Banking Group� Marketing Campaign of the Year� Large Business of the Year,sponsored by Smith &Williamson� Best Creative/TechnologicalAward, sponsored by A s h f o rd sSolicitors

� Leisure & Tourism Business ofthe Year, sponsored by QBE� Small Business of the Year,sponsored by First GreatWester n� Start-Up Business of the Year,sponsored by J o rd a n s� Environmental Business Award� Contribution to the CommunityAward, sponsored by Renishaw


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D eve l o p m e n t

ARCHITECTS based in Red-land are working with a citydeveloper to undertake a£3.5 million renovation ofbuildings in Portland

S q u a re.O’LearyGoss architects has teamed

up with Barnett Developments to cre-ate Portland Heights in the square inSt Paul’s.

The first phase, of 19 energy ef-ficient apartments, was recently com-pleted and the second phase is due tobe finished by the autumn.

Work on the third phase will startin the summer and will involve re-developing a garage into a mix offlats, four townhouses and two officeu n i t s.

The development marks a furtherrenaissance of Portland Square,which was a popular residential areafor prosperous Bristol merchantsduring the 18th and early 19th cen-t u r i e s.

Historic sq u a re ’srevival boostedby £3.5m p ro j e c t

� Lorna Barnett, Nick Barnett,of Barnett Developments, andarchitect Robert O’Leary inPortland Square

Business awards

Cycle post Service delivers majorcash savings for d o c to rs ’ s u rg e r i es

DOCTORS’ surgeries havebeen taking advantage of alocal postal service that de-livers by bicycle to get im-portant documents around

the city.St George Health Centre and Fal-

lodon Way Medical Centre in Hen-leaze are among the customers ofVelopost, a green Bristol deliverys e r v i c e.

Susan Fowler, practice manager atSt George, said the decision savedtime and money.

“We have been using Velopost on adaily basis for almost a year. I use theservice to post to the local areabecause it reduces both the cost ofstamps and time spent sending post,t o o, ” she said.

The centre posts roughly 600 lettersper calendar month. A saving of 20pper letter means they reduce the costof postage by £1,440 a year.

Peter Yates, management supportassistant, oversees all postal corres-pondence for the Fallodon Way Med-ical Centre. He said: “I knew aboutthe service as I had used it at aprevious practice because of the sav-ings offered.

“This practice was sceptical of thepromised delivery time at first, butthe service has proved perfectly sat-isfactory and customer support veryhelpful, too.”

Fallodon posts roughly 500 letters amonth. Velopost estimates the prac-tice is preventing the generation of168,000 grams of CO2 each year.

Peter said: “It is a bonus to be ableto do our part for the environment,t o o. ”

Velopost is an environmentallyfriendly way to post to Bristol andBath. Bikes and electric vehiclesoffer a collection and delivery ser-vice, delivering in less than two days,and for 20 pence less than the cost ofa second class stamp.

Velopost has 14 cyclists covering,on average, 25 miles a day each,delivering 20,000 to 25,000 pieces ofmail around Bristol and Bath eachmonth.

Since it was founded in 2011, it hasdelivered more than 700,000 lettersand estimates its saves around eighttonnes of C02 each year.

Director, Joe Broadway, said: “At atime when staff resources andbudgets are under immense pressure

in the healthcare sector, cost-effect-ive and time-saving solutions arealways welcome. We also appreciatethe important nature of the doc-uments sent in the post, which is whyan increasing amount are choosingto adopt our service.”

WHY the family businessof the year award? Well,it kind of chose us really.After 55 years of incor-poration and still fam-

ily-owned, we at BOM recognise thevalues of a family-run business andare proud to be associated with thisye a r ’s Family Business of the YearAw a rd .

As a Bristol-born business and sup-plying IT services to businesses of allsizes, we feel family-run business is akey area to further developing Bristoland the surrounding areas.

Over the years the city of Bristolhas seen many small family-run busi-nesses develop into some of the city’slargest and most successful compan-ies. As a result of these successes,many of those businesses remain inBristol, offering a great choice of

products and services and driving thelocal economy for local people.

The draw to other cities or towns isappealing to many, but family-runbusiness should remain in Bristoland continue to help drive the city’sg rowth.

At BOM, we know and understandthe struggle at times that running abusiness presents, and awards of thistype are important in showing re-cognition. Such recognition andpraise may just help fuel the next

working day and desire for successwhen things aren’t going to plan.

It’s often refreshing to deal with afamily-run business, where the val-ues are high and good service is themain focus for retention and growthof its customer base – where worki s n’t just a place, it’s where they sharethe challenges together and work as ateam, as family, pushing for the best.

We believe putting people at thecentre will help deliver the goals withthe very DNA of those in the businesswanting the same things. The cityoffers a great support network andwhat better place to start than withthe family-run business.

BOM would like to wish all thosenominated the very best and we arelooking forward to hearing about thegoals, dreams, visions and successeswe all share in business.

Sponsor profile

Family values are crucial for BOM

� Members of the BOM team during a Microsoft Cloud Services trainingday. The firm offers IT solutions for businesses of all sizes

� Cyclists deliver important documents around the city

Velopost has entered the envir-onmental business category of theBristol Post Business Awards.

Entries for the awards must besubmitted by Friday. To enter, visitthe website at w w w. b r i s t o l -post.co.uk/businessaw ards.


Star t-ups

Agency chief’s ‘delight’ asdozens of firms launched

� Angela Hicks

However, after riots in the city in1831, many merchants decided tomove to Clifton and the square fellinto decline. It became partiallyderelict after the bombing of the citycentre during the Second World War.

Architect Robert O’Leary said:“Portland Square is 200 years old andone of the finest examples of a Geor-gian square in the UK, which wasbadly bombed on December 2, 1940.

“With only around 9,000 gradeone-listed properties in the UK andhalf of those ecclesiastical, PortlandSquare is vital to preserve, protectand improve.

“The five-storey concrete building,dating back to 1973, was completelystripped back to a bare shell andO’LearyGoss and Barnett Develop-ments achieved an excellent industrydesign standard for noise and energy.Portland Heights is set to be nom-inated for two building awards thiss u m m e r. ”

The developers worked with localartist Wei Ong, known as Silent Hobo,to create a new mural at the build-ing’s base to celebrate Bristol’s fam-ous street art culture.

Nick Barnett, of Barnett Develop-

ments, which is based in PortlandSquare, said: “It’s a privilege to workon one of the most up-and-comingareas of Bristol.

“The council is supportive of re-

generating this important historicarea and it is wonderful to partnerO’LearyGoss, which has createdamazing designs in Bristol and sur-rounding areas.”

MORE new businesses are getting startedin North Somerset, according to new fig-u re s.

The North Somerset Enterprise Agencylaunched 39 new firms, creating 44 jobs,between January and March.

The start-ups include an aromatherapist,online crafts seller, hairdresser, landscap-ing company and a property maintenancec o m p a ny.

Agency chief executive, Angela Hicks,said: “We are delighted to report a strongstart to the year in terms of start-up num-bers and also that we have a steady flow ofpotential business owners talking to usabout how we might support them inlaunching their businesses this year.

“Following a year in which the UK's newbusiness numbers swelled by more thanhalf a million, business ambition is clearlyremaining high, which is great news for thelocal and national economies as new com-panies create jobs and, in turn, wealth.

“We are thrilled that so many local busi-nesses are choosing to start out with in-formation, advice and support under theirbelts, as research shows this is the bestapproach to creating a sustainable busi-n e s s. ”

For many start-ups, surviving the firstyear can be a real struggle. But the agencyreports that 33 of the 38 businesses it helpedlaunch in the same period last year are stilltrading.

And looking back further over threeyears, of the 27 firms started in January toMarch 2011, 22 are still going strong.

The enterprise agency is about to open itsown business centre next month, the Hive,based in the Junction 21 Enterprise Area.

The purpose-built centre will be a newhome for the agency, but also a place forbusinesses owners to move when taking

that step out of the back bedroom or garageinto their first office.

Businesses that move in will get freesupport and advice from the agency simplyfor being there.

Angela said: “With our own businessdevelopment centre, The Hive, opening itsdoors at Weston Business Quarter nextmonth, it will enable us to support new andgrowing businesses with more facilitiesand services in addition to our ongoing freeor low-cost business advice, support andtraining,

“This is already looking to be a great yearfor North Somerset business enterprise.”

The agency is a not-for-profit organisa-tion encouraging local enterprise and jobc re at i o n .

Firms in North Somerset looking forsupport can visit w w w. n o r t h s o m e rs e t e n t e r -priseagenc y.co.uk.

S p o n so rs

C a te g o r i es� Business of the Year Bristol,sponsored by UWE Bristol� Young Entrepreneur of the Year� Lifetime Achievement Award,sponsored by Punter Southall� Retailer of the Year, sponsoredby Broadmead Bristol BID� Customer Service Award,sponsored by Broadmead BristolBID� Family Business of the Year,

sponsored by BOM Group� Innovator of the Year� Export Award, sponsored byLloyds Banking Group� Marketing Campaign of the Year� Large Business of the Year,sponsored by Smith &Williamson� Best Creative/TechnologicalAward, sponsored by A s h f o rd sSolicitors

� Leisure & Tourism Business ofthe Year, sponsored by QBE� Small Business of the Year,sponsored by First GreatWester n� Start-Up Business of the Year,sponsored by J o rd a n s� Environmental Business Award� Contribution to the CommunityAward, sponsored by Renishaw


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The Big Interview

BRABANTIA is a businessthat reaches into many ofour homes. If you’re not con-vinced, have a look at whomade your kitchen bin.

But as the Dutch family firm,which has its UK base in Nailsea,makes the transition to the fourthgeneration of leadership, it is alsotransforming from a business thatmakes useful things to one thatdesigns beautiful objects.

Chief executive, Tijn van Elderen,said: “Our transformation to a globalinterior design brand was the nextlogical step for us, helping us inspireand delight our consumers, fittinginto their stylish world.

“We are a family business andthink of our consumers as part of thefamily – they are loyal to us and they

remain at the forefront of our mindswhen designing and creating stylishproducts that they can enjoy and beproud of, too.”

