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Businesswww.bristolpost.co.uk

FIRM DEFENCE

Military suppliers report profitsdespite tough market – page 2

062014AUG

Duo create tools to make buildings more efficientwhile property industry considers how to get smarter

BRAND OFBROTHERS

SMART BUILDINGS SPECIAL

– see pages 4, 8 & 9

HERE’S TO US

Sisters toast their new winebar venture – see page 5

HOLIDAY NIGHTMARE

Pay ruling could put firms outof business – Opinion: page 12

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2 We d n e s d a y, August 6, 2014 3We d n e s d a y, August 6, 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

Te l e co m sDefence industry

Double dip Rolls-Royce and BAEstay upbeat despite fall in profits

THE tough battle to maintainprofits in the defence sectorwas highlighted when Bris-tol’s blue chip firmsRolls-Royce and BAE Systems

reported half-year results on thesame day.

Rolls-Royce, which employs 3,500people in Patchway, reported its orderbook down two per cent to £70.4 bil-lion and underlying profit down 20per cent to £644 million. Pre-taxprofits leapt from a loss of £527 mil-lion this time last year to a £717million profit, largely due to the wayit hedged against currency shifts.

Meanwhile BAE Systems, whichhas 500 workers at Filton, saw rev-enue fall 10 per cent to £7.6 billion and

operating profits for the half yeardrop eight per cent to £689 million.

However both firms said they wereperforming well in a challengingm a rke t .

Rolls-Royce has a large chunk of itsdefence business at Patchway.Among other things the plantworks on the unique Lift-System which providesshort take-off and ver-tical landing capabilityfor the F-35B fighterplanes, which will re-place the Harrier JumpJet, and the TP400 en-gine which powers Air-bu s ’ military transportplane the A400M.

Tom Bell, p i c t u re d ,Rolls-Royce president – d e f e n c e,praised the workforce locally andsaid the business was preservingprofits by driving down costs.

He said: “The defence business has

shown excellent resilience in whatremains a challenging market.

“We take pride in the fact that wehave increased our order book andpreserved profitability in this envir-onment as we continue to focus ondriving down costs.

“This creates a good positionfrom which to grow this

business in the future. I’dlike to thank all of ouremployees for all theirhard work over the firsthalf of the year.”

BAE, meanwhile, hasengineers and designers

working on its navalships business, on projects

including the Type 26 frigate,as well as its research and de-

velopment arm in Filton.Chief executive Ian King said over-

seas markets were keeping the busi-ness strong and the firm’s sales wereweighted to the second half so full

year figures would look better.He said: “Operationally, the group

continues to perform well, benefitingfrom good programme performanceon its large order backlog of almost£40 billion.

“We continue to see a high level ofactivity in international markets, in-cluding from our substantial pres-ence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,while the US and UK environmentsremain more constrained.

“Sales are anticipated to beweighted towards the second half of2014, including the timing of Typhoonaircraft deliveries.

“We are finalising a further £1.3billion of international orders andare at an advanced stage of nego-tiations on a further £1 billion of UKsole source naval contracts.

“Excluding the impact of exchangetranslation, the group remains ontrack to deliver earnings in line withour expectations for the full year.”

Business rates

Shelving of valuation appeal reform welcomed

Fear skills shortagewill harm recovery� BUSINESSES need to take urgentsteps to tackle an impending skillscrisis, according to research fromHSBC and the Prince’s Trust.

Two thirds (66 per cent) of SouthWest businesses surveyed fear skillsshortages will put the brakes on theeconomic recovery, while a third (33per cent) fear it would cause theirbusiness to fold.

Forty-five percent of SouthWe s tbusinessessurveyedare alreadyexperiencingskills gapswithin theiro rg a n i s a t i o n sand more thanhalf (56 per cent)have been unable to fill vacanciesover the past year as a result.

Youth charity The Prince’s Trust iscalling on employers to invest invocational training for unemployedyoung people in the region.

Regional director Dermot Finch,pictur ed, said: “It is deeplyconcerning that employers arestruggling to fill vacancies when wehave thousands of unemployedyoung people desperate for work.

“The current economic recovery isencouraging, but in order to sustainthis growth, UK plc needs to investin the next generation to avoid askills vacuum in the future.

“We are urging businesses to takeaction now to up-skill the workforceof the future to prevent the bubblingskills crisis from boiling over.”

The trust works with a number oflocal businesses, including M&S.

One youngster to benefit from thatis Josh Small, from Henbury. The17-year-old couldn’t wait to leaveschool and was often in trouble.

He said: “I didn’t enjoy schooland, as a result, I didn’t get thegrades that I needed to progressonto college. But, at the time I didn’tsee it as a bad thing as all I reallywanted to do was find a job andstart earning money.”

But finding a job at 16, with littletraining and practical experience,was easier said than done. Luckily,he came across the Prince’s Trustand M&S employability programme.

Adam Powell, director of skills forthe West of England LocalEnterprise Partnership, said: “TheWest of England has a thrivingeconomy with many businesseschoosing to locate or invest here. Ifwe want to build on this success,it's vital we have a workforceequipped with the right skills. One ofthe key drivers of economic growthboth locally and nationally isensuring the current and futureworkforce are provided with theopportunities to develop the skillsthat business need.”

S e c to r

Broadband boost Firm supplyingstudents secures £28m to grow

THE Government has shelved plansto reform the system of appealingagainst the property valuations usedto set business rates, a move whichhas been welcomed locally.

Business rates are based on thevalue of a premises, although the lastvaluation came before the recession.

Firms can appeal the value theirpremises is given, and many do sosuccessfully, but the Government hadproposed reforms that would havemade more demands of the businessin return for more detail on how thedecision was reached.

After a consultation, the Govern-ment has shelved any changes untilafter the next rates revaluation in2017, when it will also be reviewingthe administration of rates.

Rohan Short, p i c t u re d , director andhead of the rating department inCBRE’s Bristol office, welcomed thedecision, but said the focus needed toturn to more substantial reform ofthe whole rates system.

He said: “The proposal was un-popular since it became apparentthat the additional information to bemade available was so superficial it

was of very little use to aratepayer. Therefore thenet effect of the proposalwas just to make servinga valid appeal more dif-ficult.

“Whilst this decisionis welcomed, we willcontinue to lobby forreal reform and greatertransparency and account-ability for the rating systemon behalf of ratepayers.”

Mark Rigby, chief executive of Bris-tol-based rates specialist CVS, said:

“This is a pragmatic, com-mon-sense decision and

chimes with what we havebeen saying for sometime. Getting businessrates right is importantso a reform that does itonce and does it prop-

erly is the right way tog o.“CVS welcomes the de-

cision and the attention nowturns to ensuring the broader re-

view delivers what businesses wantand need from Government.”

Assistant Editor (Business)Gavin Thompson

Call 0117 934 3336Email gavin.thompson

@b-nm.co.ukTwitter @gavin_thompson1

Get in touch

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 jane.chapman@b-nm.co.uk

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

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

� LAW firm Osborne Clarke ismoving into the Asia market.

The Temple Quay-based firm isforming a partnership with a HongKong law firm and has hired a localexpert to lead its expansion.

The firm hired Marcus Vass fromBird & Bird in Hong Kong and plansa strategic alliance with a new firmestablished by John Koh, withwhom Marcus worked closely.

Simon Beswick, chief executive ofOsborne Clarke’s internationalorganisation, said: “We have beenplanning on supporting clients in anumber of industry sectors on theirlegal needs in Asia for some timeand as the first step in our strategyto do so, we are delighted to be ableto offer the services of Marcus andJohn and their teams to our clients.

“We welcome Marcus to the UKpartnership. He will continue toprovide support to clients betweenEurope and Asia. His expertise inadvising clients operating in digitalbusiness market as well as otherindustries fits perfectly into oursector approach and will enable usto continue to give our clientscreative business-focussed adviceat a competitive price.

“We ’re really looking forward tointroducing John to our many clientsthat are in the sectors he specialisesin, digital business, automotive, lifesciences and energy and utilities.”

Marcus advises internationalonline retail companies, advertisingagencies and local retail clients ontelecoms, media and dataprotection issues.

As i aLaw firm attractedby Eastern promise

� THE construction industry couldcreate nearly 7,000 new jobs acrossthe South West as it grows over thenext five years.

Figures from the ConstructionSkills Network suggest the sectorcould grow 3.5 per cent a year from2015-2019, faster than the 2.9 percent UK average.

Roger Stone, pictur ed,Construction industry training boardsector strategy manager for theregion, said this was good news butpointed to challenges ahead.

He said: “The forecast suggeststhat the overallpicture is verypositive forthe region.I n f r a s t r u c t u reworks forHinkleyPointNuclearPowerStation isexpected toc re a t eapproximately 5,000 jobs in the areaacross the full duration of the build.

“But, with a better economicoutlook comes challenges and CITBand industry must find a way torespond to a changing industry.

“New technologies, a newgeneration of nuclear powerstations, business informationmodelling and offsite manufacturemeans that we need to adapt if weare to exploit the opportunities thatpresent themselves as the industrycontinues to grow.

“Skills are the oxygen of thesector and construction needs toinvest in its workforce - upskillingthose who already work in theindustry and attracting new talentedrecruits to offset those who are dueto retire in the next five years.”

C o n st r u c t i o n7,000 jobs could becreated in five years

� The F-35B fighter plane whose short take-off and vertical landing system is worked on at the Rolls-Royce plant in Patchway

A BUSINESS specialising inbroadband for students isplanning to grow after se-curing a £28 million financepacka g e.

The student accommodation mar-ket is booming in Bristol and in otherUK cities, and modern students ex-pect more than just the grotty digs ofThe Young Ones’ d ay s.

As well as en-suite rooms, they allexpect fast broadband for their stud-ies, and leisure.

All of which means Clevedon-based

CableCom is well placed to capit-a l i s e.

The firm specialises in deliveringinternet services to high-density ac-commodation, such as student flatsand social housing schemes.

It already delivers broadband, TV,telephony and other internet ser-vices to more than 250,000 residentsacross hundreds of sites throughoutthe UK and Europe.

Now the firm has agreed a refin-ancing deal with its bank RBS along-side HSBC worth £28 million tosupport its investment and growth.

The company was founded back in1993 by former electrician Chris El-liott.

In 2007 he sold out to a managementbuyout led by current managing dir-

ector Mark Burchfield, p i c t u re d .Last year it underwent another

management buyout, backed byprivate equity firm Inflex-ion.

CableCom finance dir-ector Lee Colliss said:“We are excited aboutthe next stage inC abl e C o m ’s growthwith thebacking of Inflexion, anexperienced sponsor inthis space, and the con-tinuing funding support ofRBS.”

Gareth Healy, investment directorat Inflexion, said: “CableCom is anexcellent business, led by a high qual-ity, ambitious management team.

“The company has grown stronglyfrom a core strength in technology, it

has great fundamentals and mul-tiple routes to further

g rowth.”He added the firm was

delighted to have the sup-port of the two banks,who had demonstrateda “deep understanding”of the business.

RBS director NickEvans said the company

had been a valued custom-er since it was founded.

“We are delighted to continueto support CableCom’s managementteam in the next phase of their de-velopment and enable them to investfor future growth,” he said.

� BRISTOL likes to be seen asbeing at the forefront of thetechnology scene.

So it was the perfect setting for anadvert for the new Samsung GalaxyS5.

The film, which can be seen onYouTube, tells the story of adesigner preparing for an investormeeting that is unexpectedlybrought forward.

It was filmed in Cabot Circus andQuakers’ Friars and the Bristol andBath Science Park in EmersonsGreen, which is used as the set forthe meeting.

Bonnie Dean, chief executive ofBristol and Bath Science Park, said:“The Forum at Bristol and BathScience Park is a unique andbeautifully-designed space createdto inspire entrepreneurs and enableinnovation.

“So it is highly appropriate thatthe Park was chosen as thebackdrop to a film promoting a newsmartphone release by leadingtechnologist and innovatorSamsung.”

MORE than 100 tickets have gone fornext week’s Bristol Connected net-working event, but it’s not too late tosign up.

The Bristol Post eve n ttakes place every othermonth and is a chancefor business people tomeet peers, share exper-iences and make con-nections. The nextevent is at the BristolHilton Garden Inn inTemple Way.

Johnny Palmer, fromBristol-based eventsfirm SXS will share his experiencesrunning a successful company with astaff of 10 that produces 300 events ayear for clients across the UK.

The night’s other speaker will beJohn Hirst, chief executive of Des-

tination Bristol, talking about hiswork trying to bring more people intothe city.

Bristol Post assist-ant editor (business)Gavin Thompson said:“Our speakers will nodoubt be very inform-ative and entertain-ing, but the main eventis you – the people whocome to network.

“It’s also a goodchance to tell us hereat the Po s t about yoursuccesses. I’ve fol-

lowed up a number of conversationsat our previous events with stories inB u s i n e s s. ”

To attend, register for tickets bysearching “Bristol Connected” oneventbrite or scan the QR code.

Still time to book place at Bristol ConnectedN etwo r k i n g

� Johnny Palmer of SXS will be speaking at Bristol Connected

� The Bristol and Bath Science Park in Emersons Green; the new Samsung Galaxy S5

Science Park answerscall for Samsung ad

Adver tising

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2 We d n e s d a y, August 6, 2014 3We d n e s d a y, August 6, 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

Te l e co m sDefence industry

Double dip Rolls-Royce and BAEstay upbeat despite fall in profits

THE tough battle to maintainprofits in the defence sectorwas highlighted when Bris-tol’s blue chip firmsRolls-Royce and BAE Systems

reported half-year results on thesame day.

Rolls-Royce, which employs 3,500people in Patchway, reported its orderbook down two per cent to £70.4 bil-lion and underlying profit down 20per cent to £644 million. Pre-taxprofits leapt from a loss of £527 mil-lion this time last year to a £717million profit, largely due to the wayit hedged against currency shifts.

Meanwhile BAE Systems, whichhas 500 workers at Filton, saw rev-enue fall 10 per cent to £7.6 billion and

operating profits for the half yeardrop eight per cent to £689 million.

However both firms said they wereperforming well in a challengingm a rke t .

Rolls-Royce has a large chunk of itsdefence business at Patchway.Among other things the plantworks on the unique Lift-System which providesshort take-off and ver-tical landing capabilityfor the F-35B fighterplanes, which will re-place the Harrier JumpJet, and the TP400 en-gine which powers Air-bu s ’ military transportplane the A400M.

Tom Bell, p i c t u re d ,Rolls-Royce president – d e f e n c e,praised the workforce locally andsaid the business was preservingprofits by driving down costs.

He said: “The defence business has

shown excellent resilience in whatremains a challenging market.

“We take pride in the fact that wehave increased our order book andpreserved profitability in this envir-onment as we continue to focus ondriving down costs.

“This creates a good positionfrom which to grow this

business in the future. I’dlike to thank all of ouremployees for all theirhard work over the firsthalf of the year.”

BAE, meanwhile, hasengineers and designers

working on its navalships business, on projects

including the Type 26 frigate,as well as its research and de-

velopment arm in Filton.Chief executive Ian King said over-

seas markets were keeping the busi-ness strong and the firm’s sales wereweighted to the second half so full

year figures would look better.He said: “Operationally, the group

continues to perform well, benefitingfrom good programme performanceon its large order backlog of almost£40 billion.

“We continue to see a high level ofactivity in international markets, in-cluding from our substantial pres-ence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,while the US and UK environmentsremain more constrained.

