The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire October 2014 | Page 3

CONTENTS NOTE FROM THE EDITOR Welcome to the October edition of The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire. September has been a successful month for businesses in Wiltshire with many positive news stories, from local companies winning awards, to successful networking events such as the South West Business & Community Expo- turn to business news pages 4-7 for more. Now the summer holidays have come to an end the county’s networking events are back in full swing, with many opportunities for the taking. Visit page 18 to find out what’s on in Wiltshire throughout October with events from Business West, Swindon Chamber, Wessex Chambers of Commerce and more. The TBE team are now busy working on the November edition of the magazine which will be a special bumper edition celebrating women in business. We are looking for inspirational ladies throughout the county to take part in this feature set to inspire Wiltshire women in the work place and drive future successes. We are looking for women from all industries to be featured, the more unusual the role the better. Please do drop me a line on the email address below, or give me a call if you would like to take part. As the year comes to a close we will also be looking to create our business review of the year in the December/January edition. If your business has made exceptional strides in 2014 we want to hear from you, again do get in touch if you have something exciting to shout about. Have a prosperous October. Anita Editor: Anita Jaynes E: [email protected] T: 01793 847966 Advertising: Penny Lamb E: [email protected] T: 01225 784150 Web: www.tbeswindonandwilts.co.uk Design: Juicy Designs Artwork: Studio Creative Services Print: MPD Offset Limited INSIDE THIS EDITION 4 BUSINESS NEWS A round-up of this month’s business news 8 APPOINTED We reveal recent appointments made by companies throughout Wiltshire 9 FINANCE We find out what’s going on in the world of finance and provide useful information for your business 10 LEGAL Legal news and advice to help your business 11 CREATIVE THINKING News from Wiltshire’s thriving creative sector 12 REVVED UP Motoring news and reviews from Wiltshire businesses 14 COMMERCIAL PROPERTY We look at the commercial property market throughout Wiltshire and promote properties available to buy or rent now 17 IN PROFILE We interview John Penton, European & Asia Pacific Sales Director - Avon Protection 18 CONNECT Networking events happening this month in Wiltshire NOVEMBER EDITION SPECIAL FEATURE Wiltshire Women Mean Business In November TBE we will be profiling some of Wiltshire’s most inspiring business women. Female equality is on the rise in the workplace, with positive statistics reported in June of this year revealing that for the first time in history there are no all-male based boards. However, there is still a lot of progress to be made. Only 18% of UK SME businesses are female led and only 22% of FTSE 100 board members are female. In 2011 the government set a target that by 2015 25% of FTSE 100 board members should be female. In May 2014 recent data showed we had hit 21.6%, up from 12.5% in 2011. This means that out of 1,117 FTSE board members, 241 were female. THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE KEY STATISTICS Readership: 15,000 Circulation: 5,000 In order to reach Lord Davies target of 25%, 48 more board seats need to be held by women in 2015. In this edition of TBE we will be empowering women in business to reach for their goals and ambitions. We have approached some of Wiltshire’s most successful women across all industries, to give us their top tips for getting ahead in business and help women succeed in their goal for true equality in the workplace. Follow us on Social Media @TBESW Facebook.com/tbeswindonandwilts “The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire” THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2014 3