The origins of this shift, which thecompany is calling Designed for Liv-ing, go back two-and-a-half years towhen Tijn and his peers became thefourth generation of the family to runthe business.

About that time, Brabantia under-took some market research by talkingto women – who remain its targetconsumer – in the Netherlands, Bel-gium, France and the UK.

The feedback was very positive onquality, something the firm hadworked hard to establish after brand-ing itself a “solid company” in 1997.But it was also revealing.

“The answer we got was very clear,”said Tijn. “They loved us and they

“Our aim is to enrich the quality oflife of our consumers with beautifulinterior designed products that makedaily chores a pleasure – p ro d u c t sthat they can enjoy every day, for aslong as they want. That’s Designedfor Living.

“Our new collection represents thenew Brabantia – new colour palettes,must-have accessories and all with anelement of surprise in the design. It’sour most exciting time to date in over90 years of business.”

The UK is a big market for the firmand in many ways has driven the shiftto more design-led interior products.

“People don’t buy anything any-more that doesn’t look good. If itd o e s n’t look good, people choosesomething else,” said Tijn.

So it’s not surprising the firm has abase here. Unlike many businesses

DESIGNS WILLMAKE CHORES‘A PLEASURE’Gavin Thompson meets Tijn van Elderen, the chief executiveof Brabantia, a firm making household items that has designson being pretty as well as practical

that choose Greater Bristol for itstransport links or talented graduates,B r ab a n t i a ’s decision was lessthought through.

“It’s historical,” said Tijn. “T heprevious marketing manager startedin 1973 in the UK. He was a resident ofNailsea, so that’s where we are.”

But the site is important for thebusiness and Tijn is a regular visitor.It employs about 60 people here as itsUK sales force and to assemble“vo l u m e ” products – “so we don’tkeep having to ship 50 litres of air,”explained Tijn.

Historical ties are central to a fam-ily business. Tijn started his careerwith drinks supplier Diageo beforejoining Brabantia 15 years ago, but asa family member he considers him-self to have been with the firm 44years. He’s 44.

“Every time we are asked if wewant to sell the company, when we gettogether and we ask the family it’sclear we don’t want to,” he said.“When we took over a couple of yearsago, we agreed almost unanimouslyto continue as a family company.”

Tijn has three children, aged five,nine and 10. He’d like to see them takeover one day.

“The most important thing as abusiness is to make sure you delivervalue in the eyes of your target group– t h at ’s what it’s about,” he said.

“The only reason we will exist inanother 95 years is that people un-derstand we provide them withva l u e.

“My goal is to make sure we handover the company in better shape tothe fifth generation than when wetook over.”

MOST of Lyle Finlay’s ca-reer has been in big retailchains. He was managingdirector of Claire’s Ac-cessories and more re-

cently European retail director atdiscount chain TK Maxx.

So it’s something of a surprise tofind him running a bike shop inClifton. But he has done just that –with his business partners he bought

independent store Bike UK in Clifton,along with another store in Taun-ton.

The goal is to create a small “ch a i nof independent bike stores”.

Lyle, who has also held senior po-sitions at Olympus Sports and Nike,said: “I’m now in a position where Ican get a better work-life balance. I’ma passionate cyclist, so the oppor-tunity to combine a passion with myretail experience was great.”

Lyle is spending a bit more time onthe golf course, but the bike businessis his main focus.

He says the learning curve is onboth sides – he picks up things from

the experienced bike shop staff andtheir specialist knowledge, and inreturn they learn from the insight hegained at larger retail businesses.

The Clifton store has been expan-ded and was officially relaunched onThursday, with a bigger repair shop.

The store has stayed open while theexpansion and refit has been carriedout, and Lyle said the team, whichincludes six sales staff and six ser-vicing staff, had done an “e xc e l l e n tjob” working through it.

“We want to make the workshopthe heart of the business becausewhile you can buy bikes online youwill always need somewhere to go for

re pairs,” he said. That’s why the shopoffers free servicing for life on bikesit sells.

The refit includes launching a newShimano brand service centre – justthe fourth in the UK. It is stockingmore brands, including Giro’s NewRoad clothing.

The cycle range has expanded, too,with brands such as Wilier, Whyte,Focus, Orange, Ridgeback, Marin andOrbea.

He hopes to acquire more stores –but retain their own brands and her-itage – and increase the stores’ bu y -ing power as the numbers grow.

He said: “There is some room to

grow in the sector, but not as much aspeople think. You have to work hardfor it.”

But Lyle says Bristol is a greatplace for the first store.

“Our core business is commuters,”he said. “Bristol’s a fantastic com-muter city. Throughout my travelsI’ve seen good and bad cities for cyc-ling commuters and Bristol’s upthere alongside Edinburgh.”

The shop sells bikes from £250 to£5,500, but the £1,000 price point is themost popular.

It plans to host a range of events asit attracts new customers, such asevenings dedicated to women riders.

Tijn van Elderen

“We are a familybusiness and think ofour consumers as partof the family – they areloyal to us and theyremain at the forefrontof our minds whendesigning and creatingstylish products thatthey can enjoy and beproud of, too

Transpor t

Wheels turning Bike store chain starts hereGavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)[email protected]

� Above, Damola Johnson, Rich Malone, SarahPage and Lyle Finlay BRML20140424D-001

� Lyle Finlay, previously managing director of Claire’s Accessories, is aiming to set up a chain of independent bike stores Pic: Michael Lloyd BRML20140424D-003

FINANCE firms behind an altern-ative lending portal have offered tohand over control of the site as part ofa Government review intoways to get money flowinginto business hands.

In its submission tothe consultation, the al-ter nativebusinessfund-ing group proposedthat the Governmentoutsourced the manage-ment of its platform to anindependent organisationto ensure its neutrality, withthe platform funded by a mem-bership fee.

The platform would be used tomatch businesses referred by bankswith funders, offering another wayfor small and medium-sized firms to

find the finance they need to grow.Adam Tavener, p i c t u re d , chairman

of pensionledfunding.com, an ABFmember and the catalyst for the

creation of the portal, said:“It seems that both the rel-

evant Government de-partments and our peersrecognise the effective-ness of the ABF portalin guiding an SMEowner quickly and

simply to a likely sourceof finance, without cost,

bias or risk.”The consultation, proposed by

the Chancellor in the March Budget,is looking at how to deliver on pro-posals to make banks refer SMEsrejected for loans to alternativel e n d e r s.

F i n a n ce

Control of portal may be switchedC o n test

Seven up for Dan’s perfect PitchA COMPETITION for entrepren-eurs, which started in Bristol, isrunning for the seventh year.

Applications are now open for ThePitch, which has grown into a na-tionwide event from its local roots.

Applicants are whittled down to ashortlist of 100 to attend boot campsin London and Manchester. Therethey will get advice on pitching andgrowing their business.

Then 30 finalists will be chosen tocome to Bristol for the grand final atthe Paintworks on October 23.

The finalists will pitch in front ofjudges including serial social en-trepreneur and founder of Crowd-Mission.com, Karen Darby,Company Shortcuts boss Lara Mor-

gan, who built luxury toiletries pro-vider Pacific Direct into a £20million business, and JudithBitterli, serial entrepren-eur and chief marketingofficer at AVG Techno-lo gies.

Event founder, DanMartin, p i c t u re d , said:“The Pitch has come along way since ourhumble beginnings in2008, and we are de-lighted to be back for aseventh year. There aren’tmany business competitions thathave lasted that long.

“From day one, our aim has beento support Britain’s innovative en-

trepreneurs who are so crucial tothe success of the UK economy.

“We ’ve helped thousandssince we launched, but The

Pitch 2014 is set to be thebest competition yet. Wec a n’t wait to meet thisye a r ’s crop of entre-preneurial talent.”

The eventual win-ners gets a package of

business support, in-cluding free taxi travel,

free access to businesslounges around the world, PR

consultancy and more.Entrepreneurs who wish to apply

can do so at www.the pitchuk.com.Entries close on July 13.

Ti m e l i n e� Brabantia was founded in1919 as Van Elderen & Co inAalst, Netherlands.� It began making milk cans,jugs, sieves and funnels beforediversifying into radio casingsfor Philips in 1930.� The firm was an earlyrecycler... after the war, in1945, it helped to recycle oldmilk powder tins into cups.� It launched its first pedal binrange in 1955.� The Patrice pattern, whichbecame a kitchen staple, waslaunched in 1970.� In the late 1970s and 1980sthe firm expanded sales acrossE u ro p e .

thought our products were high qual-ity and they loved our services. Butwith our designs they thought wecould be a bit more surprising – pos-itively surprising.”

The firm is making changes as aresult, reflecting the consumer shiftfrom practical to pretty – a trend ledby designers such as Orla Kiely andEmma Bridgewater.

“The road from head to heart istwice as long as the road from heart tohead,” said Tijn, “so it makes busi-ness sense for the firm to makeproducts people want, not justneed.”

Another, more surprising, findingfrom the research was that Braban-tia’s products lasted too long!

“We heard the fact that sometimesthe product was too durable,” saidTijn. That doesn’t mean it will bemaking cheap rubbish anytime soon,h oweve r.

He said: “T here’s nothing more an-noying than a household item thatd o e s n’t work. We guarantee ourproducts for 10 years.”

But he said people want to be able tochange sometimes, which the firm isaddressing in two ways – makingsome items changeable, such as withparts you can swap, and making itswares more recyclable.

“The first step was how could wechange our products in a positivew ay, ” said Tijn. “We have looked atkitchen tools, where you can swap theback of the tool so you can change thecolour once in a while.

“Also, people don’t want to throwaway something that is still working,so we are introducing a concept ofcradle to cradle.”

He explained most products werecradle to grave, which meantsomething was made from raw ma-terials then thrown away at the end ofits life. Cradle to cradle means youtake raw materials, make them into aproduct and at the end of its use it istaken apart and the materials reusedto make something else.

“We want to make sure people don’tfeel guilty when they throw goodworking products away,” said Tijn.

“They told us they like to changeonce in a while, but they want theproduct to last as long as they want itto, not as long as we want, so we addeda touch of recycle-ability to it.”