“Sales are anticipated to beweighted towards the second half of2014, including the timing of Typhoonaircraft deliveries.

“We are finalising a further £1.3billion of international orders andare at an advanced stage of nego-tiations on a further £1 billion of UKsole source naval contracts.

“Excluding the impact of exchangetranslation, the group remains ontrack to deliver earnings in line withour expectations for the full year.”

Business rates

Shelving of valuation appeal reform welcomed

Fear skills shortagewill harm recovery� BUSINESSES need to take urgentsteps to tackle an impending skillscrisis, according to research fromHSBC and the Prince’s Trust.

Two thirds (66 per cent) of SouthWest businesses surveyed fear skillsshortages will put the brakes on theeconomic recovery, while a third (33per cent) fear it would cause theirbusiness to fold.

Forty-five percent of SouthWe s tbusinessessurveyedare alreadyexperiencingskills gapswithin theiro rg a n i s a t i o n sand more thanhalf (56 per cent)have been unable to fill vacanciesover the past year as a result.

Youth charity The Prince’s Trust iscalling on employers to invest invocational training for unemployedyoung people in the region.

Regional director Dermot Finch,pictur ed, said: “It is deeplyconcerning that employers arestruggling to fill vacancies when wehave thousands of unemployedyoung people desperate for work.

“The current economic recovery isencouraging, but in order to sustainthis growth, UK plc needs to investin the next generation to avoid askills vacuum in the future.

“We are urging businesses to takeaction now to up-skill the workforceof the future to prevent the bubblingskills crisis from boiling over.”

The trust works with a number oflocal businesses, including M&S.

One youngster to benefit from thatis Josh Small, from Henbury. The17-year-old couldn’t wait to leaveschool and was often in trouble.

He said: “I didn’t enjoy schooland, as a result, I didn’t get thegrades that I needed to progressonto college. But, at the time I didn’tsee it as a bad thing as all I reallywanted to do was find a job andstart earning money.”

But finding a job at 16, with littletraining and practical experience,was easier said than done. Luckily,he came across the Prince’s Trustand M&S employability programme.

Adam Powell, director of skills forthe West of England LocalEnterprise Partnership, said: “TheWest of England has a thrivingeconomy with many businesseschoosing to locate or invest here. Ifwe want to build on this success,it's vital we have a workforceequipped with the right skills. One ofthe key drivers of economic growthboth locally and nationally isensuring the current and futureworkforce are provided with theopportunities to develop the skillsthat business need.”

S e c to r

Broadband boost Firm supplyingstudents secures £28m to grow

THE Government has shelved plansto reform the system of appealingagainst the property valuations usedto set business rates, a move whichhas been welcomed locally.

Business rates are based on thevalue of a premises, although the lastvaluation came before the recession.

Firms can appeal the value theirpremises is given, and many do sosuccessfully, but the Government hadproposed reforms that would havemade more demands of the businessin return for more detail on how thedecision was reached.

After a consultation, the Govern-ment has shelved any changes untilafter the next rates revaluation in2017, when it will also be reviewingthe administration of rates.

Rohan Short, p i c t u re d , director andhead of the rating department inCBRE’s Bristol office, welcomed thedecision, but said the focus needed toturn to more substantial reform ofthe whole rates system.

He said: “The proposal was un-popular since it became apparentthat the additional information to bemade available was so superficial it

was of very little use to aratepayer. Therefore thenet effect of the proposalwas just to make servinga valid appeal more dif-ficult.

“Whilst this decisionis welcomed, we willcontinue to lobby forreal reform and greatertransparency and account-ability for the rating systemon behalf of ratepayers.”

Mark Rigby, chief executive of Bris-tol-based rates specialist CVS, said:

“This is a pragmatic, com-mon-sense decision and

chimes with what we havebeen saying for sometime. Getting businessrates right is importantso a reform that does itonce and does it prop-

erly is the right way tog o.“CVS welcomes the de-

cision and the attention nowturns to ensuring the broader re-

view delivers what businesses wantand need from Government.”

Assistant Editor (Business)Gavin Thompson

Call 0117 934 3336Email gavin.thompson

@b-nm.co.ukTwitter @gavin_thompson1

Get in touch

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 jane.chapman@b-nm.co.uk

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

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

� LAW firm Osborne Clarke ismoving into the Asia market.

The Temple Quay-based firm isforming a partnership with a HongKong law firm and has hired a localexpert to lead its expansion.

The firm hired Marcus Vass fromBird & Bird in Hong Kong and plansa strategic alliance with a new firmestablished by John Koh, withwhom Marcus worked closely.

Simon Beswick, chief executive ofOsborne Clarke’s internationalorganisation, said: “We have beenplanning on supporting clients in anumber of industry sectors on theirlegal needs in Asia for some timeand as the first step in our strategyto do so, we are delighted to be ableto offer the services of Marcus andJohn and their teams to our clients.

“We welcome Marcus to the UKpartnership. He will continue toprovide support to clients betweenEurope and Asia. His expertise inadvising clients operating in digitalbusiness market as well as otherindustries fits perfectly into oursector approach and will enable usto continue to give our clientscreative business-focussed adviceat a competitive price.

“We ’re really looking forward tointroducing John to our many clientsthat are in the sectors he specialisesin, digital business, automotive, lifesciences and energy and utilities.”

Marcus advises internationalonline retail companies, advertisingagencies and local retail clients ontelecoms, media and dataprotection issues.

As i aLaw firm attractedby Eastern promise

� THE construction industry couldcreate nearly 7,000 new jobs acrossthe South West as it grows over thenext five years.

Figures from the ConstructionSkills Network suggest the sectorcould grow 3.5 per cent a year from2015-2019, faster than the 2.9 percent UK average.

Roger Stone, pictur ed,Construction industry training boardsector strategy manager for theregion, said this was good news butpointed to challenges ahead.

He said: “The forecast suggeststhat the overallpicture is verypositive forthe region.I n f r a s t r u c t u reworks forHinkleyPointNuclearPowerStation isexpected toc re a t eapproximately 5,000 jobs in the areaacross the full duration of the build.

“But, with a better economicoutlook comes challenges and CITBand industry must find a way torespond to a changing industry.

“New technologies, a newgeneration of nuclear powerstations, business informationmodelling and offsite manufacturemeans that we need to adapt if weare to exploit the opportunities thatpresent themselves as the industrycontinues to grow.

“Skills are the oxygen of thesector and construction needs toinvest in its workforce - upskillingthose who already work in theindustry and attracting new talentedrecruits to offset those who are dueto retire in the next five years.”

C o n st r u c t i o n7,000 jobs could becreated in five years

� The F-35B fighter plane whose short take-off and vertical landing system is worked on at the Rolls-Royce plant in Patchway

A BUSINESS specialising inbroadband for students isplanning to grow after se-curing a £28 million financepacka g e.

The student accommodation mar-ket is booming in Bristol and in otherUK cities, and modern students ex-pect more than just the grotty digs ofThe Young Ones’ d ay s.

As well as en-suite rooms, they allexpect fast broadband for their stud-ies, and leisure.

All of which means Clevedon-based

CableCom is well placed to capit-a l i s e.

The firm specialises in deliveringinternet services to high-density ac-commodation, such as student flatsand social housing schemes.

It already delivers broadband, TV,telephony and other internet ser-vices to more than 250,000 residentsacross hundreds of sites throughoutthe UK and Europe.

Now the firm has agreed a refin-ancing deal with its bank RBS along-side HSBC worth £28 million tosupport its investment and growth.

The company was founded back in1993 by former electrician Chris El-liott.

In 2007 he sold out to a managementbuyout led by current managing dir-

ector Mark Burchfield, p i c t u re d .Last year it underwent another

management buyout, backed byprivate equity firm Inflex-ion.

CableCom finance dir-ector Lee Colliss said:“We are excited aboutthe next stage inC abl e C o m ’s growthwith thebacking of Inflexion, anexperienced sponsor inthis space, and the con-tinuing funding support ofRBS.”

Gareth Healy, investment directorat Inflexion, said: “CableCom is anexcellent business, led by a high qual-ity, ambitious management team.

“The company has grown stronglyfrom a core strength in technology, it

has great fundamentals and mul-tiple routes to further

g rowth.”He added the firm was

delighted to have the sup-port of the two banks,who had demonstrateda “deep understanding”of the business.

RBS director NickEvans said the company

had been a valued custom-er since it was founded.

“We are delighted to continueto support CableCom’s managementteam in the next phase of their de-velopment and enable them to investfor future growth,” he said.

� BRISTOL likes to be seen asbeing at the forefront of thetechnology scene.

So it was the perfect setting for anadvert for the new Samsung GalaxyS5.

The film, which can be seen onYouTube, tells the story of adesigner preparing for an investormeeting that is unexpectedlybrought forward.

It was filmed in Cabot Circus andQuakers’ Friars and the Bristol andBath Science Park in EmersonsGreen, which is used as the set forthe meeting.

Bonnie Dean, chief executive ofBristol and Bath Science Park, said:“The Forum at Bristol and BathScience Park is a unique andbeautifully-designed space createdto inspire entrepreneurs and enableinnovation.

“So it is highly appropriate thatthe Park was chosen as thebackdrop to a film promoting a newsmartphone release by leadingtechnologist and innovatorSamsung.”

MORE than 100 tickets have gone fornext week’s Bristol Connected net-working event, but it’s not too late tosign up.

The Bristol Post eve n ttakes place every othermonth and is a chancefor business people tomeet peers, share exper-iences and make con-nections. The nextevent is at the BristolHilton Garden Inn inTemple Way.

Johnny Palmer, fromBristol-based eventsfirm SXS will share his experiencesrunning a successful company with astaff of 10 that produces 300 events ayear for clients across the UK.

The night’s other speaker will beJohn Hirst, chief executive of Des-

tination Bristol, talking about hiswork trying to bring more people intothe city.

Bristol Post assist-ant editor (business)Gavin Thompson said:“Our speakers will nodoubt be very inform-ative and entertain-ing, but the main eventis you – the people whocome to network.

“It’s also a goodchance to tell us hereat the Po s t about yoursuccesses. I’ve fol-

lowed up a number of conversationsat our previous events with stories inB u s i n e s s. ”

To attend, register for tickets bysearching “Bristol Connected” oneventbrite or scan the QR code.

Still time to book place at Bristol ConnectedN etwo r k i n g

� Johnny Palmer of SXS will be speaking at Bristol Connected

� The Bristol and Bath Science Park in Emersons Green; the new Samsung Galaxy S5

Science Park answerscall for Samsung ad

Adver tising

EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3

4 We d n e s d a y, August 6, 2014 5We d n e s d a y, August 6, 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

A PAIR of tech-minded broth-ers are tackling the spacefrontier with their enter-prise designed to help peoplemanage buildings better.

Jak and Robert Ollett set upEudaimon Design in 2009, aiming tobring together architecture, ecologyand technology in one practice.

Now they have built on their ideasto found Habu, a tool to help busi-nesses manage their space, time andpeople more efficiently.

Robert, 34, said: “Over the past yearor so, we worked with a number ofdifferent businesses ranging frombustling creative work hubs throughto events promoters who all sufferfrom an administrative grind.

“This grind comes from havingteams of people who rely on man-aging multiple spaces and many

events with spreadsheets and calen-dars. The problems that result fromthis are wasted time, a lack of anoverview and accurate analyticalt o o l s.

“These businesses all want to man-age their spaces better but lack soft-ware options in the market.

“With this we saw an opportunityto help businesses that do greatthings such as facilitating the cre-ative and entrepreneurial economy.So we founded Habu.”

Robert said Habu was an “ele gantecosystem” of space managementtools, primarily for businesses withmore than one tenant all using sharedspace, such as the Engine Shed orSpike Island.

He said: “Habu connects the coreareas of an organisation; people,spaces and time.

“With these three combined intel-ligently, companies have a completelive overview of what’s going on intheir building. They are able to seewho is doing what in any given spaceand when they are doing it.”

He said this meant they could bemore efficient in how they usedrooms, cut out clashes and reduce theadmin involved, so companies canspend more time on their core work.

The system, which combines soft-ware with devices to monitor energy,light, air and so on, also producesinformation such as how well used aroom is and how much income itg enerates.

Jak, 29, said: “Our vision beginswith helping people who run build-ings to enhance their economic sus-tainability – to save money withefficiency gains and increase revenuethrough a better understanding oftheir business and improved utilisa-tion of their resources.”

Habu, currently based at the En-gine Shed as part of the WebstartBristol programme, is looking fordevelopment customers and partnersin the city before boldly going into themarket next spring.

Relativity theory B rot h e rstackle space-time issues

� Brothers Jak, 29, and Robert Ollett, 34 Pic: Michael Lloyd BRML20140724C-003

Sisters act Pair go into businesstogether with launch of wine bar

ONE is a restaurant man-ager, the other an account-ant but now these twotwenty-something sistersare doing it for themselves

and going into business.Louise and Sarah Hawkins are

opening a wine bar in CheltenhamRo a d .

Louise is just 23 and Sarah 26 butthey have packed a lot into their shortcareers to date.

Louise graduated from Durhamthen worked as a receptionist forWhitbread before working her wayup to restaurant manager.

Sarah graduated from Exeter be-fore working for PwC as a qualifiedaccountant.

Their two backgrounds seem tocomplement each other perfectly forrunning a business.

“Sarah is very logical and veryd r ive n , ” said Louise.

“I am a bit the whacky one. I thinkoutside the box and she gets me backin sometimes but we work well to-g ether.”

And they share a passion for theirnew trade.

Louise said: “We both have a hugepassion for wine and delivering ex-cellent customer service.

“We believe that Bristol needs a barwhich provides a wide selection ofwines from around the world along-side knowledgeable staff who canhelp customers to test their tastebuds and provide an education inwine – hence our name, The Library.

“Our main feature will be our wineflights which will enable customersto enjoy a glass of what they know andbe complemented by varietals [asingle grape variety wine] that canexpand their wine database.”

The pair are keen to make their bara part of the local business com-m u n i t y.

For example, wine flights will beaccompanied with a selection of an-tipasti platters which will be sourcedlocally from shops along the

Gloucester Road.“We think it’s really important to

use suppliers who are nearby andsupport them,” said Louise. “Espe-cially on this road. We are a newbusiness and everyone has been sosupportive and popping in to see whatwe are doing.”

The sisters both got a taste forhospitality when they got waitress-ing jobs with the Zizi Italian chain asteenagers. Later on they were draftedinto the Cabot Circus branch, whichgave them a taste for managementand customer service. Louise went onto a management post in a Bathhotel.

“I was working 90 hours a week forsomeone else and I thought, if I could

put this into something for myself itcould be really good,” she said. “Atthe same time Sarah was keen to usewhat she had learned about support-ing businesses and also to get backinto the hospitality industry.”

They have put their savings into

A FORMER martial arts nationalchampion turned business perform-ance coach has shared his expertisewith disadvantaged youngsters.

Paul Burden, who now runs Clif-ton-based PerformWell, has beenworking with newly-launched BristolLeadership Programme (BLP) aftermeeting its founder Marvin Rees.

Paul shared his own experience,overcoming anxiety as an athlete, tohelp develop leadership skills amongyoung people from lower socio-eco-nomic backgrounds.

BLP is a social enterprise and Paulhas adapted his Executive Acceler-ation Programme to help youngpeople at schools and bodies in Bris-tol work on their self-belief.

Paul, who has 20 years’ c o a ch i n g

experience, said: “I love Bristol andmany people here have tremendoustalent. But many are also held back bytheir inability to manage their ownemotions and self-sabotagingm i n d - s e t s.

