Business Solent’s inaugural annual conference will see 350 delegates gathering on board P&O Cruises’ Oriana in Southampton on Friday. The conference, Business Without Boundaries, will highlight the work and achievements of Business Solent during its first year and introduce the latest opportunities, focusing on the region’s business and political environment. There will be presentations from [...]

Tristar Worldwide Chauffeur Services, based in West Drayton, has acquired M7 Worldwide TransportationLuxury ground transportation company Tristar Worldwide Chauffeur Services, based in West Drayton, has acquired M7 Worldwide Transportation, its equivalent in Massachusetts, USA, with the support of leading law firm Pitmans LLP.The acquisition further enhances Tristar’s leading position in the meetings and roadshow segments [...]

Partners in Newbury-based chartered certified accountants Banks & Co and lawyers Gardner Leader have recently advised on a high-profile cross-border acquisition. The deal involved the acquisition of Oxford-based publishing company Oxbow Books by US-based publishers Casemate LLC, along with Oxbow’s David Brown Book Company, based in Connecticut, US. Casemate specialises in military history while Oxbow [...]

AIM-listed retail software solutions specialist to the fashion sector Prologic plc has been sold to a company with the same ultimate controlling shareholder as US-based Versata Enterprises Inc. The transaction delivered shareholders a 46% premium over the share price prior to the announcement of the Offer. Established over 25 years ago, the Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire-based retail [...]

A halt in the decline of inflationary pressures combined with poor results for BDO’s Output and Optimism Indices point to a sluggish recovery for the economy, according to the latest Business Trends report by accountants and business advisors BDO LLP.   BDO’s Inflation Index dropped by just 0.1 points in April, suggesting that the previously [...]

Entrepreneur Robin Horrex’ Datchet-based design and marketing firm, Zone, bought Social, a London-based branding agency boasting Global Radio, TK Maxx, Merrell and Hilton Hotels among its prestigious client list. The acquisition of Social gives Zone a bigger presence in the branding and lifestyle arena, and gives both companies a fresh platform on which to further [...]

Dorset-based Bennington Green has acquired Richard Neale Associates. Richard Neale will become a senior consultant for Bennington Green, based in its central Bournemouth offices and joining forces with the existing team. Neale qualified as a chartered building surveyor in 1977 and became a fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in 1987.  Having sold [...]

New research from the Law Society has revealed that legal practices in Thames Valley are continuing to see an improvement in fortunes, with positive signs of growth. The key findings in the Law Management Section (LMS) annual profitability survey, sponsored by Lloyds TSB Commercial, reveal the financial health of law firms across the UK. The [...]

Newbury-based international M&A specialist BCMS Corporate has finalised the sale of specialist liability provider Ufton Associates to Reading-based Davies Group. The practice, which was founded in 1990 by shareholders Patrick Austin and Nick Harrison, to investigate (and settle) construction and liability insurance claims, has offices in Central London and Warwick. Today, Ufton Associates deals with [...]

Element Six, a global leader in synthetic diamond supermaterials, today announced that the company will invest £20 million constructing the world’s largest and most sophisticated synthetic supermaterials research and development facility in Harwell. Once complete in Spring 2013, the new state-of-the-art innovation centre will create around 50 new science jobs, with the vast majority of [...]

Following another successful Thames Valley & Solent Deals Awards on April 26 2012 at Oakley Hall, Hampshire you can view video highlights of the evening below. The Deals Awards is the big deals event in the South of England and this year attracted record entries from banks and private equity houses, business advisers, lawyers and [...]

The challenge is on to find the brightest, the best and the simply brilliant in the Thames Valley Business Magazine Awards 2012 (TVBMA). Entries are now open for this year’s TVBMA event and, with two fantastic new categories giving entrants even more choice, it promises to be a night to remember. Big name sponsors Deloitte, [...]

I am delighted to announce that, in 2013, The Business Magazine, as organiser of the Thames Valley and Solent Deals Awards, plans to have two separate events – covering the Reading and Southampton-based corporate finance communities. This news has been really well received by the major CF players in the region – banks, law firms [...]

It has to be good that 600,000 people will be lifted out of tax, following the chancellor’s decision to raise the income tax threshold to £9,205. Raising the personal allowance will, of course, put more cash in many millions of workers’ take-home wage packet. In theory. It is only theoretical because, as with most Budgets, [...]

How disappointing that Reading was not successful in achieving city status. It makes you wonder who makes these decisions. Why confer city status on a Welsh town in the back of beyond that few people have even heard of. St Asaph in Wales is best known as the birthplace of Liverpool striker Ian Rush. Its [...]

We can only hope that next week’s Budget doesn’t choke off the recovery just as the economy is starting to breathe again.With signs – such as the PMI data – that the UK is probably through the worst of it, we need further measures from the chancellor to reinvigorate business. Consumers are facing another year [...]

We have redesigned www.businessmag.co.uk to make the site cleaner, with less clutter, and with clearer signposting. It is now easier to navigate around the site and find the information you need. The redesign means the site now sits alongside www.dealsawards.co.uk and www.businessawards.co.uk as a cohesive portfolio of Elcot Publications’ web domains. There are new opportunities [...]