Brabantia makes hundreds ofproducts, so a change in philosophyd o e s n’t appear on shop shelvesovernight. One of the first products inits new wave is the flat back pedal bin– getting rid of that annoying problemwhen the bin lid whacks the wallevery time you open it. So those prac-tical solutions are still at the core ofBrabantia products.

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The Big Interview

BRABANTIA is a businessthat reaches into many ofour homes. If you’re not con-vinced, have a look at whomade your kitchen bin.

But as the Dutch family firm,which has its UK base in Nailsea,makes the transition to the fourthgeneration of leadership, it is alsotransforming from a business thatmakes useful things to one thatdesigns beautiful objects.

Chief executive, Tijn van Elderen,said: “Our transformation to a globalinterior design brand was the nextlogical step for us, helping us inspireand delight our consumers, fittinginto their stylish world.

“We are a family business andthink of our consumers as part of thefamily – they are loyal to us and they

remain at the forefront of our mindswhen designing and creating stylishproducts that they can enjoy and beproud of, too.”

The origins of this shift, which thecompany is calling Designed for Liv-ing, go back two-and-a-half years towhen Tijn and his peers became thefourth generation of the family to runthe business.

About that time, Brabantia under-took some market research by talkingto women – who remain its targetconsumer – in the Netherlands, Bel-gium, France and the UK.

The feedback was very positive onquality, something the firm hadworked hard to establish after brand-ing itself a “solid company” in 1997.But it was also revealing.

“The answer we got was very clear,”said Tijn. “They loved us and they

“Our aim is to enrich the quality oflife of our consumers with beautifulinterior designed products that makedaily chores a pleasure – p ro d u c t sthat they can enjoy every day, for aslong as they want. That’s Designedfor Living.

“Our new collection represents thenew Brabantia – new colour palettes,must-have accessories and all with anelement of surprise in the design. It’sour most exciting time to date in over90 years of business.”

The UK is a big market for the firmand in many ways has driven the shiftto more design-led interior products.

“People don’t buy anything any-more that doesn’t look good. If itd o e s n’t look good, people choosesomething else,” said Tijn.

So it’s not surprising the firm has abase here. Unlike many businesses

DESIGNS WILLMAKE CHORES‘A PLEASURE’Gavin Thompson meets Tijn van Elderen, the chief executiveof Brabantia, a firm making household items that has designson being pretty as well as practical

that choose Greater Bristol for itstransport links or talented graduates,B r ab a n t i a ’s decision was lessthought through.

“It’s historical,” said Tijn. “T heprevious marketing manager startedin 1973 in the UK. He was a resident ofNailsea, so that’s where we are.”

But the site is important for thebusiness and Tijn is a regular visitor.It employs about 60 people here as itsUK sales force and to assemble“vo l u m e ” products – “so we don’tkeep having to ship 50 litres of air,”explained Tijn.

Historical ties are central to a fam-ily business. Tijn started his careerwith drinks supplier Diageo beforejoining Brabantia 15 years ago, but asa family member he considers him-self to have been with the firm 44years. He’s 44.

“Every time we are asked if wewant to sell the company, when we gettogether and we ask the family it’sclear we don’t want to,” he said.“When we took over a couple of yearsago, we agreed almost unanimouslyto continue as a family company.”

Tijn has three children, aged five,nine and 10. He’d like to see them takeover one day.

“The most important thing as abusiness is to make sure you delivervalue in the eyes of your target group– t h at ’s what it’s about,” he said.

“The only reason we will exist inanother 95 years is that people un-derstand we provide them withva l u e.

“My goal is to make sure we handover the company in better shape tothe fifth generation than when wetook over.”

MOST of Lyle Finlay’s ca-reer has been in big retailchains. He was managingdirector of Claire’s Ac-cessories and more re-

cently European retail director atdiscount chain TK Maxx.

So it’s something of a surprise tofind him running a bike shop inClifton. But he has done just that –with his business partners he bought

independent store Bike UK in Clifton,along with another store in Taun-ton.

The goal is to create a small “ch a i nof independent bike stores”.

Lyle, who has also held senior po-sitions at Olympus Sports and Nike,said: “I’m now in a position where Ican get a better work-life balance. I’ma passionate cyclist, so the oppor-tunity to combine a passion with myretail experience was great.”

Lyle is spending a bit more time onthe golf course, but the bike businessis his main focus.

He says the learning curve is onboth sides – he picks up things from

the experienced bike shop staff andtheir specialist knowledge, and inreturn they learn from the insight hegained at larger retail businesses.

The Clifton store has been expan-ded and was officially relaunched onThursday, with a bigger repair shop.

The store has stayed open while theexpansion and refit has been carriedout, and Lyle said the team, whichincludes six sales staff and six ser-vicing staff, had done an “e xc e l l e n tjob” working through it.

“We want to make the workshopthe heart of the business becausewhile you can buy bikes online youwill always need somewhere to go for

re pairs,” he said. That’s why the shopoffers free servicing for life on bikesit sells.

The refit includes launching a newShimano brand service centre – justthe fourth in the UK. It is stockingmore brands, including Giro’s NewRoad clothing.

The cycle range has expanded, too,with brands such as Wilier, Whyte,Focus, Orange, Ridgeback, Marin andOrbea.

He hopes to acquire more stores –but retain their own brands and her-itage – and increase the stores’ bu y -ing power as the numbers grow.

He said: “There is some room to

grow in the sector, but not as much aspeople think. You have to work hardfor it.”

But Lyle says Bristol is a greatplace for the first store.

“Our core business is commuters,”he said. “Bristol’s a fantastic com-muter city. Throughout my travelsI’ve seen good and bad cities for cyc-ling commuters and Bristol’s upthere alongside Edinburgh.”

The shop sells bikes from £250 to£5,500, but the £1,000 price point is themost popular.

It plans to host a range of events asit attracts new customers, such asevenings dedicated to women riders.

Tijn van Elderen

“We are a familybusiness and think ofour consumers as partof the family – they areloyal to us and theyremain at the forefrontof our minds whendesigning and creatingstylish products thatthey can enjoy and beproud of, too

Transpor t

Wheels turning Bike store chain starts hereGavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)[email protected]

� Above, Damola Johnson, Rich Malone, SarahPage and Lyle Finlay BRML20140424D-001

� Lyle Finlay, previously managing director of Claire’s Accessories, is aiming to set up a chain of independent bike stores Pic: Michael Lloyd BRML20140424D-003

FINANCE firms behind an altern-ative lending portal have offered tohand over control of the site as part ofa Government review intoways to get money flowinginto business hands.

In its submission tothe consultation, the al-ter nativebusinessfund-ing group proposedthat the Governmentoutsourced the manage-ment of its platform to anindependent organisationto ensure its neutrality, withthe platform funded by a mem-bership fee.

The platform would be used tomatch businesses referred by bankswith funders, offering another wayfor small and medium-sized firms to

find the finance they need to grow.Adam Tavener, p i c t u re d , chairman

of pensionledfunding.com, an ABFmember and the catalyst for the

creation of the portal, said:“It seems that both the rel-

evant Government de-partments and our peersrecognise the effective-ness of the ABF portalin guiding an SMEowner quickly and

simply to a likely sourceof finance, without cost,

bias or risk.”The consultation, proposed by

the Chancellor in the March Budget,is looking at how to deliver on pro-posals to make banks refer SMEsrejected for loans to alternativel e n d e r s.

F i n a n ce

Control of portal may be switchedC o n test

Seven up for Dan’s perfect PitchA COMPETITION for entrepren-eurs, which started in Bristol, isrunning for the seventh year.

Applications are now open for ThePitch, which has grown into a na-tionwide event from its local roots.

Applicants are whittled down to ashortlist of 100 to attend boot campsin London and Manchester. Therethey will get advice on pitching andgrowing their business.

Then 30 finalists will be chosen tocome to Bristol for the grand final atthe Paintworks on October 23.

The finalists will pitch in front ofjudges including serial social en-trepreneur and founder of Crowd-Mission.com, Karen Darby,Company Shortcuts boss Lara Mor-

gan, who built luxury toiletries pro-vider Pacific Direct into a £20million business, and JudithBitterli, serial entrepren-eur and chief marketingofficer at AVG Techno-lo gies.

Event founder, DanMartin, p i c t u re d , said:“The Pitch has come along way since ourhumble beginnings in2008, and we are de-lighted to be back for aseventh year. There aren’tmany business competitions thathave lasted that long.

“From day one, our aim has beento support Britain’s innovative en-

trepreneurs who are so crucial tothe success of the UK economy.

“We ’ve helped thousandssince we launched, but The

Pitch 2014 is set to be thebest competition yet. Wec a n’t wait to meet thisye a r ’s crop of entre-preneurial talent.”

The eventual win-ners gets a package of

business support, in-cluding free taxi travel,

free access to businesslounges around the world, PR

consultancy and more.Entrepreneurs who wish to apply

can do so at www.the pitchuk.com.Entries close on July 13.

Ti m e l i n e� Brabantia was founded in1919 as Van Elderen & Co inAalst, Netherlands.� It began making milk cans,jugs, sieves and funnels beforediversifying into radio casingsfor Philips in 1930.� The firm was an earlyrecycler... after the war, in1945, it helped to recycle oldmilk powder tins into cups.� It launched its first pedal binrange in 1955.� The Patrice pattern, whichbecame a kitchen staple, waslaunched in 1970.� In the late 1970s and 1980sthe firm expanded sales acrossE u ro p e .

thought our products were high qual-ity and they loved our services. Butwith our designs they thought wecould be a bit more surprising – pos-itively surprising.”

The firm is making changes as aresult, reflecting the consumer shiftfrom practical to pretty – a trend ledby designers such as Orla Kiely andEmma Bridgewater.

“The road from head to heart istwice as long as the road from heart tohead,” said Tijn, “so it makes busi-ness sense for the firm to makeproducts people want, not justneed.”

Another, more surprising, findingfrom the research was that Braban-tia’s products lasted too long!

“We heard the fact that sometimesthe product was too durable,” saidTijn. That doesn’t mean it will bemaking cheap rubbish anytime soon,h oweve r.