“I work with people to resolve theselimitations and unlock their poten-tial. I’m really passionate about sup-porting people to achieve what theyare really capable of.

“The students were really inquis-itive and asked a number of thoughtprovoking questions. They had greatenthusiasm and it was a joy to workwith them. This is an exciting op-portunity to support Bristol in nur-turing our future leaders. I wasdelighted to be asked to get involvedand leapt at the opportunity.”

Now aged 43, Paul became inter-ested in coaching other people’s per-formance after taking up Japanesemartial arts at the age of 18.

A graduate in communication sys-tems from Swansea University, henoticed the outcome of competitionswas rarely based on skill alone.

He then competed at the JapaneseJu Jitsu national championships in2006 and won, demonstrating thepower of self-belief.

Marvin said: “This programme isfor young people who are smart andhave aspirations but are from dis-advantaged backgrounds.

“We want the best of Bristol to havean input into the lives of these youngpeople, which is why we got in touchwith Paul.”

‘I help people build their self-belief’

� Paul Burden with Marvin Rees

� From left, sisters Louise and Sarah Hawkins; below their new wine bar Pic: Dan Regan BRDR20140731C-003

Bristol firms ‘refused£5.5m worth of loans’� BUSINESSES in the Bristol areahave been turned down for £5.5million of loans, new figures show.

The number comes from analysisby Cambridge and Counties Bank, aso-called challenger bank targetingthe small and medium-sizedbusiness market.

Across the South West as awhole, 780 loan applications worth£74.5 million were rejected in thefirst quarter of 2014.

The bankre c e n t l ylaunched inthe region,hiring PaulHoward fromWarmley asits regionalbusinessdevelopmentm a n a g e r.

Paul, pictur ed,said: “There are manystrong and well-run businessesacross the South West and someare finding it difficult to raise funds.

“They represent an excitingopportunity for us and we areconfident we can grow our presenceh e re . ”

Chief executive Gary Wilkinsonadded: “The South West is home toover 240,000 businesses, some 9.5per cent of the total in Britain.

“It is a hotbed of entrepreneurialspirit and it is imperative that this issupported by funds from banks tofuel growth and employment.”

F i n a n ceeXPD8 wins storeloyalty card contract� RETAIL support specialist eXPD8has won a nationwide contract withMcColl’s Retail Group to helpsupport the launch of theconvenience store chain’s loyaltycard scheme.

It is the first partnership of its kindin the convenience sector and willinvolve eXPD8’s national retailsupport services team registeringshoppers for the scheme inMcColl’s stores using its tablettechnology, which will be linked tothe retailer’s customer relationshipmanagement system.

Bristol-based eXPD8, winner ofthe large business category in theBristol Post Business Awards thisyear, will also be providing theservice in future stores acquired byMcColl’s as part of its expansionplans.

It extends the retail supportservices that the firmhas beenproviding forMcColl’sRetail Groupsince 2013,whichincludecheckingi n - s t o remarketingp ro m o t i o n s ,stock availabilityand promotionalset-ups.

The Plus card will rewardcustomers when they shop at aMcColl’s, Martins or RS McCollstore nationwide with money offdeals, as well as giving them accessto exclusive prizes andcompetitions both in-store andonline.

The scheme is designed to helpMcColl’s increase sales in thegrowing UK convenience marketand to enable the company torespond more intelligently to itscustomers’ shopping habits.

Amanda Heritage, pictur ed, headof convenience at eXPD8, which isbased in Orchard Street in the citycentre, said: “We are delighted tobe supporting the growth ofMcColl’s by assisting in theacquisition of loyalty cardcustomers.

“It demonstrates the value that wecan bring to retailers through thediverse range of our supportservices in-store.

“Our technology, which is alreadyintegrated with McColl’s internalsystems through our existingcontract to provide a range of retailsupport services, means that wecan register people immediately andthey can use their new PLUS cardwithin 15 minutes of registration.”

‘Regional hubs wayforward for dealers’� CAR dealers will becomeincreasingly focused on big hubsin places such as CribbsCauseway, according to a propertyexpert.

Manufacturers which havesupported dealerships through therecession are putting pressure ondealers to make sure they havestate of the art facilities in order todelivery sales now that theeconomy is improving.

Will Jolly, pictur ed, from ColliersInternational said that will lead tomore high-profile regional hubs inplaces like Cribbs Causeway, thatoffer not just sales but relatedbusinesses such as partswarehouses, trade counters andre p a i r s .

He said: “We believe there willinevitably be fewer but biggerdealerships. The requirements ofthe manufacturers are such that inorder to justify the bigger andbetter facilities they have to beselling into a wider geographicala re a . ”

He added: “Asthe generaleconomyhasi m p ro v e d ,motormanu-f a c t u re r shavesought tore i n f o rc etheir brandstandards. InparticularVolkswagen Group andJaguar/Land Rover are imposingnew standards upon their dealerswhich will lead to requirements forextensions and, in many cases,re l o c a t i o n s .

“As a consequence we haveseen a higher level of propertyrequirements than we experiencedover the last five years and anumber of relocations have andare being undertaken.”

Last year Wessex Garagesunveiled plans for a new £5 millionshowroom in Hayes Way, CribbsCauseway. Brunel Ford alsorelocated nearby.

Will added the motor trade wasrecovering strongly.

He said: “Whilst there werevirtually no transactions during thedepths of the recession, thesituation has now completelyturned around, with enquiry levelsin the first six months of 2014 upby around 150 per cent from thistime last year.”

the project – “the thing about work-ing in a hotel is you never have timeto spend anything,” said Louise – andhave had a lot of support from friendsand family putting the bar together.

Louise said: “We have had a car-penter in to build the back bar andsome people to put the sign up but therest we have done with help fromfriends and family.

“I’ve never been one for DIY butI’ve spent the last few weeks coveredin paint.”

But there’s no respite for the sistersas The Library, which is just beyondthe arches, opens on Friday night.Their friends and family, on the otherhand, will no doubt be expecting aglass or two as reward.

Gavin Thompson Assist-ant Editor (Busi-ness)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

A BUSINESS that helps other firmsbecome greener has been awarded£40,000 to help it grow.

Sustain, based in Baldwin Street,specialises in energy and carbonmanagement for customers includingschools, property management firmsand ordinary businesses.

It has secured the grant from theWest of the England Growth Fund,managed by the Local EnterprisePar tnership.

The firm, which has 40 employees,only moved into the city 18 monthsago and has not looked back since.

Chief executive Tobias Parker said:“We saw the potential of the LEP’s

West of England Growth Fund to sup-port companies like Sustain whoseprinciple investment is in peoplerather than products and buildings.

“As a result, this grant is a realgame changer for us and means wecan really develop our solutions busi-ness bringing the latest in cost andcarbon reduction programmes to ourcl i e n t s. ”

The match-funded grant will createtwo full time jobs, safeguard threemore and support its growth plans.

The business was formed in 1997and has so far helped organisationscut 5 million tonnes of carbon overtheir lifetime, a potential £1 billion of

energy cost savings. At a time whenenergy costs have been rising, suchsavings are increasingly sought-afterby companies.

Andrew Youl, project manager forthe LEP, added: “We ’re delighted toaward this money to Sustain to en-able them to invest in their existingstaff as well as creating new jobs.

“With the low carbon sector iden-tified as a key area of economicgrowth for the West of England and amore sustainable way of life at theheart of the LEP’s vision, Sustain areexactly the type of business we’rekeen to support.”

The Growth Fund was supported

Eco advice firm awarded £40,000 to expandby the Bristol Post’s Going ForGrowth campaign, which helped en-courage 300 firms to apply for a £25million pot.

The LEP has recently opened athird round of funding applications,with grants of £10,000 to £80,000 avail-able. But the money has to be spent byApril so firms need to act fast to takeadvantage. The closing date for ap-plications is September 8. Details ofhow to apply, can be found atwww.westofenglandlep.co.uk/we gfr3.

Businesses can also email the fund-ing team on g rowthfundapps@west-o fe n gl a n d . o rg or call them on 0117 9036207.

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

Building management Ret a i l

Eff iciency

Life coaching

M oto rsH os p i t a l i ty

� Sustain boss Tobias Parker

Tell us your views on sustainability, the role of the mid-market in the economic recovery and the importance of apprenticeships. Scan the QR code below using the scanner on your smartphone or visit http://tinyurl.com/bristolpulseqr

HB06265_Bristol Business Pulse campaign_50 x 100.indd 17/17/2014 11:56:38 AM

PROPERTY MATTERS: BUILDINGS AREGETTING SMARTER, PAGES 8&9

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4 We d n e s d a y, August 6, 2014 5We d n e s d a y, August 6, 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

A PAIR of tech-minded broth-ers are tackling the spacefrontier with their enter-prise designed to help peoplemanage buildings better.

Jak and Robert Ollett set upEudaimon Design in 2009, aiming tobring together architecture, ecologyand technology in one practice.

Now they have built on their ideasto found Habu, a tool to help busi-nesses manage their space, time andpeople more efficiently.

Robert, 34, said: “Over the past yearor so, we worked with a number ofdifferent businesses ranging frombustling creative work hubs throughto events promoters who all sufferfrom an administrative grind.

“This grind comes from havingteams of people who rely on man-aging multiple spaces and many

events with spreadsheets and calen-dars. The problems that result fromthis are wasted time, a lack of anoverview and accurate analyticalt o o l s.

“These businesses all want to man-age their spaces better but lack soft-ware options in the market.

“With this we saw an opportunityto help businesses that do greatthings such as facilitating the cre-ative and entrepreneurial economy.So we founded Habu.”

Robert said Habu was an “ele gantecosystem” of space managementtools, primarily for businesses withmore than one tenant all using sharedspace, such as the Engine Shed orSpike Island.

He said: “Habu connects the coreareas of an organisation; people,spaces and time.

“With these three combined intel-ligently, companies have a completelive overview of what’s going on intheir building. They are able to seewho is doing what in any given spaceand when they are doing it.”

He said this meant they could bemore efficient in how they usedrooms, cut out clashes and reduce theadmin involved, so companies canspend more time on their core work.

The system, which combines soft-ware with devices to monitor energy,light, air and so on, also producesinformation such as how well used aroom is and how much income itg enerates.

Jak, 29, said: “Our vision beginswith helping people who run build-ings to enhance their economic sus-tainability – to save money withefficiency gains and increase revenuethrough a better understanding oftheir business and improved utilisa-tion of their resources.”

Habu, currently based at the En-gine Shed as part of the WebstartBristol programme, is looking fordevelopment customers and partnersin the city before boldly going into themarket next spring.

Relativity theory B rot h e rstackle space-time issues

� Brothers Jak, 29, and Robert Ollett, 34 Pic: Michael Lloyd BRML20140724C-003

Sisters act Pair go into businesstogether with launch of wine bar

ONE is a restaurant man-ager, the other an account-ant but now these twotwenty-something sistersare doing it for themselves

and going into business.Louise and Sarah Hawkins are

opening a wine bar in CheltenhamRo a d .

Louise is just 23 and Sarah 26 butthey have packed a lot into their shortcareers to date.

Louise graduated from Durhamthen worked as a receptionist forWhitbread before working her wayup to restaurant manager.

Sarah graduated from Exeter be-fore working for PwC as a qualifiedaccountant.

Their two backgrounds seem tocomplement each other perfectly forrunning a business.

“Sarah is very logical and veryd r ive n , ” said Louise.

“I am a bit the whacky one. I thinkoutside the box and she gets me backin sometimes but we work well to-g ether.”

And they share a passion for theirnew trade.

Louise said: “We both have a hugepassion for wine and delivering ex-cellent customer service.

“We believe that Bristol needs a barwhich provides a wide selection ofwines from around the world along-side knowledgeable staff who canhelp customers to test their tastebuds and provide an education inwine – hence our name, The Library.

“Our main feature will be our wineflights which will enable customersto enjoy a glass of what they know andbe complemented by varietals [asingle grape variety wine] that canexpand their wine database.”

The pair are keen to make their bara part of the local business com-m u n i t y.

For example, wine flights will beaccompanied with a selection of an-tipasti platters which will be sourcedlocally from shops along the

Gloucester Road.“We think it’s really important to

use suppliers who are nearby andsupport them,” said Louise. “Espe-cially on this road. We are a newbusiness and everyone has been sosupportive and popping in to see whatwe are doing.”

The sisters both got a taste forhospitality when they got waitress-ing jobs with the Zizi Italian chain asteenagers. Later on they were draftedinto the Cabot Circus branch, whichgave them a taste for managementand customer service. Louise went onto a management post in a Bathhotel.

“I was working 90 hours a week forsomeone else and I thought, if I could

put this into something for myself itcould be really good,” she said. “Atthe same time Sarah was keen to usewhat she had learned about support-ing businesses and also to get backinto the hospitality industry.”

They have put their savings into

A FORMER martial arts nationalchampion turned business perform-ance coach has shared his expertisewith disadvantaged youngsters.

Paul Burden, who now runs Clif-ton-based PerformWell, has beenworking with newly-launched BristolLeadership Programme (BLP) aftermeeting its founder Marvin Rees.

Paul shared his own experience,overcoming anxiety as an athlete, tohelp develop leadership skills amongyoung people from lower socio-eco-nomic backgrounds.

BLP is a social enterprise and Paulhas adapted his Executive Acceler-ation Programme to help youngpeople at schools and bodies in Bris-tol work on their self-belief.

Paul, who has 20 years’ c o a ch i n g

experience, said: “I love Bristol andmany people here have tremendoustalent. But many are also held back bytheir inability to manage their ownemotions and self-sabotagingm i n d - s e t s.

“I work with people to resolve theselimitations and unlock their poten-tial. I’m really passionate about sup-porting people to achieve what theyare really capable of.

“The students were really inquis-itive and asked a number of thoughtprovoking questions. They had greatenthusiasm and it was a joy to workwith them. This is an exciting op-portunity to support Bristol in nur-turing our future leaders. I wasdelighted to be asked to get involvedand leapt at the opportunity.”

Now aged 43, Paul became inter-ested in coaching other people’s per-formance after taking up Japanesemartial arts at the age of 18.

A graduate in communication sys-tems from Swansea University, henoticed the outcome of competitionswas rarely based on skill alone.

He then competed at the JapaneseJu Jitsu national championships in2006 and won, demonstrating thepower of self-belief.

Marvin said: “This programme isfor young people who are smart andhave aspirations but are from dis-advantaged backgrounds.

“We want the best of Bristol to havean input into the lives of these youngpeople, which is why we got in touchwith Paul.”

‘I help people build their self-belief’

� Paul Burden with Marvin Rees

� From left, sisters Louise and Sarah Hawkins; below their new wine bar Pic: Dan Regan BRDR20140731C-003

Bristol firms ‘refused£5.5m worth of loans’� BUSINESSES in the Bristol areahave been turned down for £5.5million of loans, new figures show.

The number comes from analysisby Cambridge and Counties Bank, aso-called challenger bank targetingthe small and medium-sizedbusiness market.

Across the South West as awhole, 780 loan applications worth£74.5 million were rejected in thefirst quarter of 2014.

The bankre c e n t l ylaunched inthe region,hiring PaulHoward fromWarmley asits regionalbusinessdevelopmentm a n a g e r.

Paul, pictur ed,said: “There are manystrong and well-run businessesacross the South West and someare finding it difficult to raise funds.