He said: “T here’s nothing more an-noying than a household item thatd o e s n’t work. We guarantee ourproducts for 10 years.”

But he said people want to be able tochange sometimes, which the firm isaddressing in two ways – makingsome items changeable, such as withparts you can swap, and making itswares more recyclable.

“The first step was how could wechange our products in a positivew ay, ” said Tijn. “We have looked atkitchen tools, where you can swap theback of the tool so you can change thecolour once in a while.

“Also, people don’t want to throwaway something that is still working,so we are introducing a concept ofcradle to cradle.”

He explained most products werecradle to grave, which meantsomething was made from raw ma-terials then thrown away at the end ofits life. Cradle to cradle means youtake raw materials, make them into aproduct and at the end of its use it istaken apart and the materials reusedto make something else.

“We want to make sure people don’tfeel guilty when they throw goodworking products away,” said Tijn.

“They told us they like to changeonce in a while, but they want theproduct to last as long as they want itto, not as long as we want, so we addeda touch of recycle-ability to it.”

Brabantia makes hundreds ofproducts, so a change in philosophyd o e s n’t appear on shop shelvesovernight. One of the first products inits new wave is the flat back pedal bin– getting rid of that annoying problemwhen the bin lid whacks the wallevery time you open it. So those prac-tical solutions are still at the core ofBrabantia products.

EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3


THE food and drink industrylocally is growing in confid-ence and is upbeat about itsprospects, despite concernsabout the price of raw ma-

terials and energy, as well as worriesover whether the recent floods willhave disrupted production.

Bristol is buzzing about the start ofthe Bristol Food Connections festivaltomorrow, celebrating the city’s vi-brant independent food sector.

At the same time, a regional surveyby business advisers Grant Thorntonand Taste of the West found 60 percent of food and drink businessesbased in the South West were feelingmore optimistic than a year ago.

Three-quarters expect turnover toincrease and 85 per cent see being inthis region a distinct advantage inthe market.

John Sheaves, chief executive ofTaste of the West, which represents8,000 members in the region, said:“These results bear out the over-whelming message that I have pickedup from our membership, which isthat the sector is resilient, buoyantand positive about its prospects.

cessful food and drink producershave reacted to difficult times bystreamlining their processes and in-vesting in technology and newproduct development. Now, as weenter a more benign environment,food and drink businesses will have acrucial role to play in the region’seconomic recovery, so it is good to seeour latest survey painting such apositive picture of the sector.”

But he says the rising price of rawmaterials and energy would be adrag, along with the “bu rd e n ” of reg-ulation and VAT.

In Bristol, the mood is certainlyupbeat. Bristol Food Connec-tions is a 12-day festival cel-ebrating the independentfood culture in the city.

Curator Lorna Knap-man, far right, said:“This is about bringinggood food back down toearth and enjoying eat-ing simple food togetherwith friends and family.

“It aims to reconnectcommunities, reconnectpeople to the seasons and encourage

people to place food higher on the listof priorities.”

It is hoped those connec-tions will see Bristol move

towards a more sustain-able food economy, withmore locally grown pro-d u c e.

The Bristol FoodPolicy Council, whose

members are made up ofrepresentatives from the

sector and supported by thecity council, has an ambitions

vision for the city.

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

As Bristol gears up to host amajor food festival, startingtomorrow, Gavin Thompsonlooks at the state of theindustry locally and howattempts to make the citymore sustainable could affectit in future

“I am particularly pleased to seethat 20 per cent are looking at in-ternational markets for growth,which demonstrates a clear shift inrecent years to broaden and differ-entiate the market for food and drinkproducts made in the South West.

“There is not only a buy-local offerbut a Made-in-the-South-West offer,too, which helps to broaden the ap-peal. Also, linked to this is the strongprovenance brand the region is nowusing to back up quality and integrityclaims in national and internationalm a rke t s. ”

James Morter, right, food andbeverage partner at Grant Thorntonin Bristol, believes that investmentmade during the downturn will berewarded in the coming years.

He said: “Many of the most suc-

Awa rd -w i n n i n gtrio to launchnew restaurant

Case study

� THE Wholesale Fruit Centre,Bristol, is the only fruit and vegwholesale market in the South West.

Without it, independent foodretailers would have to go west toHeathrow, north to Birmingham oreast to Cardiff for their fruit and veg.

Based in St Philip’s, the marketcontinues to succeed, despitechallenges.

Director Tim Down said there werenow eight wholesalers at themarket, which operates as aco-operative.

There used to be more, but they

Market hopes for a key role in changing cultureCase study

� The Wholesale Fruit Centre, Bristol chairman Robert Smith and director Tim Down

had been replaced in the market bythe increasing trend of eating out.

“We don’t supply thesupermarkets,” Tim said. “But therestaurants, pubs and cateringbusinesses have increased andsome of that trade has comethrough to us, although not allbecause some of that food comes inpre-prepared forms.”

The wholesalers who are part ofthe market have a combinedturnover approaching £100 millionannually, so it’s still big business.

The premises are 45 years old and

have consolidated in order tocompete.

“Our traditional customer base ofthe independent shop has beenunquestionably shrinking because ofthe growth of the supermarkets,”said Tim. “Your high streetgreengrocer can compete on price,freshness and availability, butpeople are not shopping for food onthe high street.”

He said some of that business

Food industry focus

PUTTING LOCAL F O O D FIRST CAN BE RECIPE FOR A THRIVING ECONOMY

It believes the city should havefresh, seasonal, local and regional,organic and fairly traded food staplesavailable at affordable prices in alllocal shopping centres.

If that sounds a bit knit-your-own-yoghurt for your taste, there are busi-ness reasons behind it. Buying fromlocal, independent food shops andtraders is said to be better for localemployment and can make a signi-ficant contribution to Bristol’s eco-n o my.

The policy council’s food plan saysthere needs to be a significant in-

crease in the number and marketshare of independent food retailersand restaurants selling so-called“good food”. The trend in recentyears has instead seen the rapidgrowth of supermarkets over otherfood sellers. The Who Feeds Bristolreport in 2011 showed the big foursupermarkets of Tesco, Sainsbury’s,Asda and Morrisons had grown thenumber of stores they owned in theWest of England from 19 to 76. Thishas only gone one way since, withtheir move into the convenience storemarket with the likes of Tesco Ex-

press and Sainsbury’s Locals h o p s.

The food policy councili s n’t so bold as to try tostop existing supermar-kets, but it does want tosee more interventioninto where new onescan be built.

It says: “While thereis always a place for su-permarkets in the food in-dustry, Bristol must bestrategic in its retail planning;controlling supermarket expansion

and only allowing new sites where itwill be beneficial for the local

c o m m u n i t y. ”Its vision is for loc-

ally-grown food to be pro-cessed, stored anddistributed and sold loc-ally through independ-ent retailers.

It may seem utopian,but then who would have

predicted a few years agothat Bristol would have its

own local currency? But the Bris-tol Pound appears to be thriving

will need to be redeveloped at somestage in the not too distant future,although no plans have been drawnup yet.

And Tim would like to see themarket play a bigger part inchanging food culture in future.

He said: “We have become moreobese as a nation and that needs tobe addressed.

“Cooking from scratch issomething that can be a factor inreducing obesity and therefore that’ssomething we would like to beinvolved in.”

among local independent traders.Whether it is through this grass-

roots production and sale, the bigfour supermarkets or somewhere in-between, food is certainly big busi-ness in Bristol.

More than 4,500 firms in the cityare registered with the local author-ity public food register. And that’sonly the tip of the iceberg (lettuce?).There are the rural food producers inthe surrounding authorities areas,from Lye Cross Farm to Thatcher’sCider. And Avonmouth has become adistribution hub for the big industry

players – for example, Asda opened achilled centre the size of 28 footballpitches last year and Farmfoods re-cently announced plans for a newde pot.

With one in 10 jobs in the West ofEngland in some way related to foodand drink, as an economy we arewhat we eat. If we can combine Bris-tol’s taste for a more sustainable dietwith our geographic advantage as adistribution hub with strong connec-tions north, east, south and west, anda business hunger to export more,we ’ll be in pretty good shape.

� The Bristol FoodConnections Festival runs fromMay 1-12 with a host of events.If you want to start early, here’sa few things on this week:

� The Food Trail: From Eastonto Bedminster, and even furtherafield, festival-goers willexperience first-hand whatmakes Bristol’s food culture sospecial. More than 50restaurants, cafes, shops,street food vendors, pop-upsand bakeries all over the citywill offer special dishes,produce, deals, menus,tastings and events over thecourse of Bristol FoodConnections.

� Eat Drink Bristol Fashion, apop-up restaurant, tapas barand live music venueshowcasing the best ofBristol’s foodand musicscene,opens. Setin afestival-style ‘tipivillage’againstthe iconicbackdrop ofQueenSquare, it hostsa line-up of the South West’sbest known chefs, who eachtake over the fine-diningrestaurant for a night.

� Pizza Pandemonium: HartsBakery in Temple Meads isturning into a pizzeria again forone night only from 5-9pm onFriday. No bookings, no booze,no plates, just pizza!

� A Celebration of Apples,Land and Heritage: TheStables, Canon’s Road,Harbourside, will be servingmore than 70 types of ciderduring the festival, as well as aspecial tasting board selectedby four ‘Masters of the CiderUniverse’. They will also behosting an event on Fridayfrom 5-6pm with Fiona Beckettand cider experts.

� For more information seebristolfoodconnections.com.

� ITALIAN restaurant Rosemarinoopened its doors in November2010 and has set out to quietlybuild a reputation since, withseveral Bristol Good Food awardsunder its owners’ collective belts.

The business has done wellenough for the trio of Sam Fryer,32, Mirco Bertoldi, 33, and TonyDe Brito, 41, to open a secondrestaurant in July.

The three of them gainedexperience in some of Bristol’smany top dining establishments,

including the Glassboat,Riverstation, Hotel Du Vin andGoldbrick House – the latter wherethey all worked together for thefirst time.

“Our concept is simple,” saidTony. “We offer all-day diningoptions with emphasis ontop-quality food served every day.

“Breakfast doesn’t stop atmidday, but continues to runalongside our lunch menu.

“Dinner is inspired by traditionalregional Italian dishes, butexecuted with a modern twist.”

The menus are changed monthlyto keep them fresh and seasonal –a key ingredient for the Bristolfoodie scene. And while, to beauthentic Italian, many ingredientsare imported from the country, thisis combined with locally sourcedfish, meat and veg.

Perhaps less typically for anItalian, breakfast is an importantpart of the business, with therestaurant tucked away betweenPark Street and Clifton Village – apopular brunch spot, or place tofind a hangover cure.

The new restaurant, in ColstonStreet, will keep the Rosemarinobrand and concept.

But Sam said: “We ’re also

ramping up our early eveningplans, with a strong focus onaperitivo, which really suits thepre-theatre, post-work crowd.Expect plenty of Campari and

John Sheaves

“These results bear outthe overwhelmingmessage I’ve picked upfrom ourmembership,which isthat thesector isre s i l i e n t ,buoyantandpositiveabout itsp ro s p e c t s

Wh a t ’s on thefestival menu...

antipasti between 5pm and 7pm.”Mirco added: “Italian cuisine is

more than pizza, spaghettibolognese and Chianti bottleshanging from the ceiling. Our

concept is authentic, simple, tastyand real. My family has been ahuge inspiration and central to theevolution and success of thebusiness.”

� Sam Fryer, Mirco Bertoldi and Tony De Brito; below, filetto di merluzzo con ca rc i o f i

EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3


THE food and drink industrylocally is growing in confid-ence and is upbeat about itsprospects, despite concernsabout the price of raw ma-

terials and energy, as well as worriesover whether the recent floods willhave disrupted production.

Bristol is buzzing about the start ofthe Bristol Food Connections festivaltomorrow, celebrating the city’s vi-brant independent food sector.

At the same time, a regional surveyby business advisers Grant Thorntonand Taste of the West found 60 percent of food and drink businessesbased in the South West were feelingmore optimistic than a year ago.

Three-quarters expect turnover toincrease and 85 per cent see being inthis region a distinct advantage inthe market.

John Sheaves, chief executive ofTaste of the West, which represents8,000 members in the region, said:“These results bear out the over-whelming message that I have pickedup from our membership, which isthat the sector is resilient, buoyantand positive about its prospects.

cessful food and drink producershave reacted to difficult times bystreamlining their processes and in-vesting in technology and newproduct development. Now, as weenter a more benign environment,food and drink businesses will have acrucial role to play in the region’seconomic recovery, so it is good to seeour latest survey painting such apositive picture of the sector.”

But he says the rising price of rawmaterials and energy would be adrag, along with the “bu rd e n ” of reg-ulation and VAT.

In Bristol, the mood is certainlyupbeat. Bristol Food Connec-tions is a 12-day festival cel-ebrating the independentfood culture in the city.

Curator Lorna Knap-man, far right, said:“This is about bringinggood food back down toearth and enjoying eat-ing simple food togetherwith friends and family.

“It aims to reconnectcommunities, reconnectpeople to the seasons and encourage

people to place food higher on the listof priorities.”

It is hoped those connec-tions will see Bristol move

towards a more sustain-able food economy, withmore locally grown pro-d u c e.

The Bristol FoodPolicy Council, whose

members are made up ofrepresentatives from the

sector and supported by thecity council, has an ambitions

vision for the city.

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

As Bristol gears up to host amajor food festival, startingtomorrow, Gavin Thompsonlooks at the state of theindustry locally and howattempts to make the citymore sustainable could affectit in future

“I am particularly pleased to seethat 20 per cent are looking at in-ternational markets for growth,which demonstrates a clear shift inrecent years to broaden and differ-entiate the market for food and drinkproducts made in the South West.

“There is not only a buy-local offerbut a Made-in-the-South-West offer,too, which helps to broaden the ap-peal. Also, linked to this is the strongprovenance brand the region is nowusing to back up quality and integrityclaims in national and internationalm a rke t s. ”

James Morter, right, food andbeverage partner at Grant Thorntonin Bristol, believes that investmentmade during the downturn will berewarded in the coming years.

He said: “Many of the most suc-

Awa rd -w i n n i n gtrio to launchnew restaurant

Case study

� THE Wholesale Fruit Centre,Bristol, is the only fruit and vegwholesale market in the South West.

Without it, independent foodretailers would have to go west toHeathrow, north to Birmingham oreast to Cardiff for their fruit and veg.

Based in St Philip’s, the marketcontinues to succeed, despitechallenges.

Director Tim Down said there werenow eight wholesalers at themarket, which operates as aco-operative.

There used to be more, but they

Market hopes for a key role in changing cultureCase study

� The Wholesale Fruit Centre, Bristol chairman Robert Smith and director Tim Down

had been replaced in the market bythe increasing trend of eating out.

“We don’t supply thesupermarkets,” Tim said. “But therestaurants, pubs and cateringbusinesses have increased andsome of that trade has comethrough to us, although not allbecause some of that food comes inpre-prepared forms.”

The wholesalers who are part ofthe market have a combinedturnover approaching £100 millionannually, so it’s still big business.

The premises are 45 years old and

have consolidated in order tocompete.

“Our traditional customer base ofthe independent shop has beenunquestionably shrinking because ofthe growth of the supermarkets,”said Tim. “Your high streetgreengrocer can compete on price,freshness and availability, butpeople are not shopping for food onthe high street.”

He said some of that business

Food industry focus

PUTTING LOCAL F O O D FIRST CAN BE RECIPE FOR A THRIVING ECONOMY

It believes the city should havefresh, seasonal, local and regional,organic and fairly traded food staplesavailable at affordable prices in alllocal shopping centres.

If that sounds a bit knit-your-own-yoghurt for your taste, there are busi-ness reasons behind it. Buying fromlocal, independent food shops andtraders is said to be better for localemployment and can make a signi-ficant contribution to Bristol’s eco-n o my.

The policy council’s food plan saysthere needs to be a significant in-

crease in the number and marketshare of independent food retailersand restaurants selling so-called“good food”. The trend in recentyears has instead seen the rapidgrowth of supermarkets over otherfood sellers. The Who Feeds Bristolreport in 2011 showed the big foursupermarkets of Tesco, Sainsbury’s,Asda and Morrisons had grown thenumber of stores they owned in theWest of England from 19 to 76. Thishas only gone one way since, withtheir move into the convenience storemarket with the likes of Tesco Ex-

press and Sainsbury’s Locals h o p s.

The food policy councili s n’t so bold as to try tostop existing supermar-kets, but it does want tosee more interventioninto where new onescan be built.

It says: “While thereis always a place for su-permarkets in the food in-dustry, Bristol must bestrategic in its retail planning;controlling supermarket expansion

and only allowing new sites where itwill be beneficial for the local

c o m m u n i t y. ”Its vision is for loc-

ally-grown food to be pro-cessed, stored anddistributed and sold loc-ally through independ-ent retailers.

It may seem utopian,but then who would have

predicted a few years agothat Bristol would have its

own local currency? But the Bris-tol Pound appears to be thriving

will need to be redeveloped at somestage in the not too distant future,although no plans have been drawnup yet.

And Tim would like to see themarket play a bigger part inchanging food culture in future.

He said: “We have become moreobese as a nation and that needs tobe addressed.

“Cooking from scratch issomething that can be a factor inreducing obesity and therefore that’ssomething we would like to beinvolved in.”

among local independent traders.Whether it is through this grass-

roots production and sale, the bigfour supermarkets or somewhere in-between, food is certainly big busi-ness in Bristol.

More than 4,500 firms in the cityare registered with the local author-ity public food register. And that’sonly the tip of the iceberg (lettuce?).There are the rural food producers inthe surrounding authorities areas,from Lye Cross Farm to Thatcher’sCider. And Avonmouth has become adistribution hub for the big industry

players – for example, Asda opened achilled centre the size of 28 footballpitches last year and Farmfoods re-cently announced plans for a newde pot.

With one in 10 jobs in the West ofEngland in some way related to foodand drink, as an economy we arewhat we eat. If we can combine Bris-tol’s taste for a more sustainable dietwith our geographic advantage as adistribution hub with strong connec-tions north, east, south and west, anda business hunger to export more,we ’ll be in pretty good shape.

� The Bristol FoodConnections Festival runs fromMay 1-12 with a host of events.If you want to start early, here’sa few things on this week:

� The Food Trail: From Eastonto Bedminster, and even furtherafield, festival-goers willexperience first-hand whatmakes Bristol’s food culture sospecial. More than 50restaurants, cafes, shops,street food vendors, pop-upsand bakeries all over the citywill offer special dishes,produce, deals, menus,tastings and events over thecourse of Bristol FoodConnections.

� Eat Drink Bristol Fashion, apop-up restaurant, tapas barand live music venueshowcasing the best ofBristol’s foodand musicscene,opens. Setin afestival-style ‘tipivillage’againstthe iconicbackdrop ofQueenSquare, it hostsa line-up of the South West’sbest known chefs, who eachtake over the fine-diningrestaurant for a night.

� Pizza Pandemonium: HartsBakery in Temple Meads isturning into a pizzeria again forone night only from 5-9pm onFriday. No bookings, no booze,no plates, just pizza!

� A Celebration of Apples,Land and Heritage: TheStables, Canon’s Road,Harbourside, will be servingmore than 70 types of ciderduring the festival, as well as aspecial tasting board selectedby four ‘Masters of the CiderUniverse’. They will also behosting an event on Fridayfrom 5-6pm with Fiona Beckettand cider experts.

� For more information seebristolfoodconnections.com.

� ITALIAN restaurant Rosemarinoopened its doors in November2010 and has set out to quietlybuild a reputation since, withseveral Bristol Good Food awardsunder its owners’ collective belts.

The business has done wellenough for the trio of Sam Fryer,32, Mirco Bertoldi, 33, and TonyDe Brito, 41, to open a secondrestaurant in July.