“They represent an excitingopportunity for us and we areconfident we can grow our presenceh e re . ”

Chief executive Gary Wilkinsonadded: “The South West is home toover 240,000 businesses, some 9.5per cent of the total in Britain.

“It is a hotbed of entrepreneurialspirit and it is imperative that this issupported by funds from banks tofuel growth and employment.”

F i n a n ceeXPD8 wins storeloyalty card contract� RETAIL support specialist eXPD8has won a nationwide contract withMcColl’s Retail Group to helpsupport the launch of theconvenience store chain’s loyaltycard scheme.

It is the first partnership of its kindin the convenience sector and willinvolve eXPD8’s national retailsupport services team registeringshoppers for the scheme inMcColl’s stores using its tablettechnology, which will be linked tothe retailer’s customer relationshipmanagement system.

Bristol-based eXPD8, winner ofthe large business category in theBristol Post Business Awards thisyear, will also be providing theservice in future stores acquired byMcColl’s as part of its expansionplans.

It extends the retail supportservices that the firmhas beenproviding forMcColl’sRetail Groupsince 2013,whichincludecheckingi n - s t o remarketingp ro m o t i o n s ,stock availabilityand promotionalset-ups.

The Plus card will rewardcustomers when they shop at aMcColl’s, Martins or RS McCollstore nationwide with money offdeals, as well as giving them accessto exclusive prizes andcompetitions both in-store andonline.

The scheme is designed to helpMcColl’s increase sales in thegrowing UK convenience marketand to enable the company torespond more intelligently to itscustomers’ shopping habits.

Amanda Heritage, pictur ed, headof convenience at eXPD8, which isbased in Orchard Street in the citycentre, said: “We are delighted tobe supporting the growth ofMcColl’s by assisting in theacquisition of loyalty cardcustomers.

“It demonstrates the value that wecan bring to retailers through thediverse range of our supportservices in-store.

“Our technology, which is alreadyintegrated with McColl’s internalsystems through our existingcontract to provide a range of retailsupport services, means that wecan register people immediately andthey can use their new PLUS cardwithin 15 minutes of registration.”

‘Regional hubs wayforward for dealers’� CAR dealers will becomeincreasingly focused on big hubsin places such as CribbsCauseway, according to a propertyexpert.

Manufacturers which havesupported dealerships through therecession are putting pressure ondealers to make sure they havestate of the art facilities in order todelivery sales now that theeconomy is improving.

Will Jolly, pictur ed, from ColliersInternational said that will lead tomore high-profile regional hubs inplaces like Cribbs Causeway, thatoffer not just sales but relatedbusinesses such as partswarehouses, trade counters andre p a i r s .

He said: “We believe there willinevitably be fewer but biggerdealerships. The requirements ofthe manufacturers are such that inorder to justify the bigger andbetter facilities they have to beselling into a wider geographicala re a . ”

He added: “Asthe generaleconomyhasi m p ro v e d ,motormanu-f a c t u re r shavesought tore i n f o rc etheir brandstandards. InparticularVolkswagen Group andJaguar/Land Rover are imposingnew standards upon their dealerswhich will lead to requirements forextensions and, in many cases,re l o c a t i o n s .

“As a consequence we haveseen a higher level of propertyrequirements than we experiencedover the last five years and anumber of relocations have andare being undertaken.”

Last year Wessex Garagesunveiled plans for a new £5 millionshowroom in Hayes Way, CribbsCauseway. Brunel Ford alsorelocated nearby.

Will added the motor trade wasrecovering strongly.

He said: “Whilst there werevirtually no transactions during thedepths of the recession, thesituation has now completelyturned around, with enquiry levelsin the first six months of 2014 upby around 150 per cent from thistime last year.”

the project – “the thing about work-ing in a hotel is you never have timeto spend anything,” said Louise – andhave had a lot of support from friendsand family putting the bar together.

Louise said: “We have had a car-penter in to build the back bar andsome people to put the sign up but therest we have done with help fromfriends and family.

“I’ve never been one for DIY butI’ve spent the last few weeks coveredin paint.”

But there’s no respite for the sistersas The Library, which is just beyondthe arches, opens on Friday night.Their friends and family, on the otherhand, will no doubt be expecting aglass or two as reward.

Gavin Thompson Assist-ant Editor (Busi-ness)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

A BUSINESS that helps other firmsbecome greener has been awarded£40,000 to help it grow.

Sustain, based in Baldwin Street,specialises in energy and carbonmanagement for customers includingschools, property management firmsand ordinary businesses.

It has secured the grant from theWest of the England Growth Fund,managed by the Local EnterprisePar tnership.

The firm, which has 40 employees,only moved into the city 18 monthsago and has not looked back since.

Chief executive Tobias Parker said:“We saw the potential of the LEP’s

West of England Growth Fund to sup-port companies like Sustain whoseprinciple investment is in peoplerather than products and buildings.

“As a result, this grant is a realgame changer for us and means wecan really develop our solutions busi-ness bringing the latest in cost andcarbon reduction programmes to ourcl i e n t s. ”

The match-funded grant will createtwo full time jobs, safeguard threemore and support its growth plans.

The business was formed in 1997and has so far helped organisationscut 5 million tonnes of carbon overtheir lifetime, a potential £1 billion of

energy cost savings. At a time whenenergy costs have been rising, suchsavings are increasingly sought-afterby companies.

Andrew Youl, project manager forthe LEP, added: “We ’re delighted toaward this money to Sustain to en-able them to invest in their existingstaff as well as creating new jobs.

“With the low carbon sector iden-tified as a key area of economicgrowth for the West of England and amore sustainable way of life at theheart of the LEP’s vision, Sustain areexactly the type of business we’rekeen to support.”

The Growth Fund was supported

Eco advice firm awarded £40,000 to expandby the Bristol Post’s Going ForGrowth campaign, which helped en-courage 300 firms to apply for a £25million pot.

The LEP has recently opened athird round of funding applications,with grants of £10,000 to £80,000 avail-able. But the money has to be spent byApril so firms need to act fast to takeadvantage. The closing date for ap-plications is September 8. Details ofhow to apply, can be found atwww.westofenglandlep.co.uk/we gfr3.

Businesses can also email the fund-ing team on g rowthfundapps@west-o fe n gl a n d . o rg or call them on 0117 9036207.

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

Building management Ret a i l

Eff iciency

Life coaching

M oto rsH os p i t a l i ty

� Sustain boss Tobias Parker

Tell us your views on sustainability, the role of the mid-market in the economic recovery and the importance of apprenticeships. Scan the QR code below using the scanner on your smartphone or visit http://tinyurl.com/bristolpulseqr

HB06265_Bristol Business Pulse campaign_50 x 100.indd 17/17/2014 11:56:38 AM

PROPERTY MATTERS: BUILDINGS AREGETTING SMARTER, PAGES 8&9

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6 We d n e s d a y, August 6, 2014 7We d n e s d a y, August 6, 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

The Big Interview

THINK of universities and youpicture perhaps lazy studentsavoiding work for anotherthree years or academia,badly dressed with wild hair,

wilder eyes and little connection tothe “real world”.

Times have changed, and Bristol’sacademic institutions are leading thew ay.

Universities are now expected towork with businesses to produce em-ployees not just thinkers, to produceresearch that can be used by industryand even lead to spin-off businesses.

Both Bristol’s universities followthis course in their own way andUWE in particular has been pion-eering the path or working with busi-ness for some years.

Partly that comes from a recog-nition that they themselves cannot becosseted from the world of compet-ition and financial realities.

Steve West, Vice Chancellor atUWE, says his institution recognisesthis. “We are a university that isplaying in a global knowledge eco-n o my, ” he said.

“We are trying to create an en-vironment whereby the university isrecognised and is differentiating it-self in an emerging marketplace.

“And this sounds all really alien to

people when you think of universitiesbut the reality is that we are nowcompeting and collaborating withother universities.

“What I am trying to develop is anunderstanding in that marketplace ofwhat this university does and thequality of what it does.

“We are clearly defining ourselvesas a university that is connected andnetworked to that global economy.”

Steve says that means creatinggraduates who are “e m p l oy m e n tre a dy ” when they graduate and areprepared to be lifelong learners.

He said: “They might have a 50 or 60year working life ahead of them andwh at ’s for sure is that they are notgoing to have one job for life and thetechnologies they will be engagingwith are going to change.

“I have to create graduates who areconfident about their abilities tolearn, confident about how to applyknowledge and confident about howto be creative and innovative.”

UWE does that in part by workingwith businesses and professional or-g anisations.

“We ’ve learnt how to engage withprivate and public sectors in a waythat makes sense for them and ismulti-prong ed,” said Steve.

“We will be working with them atthe level of ‘what does your organ-isation need to survive and prosper’,‘what does your organisation need interms of a future workforce’, ‘how canyour organisation connect back into

“Wherever you look we have gotpeople who will be touching probablyeverybody in society at some point intheir lives.

“T hat’s why we have to get it right.We can only do that if we are workingclosely with the professions to un-derstand what they need.

“We can build that into the pro-grammes and get them co-designedand co-delivered with those folk andthen you get an ownership.

“It’s not by accident that the uni-versity is seventh in England interms of employability. You have towork at that and you have to have theconnections and the bridges and you

UNI WITH BRAINS FOR BUSINESSWhen it comes to collaboration and partnerships, many organisations could learn a thing or two fromBristol’s universities. Gavin Thompson meets UWE Vice Chancellor Steve West to discuss the role theinstitution plays in our city’s economy

have to be prepared to listen and workwith to create those opportunities.

“All the stuff we are investing in isdesigned for that end point.”

That stuff includes a new Faculty ofBusiness and Law, costing £50 mil-lion, new student union facilities, anew research centre around bio-sci-ence technology, and (hopefully)classroom facilities in the proposedBristol Rovers UWE Stadium, shoulddelays over the sale of the club’s oldground to a supermarket finally getre s o l ve d .

UWE has also proven adept at se-curing outside funding.

It was recently awarded £4 million

Name: Steve WestAge: 52Job: Vice Chancellor of theUniversity of the West ofEngland

Vital statistics

to create a so-called university en-terprise zone.

And another £4 million is comingvia the Government Growth Deal,channelled through the West of Eng-land Local Enterprise Partnership, toinvest in the Bristol Robotics Labor-at o r y.

That lab is a joint project withBristol University, and it’s throughsuch partnerships that UWE hasfound much of its success with fund-ing.

Steve said: “In the research arena,we are not competing with each other,we are competing with the rest of thewo rl d .

“And the rest of the world, believeme, is pumping far more money intoresearch than the UK is so the onlyway we stand a chance is by con-tinuing to collaborate.

“The universities do complementeach other and that means you canthen very naturally join things upand bring expertise to the table.

“In this part of the world you willfind Bristol, Bath, Cardiff and Exeterare all working together to make surethat where possible we exploit theresearch that we are developing intoproducts if we can and also shareequipment and space because wec a n’t afford not to.”

He points to the Pervasive MediaStudio, a UWE led project involvingBristol, Exeter and Cardiff, being oneof only four projects awarded a sig-nificant arts and humanities re-

WHEN graphic designbusiness The DrawingRoom started, tools ofthe trade included a canof glue spray and a pho-

tographic dark room.Bike couriers were needed to race

proofs and artwork from designers toclients and back.

Things have changed a bit in the 20years since Trevor James decided hewanted to set up his own agency so hecould meet clients face to face andbetter understand their business andtherefore the creative approach thatwould best suit them.

The agency has since been offeringits design services to a range of localbusinesses from its Wine Street of-fice, from new logos to brochures,websites and exhibition displays.

Trevor, 57, said: “Our clients in-clude sole traders promoting a newbusiness, through to large nationallaw firms, where we work closelywith their marketing teams.

“Quite a few of these clients havebeen with us since the outset and weenjoy building a long-term relation-ship to get to know and help promotetheir business.

“We are proud to be based in Bristoland be part of the local businesscommunity. In the period of time thatwe have been in business, we haveseen Bristol become a recognisedcentre for creative industries.”

T revor’s wife Zoe, 56, has worked as

a graphic designer at the firm since itwas founded and has seen the chan-ging times.

She said: “In 1994 our artwork wascreated at drawing boards usinghand-drawn elements and stickingdown sheets of typesetting, whichwas produced by an outside bureau.

“We had a glue spray booth in onecorner of the studio and a dark roomwith a copy camera in another.

“We have always been faithful toApple Mac computers with our first‘Classic’ bought second hand. Al-though, at first we only used it forword processing and not artwork.

“We have worked our way throughthe iconic blue iMac up to today’sbrand new flat screen iMacs withup-to-date Adobe Creative Cloud soft-ware. We used to draw visuals withMagic Marker pens to show how afinished design would look.

“We don’t do that very often any-more, although we do still get out ourlayout pads and pens and sketch ini-tial concepts by hand.”

But Trevor said some things hadstayed the same. “The technologicaltools that we have used over the last20 years have changed dramatically,but the creative thought process andattention to visual detail remains thes a m e, ” he said.

“Our creative focus and enthusi-asm for good design continues togrow with our experience.”

As for the future, Trevor is workingon designs for his own business.

He said: “We are now looking for-ward, with a planned rebrand of ourown image in the near future.”

Done using his latest iMac, nodoubt.

ARCHITECTS in Redland have cre-ated plans for the redevelopment of acramped 1950s hall into a £1.9 millioncommunity and church centre.

Redland Parish Church was builtin 1743 and stands opposite the tennisclub just off Redland Green Road.

Next to the tennis club, on the otherside of the road, are the church’s1950s hall buildings which are lack-ing in space, meaning the family ser-vice is currently held at RedlandHigh School.

Now award-winning architectsO’LearyGoss have put forward plansfor a design with flexible space able toaccommodate around 300 people.

Planning approval is yet to be givenfor the scheme but the architects andchurch management hope that theproposals will create a new, airyspace for the users of the facilities.

The proposals would see the re-development of the church halls, withthe oldest parts being demolished tomake way for the new buildings.

Rod Symmons, vicar at RedlandParish Church, said: “We choseO’LearyGoss for this project becauseof their track record with similarprojects, and Edwin Hill and his teamseemed like people who would workwell with us.

“We have been delighted – afterexhaustive consultation and creativ-ity, the design is one we are reallyexcited about and cannot wait to seethe project completed.”

Edwin Hill, architect atO’LearyGoss, said: “We work justaround the corner from the church soit’s lovely to be involved with thisneighbourhood project.

“The design offers the choice ofthree main halls and folding par-

titions which open to one large room,plus new catering kitchen, loungeand foyer.

“If planning is passed and the fund-raising is achieved we expect to startconstruction next year. It will be alovely facility for the church andc o m m u n i t y. ”

The RIBA architects have wonmany awards including Bristol CivicEnvironmental Awards, Conversionof the Year Regional Winner and the

RIBA Town and Country Award.Landmark projects include the

prestigious Bridge House oppositeClifton Suspension Bridge, and con-version of the Robinson Building inB e d m i n s t e r.

Other projects carried out in thecity area recently include the £2 mil-lion all-glass superstructure forClevedon Pier’s new visitors’ c e n t reand the Grade II listed property inHill Road in the same town.

‘We’re excited about architect’s plans for church buildings’

The 12-strong firm recently com-pleted a number of multi-millionpound residential conversions in-cluding a £4.5 million student ac-commodation project in the citycentre at Stonebridge House, former1950s city offices.

It is behind the £5.2 million trans-formation of The Regent – a derelict19th Century former restaurant inClevedon – into luxury apartmentsand shops.

D eve l o p m e n t

Looking back on20 years of thecreative process

Graphic design

� O‘LearyGoss architects from left Robert O’Leary, Jenny Goss, and Edwin Hill right, the proposed design for the church and community hall at Redland

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

� Trevor James, design director, and wife Zoe, graphic designer, celebrating20 years of The Drawing Room

Steve West

“We are clearly definingourselves as a universitythat is connected andnetworked to that globale c o n o m y. ”

search grant and similarly the newenterprise zone again being just oneof four nationally.

“Why is that happening?” asksSteve, before answering: “It is hap-pening because we are joining thingsup. And that’s when you win.

“Those synergies deliversomething way beyond what one in-stitution can deliver on its own.”

An example of the close relation-ship is the fact that Steve was re-cently awarded an honorarydoctorate by Bristol University.

When it is pointed out this mightsurprise outsiders who expect morefierce rivalry, he laughs.

“Bristol has got something quitespecial, and it’s not just happenedovernight it is something the twouniversities are absolutely commit-ted to because both vice chancellors,Sir Eric (Thomas) and I, believe wehave a civic responsibility to do thebest that we possibly can for the cityregion. And that means collaboratingand working to a single agenda,which is raising the aspirations andthe possibilities for our city region.

“If the city region is strong, thenthe universities are strong. It is ineve r y b o dy ’s interest to get this towork but I have to say I have yet tofind any other city in the UK that hassuch a strong relationship betweensister universities at all levels of theorg anisation.

“For Bristol that is unbelievablyp owe r f u l . ”

� UWE Vice ChancellorSteve West who wasrecently awarded anhonorary doctorate byBristol University

the university and offer us oppor-tunities in terms of research, devel-opment, ongoing trainingprog rammes’, and ‘how can you helpus prepare our students for thewo rl d ’.

“They have to see what’s in it forthem otherwise it’s not sustainable.We have learnt that.”

He added: “When you look at thesorts of people who leave the uni-versity, business school creates busi-ness leaders, accountants, lawyersand marketers but alongside thathave faculties delivering significantworkforce to teaching, health ser-vices, engineering, computing.

� THE recent hot weather and abit of forward thinking saw aproperty management firm cutthe energy bills for its tenantsthis summer.

Two years ago, family-runBNS Property Managementbegan looking into ways to gogreen and this quest forsustainability led directors toinstall state-of-the art solarpanels at one of their largerp ro p e r t i e s .

A couple of years down theline and having just experiencedthe hottest June since 2006,residents of the 80 flats at H20in Kingswood are not onlysavingsignificantamountson theirbills,they arefeedinge n e rg yback intothe grid.

BNSmanagingdirector AndrewSimmonds said: “We havealways been very conscious ofour sustainability practices buttwo years ago we really startedtaking it seriously and wanted toensure we were doingeverything we could to be green.

“After some research weplanned the installation of thesolar panels carefully and chosethe most appropriate block totrial it on. Having monitored itssuccess for the past two yearswe are now planning to roll it outacross more of our blocks.

Run by brothers Andrew andIan, BNS covers apartmentblocks, gated communities andlarge and small propertiesacross the South West from itsDownend offices.

Solar panelscut tenants’energy bills

Proper ty

EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3

6 We d n e s d a y, August 6, 2014 7We d n e s d a y, August 6, 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

The Big Interview

THINK of universities and youpicture perhaps lazy studentsavoiding work for anotherthree years or academia,badly dressed with wild hair,

wilder eyes and little connection tothe “real world”.

Times have changed, and Bristol’sacademic institutions are leading thew ay.

Universities are now expected towork with businesses to produce em-ployees not just thinkers, to produceresearch that can be used by industryand even lead to spin-off businesses.

Both Bristol’s universities followthis course in their own way andUWE in particular has been pion-eering the path or working with busi-ness for some years.

Partly that comes from a recog-nition that they themselves cannot becosseted from the world of compet-ition and financial realities.

Steve West, Vice Chancellor atUWE, says his institution recognisesthis. “We are a university that isplaying in a global knowledge eco-n o my, ” he said.

“We are trying to create an en-vironment whereby the university isrecognised and is differentiating it-self in an emerging marketplace.

“And this sounds all really alien to

people when you think of universitiesbut the reality is that we are nowcompeting and collaborating withother universities.

“What I am trying to develop is anunderstanding in that marketplace ofwhat this university does and thequality of what it does.

“We are clearly defining ourselvesas a university that is connected andnetworked to that global economy.”

Steve says that means creatinggraduates who are “e m p l oy m e n tre a dy ” when they graduate and areprepared to be lifelong learners.

He said: “They might have a 50 or 60year working life ahead of them andwh at ’s for sure is that they are notgoing to have one job for life and thetechnologies they will be engagingwith are going to change.

“I have to create graduates who areconfident about their abilities tolearn, confident about how to applyknowledge and confident about howto be creative and innovative.”

UWE does that in part by workingwith businesses and professional or-g anisations.

“We ’ve learnt how to engage withprivate and public sectors in a waythat makes sense for them and ismulti-prong ed,” said Steve.

“We will be working with them atthe level of ‘what does your organ-isation need to survive and prosper’,‘what does your organisation need interms of a future workforce’, ‘how canyour organisation connect back into

“Wherever you look we have gotpeople who will be touching probablyeverybody in society at some point intheir lives.

“T hat’s why we have to get it right.We can only do that if we are workingclosely with the professions to un-derstand what they need.

“We can build that into the pro-grammes and get them co-designedand co-delivered with those folk andthen you get an ownership.

“It’s not by accident that the uni-versity is seventh in England interms of employability. You have towork at that and you have to have theconnections and the bridges and you

UNI WITH BRAINS FOR BUSINESSWhen it comes to collaboration and partnerships, many organisations could learn a thing or two fromBristol’s universities. Gavin Thompson meets UWE Vice Chancellor Steve West to discuss the role theinstitution plays in our city’s economy

have to be prepared to listen and workwith to create those opportunities.

“All the stuff we are investing in isdesigned for that end point.”

That stuff includes a new Faculty ofBusiness and Law, costing £50 mil-lion, new student union facilities, anew research centre around bio-sci-ence technology, and (hopefully)classroom facilities in the proposedBristol Rovers UWE Stadium, shoulddelays over the sale of the club’s oldground to a supermarket finally getre s o l ve d .

UWE has also proven adept at se-curing outside funding.

It was recently awarded £4 million

Name: Steve WestAge: 52Job: Vice Chancellor of theUniversity of the West ofEngland

Vital statistics

to create a so-called university en-terprise zone.

And another £4 million is comingvia the Government Growth Deal,channelled through the West of Eng-land Local Enterprise Partnership, toinvest in the Bristol Robotics Labor-at o r y.

That lab is a joint project withBristol University, and it’s throughsuch partnerships that UWE hasfound much of its success with fund-ing.

Steve said: “In the research arena,we are not competing with each other,we are competing with the rest of thewo rl d .

“And the rest of the world, believeme, is pumping far more money intoresearch than the UK is so the onlyway we stand a chance is by con-tinuing to collaborate.

“The universities do complementeach other and that means you canthen very naturally join things upand bring expertise to the table.

“In this part of the world you willfind Bristol, Bath, Cardiff and Exeterare all working together to make surethat where possible we exploit theresearch that we are developing intoproducts if we can and also shareequipment and space because wec a n’t afford not to.”

He points to the Pervasive MediaStudio, a UWE led project involvingBristol, Exeter and Cardiff, being oneof only four projects awarded a sig-nificant arts and humanities re-

WHEN graphic designbusiness The DrawingRoom started, tools ofthe trade included a canof glue spray and a pho-

tographic dark room.Bike couriers were needed to race

proofs and artwork from designers toclients and back.

Things have changed a bit in the 20years since Trevor James decided hewanted to set up his own agency so hecould meet clients face to face andbetter understand their business andtherefore the creative approach thatwould best suit them.

The agency has since been offeringits design services to a range of localbusinesses from its Wine Street of-fice, from new logos to brochures,websites and exhibition displays.

Trevor, 57, said: “Our clients in-clude sole traders promoting a newbusiness, through to large nationallaw firms, where we work closelywith their marketing teams.

“Quite a few of these clients havebeen with us since the outset and weenjoy building a long-term relation-ship to get to know and help promotetheir business.

“We are proud to be based in Bristoland be part of the local businesscommunity. In the period of time thatwe have been in business, we haveseen Bristol become a recognisedcentre for creative industries.”

T revor’s wife Zoe, 56, has worked as

a graphic designer at the firm since itwas founded and has seen the chan-ging times.

She said: “In 1994 our artwork wascreated at drawing boards usinghand-drawn elements and stickingdown sheets of typesetting, whichwas produced by an outside bureau.

“We had a glue spray booth in onecorner of the studio and a dark roomwith a copy camera in another.

“We have always been faithful toApple Mac computers with our first‘Classic’ bought second hand. Al-though, at first we only used it forword processing and not artwork.

“We have worked our way throughthe iconic blue iMac up to today’sbrand new flat screen iMacs withup-to-date Adobe Creative Cloud soft-ware. We used to draw visuals withMagic Marker pens to show how afinished design would look.

“We don’t do that very often any-more, although we do still get out ourlayout pads and pens and sketch ini-tial concepts by hand.”

But Trevor said some things hadstayed the same. “The technologicaltools that we have used over the last20 years have changed dramatically,but the creative thought process andattention to visual detail remains thes a m e, ” he said.

“Our creative focus and enthusi-asm for good design continues togrow with our experience.”

As for the future, Trevor is workingon designs for his own business.

He said: “We are now looking for-ward, with a planned rebrand of ourown image in the near future.”

Done using his latest iMac, nodoubt.

ARCHITECTS in Redland have cre-ated plans for the redevelopment of acramped 1950s hall into a £1.9 millioncommunity and church centre.

Redland Parish Church was builtin 1743 and stands opposite the tennisclub just off Redland Green Road.

Next to the tennis club, on the otherside of the road, are the church’s1950s hall buildings which are lack-ing in space, meaning the family ser-vice is currently held at RedlandHigh School.

Now award-winning architectsO’LearyGoss have put forward plansfor a design with flexible space able toaccommodate around 300 people.

Planning approval is yet to be givenfor the scheme but the architects andchurch management hope that theproposals will create a new, airyspace for the users of the facilities.

The proposals would see the re-development of the church halls, withthe oldest parts being demolished tomake way for the new buildings.

Rod Symmons, vicar at RedlandParish Church, said: “We choseO’LearyGoss for this project becauseof their track record with similarprojects, and Edwin Hill and his teamseemed like people who would workwell with us.

“We have been delighted – afterexhaustive consultation and creativ-ity, the design is one we are reallyexcited about and cannot wait to seethe project completed.”

Edwin Hill, architect atO’LearyGoss, said: “We work justaround the corner from the church soit’s lovely to be involved with thisneighbourhood project.

“The design offers the choice ofthree main halls and folding par-

titions which open to one large room,plus new catering kitchen, loungeand foyer.

“If planning is passed and the fund-raising is achieved we expect to startconstruction next year. It will be alovely facility for the church andc o m m u n i t y. ”

The RIBA architects have wonmany awards including Bristol CivicEnvironmental Awards, Conversionof the Year Regional Winner and the

RIBA Town and Country Award.Landmark projects include the

prestigious Bridge House oppositeClifton Suspension Bridge, and con-version of the Robinson Building inB e d m i n s t e r.

Other projects carried out in thecity area recently include the £2 mil-lion all-glass superstructure forClevedon Pier’s new visitors’ c e n t reand the Grade II listed property inHill Road in the same town.

‘We’re excited about architect’s plans for church buildings’

The 12-strong firm recently com-pleted a number of multi-millionpound residential conversions in-cluding a £4.5 million student ac-commodation project in the citycentre at Stonebridge House, former1950s city offices.

It is behind the £5.2 million trans-formation of The Regent – a derelict19th Century former restaurant inClevedon – into luxury apartmentsand shops.

D eve l o p m e n t

Looking back on20 years of thecreative process

Graphic design

� O‘LearyGoss architects from left Robert O’Leary, Jenny Goss, and Edwin Hill right, the proposed design for the church and community hall at Redland

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

� Trevor James, design director, and wife Zoe, graphic designer, celebrating20 years of The Drawing Room

Steve West

“We are clearly definingourselves as a universitythat is connected andnetworked to that globale c o n o m y. ”

search grant and similarly the newenterprise zone again being just oneof four nationally.

“Why is that happening?” asksSteve, before answering: “It is hap-pening because we are joining thingsup. And that’s when you win.

“Those synergies deliversomething way beyond what one in-stitution can deliver on its own.”

An example of the close relation-ship is the fact that Steve was re-cently awarded an honorarydoctorate by Bristol University.

When it is pointed out this mightsurprise outsiders who expect morefierce rivalry, he laughs.

“Bristol has got something quitespecial, and it’s not just happenedovernight it is something the twouniversities are absolutely commit-ted to because both vice chancellors,Sir Eric (Thomas) and I, believe wehave a civic responsibility to do thebest that we possibly can for the cityregion. And that means collaboratingand working to a single agenda,which is raising the aspirations andthe possibilities for our city region.

“If the city region is strong, thenthe universities are strong. It is ineve r y b o dy ’s interest to get this towork but I have to say I have yet tofind any other city in the UK that hassuch a strong relationship betweensister universities at all levels of theorg anisation.

“For Bristol that is unbelievablyp owe r f u l . ”

� UWE Vice ChancellorSteve West who wasrecently awarded anhonorary doctorate byBristol University

the university and offer us oppor-tunities in terms of research, devel-opment, ongoing trainingprog rammes’, and ‘how can you helpus prepare our students for thewo rl d ’.

“They have to see what’s in it forthem otherwise it’s not sustainable.We have learnt that.”

He added: “When you look at thesorts of people who leave the uni-versity, business school creates busi-ness leaders, accountants, lawyersand marketers but alongside thathave faculties delivering significantworkforce to teaching, health ser-vices, engineering, computing.

� THE recent hot weather and abit of forward thinking saw aproperty management firm cutthe energy bills for its tenantsthis summer.

Two years ago, family-runBNS Property Managementbegan looking into ways to gogreen and this quest forsustainability led directors toinstall state-of-the art solarpanels at one of their largerp ro p e r t i e s .

A couple of years down theline and having just experiencedthe hottest June since 2006,residents of the 80 flats at H20in Kingswood are not onlysavingsignificantamountson theirbills,they arefeedinge n e rg yback intothe grid.

BNSmanagingdirector AndrewSimmonds said: “We havealways been very conscious ofour sustainability practices buttwo years ago we really startedtaking it seriously and wanted toensure we were doingeverything we could to be green.

“After some research weplanned the installation of thesolar panels carefully and chosethe most appropriate block totrial it on. Having monitored itssuccess for the past two yearswe are now planning to roll it outacross more of our blocks.

Run by brothers Andrew andIan, BNS covers apartmentblocks, gated communities andlarge and small propertiesacross the South West from itsDownend offices.

Solar panelscut tenants’energy bills

Proper ty

EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3

8 We d n e s d a y, August 6, 2014 9We d n e s d a y, August 6, 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

YOU arrive having read yourmeeting notes on your smartglasses in the car on the wayin. It’s driverless of course,using the city’s high-speed

broadband network to steer yousafely to your destination.

It’s the height of summer but theoffice is cool, thanks to the livingalgae facade that regulates the heatand shades you from the sun. Yourdiary booked a space in the car parkfor you as it’s integrated with theoffice management systems, so youarrive relaxed for that big meeting.