The three of them gainedexperience in some of Bristol’smany top dining establishments,

including the Glassboat,Riverstation, Hotel Du Vin andGoldbrick House – the latter wherethey all worked together for thefirst time.

“Our concept is simple,” saidTony. “We offer all-day diningoptions with emphasis ontop-quality food served every day.

“Breakfast doesn’t stop atmidday, but continues to runalongside our lunch menu.

“Dinner is inspired by traditionalregional Italian dishes, butexecuted with a modern twist.”

The menus are changed monthlyto keep them fresh and seasonal –a key ingredient for the Bristolfoodie scene. And while, to beauthentic Italian, many ingredientsare imported from the country, thisis combined with locally sourcedfish, meat and veg.

Perhaps less typically for anItalian, breakfast is an importantpart of the business, with therestaurant tucked away betweenPark Street and Clifton Village – apopular brunch spot, or place tofind a hangover cure.

The new restaurant, in ColstonStreet, will keep the Rosemarinobrand and concept.

But Sam said: “We ’re also

ramping up our early eveningplans, with a strong focus onaperitivo, which really suits thepre-theatre, post-work crowd.Expect plenty of Campari and

John Sheaves

“These results bear outthe overwhelmingmessage I’ve picked upfrom ourmembership,which isthat thesector isre s i l i e n t ,buoyantandpositiveabout itsp ro s p e c t s

Wh a t ’s on thefestival menu...

antipasti between 5pm and 7pm.”Mirco added: “Italian cuisine is

more than pizza, spaghettibolognese and Chianti bottleshanging from the ceiling. Our

concept is authentic, simple, tastyand real. My family has been ahuge inspiration and central to theevolution and success of thebusiness.”

� Sam Fryer, Mirco Bertoldi and Tony De Brito; below, filetto di merluzzo con ca rc i o f i

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WORDPRESS is a free,open-source andpowerful bloggingand content man-agement system,

that can be used for a variety ofbusiness and personal uses. As it’sopen-source, this means that thetechnology behind Wordpress istransparent, which makes it easi-er for developers to create and testnew features. Whether you’re set-ting up a new company blog, orlooking for a new website, Word-press may just be your new digitalplatfor m.

Forbes estimated that 60 millionwebsites online were on the Word-press platform, and there aremany big names making the mostof what the most popular CMS hasto offer.

Companies such as, Mashable,UPS and Samsung, and even KatyPerry, all have blogs and websitesbased on Wordpress. This showsthe versatility and the range ofwebsites that can be provided.

There are many free plug-insand handy features that can aidyou in making the best websiteyou can. Themes allow you tochange the design of your site in acouple of clicks. Many are free,although there are also paid op-tions. Plug-ins are tools to in-crease the functionality of yoursite, such as Askimet, whichfights spam comments.

Using Wordpress for your web-site is beneficial in many differentareas, search engine optimisationbeing one of them. Matt Cutts,head of Google’s web spam team,said it was designed to carry outSEO well, and when somethinggets Google’s approval, it has to bea great product.

Although Wordpress is good forSEO ‘fresh out the box’, there arenumerous plug-ins specially builtfor this purpose. Yoast is a highlyrecommended developer that hascreated many different featuresfor every Wordpress site. It alsohas a great blog on Word-press-based SEO, featuringeverything from basic search en-gine optimisation to more ad-vanced tactics, with an easystep-by-step guide.

If you are not technicallyminded, Wordpress is the siteyo u ’ve been looking for. The lay-out makes it easy to change con-tent, create posts and add photos –without knowing HTML. It’s per-fect for anyone looking to playwith their online presence.

We recommend starting offslowly by creating a blog and play-ing around with plug-ins andt h e m e s. A blog is one of the mostpopular ways, at the moment, todrive relevant traffic to your site,and if you haven’t got one already,then head over to Wo rd p re s s. c o mand start creating!

Sign up to Think Local – OnlineMarketing for Business seminarvia eventbrite or email CraigSheppard on c.she p-p a rd @ b a t h ch ro n . c o. u k .

John BonneyOnline marketingspecialist

Wordpress platformoffers many benefits

Know howN etwo r k i n g

BRISTOL’S BUSINESS COMMUNITYBreakfast briefing - trading in China Golden Gift Appeal - TV Dragon Deborah Meaden

Business diary

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

FSB South Gloucestershireseminar: Today, 7pm-10pm,Aztec West Hotel, AlmondsburyBS32 4TS. Register atw w w. f s b . o r g . u k .

Institute of Directors Bristolbranch Wednesday@6 Informalnetworking from 6-8pm today, atRadisson Blu Hotel, withspeaker, Pacific Ocean rowerElsa Hammond. Free and opento non-members, but register bycalling 0117 370 7785.

Netwalking: Tim Macartney, ofEmbercombe, will lead adiscussion entitled The Twin Trailof Leadership on a four-milenetwalking event in Clifton onFriday, from 10.30am. More atnetwalkingsouthwest.co.uk.

Feeding Tomorrow’s City:Discussing a fresh approach toconnecting food, health andplanning in the urbanenvironment. Bristol-focusedconference led by UWE.Tuesday, May 6, At-Bristol,Harbourside. See UWE website.

FSB Bristol branch networkingevent: Free for members,networking. Wednesday, May 7,9.30am-11.30am. 1 Friay TempleQuay BS1 6EA. Register atw w w. f s b . o r g . u k .

The Bristol DistinguishedExecutive Address Series:Networking and opportunity tohear leading business voice.Xavier Rolet, chief executive,London Stock Exchange Group.May 7. Venue to be confirmed.

The Set.Social: Monthlyinformal networking night at TheSet, at Bath Road Studios. FirstWednesday of every month.Brings together like-mindedpeople in the south of Bristol tomeet, think, create over drinksand canapés. From 6pm.

CBI South West Annual Lunch:At-Bristol, Harbourside, onFriday, May 9, sponsored byRBS. Tickets via Eventbrite.

Ready for business workshop:Introductory workshops foranyone exploring the concept ofself-employment or starting abusiness, at Leigh Court, AbbotsLeigh BS8 3RA. 10am-4pm,Tuesday, May 13. Contact r [email protected].

Meeting the Challenges charityseminar: For charity trustees,officers and key volunteersinvolved in charity managementand administration. BurtonSweet event at M shed, May 15,8.45am-2pm. Emailkar [email protected] for booking inquiries.

RICS South West Awards:Showcasing the mostinspirational regional initiativesand developments in land,property, construction and theenvironment. At Grand ThistleHotel, Bristol, May 15, from 7pm.

Bristol Junior Chamber SpringDrinks: The Bristol JuniorChamber’s summer social, at theRWA, Queen’s Road, Clifton,6.30-8.30pm.

TV DRAGON Deborah Meadencalled on Bristol firms to bemore proactive about chan-ging negative public percep-tions of business.

She was giving a talk at the M shedto raise money for the Golden GiftAppeal, which is hoping to raise£6 million for Bristol’s city centreh o s p i t a l s.

“There is a generalisation that bigbusiness and being wealthy is bad,but it can be good,” she said.

She added that business should notbe seen as a negative because it cre-ated the wealth for society, but com-panies could only change perceptionsby doing positive things.

The investor also revealed her per-sonal reasons for supporting the ap-peal – her 10-year-old nephew wastreated at the Children’s Hospital.

“He received amazing care,” saidDeborah. “The hospital is beautifullydesigned. We were able to stay withhim, could visit when we wanted, it’scolourful and I thought, ‘this isg reat’.”

But she said it contrasted withwhen her mother had been ill athospital elsewhere in a much moredepressing environment.

So she was pleased to supportAbove and Beyond, the charity be-hind the appeal, because things likethe environment, which were not al-ways prioritised for NHS funding,

made such a difference to patients.Deborah also told the audience of

businesspeople about her own career,from selling handbags for Italianbrands to running West Star Cara-vans and becoming a star of Dragons’

� AN inspirational talk and charityauction attended by more than 50business leaders raised £2,500 forthe Royal Marines Charitable TrustFund.

Mark Ormrod, a former RoyalMarine commando who is the UK’sfirst triple amputee, and who wroteMan Down, visited the Pure Commsoffices in Clevedon to deliver amotivational talk to businessleaders.

Pure Comms is a telecomscompany with customers across theUK, including Bristol Airport and theauctioneer Bonhams.

Following the speech, there wasan auction with prizes donated byAt-Bristol, Fishers Restaurant inClifton and celebrity agent JohnMiles – who donated Noel Edmondsand Carol Vorderman memorabilia,an iPad mini, a signed Carl Frochboxing glove and many more.

Mark also signed copies of hisbook and guests had a opportunityto talk to him one-to-one.

Drinks were provided byButcombe Brewery.

Pure Comms managing director,Rob Vivian, said: “Mark delivered aninspirational speech that made yousit up and take note. The room wascaptivated by Mark’s story ofresolve, determination and success

against overwhelming odds.”Allan Finnie, a director at Pace, a

printing and design company basedin Clevedon, said: “It was a privilegeto meet and listen to Mark. It won’tbe something I’ll forget.”

Mark himself added: “The eveningwas well attended and we raised asizeable amount of money forcharity. I’d like to thank PureComms for supporting us andeveryone who attended.”

Pure Comms unveiled a plaqueoutlining its support for the RMCTF.Over the coming months, it will behosting more events to raise moneyfor its cause.

OUT AND ABOUT

GALLERIESGALORE

FOR MORE PICTURESCheck out our

website at

bristolpost.co.uk/business

Den, where she and fellow investorslisten to pitches from entrepreneursand decide whether or not to put theirown money in.

In terms of advice, she said anyonein business should be able to explain

what their firm did in 30 seconds.For more on the appeal, go online to

www.goldengiftappeal.org.uk or con-tact the charity's head of corporatepartnerships, Lorna Clarke, atlorna.clarke@aboveandbe yond.org.uk.