You came in an hour early so youcan go over some reports first, and adesk space has been automaticallyassigned to you for that time. You useyour own tablet, no need for desk-topscluttering up the room, which con-nects to the secure wi-fi seamlessly.

The temperature in the meetingroom will be just right, as the airconditioning and heating systemsknow when it is going to be used.

That may sound far fetched, es-pecially if you’re currently baking inan old building with a creaking AC,after having suffered a bout of roadrage on the way in and arrived late,with someone else in your parkingspace. But it could be a reality in thevery near future.

Smart cities are rising up theagenda and the commercial propertyindustry is in prime position to leadthis revolution. With Bristol about tobe European Green Capital, therecould hardly be a better time.

Dan Hill is executive director of theFuture Cities Catapult, an organisa-tion set up by government to bringtogether business and universities todevelop ideas to help cities meet thechallenges of the future.

Dan said looking ahead there werecould be some “really radical”changes to our building landscape.

“Such as algae based facades whichcapture energy from the sun,” hesaid. “This living system generatesenergy, provides shade as it effect-ively blooms in the sun, as well assound insulation. It sounds like sci-ence fiction but the technology existsand was tested on a building in Ham-burg last year.

“More down to earth, we could seemore wooden buildings,” he said.“Buildings in our cities of the futurewill be increasingly wooden.”

That may not sound like a stepforward but Dan points to cross-lam-inate timber, which is becoming more

popular in mainland Europe.It is made from industrially dried

fast growing spruce wood, stackedand glued together to form layers.

“This is a fantastic building ma-terial,” said Dan. He says it has beenused for buildings up to 15 storeys talland is “just as structurally sound” asother materials. Dan say it has ad-vantages over brick, including that itd o e s n’t burn (just chars, whereasbrick crumbles in a fire), is less en-vironmentally damaging to produceand is pre-fabricated to mean spend-ing less time on site building.

Other building materials could beused too. Bristol-based Modcell isusing timber stuffed with straw balesto form pre-fab panels to makesuper-insulated, low energy build-ings. The firm has been nominatedfor an Earth Champions award in therun-up to the Bristol Green Capitalstatus in 2015.

“The only thing stopping this allfrom happening now is to do withscaling it,” said Dan. “Industry hasoptimised around brick and concrete

Andreas Lindelof, managing dir-ector development for Skanska, thefirm behind the project, said buildingmore efficient and smarter buildingswas about meeting future demand.He says people may not “pay a premi-um” now, but such standards willbecome a requirement in future. “Yo uhave to think, will it be good enoughin five years or 10 years?” he said.

Alex Jordan, the developer’s leas-ing and marketing director, added:“These things are becoming moreand more important for corporatecustomers. On Queen Square, wehave revised the specifications in thelast few months because this needs tobe a building for 2020, not 2012.”

Marcus Hawkins, property man-

agement director at GVA, said tech-nology had come on in leaps andbounds recently. “The flagship smartbuilding in Bristol is the new En-vironment Agency building,” he said.“This is a great example of where thebuilding management systems andenergy control management systemsallow dynamic control and config-uration of devices in order to respondto the climate, the environment orchanges in strategy.

“These systems are the foundationsof self-configuring building systemswhich learn from their own and userbehaviour and are able to adapt tonew situations.”

Marcus added: “Bristol has a targetof reducing CO2 emissions by 40 per

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

As populations grow and more people gravitate towardsurban centres, our cities, including Bristol, have to getsmarter. Our commercial properties can lead the way, asGavin Thompson discovers

Project to be showpiece for Green Capital year

Case study

Property matters

PROPERTY prices are eitherspiralling out of control or fallingback depending on which news-paper you read each day. If youfactor in the immense regional

variations it’s difficult to come up with aclear picture of what’s happening on sitesat a local level.

From shortages of bricks in Scotland toshortages of skills in the West Country thepicture is somewhat muddled – but there isone thing we can be sure of: no matterwhich column of figures or what newsreport you are reading the back story is allabout confidence.

Cranes are popping up on the horizon –or the site next door. Dormant projects areup and running after years on the backburner. Brownfield sites are being re-developed. Long term plans are beingshredded as the rollercoaster marketswitches direction in a matter of weeksrather than months or even years.

One booming property area in the WestCountry, where we have excellent uni-versities and colleges of further educa-tion, is student accommodation projects.

Developers are climbing over each otherto complete projects. Student accommod-ation accounted for a good percentage ofthe secondary office stock converted forresidential use – a trend which kept de-velopers and builders ticking over duringthe down-turn butwh i chreally tookoff as the re-c ove r yg atheredp a c e.

And it’s not just offices which have beenconverted. Hotels, filling stations and arange of other buildings have been ear-marked for conversion or demolished tomake way for new student accommod-at i o n .

But some commentators are picking upsigns that industry enthusiasm for theseprojects is beginning to cool, as increaseddemand for office space encourages own-ers and developers to rethink theirstrategies all over again.

In this rapidly evolving market, it nowappears one cost effective way of utilisingsecondary office accommodation mightwell be to use it as office accommodationas originally intended. But only after ajudiciously costed refurbishment.

Air conditioning, bike-friendly facilit-ies, atriums, lowered ceilings and raisedfloors – a judicious revamp can workwonders with what until last summer hadbeen virtually redundant stock.

Whatever uses these buildings are putto, demand and activity across the con-struction industry is on an upwards curve– despite ever widening regional vari-ations and the positive-negative pull of oursuper-strength capital.

It’s clear confidence is a major factor –and it’s stronger now than it has been foryears – even decades.

Is the UK’s housingmarket really booming?RADICAL IDEAS PROMISE SMARTER BUILDINGS IN OUR CITIES

cent by 2020 and has set itself theobjective of becoming one of the top 20European cities by 2020.

“Consequently it is actively en-couraging new developments to em-brace such technologies,” he said.

But if such ambitions are to beachieved, Bristol needs to tackle theolder buildings that make up the vastmajority of office space.

Marcus said: “There are systemsavailable that can be fitted to build-ings retrospectively, so they are ac-cessible to all.

“For the first time building man-agement systems have the capabilityto absorb and anticipate occupiersneeds, programme prerequisites andpreferences for light, temperature

Paul WilliamsAssociateBruton Knowles0117 287 2101paul.williams@brutonknowles.co.uk

Expert eye

enquiries@brutonknowles.co.ukbrutonknowles.co.uk

0117 287 2101 Achieve morefrom your property

B015-1411 Bruton Knowles Bristol Post Commercial Advert 270x40mm AW 2.pdf 1 06/05/2014 17:24

enquiries@brutonknowles.co.ukbrutonknowles.co.uk

0117 287 2101 Achieve morefrom your property

B015-1411 Bruton Knowles Bristol Post Commercial Advert 270x40mm AW 2.pdf 1 06/05/2014 17:24

and other services in order to main-tain the quality and comfort forstaff while reducing their carbonfootprint and energy costs, withlower failure rates and downtime.

“Across elements such as heat-ing, lighting, parking, security, ifthe software systems can be in-tegrated then a facilities managerwill be able to look at the data andanalyse the stats to determinewhere a reduction in carbon foot-print and overheads can be made,not just in building performance,but in space provision too.”

He added: “Occupier pressures toachieve both environmental andfinancial efficiencies mean thatsmart buildings are taking a higher

profile across the market.”The returns for businesses which

make such investments are prom-ising. Ben St Quintin, p i c t u re d ,from commercial propertyfirm JLL, said it had re-cently tried out an in-telligent managementsystem on 12 Proctor& Gamble buildingsaround the world,resulting in a 10 percent energy saving.The investment paidfor itself in just threem o n t h s.

He says many measurescan be retro-fitted, some ofthem simply.

“I’m currently replacing a lot oflighting in communal stairwellsand car parking areas with LEDf i t t i n g s, ” he said.

“When combined with mi-crowave sensors (so the

lights only come on whensomething the size of ahuman moves), the en-ergy savings can be sig-nificant. Microwavesensors are consideredsuperior to other

sensors, which are oftentriggered by animals or

insects crawling over thes e n s o r s. ”

It’s not just property firms look-ing at this. RBS is running the

Innovation Gateway programme,inviting businesses to try out theirnew ideas on its building stock.

Marcela Navarro, the bank’shead of customer innovation, re-cently staged an event at the Wa-tershed appealing for Bristol firmsto get involved.

“We have 2,500 properties thatmirror the majority of propertiesin this country. From two-storeyflat roofs to listed historical build-i n g s, ” she said. “We would love tosee our RBS buildings in Bristolbeing used to test innovations fromBristol companies.”

Smart buildings and smart citiesare on their way. Bristol can eitherlead or follow.

� Filwood GreenBusiness Park isbeing developedby MidasConstruction forBristol CityCouncil tokick-startBristol’s statusas EuropeanGreen Capitalin 2015. Workbegan on site in Knowle thisF e b r u a r y.

The £11.6 million project hasalready attracted internationalattention for its high eco-friendlystandards, and is set to be the firstever BREEAM outstandingdevelopment of its type for theSouth West.

BREEAM, an environmentalassessment technique and ratingsystem, measures how sustainableand energy efficient buildings areagainst a range of categories.

A range of automated servicesare being fitted to reduce energy,and the building will generate 20per cent of its energy via solarpanels fitted to 60 per cent of thero o f .

There will also be a roof gardenaccessible via the work hub,further blending the building intoits surroundings.

The Filwood scheme has beendesigned to maximise naturallighting, reducing the need to relyon electricity, as the main buildinghas been positioned specifically tomake the most of the daylight.

Low energy internal and externallighting will be installed, and theselights will be controlled viaautomatic daylight linking controlsto reduce lighting levels on sunnydays.

Ceiling-mounted sensors willalso shut off lights after set timeperiods if users forget to turn offthe switch, adding an extra layer toenergy-reduction measures.

The building is being thermallyinsulated to ensure it retainsmaximum heat during coldermonths.

Midas will make sure thebuilding is well sealed and entirelyairtight, so it has a higher thermalvalue and operates much moreefficiently, with less reliance onenergy sources to heat or cool thei n t e r i o r.

The structure will use naturalventilation rather than airconditioning, again reducing theelectricity needed, as well asbenefiting the environment.

Natural ventilation will becontrolled through automatedbuilding management systems tocontrol angled blinds.Roof-mounted wind catchers willhelp to provide more fresh air inthe summer months, andnight-time cooling has beenincorporated so that in the warmermonths, the blinds will becontrolled to allow fresh air to coolthe building when the external airtemperature drops at night.

Andy Blake, Midas Constructionproject manager, said: “The wholepoint of having a thermallyinsulated building is that you don’t

� From left,Mayor GeorgeFerguson, DerekQuinn,executivedirector ofMidasConstructionWessex &Wales, andAndy Smith,businessdevelopmentdirector at theMidas Group

need to cool it down so much,so we only need airconditioning units in thebathrooms, and the remainderof the build employs naturalventilation. This also reducesCFCs entering the building.

“It’s becoming more commonto have systems like this inplace in new builds; measureslike this require more robustbuilding materials to create theright level of insulation, and thatcomes at a higher initial cost,but the energy efficiency

savings for the long term aresubstantial.”

The project is being fundedby Bristol City Council with£5.37million from the EuropeanRegional Development Fund(ERDF) as well as fundingsupport from the West ofEngland Local EnterprisePartnership (LEP).

The park is expected toattract businesses workingprimarily in the environmentalsector, and will be completed intime to open in early 2015.

Property of the Week

0117 287 2101brutonknowles.co.uk

To Let - Modern Office Suite35-38 High Street, Bristol BS1 2AW

• Open plan modern office suite 184 sq m (1,976 sq ft)

• Fully fitted, ready for immediate occupation• Flexible lease and rental terms available

Contact: paul.williams@brutonknowles.co.uk

BK code: 2583

Dan Hill

“ It’s about using today’stechnology to makebuildings more effective,more efficient and morecomfortable.”

so that’s what the supply chain pro-duces. We just need to shift the in-d u s t r y. ”

The insurance industry wouldneed to change its thinking too, manybuildings insurance policies specifybrick-built. Shifting the focus of anindustry takes time, but there are lessradical steps being taken now, par-ticularly with new office buildings.

“Smart is about using today’s tech-nology to make buildings more ef-fective, more efficient and morecomfor table,” said Dan.

Grade A developments under waysuch as 66 Queen Square in Bristol,show this in action. That project willinclude measures such as energymeters to monitor use, low-flush loosand water flow regulated taps, mak-ing the most of daylight to cut downenergy use, more energy efficientLED lighting and photo-voltaic pan-els to generate electricity.

� ModCell’sBaleHaus@Bath which isbuilt ofp re - f a b r i c a t e dstraw-baleand hemppanels

in association with

EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3

8 We d n e s d a y, August 6, 2014 9We d n e s d a y, August 6, 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

YOU arrive having read yourmeeting notes on your smartglasses in the car on the wayin. It’s driverless of course,using the city’s high-speed

broadband network to steer yousafely to your destination.

It’s the height of summer but theoffice is cool, thanks to the livingalgae facade that regulates the heatand shades you from the sun. Yourdiary booked a space in the car parkfor you as it’s integrated with theoffice management systems, so youarrive relaxed for that big meeting.

You came in an hour early so youcan go over some reports first, and adesk space has been automaticallyassigned to you for that time. You useyour own tablet, no need for desk-topscluttering up the room, which con-nects to the secure wi-fi seamlessly.

The temperature in the meetingroom will be just right, as the airconditioning and heating systemsknow when it is going to be used.

That may sound far fetched, es-pecially if you’re currently baking inan old building with a creaking AC,after having suffered a bout of roadrage on the way in and arrived late,with someone else in your parkingspace. But it could be a reality in thevery near future.

Smart cities are rising up theagenda and the commercial propertyindustry is in prime position to leadthis revolution. With Bristol about tobe European Green Capital, therecould hardly be a better time.

Dan Hill is executive director of theFuture Cities Catapult, an organisa-tion set up by government to bringtogether business and universities todevelop ideas to help cities meet thechallenges of the future.

Dan said looking ahead there werecould be some “really radical”changes to our building landscape.

“Such as algae based facades whichcapture energy from the sun,” hesaid. “This living system generatesenergy, provides shade as it effect-ively blooms in the sun, as well assound insulation. It sounds like sci-ence fiction but the technology existsand was tested on a building in Ham-burg last year.

“More down to earth, we could seemore wooden buildings,” he said.“Buildings in our cities of the futurewill be increasingly wooden.”

That may not sound like a stepforward but Dan points to cross-lam-inate timber, which is becoming more

popular in mainland Europe.It is made from industrially dried

fast growing spruce wood, stackedand glued together to form layers.

“This is a fantastic building ma-terial,” said Dan. He says it has beenused for buildings up to 15 storeys talland is “just as structurally sound” asother materials. Dan say it has ad-vantages over brick, including that itd o e s n’t burn (just chars, whereasbrick crumbles in a fire), is less en-vironmentally damaging to produceand is pre-fabricated to mean spend-ing less time on site building.

Other building materials could beused too. Bristol-based Modcell isusing timber stuffed with straw balesto form pre-fab panels to makesuper-insulated, low energy build-ings. The firm has been nominatedfor an Earth Champions award in therun-up to the Bristol Green Capitalstatus in 2015.

“The only thing stopping this allfrom happening now is to do withscaling it,” said Dan. “Industry hasoptimised around brick and concrete

Andreas Lindelof, managing dir-ector development for Skanska, thefirm behind the project, said buildingmore efficient and smarter buildingswas about meeting future demand.He says people may not “pay a premi-um” now, but such standards willbecome a requirement in future. “Yo uhave to think, will it be good enoughin five years or 10 years?” he said.