� Deborah Meaden taking questions from the packed audience at the M shed, pictured with BBC west of Englandbusiness correspondent Dave Harvey

� Gonzalo Trujillo, partner at Heron, Golden Gift Appeal board memberJulian Telling, Lorna Clarke, of the hospitals' charity, and Jamie Cameron,senior associate, Burges Salmon LLP

� Above and Beyond chair of trustees Drummond Forbes with Denise Finch,director, business development, at NatWest, Bristol, and Susan Duncombe,of RCI Europe Pictures: Chas Breton

� Jo Day, sales manager of Oven Gleamers, Catherine Rogers, chiefexecutive of Oven Gleamers, and Philippa Constable, founder and businessowner of Women Mean Biz

� Golden Gift Appeal board member Chris Monk with former intensive carepatient Lucy Silverthorne, owner of Lucy Butler flowers, and her husbandSteve Silverthorne

The Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund - talk and charity auction

� Above left, Mark Ormrod, authorof Man Down, signing books; aboveright, Pure Comms managingdirector Rob Vivian carrying out theauction; left, Mark with Rob beforethe event

� BUSINESS leaders heard moreabout doing deals with China overbreakfast yesterday.

HSBC Commercial Bankinghosted the briefing on a SmartCities China trade mission, whichwill take local businesses to HongKong, Guangzhou and Shenzhen inNovember this year.

The West of England ChinaBureau and the Red DragonAdvisors organised the briefing toencourage innovative high-tech andgreen technology firms to snap upone of the remaining places on themission.

Bureau director, Richard Lowe,said: “There are clear opportunitiesfor deal-makers and innovators topromote their business andexpertise in one of the fastestgrowing economies in the world, aswell as assisting firms in securingpartners, projects, start-up andexport opportunities.”

The briefing, at the bank’s TempleBack office, also gave businessesthe chance to network with peers

who have already made tradeconnections in those markets.

As a world leader in silicon andsemi-conductor technology and the

UK’s low-carbon innovation hub,Bristol is a front-runner in the raceto link up with partner organisationsin China.

� Nick Palmer, general manager of the environmental division at DPS GlobalBRDB20140429B-002 � Dr Owen Byrne, of Digtal TV Labs BRDB20140429B-001

� David Pinchard, of the Bristol Steering GroupPics: Dave Betts BRDB20140429B-006

� Richard Lowe, MD of HR andTraining Solutions; CEO, RedDragon Advisors BRDB20140429B-005

EPB-E01-S3

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S3


WORDPRESS is a free,open-source andpowerful bloggingand content man-agement system,

that can be used for a variety ofbusiness and personal uses. As it’sopen-source, this means that thetechnology behind Wordpress istransparent, which makes it easi-er for developers to create and testnew features. Whether you’re set-ting up a new company blog, orlooking for a new website, Word-press may just be your new digitalplatfor m.

Forbes estimated that 60 millionwebsites online were on the Word-press platform, and there aremany big names making the mostof what the most popular CMS hasto offer.

Companies such as, Mashable,UPS and Samsung, and even KatyPerry, all have blogs and websitesbased on Wordpress. This showsthe versatility and the range ofwebsites that can be provided.

There are many free plug-insand handy features that can aidyou in making the best websiteyou can. Themes allow you tochange the design of your site in acouple of clicks. Many are free,although there are also paid op-tions. Plug-ins are tools to in-crease the functionality of yoursite, such as Askimet, whichfights spam comments.

Using Wordpress for your web-site is beneficial in many differentareas, search engine optimisationbeing one of them. Matt Cutts,head of Google’s web spam team,said it was designed to carry outSEO well, and when somethinggets Google’s approval, it has to bea great product.

Although Wordpress is good forSEO ‘fresh out the box’, there arenumerous plug-ins specially builtfor this purpose. Yoast is a highlyrecommended developer that hascreated many different featuresfor every Wordpress site. It alsohas a great blog on Word-press-based SEO, featuringeverything from basic search en-gine optimisation to more ad-vanced tactics, with an easystep-by-step guide.

If you are not technicallyminded, Wordpress is the siteyo u ’ve been looking for. The lay-out makes it easy to change con-tent, create posts and add photos –without knowing HTML. It’s per-fect for anyone looking to playwith their online presence.

We recommend starting offslowly by creating a blog and play-ing around with plug-ins andt h e m e s. A blog is one of the mostpopular ways, at the moment, todrive relevant traffic to your site,and if you haven’t got one already,then head over to Wo rd p re s s. c o mand start creating!

Sign up to Think Local – OnlineMarketing for Business seminarvia eventbrite or email CraigSheppard on c.she p-p a rd @ b a t h ch ro n . c o. u k .

John BonneyOnline marketingspecialist

Wordpress platformoffers many benefits

Know howN etwo r k i n g

BRISTOL’S BUSINESS COMMUNITYBreakfast briefing - trading in China Golden Gift Appeal - TV Dragon Deborah Meaden

Business diary

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

FSB South Gloucestershireseminar: Today, 7pm-10pm,Aztec West Hotel, AlmondsburyBS32 4TS. Register atw w w. f s b . o r g . u k .

Institute of Directors Bristolbranch Wednesday@6 Informalnetworking from 6-8pm today, atRadisson Blu Hotel, withspeaker, Pacific Ocean rowerElsa Hammond. Free and opento non-members, but register bycalling 0117 370 7785.

Netwalking: Tim Macartney, ofEmbercombe, will lead adiscussion entitled The Twin Trailof Leadership on a four-milenetwalking event in Clifton onFriday, from 10.30am. More atnetwalkingsouthwest.co.uk.

Feeding Tomorrow’s City:Discussing a fresh approach toconnecting food, health andplanning in the urbanenvironment. Bristol-focusedconference led by UWE.Tuesday, May 6, At-Bristol,Harbourside. See UWE website.

FSB Bristol branch networkingevent: Free for members,networking. Wednesday, May 7,9.30am-11.30am. 1 Friay TempleQuay BS1 6EA. Register atw w w. f s b . o r g . u k .

The Bristol DistinguishedExecutive Address Series:Networking and opportunity tohear leading business voice.Xavier Rolet, chief executive,London Stock Exchange Group.May 7. Venue to be confirmed.

The Set.Social: Monthlyinformal networking night at TheSet, at Bath Road Studios. FirstWednesday of every month.Brings together like-mindedpeople in the south of Bristol tomeet, think, create over drinksand canapés. From 6pm.

CBI South West Annual Lunch:At-Bristol, Harbourside, onFriday, May 9, sponsored byRBS. Tickets via Eventbrite.

Ready for business workshop:Introductory workshops foranyone exploring the concept ofself-employment or starting abusiness, at Leigh Court, AbbotsLeigh BS8 3RA. 10am-4pm,Tuesday, May 13. Contact r [email protected].

Meeting the Challenges charityseminar: For charity trustees,officers and key volunteersinvolved in charity managementand administration. BurtonSweet event at M shed, May 15,8.45am-2pm. Emailkar [email protected] for booking inquiries.

RICS South West Awards:Showcasing the mostinspirational regional initiativesand developments in land,property, construction and theenvironment. At Grand ThistleHotel, Bristol, May 15, from 7pm.

Bristol Junior Chamber SpringDrinks: The Bristol JuniorChamber’s summer social, at theRWA, Queen’s Road, Clifton,6.30-8.30pm.

TV DRAGON Deborah Meadencalled on Bristol firms to bemore proactive about chan-ging negative public percep-tions of business.

She was giving a talk at the M shedto raise money for the Golden GiftAppeal, which is hoping to raise£6 million for Bristol’s city centreh o s p i t a l s.

“There is a generalisation that bigbusiness and being wealthy is bad,but it can be good,” she said.

She added that business should notbe seen as a negative because it cre-ated the wealth for society, but com-panies could only change perceptionsby doing positive things.

The investor also revealed her per-sonal reasons for supporting the ap-peal – her 10-year-old nephew wastreated at the Children’s Hospital.

“He received amazing care,” saidDeborah. “The hospital is beautifullydesigned. We were able to stay withhim, could visit when we wanted, it’scolourful and I thought, ‘this isg reat’.”

But she said it contrasted withwhen her mother had been ill athospital elsewhere in a much moredepressing environment.

So she was pleased to supportAbove and Beyond, the charity be-hind the appeal, because things likethe environment, which were not al-ways prioritised for NHS funding,

made such a difference to patients.Deborah also told the audience of

businesspeople about her own career,from selling handbags for Italianbrands to running West Star Cara-vans and becoming a star of Dragons’

� AN inspirational talk and charityauction attended by more than 50business leaders raised £2,500 forthe Royal Marines Charitable TrustFund.

Mark Ormrod, a former RoyalMarine commando who is the UK’sfirst triple amputee, and who wroteMan Down, visited the Pure Commsoffices in Clevedon to deliver amotivational talk to businessleaders.

Pure Comms is a telecomscompany with customers across theUK, including Bristol Airport and theauctioneer Bonhams.

Following the speech, there wasan auction with prizes donated byAt-Bristol, Fishers Restaurant inClifton and celebrity agent JohnMiles – who donated Noel Edmondsand Carol Vorderman memorabilia,an iPad mini, a signed Carl Frochboxing glove and many more.

Mark also signed copies of hisbook and guests had a opportunityto talk to him one-to-one.

Drinks were provided byButcombe Brewery.

Pure Comms managing director,Rob Vivian, said: “Mark delivered aninspirational speech that made yousit up and take note. The room wascaptivated by Mark’s story ofresolve, determination and success

against overwhelming odds.”Allan Finnie, a director at Pace, a

printing and design company basedin Clevedon, said: “It was a privilegeto meet and listen to Mark. It won’tbe something I’ll forget.”

Mark himself added: “The eveningwas well attended and we raised asizeable amount of money forcharity. I’d like to thank PureComms for supporting us andeveryone who attended.”

Pure Comms unveiled a plaqueoutlining its support for the RMCTF.Over the coming months, it will behosting more events to raise moneyfor its cause.

OUT AND ABOUT

GALLERIESGALORE

FOR MORE PICTURESCheck out our

website at

bristolpost.co.uk/business

Den, where she and fellow investorslisten to pitches from entrepreneursand decide whether or not to put theirown money in.

In terms of advice, she said anyonein business should be able to explain

what their firm did in 30 seconds.For more on the appeal, go online to

www.goldengiftappeal.org.uk or con-tact the charity's head of corporatepartnerships, Lorna Clarke, atlorna.clarke@aboveandbe yond.org.uk.