Alex Jordan, the developer’s leas-ing and marketing director, added:“These things are becoming moreand more important for corporatecustomers. On Queen Square, wehave revised the specifications in thelast few months because this needs tobe a building for 2020, not 2012.”

Marcus Hawkins, property man-

agement director at GVA, said tech-nology had come on in leaps andbounds recently. “The flagship smartbuilding in Bristol is the new En-vironment Agency building,” he said.“This is a great example of where thebuilding management systems andenergy control management systemsallow dynamic control and config-uration of devices in order to respondto the climate, the environment orchanges in strategy.

“These systems are the foundationsof self-configuring building systemswhich learn from their own and userbehaviour and are able to adapt tonew situations.”

Marcus added: “Bristol has a targetof reducing CO2 emissions by 40 per

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

As populations grow and more people gravitate towardsurban centres, our cities, including Bristol, have to getsmarter. Our commercial properties can lead the way, asGavin Thompson discovers

Project to be showpiece for Green Capital year

Case study

Property matters

PROPERTY prices are eitherspiralling out of control or fallingback depending on which news-paper you read each day. If youfactor in the immense regional

variations it’s difficult to come up with aclear picture of what’s happening on sitesat a local level.

From shortages of bricks in Scotland toshortages of skills in the West Country thepicture is somewhat muddled – but there isone thing we can be sure of: no matterwhich column of figures or what newsreport you are reading the back story is allabout confidence.

Cranes are popping up on the horizon –or the site next door. Dormant projects areup and running after years on the backburner. Brownfield sites are being re-developed. Long term plans are beingshredded as the rollercoaster marketswitches direction in a matter of weeksrather than months or even years.

One booming property area in the WestCountry, where we have excellent uni-versities and colleges of further educa-tion, is student accommodation projects.

Developers are climbing over each otherto complete projects. Student accommod-ation accounted for a good percentage ofthe secondary office stock converted forresidential use – a trend which kept de-velopers and builders ticking over duringthe down-turn butwh i chreally tookoff as the re-c ove r yg atheredp a c e.

And it’s not just offices which have beenconverted. Hotels, filling stations and arange of other buildings have been ear-marked for conversion or demolished tomake way for new student accommod-at i o n .

But some commentators are picking upsigns that industry enthusiasm for theseprojects is beginning to cool, as increaseddemand for office space encourages own-ers and developers to rethink theirstrategies all over again.

In this rapidly evolving market, it nowappears one cost effective way of utilisingsecondary office accommodation mightwell be to use it as office accommodationas originally intended. But only after ajudiciously costed refurbishment.

Air conditioning, bike-friendly facilit-ies, atriums, lowered ceilings and raisedfloors – a judicious revamp can workwonders with what until last summer hadbeen virtually redundant stock.

Whatever uses these buildings are putto, demand and activity across the con-struction industry is on an upwards curve– despite ever widening regional vari-ations and the positive-negative pull of oursuper-strength capital.

It’s clear confidence is a major factor –and it’s stronger now than it has been foryears – even decades.

Is the UK’s housingmarket really booming?RADICAL IDEAS PROMISE SMARTER BUILDINGS IN OUR CITIES

cent by 2020 and has set itself theobjective of becoming one of the top 20European cities by 2020.

“Consequently it is actively en-couraging new developments to em-brace such technologies,” he said.

But if such ambitions are to beachieved, Bristol needs to tackle theolder buildings that make up the vastmajority of office space.

Marcus said: “There are systemsavailable that can be fitted to build-ings retrospectively, so they are ac-cessible to all.

“For the first time building man-agement systems have the capabilityto absorb and anticipate occupiersneeds, programme prerequisites andpreferences for light, temperature

Paul WilliamsAssociateBruton Knowles0117 287 2101paul.williams@brutonknowles.co.uk

Expert eye

enquiries@brutonknowles.co.ukbrutonknowles.co.uk

0117 287 2101 Achieve morefrom your property

B015-1411 Bruton Knowles Bristol Post Commercial Advert 270x40mm AW 2.pdf 1 06/05/2014 17:24

enquiries@brutonknowles.co.ukbrutonknowles.co.uk

0117 287 2101 Achieve morefrom your property

B015-1411 Bruton Knowles Bristol Post Commercial Advert 270x40mm AW 2.pdf 1 06/05/2014 17:24

and other services in order to main-tain the quality and comfort forstaff while reducing their carbonfootprint and energy costs, withlower failure rates and downtime.

“Across elements such as heat-ing, lighting, parking, security, ifthe software systems can be in-tegrated then a facilities managerwill be able to look at the data andanalyse the stats to determinewhere a reduction in carbon foot-print and overheads can be made,not just in building performance,but in space provision too.”

He added: “Occupier pressures toachieve both environmental andfinancial efficiencies mean thatsmart buildings are taking a higher

profile across the market.”The returns for businesses which

make such investments are prom-ising. Ben St Quintin, p i c t u re d ,from commercial propertyfirm JLL, said it had re-cently tried out an in-telligent managementsystem on 12 Proctor& Gamble buildingsaround the world,resulting in a 10 percent energy saving.The investment paidfor itself in just threem o n t h s.

He says many measurescan be retro-fitted, some ofthem simply.

“I’m currently replacing a lot oflighting in communal stairwellsand car parking areas with LEDf i t t i n g s, ” he said.

“When combined with mi-crowave sensors (so the

lights only come on whensomething the size of ahuman moves), the en-ergy savings can be sig-nificant. Microwavesensors are consideredsuperior to other

sensors, which are oftentriggered by animals or

insects crawling over thes e n s o r s. ”

It’s not just property firms look-ing at this. RBS is running the

Innovation Gateway programme,inviting businesses to try out theirnew ideas on its building stock.

Marcela Navarro, the bank’shead of customer innovation, re-cently staged an event at the Wa-tershed appealing for Bristol firmsto get involved.

“We have 2,500 properties thatmirror the majority of propertiesin this country. From two-storeyflat roofs to listed historical build-i n g s, ” she said. “We would love tosee our RBS buildings in Bristolbeing used to test innovations fromBristol companies.”

Smart buildings and smart citiesare on their way. Bristol can eitherlead or follow.

� Filwood GreenBusiness Park isbeing developedby MidasConstruction forBristol CityCouncil tokick-startBristol’s statusas EuropeanGreen Capitalin 2015. Workbegan on site in Knowle thisF e b r u a r y.

The £11.6 million project hasalready attracted internationalattention for its high eco-friendlystandards, and is set to be the firstever BREEAM outstandingdevelopment of its type for theSouth West.

BREEAM, an environmentalassessment technique and ratingsystem, measures how sustainableand energy efficient buildings areagainst a range of categories.

A range of automated servicesare being fitted to reduce energy,and the building will generate 20per cent of its energy via solarpanels fitted to 60 per cent of thero o f .

There will also be a roof gardenaccessible via the work hub,further blending the building intoits surroundings.

The Filwood scheme has beendesigned to maximise naturallighting, reducing the need to relyon electricity, as the main buildinghas been positioned specifically tomake the most of the daylight.

Low energy internal and externallighting will be installed, and theselights will be controlled viaautomatic daylight linking controlsto reduce lighting levels on sunnydays.

Ceiling-mounted sensors willalso shut off lights after set timeperiods if users forget to turn offthe switch, adding an extra layer toenergy-reduction measures.

The building is being thermallyinsulated to ensure it retainsmaximum heat during coldermonths.

Midas will make sure thebuilding is well sealed and entirelyairtight, so it has a higher thermalvalue and operates much moreefficiently, with less reliance onenergy sources to heat or cool thei n t e r i o r.

The structure will use naturalventilation rather than airconditioning, again reducing theelectricity needed, as well asbenefiting the environment.

Natural ventilation will becontrolled through automatedbuilding management systems tocontrol angled blinds.Roof-mounted wind catchers willhelp to provide more fresh air inthe summer months, andnight-time cooling has beenincorporated so that in the warmermonths, the blinds will becontrolled to allow fresh air to coolthe building when the external airtemperature drops at night.

Andy Blake, Midas Constructionproject manager, said: “The wholepoint of having a thermallyinsulated building is that you don’t

� From left,Mayor GeorgeFerguson, DerekQuinn,executivedirector ofMidasConstructionWessex &Wales, andAndy Smith,businessdevelopmentdirector at theMidas Group

need to cool it down so much,so we only need airconditioning units in thebathrooms, and the remainderof the build employs naturalventilation. This also reducesCFCs entering the building.

“It’s becoming more commonto have systems like this inplace in new builds; measureslike this require more robustbuilding materials to create theright level of insulation, and thatcomes at a higher initial cost,but the energy efficiency

savings for the long term aresubstantial.”

The project is being fundedby Bristol City Council with£5.37million from the EuropeanRegional Development Fund(ERDF) as well as fundingsupport from the West ofEngland Local EnterprisePartnership (LEP).

The park is expected toattract businesses workingprimarily in the environmentalsector, and will be completed intime to open in early 2015.

Property of the Week

0117 287 2101brutonknowles.co.uk

To Let - Modern Office Suite35-38 High Street, Bristol BS1 2AW

• Open plan modern office suite 184 sq m (1,976 sq ft)

• Fully fitted, ready for immediate occupation• Flexible lease and rental terms available

Contact: paul.williams@brutonknowles.co.uk

BK code: 2583

Dan Hill

“ It’s about using today’stechnology to makebuildings more effective,more efficient and morecomfortable.”

so that’s what the supply chain pro-duces. We just need to shift the in-d u s t r y. ”

The insurance industry wouldneed to change its thinking too, manybuildings insurance policies specifybrick-built. Shifting the focus of anindustry takes time, but there are lessradical steps being taken now, par-ticularly with new office buildings.

“Smart is about using today’s tech-nology to make buildings more ef-fective, more efficient and morecomfor table,” said Dan.

Grade A developments under waysuch as 66 Queen Square in Bristol,show this in action. That project willinclude measures such as energymeters to monitor use, low-flush loosand water flow regulated taps, mak-ing the most of daylight to cut downenergy use, more energy efficientLED lighting and photo-voltaic pan-els to generate electricity.

� ModCell’sBaleHaus@Bath which isbuilt ofp re - f a b r i c a t e dstraw-baleand hemppanels

in association with

EPB-E01-S3

EPB-

E01-

S3

10 We d n e s d a y, August 6, 2014 11We d n e s d a y, August 6, 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

In pictures The What’s Right? Networking groupIn pictures Author AA Abbott unveils thriller

FOR MORE PICTURESCheck out our

Business diary

Email your business eventsto gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk. Events aresometimes cancelledwithout us being notified soplease check withorganisers beforetravelling. Worthy causes

How funds arebeing spent

A GROUP of Bristol busi-nesses that help good causesin the city through network-ing heard how the £20,000they have raised in the last

three years has been used locally.The What’s Right? Network-

ing group supports Bristolcharities through corpor-ate social responsibility.

Seven good causeshelped through dona-tions explained thework they carried outat a special gathering atBristol and Bath SciencePa rk .

Sarah Hennessey of CCSAdoption, Angela Emms Rain-bow Centre for Children, Mike Pierceof the Southmead Project, The Rev-erend Dan Tyndall of St Mary Red-cliffe, Julian Withers from Jessie May

Trust, Edd Smith of St Peter’s Hos-pice and Stephen Melanophy of Busi-ness in the Community all sharedtheir feelings about the support theyreceive in both financial and prac-tical terms from the group.

Co-founders of the groupJohn Tiley of Image Through

Quality and Mark Evans ofKbase Connect werepraised for their work.

The event was organ-ised by Judith Heale ofGregg Latchams and Re-becca Jenkins of Results

with Marketing, bothtrusted partner organisa-

tions within What’s Right?Entertainment was provided

with a piano recital by Ben Saundersof Gregg Latchams, dressed as thecartoon character WhoArYa to raise£100 for St Peter’s Hospice.

GALLERIESGALORE

FOR MORE PICTURESCheck out our

website at

bristolpost.co.uk/business

� Author Peter James Martin talks to Mark Evans of KBase Connect

� Sarah Hennessey ofCCS Adoption, DrIsioma Nwokolo, PeterJames Martin andRichard Tidswell

� Edward Smith of St Peter’sHospice

� The Rev Dan Tyndall of St Mary Redcliffe and John Tiley of ImageThrough Quality

� Judith Heale of Gregg Latchams and Marcus Robinson of MortgageStyle � Julian Withers of Jessie May Trust

� Rebecca Jenkins of Results With Marketing � Cartoon character WhoArYa mingles with guests� Julie Evans of Kbase Ltd and Steve Tasker, Chartered ManagementAccountant

Novel approach tolaunching new book

We d n e s d a y @ 6 : Institute ofD i re c t o r s ’ informalnetworking at the RadissonBlu Hotel 6-8pm, today(August 6). Non-memberswelcome. Free but to registercall 0117 3707785 or emailiod.southwest@iod.com.

Set.Social summer party:The informal networkingevenings are a chance for thecreative community to gettogether. Tonight’s is asummer party with Pimm’sand nibbles at The Set, BathRoad Studios. from 6pm.

Business Pledge launch:City of Bristol College hostsa breakfast to launch itsbusiness pledge tomorrow(August 7), from 7.30am at itsCity Restaurant in AnchorRoad. The Local EnterprisePartnership will give anupdate on the West of theEngland Growth Deal whilethe college will take abouthow it can help businesses.

Bristol Connected: TheBristol Post’s popularbusiness networking eventtakes place at the HiltonGarden Inn, Temple Way,from 6pm-8pm on Thursday,August 14. A chance forSMEs to network as well asmeet the Post team. JohnHirst from Destination Bristolwill be among the speakers.To sign up go to eventbrite orscan the QR code, below left.

We d n e s d a y @ 6 : Institute ofD i re c t o r s ’ informalnetworking at the RadissonBlu Hotel Wednesday,August 20, 6-8pm. Nonmembers welcome. Free butto register call 0117 3707785or email iod.southwest@iod.com.

We d n e s d a y @ 6 : Institute ofD i re c t o r s ’ informalnetworking at the RadissonBlu Hotel, Wednesday,September 3, 6-8pm. Nonmembers welcome. Free butto register call 0117 3707785or email iod.southwest@iod.com.

Access to Growth Capital:The London Stock Exchangeand Capita Asset Servicesare organising this event tohelp fast-growing SMEsunderstand how they can getmoney to grow. From2.30-6pm on September 9 atBurges Salmon offices, 1Glass Wharf. Register at

www.lseg.com/r egister1000.

Institute of Directors’Bristol branch AutumnSpecial Held at theUniversity of Bristol BotanicGardens with Martin Biggfrom the Bristol GreenCapital Partnership, Tuesday,September 9. Book at w w w.iod.com/swestevents.

Introduction to BloodhoundSCC: See the latestdevelopments behind thesupersonic car and learnabout tax relief for researchand development at thisevent organised by ChantreyVellacott. The BloodboundTechnical Centre inAvonmouth from 4.30pm to7pm on September 17.

The Bristol BusinessExhibition: The exhibitionattracts business owners anddecision makers from acrossthe region and is a great wayto source suppliers andgenerate new business. Ittakes place at Ashton GateConference Centre from10am to 3pm on Tuesday,September 30.