� Deborah Meaden taking questions from the packed audience at the M shed, pictured with BBC west of Englandbusiness correspondent Dave Harvey

� Gonzalo Trujillo, partner at Heron, Golden Gift Appeal board memberJulian Telling, Lorna Clarke, of the hospitals' charity, and Jamie Cameron,senior associate, Burges Salmon LLP

� Above and Beyond chair of trustees Drummond Forbes with Denise Finch,director, business development, at NatWest, Bristol, and Susan Duncombe,of RCI Europe Pictures: Chas Breton

� Jo Day, sales manager of Oven Gleamers, Catherine Rogers, chiefexecutive of Oven Gleamers, and Philippa Constable, founder and businessowner of Women Mean Biz

� Golden Gift Appeal board member Chris Monk with former intensive carepatient Lucy Silverthorne, owner of Lucy Butler flowers, and her husbandSteve Silverthorne

The Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund - talk and charity auction

� Above left, Mark Ormrod, authorof Man Down, signing books; aboveright, Pure Comms managingdirector Rob Vivian carrying out theauction; left, Mark with Rob beforethe event

� BUSINESS leaders heard moreabout doing deals with China overbreakfast yesterday.

HSBC Commercial Bankinghosted the briefing on a SmartCities China trade mission, whichwill take local businesses to HongKong, Guangzhou and Shenzhen inNovember this year.

The West of England ChinaBureau and the Red DragonAdvisors organised the briefing toencourage innovative high-tech andgreen technology firms to snap upone of the remaining places on themission.

Bureau director, Richard Lowe,said: “There are clear opportunitiesfor deal-makers and innovators topromote their business andexpertise in one of the fastestgrowing economies in the world, aswell as assisting firms in securingpartners, projects, start-up andexport opportunities.”

The briefing, at the bank’s TempleBack office, also gave businessesthe chance to network with peers

who have already made tradeconnections in those markets.

As a world leader in silicon andsemi-conductor technology and the

UK’s low-carbon innovation hub,Bristol is a front-runner in the raceto link up with partner organisationsin China.

� Nick Palmer, general manager of the environmental division at DPS GlobalBRDB20140429B-002 � Dr Owen Byrne, of Digtal TV Labs BRDB20140429B-001

� David Pinchard, of the Bristol Steering GroupPics: Dave Betts BRDB20140429B-006

� Richard Lowe, MD of HR andTraining Solutions; CEO, RedDragon Advisors BRDB20140429B-005

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12 We d n e s d a y, April 30, 2014w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

The back page� TLT has re-elected managingpartner David Pester, below inset,for a further three-year term. Thiswill be David's fifth term, havingtaken on the leadership role in 2002.

Since 2002, the RedcliffStreet-based firm has more thantripled in size, with revenuesexpected to exceed £55 million in2014/15 and staff numbers likely totouch 1,000 in the next 12 to 18months.

The firm has focused on buildingexpertise in key industry sectors,with Boohoo.com and E.ON recentadditions to a client list.

David said: “Our approach issimple – we want to be famous forour expertise and the responsive,efficient and collaborative way wedeliver it.”� Bristol-born Jamie Harwood hasbeen promoted to becomeoperational director for MidasConstruction’s Wessex and Walesdivision just five months after joiningthe company.

The Midas Group, anindependent constructioncompany based inWinterstoke Road,recruited Jamie as anoperational manager inNovember 2013.

Jamie, 39, will takeresponsibility for majordevelopments, includinga £16 million studentaccommodation facility inBristol and a £7.5 millionoffice refurbishment and the newFilwood Green Business Park beingcreated in Knowle.

Jamie said: “I know the area verywell, having grown up here andworked locally in construction formany years, and I’m reallyenjoying working for Midason some majordevelopments which willreally benefit there g i o n . ”� C h a r t e re daccountancy firmMilsted Langdon, alsoin Redcliff Street, hasmade Susannah Adams,right, a partner in thepractice.

She now heads the firm’sgrowing corporate finance offering.

Susannah said: “I am absolutelydelighted to have been made apartner in this forward-thinking andresponsive firm. I will be looking toencourage more family-run

businesses, which make up asignificant percentage of our clientbase, to consider successionplanning at a much earlier stage.”

� Law firm Thrings, based inThe Paragon, off Victoria

Street, has recruited threespecialist solicitors toadvise its growingportfolio of commercialproperty clients.

They are partnerEdward Jackman,

associate Iain Masonand solicitor Natalia

S o k o l o v.Commercial property

partner, Colin Stratton, said: “T h e reis a growing sense of confidenceamong developers, and thebuoyancy in the market is beingreflected in the range, quantity andcomplexity of projects that Thrings

is being asked to advise on.Edward, Iain and Natalia are

joining at an extremelyexciting time.”

P l a ces� Three companieshave moved to new

premises at QuadrantIndustrial Estate in

Almondsbury following thecompletion of major

refurbishment at the estate.The NHS, care services provider

Eleanor Healthcare Group andPremier Contracts, a supplier ofsanitaryware and bathroomfurniture, have all moved there in aquick series of deals brokered by

Smaller firms must make sustainability a priority

BRISTOL will receive £7 mil-lion of additional funding tosupport it as a EuropeanGreen Capital, Danny Alex-ander, Chief Secretary to the

Treasury, announced on a recent visitto the city.

This is great news for BristolSMEs, which can help the local areaenvironmentally while saving moneyto reinvest and nurture growth.

For the private sector, the Gov-ernment will also match funding todeliver a number of projects, offeringan opportunity to explore new ideason environmental sustainability.

As part of the funding provided bythe Government, there will be anexpanding volunteer programme to

support SMEs and front-line busi-nesses to prepare for an increase invisitors and tourists during its ten-ure as the European Green Capitalduring 2015.

A report commissioned by BristolCity Council found that the initialinvestment was predicted to generatearound £215 million of additional eco-nomic activity for the UK.

In addition, research from LloydsBank found that a quarter of small

� Starters at Thrings, Iain Mason, Edward Jackman and Natalia Sokolov

The op-ed column

In numbers

Business currentaccounts

Petrol prices

1.01%£10,000 deposit

0.25%£1 deposit

State Bankof India

Corporation tax

23 %20 %Main rate

Small profitsrate – below

£300,000

130 .1 6 pUnleaded

136 .38pDiesel

138 . 46 pSuperunleaded

71 .14 pLPG

Source: PetrolPrices.com

Business savingsaccounts

1.25%£1,000 deposit

1.36%£1,000 deposit

Bank ofCyprus UK

Inflation (CPI)

1.6 %

Weekly earnings

2.4 %Base interest rate

0.5 %Ave mortgage rate

3.99 %

S o u rc e :

NationalCounties BS

companies in Bristol and Somersetcite sustainable business practices asone of their top priorities for thiscoming year.

Businesses in the region clearly seethe benefits of sustainability, andthey are carrying out their envir-onmental responsibilities throughrecycling and being energy-efficient.

But for SMEs, sustainability alsomeans interacting with charities, so-cial enterprises and the communityin which they operate; working re-sponsibly within their supply chainand engaging with the next gener-ation through, for example, appren-ticeship schemes.

Some sectors are really leading theway and other industries across the

Bristol and Somerset economy canfollow their example and help un-derpin the growth we are now seeingwith practices that will give us all asustainable future.

We are committed to doing all wecan through mentoring and broadersupport to help small and mediumsized businesses succeed.

Whatever a business’s situation –whether it is looking to undertake anew property development or takeadvantage of new investment orgrowth opportunities – it is import-ant to explore all the sustainable op-portunities available and beconfident in the fact that there areforms of support out there to bolsterSME growth in Bristol.

Martin RacherArea director SME bankingLloyds Bank commercialbanking

JLL and Russell PropertyConsultants. The hat trick of dealstotals more than 40,000 sq ft anddemonstrates the growing demandfor well-connected and high-qualityindustrial space.

Graham Walsh, operations andbusiness development director ofEleanor Healthcare Group, said:“Location is paramount to what wedo in serving the NHS, andQuadrant perfectly meets thatneed.”� Nasa Consulting is the latestcompany to take space at thelandmark Tower House in Bristol’scommercial centre.

It was the sixth deal in as many

weeks in Tower House, FairfaxStreet, and joint agents ColliersInternational and JLL are predictingthat high levels of activity seen atthe beginning of the year willcontinue.

Nasa Consulting joins Marr Corp,Financial Claims Made Simple andAstrum Element One, who betweenthem have snapped up six suites.

Jonathan Lipfriend, from ColliersInternational, said: “With a lot ofsecondary office space in the citycentre being converted toresidential, Tower House hasattracted a lot of interest fromtenants looking for newlyrefurbished space at a verycompetitive rate.”

Awa rd s� Workplace and interior designconsultancy Wylde IA is celebratingwinning at the British Council forOffices Awards. The Montpeliercompany scooped the regionalaward for Best Corporate Workplacefor its project with engineering firmSeco Tools (UK) Ltd.

The scheme included a newreception, complete with a bespokestaircase, a technology andproduction centre, meeting,exhibition and auditorium suites,open-plan office accommodation,café, break-out areas and a gym.� Veale Wasbrough Vizards, basedin Orchard Lane, central Bristol, hasreceived the Investors in Peoplebronze award for going above andbeyond in the way the firmdevelops, supports and motivatesstaff. Managing partner, SimonHeald, said: “Our people and cultureare important to us. We are proud tohave the reputation of being afriendly firm to work for and with.”

You may have missed� The Royal Institute of CharteredSurveyors voiced concerns onFriday that a shortage of surveyorscould stall the rise of Bristol’shousing market.� Bank of England governor MarkCarney told the Bristol Post he was“comfortable” with low interest ratesand didn’t see them changing whilethere was slack in the jobs marketwith many people wanting to workmore hours.� The first turf was cut at theSomerdale housing development,which will see Taylor Wimpeytransform the site of the formerchocolate factory.

Pe o p l e

Inflation (RPI)

2.5 %

Your digest of the week in business

� Tower House, Fairfax Street

Documents

Business 30 April 2014