MOST of us have had adreadful job inter-view at some time inour lives, and Bristolwriter AA Abbott is

no exception.“I do temporary work for large

companies, so I go to interviews alot,” she said. “Once I was sent tothe wrong address. On anotheroccasion, I was told, ‘Nothingever happens around here. I don’tknow why you’re interested inu s. ’ Of course, you always bounceback. But in my new thriller,After The Interview, an oppor-tunity for revenge presents itself,leading to fraud, financial ruinand murder.”

A regular face on the Bristolbusiness networking scene, theauthor decided to invite mem-bers of the business communityto the launch of her second novelat Goldbrick House.

Buoyed by the interest in thisand first book, Up In Smoke, shesays she plans to fit in writingmore around her work.

“I continue to combine interimwork with writing,” she said.

“I enjoy corporate life, and itgives me inspiration. It also al-lows me to meet people, whilewriting is a solitary pursuit.

“I love speaking to businessnetworks and book groups too, on

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

subjects as diverse as capturingfamily memories and writing ane-book to promote your busi-n e s s. ”

Both books are available onAmazon while the author can befound on Twitter at @AAAbbot-S t o r i e s.

� Author AA Abbott withRichard Graves of GWS Media;right, the new book

� Above, KatharineAdlard ofPricewaterhouseCoopers and MarieLangan of BDO; right,cover artist Anna Hurl;left, writer TimDavidson and architectand travel writer CatMartin

� MikeP i e rc eof the

SouthmeadP ro j e c t

with JohnTiley

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10 We d n e s d a y, August 6, 2014 11We d n e s d a y, August 6, 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

In pictures The What’s Right? Networking groupIn pictures Author AA Abbott unveils thriller

FOR MORE PICTURESCheck out our

Business diary

Email your business eventsto gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk. Events aresometimes cancelledwithout us being notified soplease check withorganisers beforetravelling. Worthy causes

How funds arebeing spent

A GROUP of Bristol busi-nesses that help good causesin the city through network-ing heard how the £20,000they have raised in the last

three years has been used locally.The What’s Right? Network-

ing group supports Bristolcharities through corpor-ate social responsibility.

Seven good causeshelped through dona-tions explained thework they carried outat a special gathering atBristol and Bath SciencePa rk .

Sarah Hennessey of CCSAdoption, Angela Emms Rain-bow Centre for Children, Mike Pierceof the Southmead Project, The Rev-erend Dan Tyndall of St Mary Red-cliffe, Julian Withers from Jessie May

Trust, Edd Smith of St Peter’s Hos-pice and Stephen Melanophy of Busi-ness in the Community all sharedtheir feelings about the support theyreceive in both financial and prac-tical terms from the group.

Co-founders of the groupJohn Tiley of Image Through

Quality and Mark Evans ofKbase Connect werepraised for their work.

The event was organ-ised by Judith Heale ofGregg Latchams and Re-becca Jenkins of Results

with Marketing, bothtrusted partner organisa-

tions within What’s Right?Entertainment was provided

with a piano recital by Ben Saundersof Gregg Latchams, dressed as thecartoon character WhoArYa to raise£100 for St Peter’s Hospice.

GALLERIESGALORE

FOR MORE PICTURESCheck out our

website at

bristolpost.co.uk/business

� Author Peter James Martin talks to Mark Evans of KBase Connect

� Sarah Hennessey ofCCS Adoption, DrIsioma Nwokolo, PeterJames Martin andRichard Tidswell

� Edward Smith of St Peter’sHospice

� The Rev Dan Tyndall of St Mary Redcliffe and John Tiley of ImageThrough Quality

� Judith Heale of Gregg Latchams and Marcus Robinson of MortgageStyle � Julian Withers of Jessie May Trust

� Rebecca Jenkins of Results With Marketing � Cartoon character WhoArYa mingles with guests� Julie Evans of Kbase Ltd and Steve Tasker, Chartered ManagementAccountant

Novel approach tolaunching new book

We d n e s d a y @ 6 : Institute ofD i re c t o r s ’ informalnetworking at the RadissonBlu Hotel 6-8pm, today(August 6). Non-memberswelcome. Free but to registercall 0117 3707785 or emailiod.southwest@iod.com.

Set.Social summer party:The informal networkingevenings are a chance for thecreative community to gettogether. Tonight’s is asummer party with Pimm’sand nibbles at The Set, BathRoad Studios. from 6pm.

Business Pledge launch:City of Bristol College hostsa breakfast to launch itsbusiness pledge tomorrow(August 7), from 7.30am at itsCity Restaurant in AnchorRoad. The Local EnterprisePartnership will give anupdate on the West of theEngland Growth Deal whilethe college will take abouthow it can help businesses.

Bristol Connected: TheBristol Post’s popularbusiness networking eventtakes place at the HiltonGarden Inn, Temple Way,from 6pm-8pm on Thursday,August 14. A chance forSMEs to network as well asmeet the Post team. JohnHirst from Destination Bristolwill be among the speakers.To sign up go to eventbrite orscan the QR code, below left.

We d n e s d a y @ 6 : Institute ofD i re c t o r s ’ informalnetworking at the RadissonBlu Hotel Wednesday,August 20, 6-8pm. Nonmembers welcome. Free butto register call 0117 3707785or email iod.southwest@iod.com.

We d n e s d a y @ 6 : Institute ofD i re c t o r s ’ informalnetworking at the RadissonBlu Hotel, Wednesday,September 3, 6-8pm. Nonmembers welcome. Free butto register call 0117 3707785or email iod.southwest@iod.com.

Access to Growth Capital:The London Stock Exchangeand Capita Asset Servicesare organising this event tohelp fast-growing SMEsunderstand how they can getmoney to grow. From2.30-6pm on September 9 atBurges Salmon offices, 1Glass Wharf. Register at

www.lseg.com/r egister1000.

Institute of Directors’Bristol branch AutumnSpecial Held at theUniversity of Bristol BotanicGardens with Martin Biggfrom the Bristol GreenCapital Partnership, Tuesday,September 9. Book at w w w.iod.com/swestevents.

Introduction to BloodhoundSCC: See the latestdevelopments behind thesupersonic car and learnabout tax relief for researchand development at thisevent organised by ChantreyVellacott. The BloodboundTechnical Centre inAvonmouth from 4.30pm to7pm on September 17.

The Bristol BusinessExhibition: The exhibitionattracts business owners anddecision makers from acrossthe region and is a great wayto source suppliers andgenerate new business. Ittakes place at Ashton GateConference Centre from10am to 3pm on Tuesday,September 30.

MOST of us have had adreadful job inter-view at some time inour lives, and Bristolwriter AA Abbott is

no exception.“I do temporary work for large

companies, so I go to interviews alot,” she said. “Once I was sent tothe wrong address. On anotheroccasion, I was told, ‘Nothingever happens around here. I don’tknow why you’re interested inu s. ’ Of course, you always bounceback. But in my new thriller,After The Interview, an oppor-tunity for revenge presents itself,leading to fraud, financial ruinand murder.”

A regular face on the Bristolbusiness networking scene, theauthor decided to invite mem-bers of the business communityto the launch of her second novelat Goldbrick House.

Buoyed by the interest in thisand first book, Up In Smoke, shesays she plans to fit in writingmore around her work.

“I continue to combine interimwork with writing,” she said.

“I enjoy corporate life, and itgives me inspiration. It also al-lows me to meet people, whilewriting is a solitary pursuit.

“I love speaking to businessnetworks and book groups too, on

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

subjects as diverse as capturingfamily memories and writing ane-book to promote your busi-n e s s. ”

Both books are available onAmazon while the author can befound on Twitter at @AAAbbot-S t o r i e s.

� Author AA Abbott withRichard Graves of GWS Media;right, the new book

� Above, KatharineAdlard ofPricewaterhouseCoopers and MarieLangan of BDO; right,cover artist Anna Hurl;left, writer TimDavidson and architectand travel writer CatMartin

� MikeP i e rc eof the

SouthmeadP ro j e c t

with JohnTiley

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12 We d n e s d a y, August 6, 2014w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

The back pagePe o p l e� Andy Bill’s day job sees him partof the landing gear team at Airbus inFilton, working on complex systemsto monitor the equipment that helpspassenger planes take off and land.

But this week he’s revealedhidden talents, exhibiting hispaintings of hot air balloons as partof a Fiesta Fringe event looking atthe city’s ballooning heritage.

Andy said: “I grew up in Leicesterand when the balloons flew over ourhouse, my brother and I were part ofa group of kids who would chaseafter them to help pack the balloonsafter they landed.

“Now I do the same with my son,Austin who’s five, when the balloonsare flying in South Gloucestershire,where I live with my wife, Cara.”

Andy’s work will be exhibited withthat by other artists at the AboveBristol exhibition at The Island,Bridewell Street, from August 7-13.

� Commercial property consultancyLambert Smith Hampton (LSH) hasmade a senior local appointment asit seeks to grow its public sectordivision further.

Jaime Blakeley-Glover, below, hasmoved to the Bristol office asregional director for public sectorservices. Jaime, who joined LSH in2011, takes on the role alongside hisposition of consultancy directorwithin public sector services.

Jaime said: “This is a very excitingopportunity and I’m looking forwardto building on LSH’s marketpresence in the West Countryand our national publicsector advisoryc a p a b i l i t y. ”

� Most companydirectors are quick toclaim credit for theirfirm’s success, so it’snice to see one givingan outsider a share ofthe acclaim.

Managing director JamesEades, who runs specialist ITcompany Systemagic Ltd in Bathsays Bristol-based Roger Piahay ofSandler Training is a big factor.

James said: “There is no doubtthat investing in Roger and SandlerTraining has transformed thebusiness. It’s changed the way I dobusiness, the way I feel about

business and the way I behave.“I’ve got a much better

understanding of myself and of myinteraction with others. As a result

turnover and profits are up, theteam is well motivated and

I’ve made connectionswhich I might not havemade previously.”

D ea l s� Pensions services firm

Punter Southall has wonthe race to provide

actuarial services to Honda.The group’s UK pension

scheme has 5,000 members and thetrustees chose Punter Southall,which has its regional base in QueenSquare after being impressed by thecommitment, professionalism andinsight of the team, combined with“cutting edge” t e c h n o l o g y.

Chris Mapp, principal at theBristol office, said: “We believe our

EU holiday pay ruling could be disaster for firmsBUSINESSES in the UK are currentlyfacing an anxious wait to see if theywill be hit by huge additional costsdue to a change to UK holiday pay law.This comes after a recent EuropeanCourt of Justice (ECJ) ruling re-defined holiday pay to include anallowance for commission.

What this means is that, dependingon the subsequent ruling from the UKcourts, employers may have tochange the way they calculate hol-iday pay to take account of com-mission payments. Businesses couldface retrospective claims relating toearlier periods of annual leave, andthese claims could go back six yearsor possibly even as far back as 1998.

The impact of this would bemassive – potentially billions ofpounds and a threat to the very ex-istence of some firms.

At the moment, holiday pay in theUK is calculated on the basis of a

“we e k ’s pay” – based on basic salaryand excluding payments such asworking allowances, expenses, over-time, commission and bonus pay-ments, all of which refer to specificwork done by someone while per-forming their duties.

But this recent ECJ judgment ruledthat the employer in question mustpay an allowance for commission,despite the fact that commission ispaid on sales made and the employeewould not have delivered those saleswhile on holiday.

If liabilities on holiday pay arebackdated, individual firms may facebills of tens of millions of pounds. Anumber of South West medium-sized

� Airbus worker Andy Bill with some of his photographic work

The op-ed column

businesses have told the CBI thatbackdated claims could push theirotherwise profitable businesses intoi n s o l ve n cy.

Moving the legal goalposts in thisway is unacceptable.

Firms that have done the rightthing and fully complied with UK lawnow face the threat of substantialadditional costs. And the companiesmost at risk are in vital sectors forour economy, such as manufacturing,construction and civil engineering.

Although most businesses believewe are better off in a reformed EU,there is a real danger of expansivedecisions being made by the ECJ onthe UK labour market.

As part of an EU reform pro-gramme, this has to be addressed. It’stime to put a stop to back-door EUemployment law being made.

We need the UK Government totake a strong stand and do all it can to

remove this threat. Otherwise weface the very real prospect of suc-cessful firms in this country goingout of business, with the jobs theyprovide going too.

With such hugely significantlong-term effects, the UK must resistthese judgements, which go far bey-ond what could have been foreseenwhen the working time rules wereintroduced, and do not respect the EUtreaty – which reserves matters ofpay to the Member States.

Further cases on commission andovertime are currently proceeding,meaning major uncertainty for busi-nesses. And if the Governmentd o e s n’t step up its engagement withthe cases to defend the current UKlaw, and use its powers under Britishlaw to limit the retrospective liabilityfir ms’ face, we should face up to thereality that some of our successfulfirms could be going out of business.

Deborah WaddellDirector – CBI South West@ D e b o r a h J Wa d d e l l

collaborative approach, strongactuarial experience andmarket-leading technology makePunter Southall a natural choice forfunds like the Honda UKscheme. Honda is a highlyregarded householdname, with which weare proud to beassociated, and welook forward toenjoying aconstructive andrewarding relationshipwith the schemetrustees.”

� Insurance broker BrightsideGroup has been bought byEuropean financial services privateequity firm AnaCap FinancialPartners LLP.

Brightside is a fast-growing top 20insurance broker and financialservices provider based in Aust,South Gloucestershire. It employs

1,100 people in the UK,with Aust asits HQ.

Paul Williams, Brightside chiefexecutive, said: “We look forward tobuilding upon Brightside’s successto-date and drawing upon AnaCap’sconsiderable expertise to grow thebusiness into one of the leadingspecialist personal and commerciallines insurance brokers in the UKmarket.”

Jatender Aujla, investmentdirector at AnaCap, added:“Brightside has grown rapidly overthe last few years to become ascaled and relevant player in boththe UK personal and commerciallines insurance broking market. Weare excited to work with thebusiness during its next phase ofdevelopment and growth.”

� Bristol headquartered law firmBurges Salmon advised theCo-operative Group on the sale ofits farms business.

The sale was part of the group’smoves to raise money to pay offdebt and focus on its core shopsbusiness. The operation, whichincludes 15 farms and almost16,000 hectares of land, was boughtby the Wellcome Tr u s t .

The Burges Salmon team was ledby corporate partner Nick Gravesand real estate partner AlastairMorrison.

Nick said: “The team reallyenjoyed working with the mergersand acquisitions team at theCo-operative Group and helpingthem bring this important

transaction to a successfulclose.”

Prof its� Accountancy firmBishop Fleming isreporting another yearof expansion as it plots

its eventual goal to breakinto the top tier of

practices. The firm’s feeincome grew by more than

three per cent to almost £17 million.The business has 26 partners and280 members of staff across theSouth West, including Bristol.

Managing partner Matthew Lee,above, said: “Just as we help everyclient to build and deliver a businessplan for growth, our own plan isgathering momentum.”

Your digest of the week in business

In numbers

Business currentaccounts

Petrol prices

1.01%£10,000 deposit

0.25%£1 deposit

State Bankof India

Corporation tax

21 %20 %Main rate

Small profitsrate – below

£300,000

130 .1 1 pUnleaded

134 .52pDiesel

138 .7 3 pSuperunleaded

69 .29pLPG

Source: PetrolPrices.com

Business savingsaccounts

1.40%£5,000 deposit

1.80%£10,000 deposit

S h a w b ro o kBank

Inflation (CPI)

1.9 %

Weekly earnings

0.6 %Base interest rate

0.5 %Ave mortgage rate

3.99 %

S o u rc e :

Cambridge &Counties Bank

Inflation (RPI)

2.6 %