Recovery gathers pace as firms ‘move in the right direction’

New work won by private companies in the region grew at the fastest pace in three and half years in August as firms recovered from lockdown and businesses stayed confident that they can grow output over the coming year. But job cutting increased in the region ahead of the end of the government’s furlough scheme in October.

Although the NatWest East of England business activity index fell fractionally to 56.2 in August from 56.3 in July, it pointed to a continued increase in business activity in the region as client businesses re-opened. But growth was weaker in the East than the UK aver...

Region's deal scene rebounds with upturn in corporate activity

A series of recent mergers and aquisitions involving medium sized tech and distribution companies across the East of England suggests confidence is returning to the region's deal scene . Over the past week three significant deals invoving Ipswich based IT and telecoms company QDOS-sbl Group, a Norwich-based price comparison site Know Your Money and Wisbech-based BRT Industrial point suggests that businesses' appetite for corporate activity is returning. It follows the $5 billion acquisition by Cambridge-based industrial software group Aveva of California-based OSIsoft agreed at the end ...

Slight improvement in confidence but job losses loom

Business confidence in the East of England improved slightly in August although most firms continued to see demand fall and some expect to make redundancies when the furlough scheme ends in October, according to a business barometer from Lloyds Bank.

Firms’ confidence in their own business prospects was -25%, compared with -31% in July and overall confidence in the region rose four points to -22% although this was among the lowest seen in the UK. Covid-19 continued to take its toll and over two thirds of firms saw a fall in demand for their products and services although this was down ...

Planning permission given for major new public service development in Bury

Planning permission has been granted for a multi-million-pound ‘public service development’ in Bury St Edmunds which is designed to combine public services with employment space. The 17-acre scheme  at Western Way will provide what the promoter says is a nationally ground-breaking way to deliver integrated public services as part of a network of existing and planned ‘hub’ projects in West Suffolk. It will include a new leisure centre with an integrated health and social care hub, and new employment space, council services, police, an advice centre, voluntary organisations, and...

£19 million export order raises hopes of more large deals at Cambs battery parts firm

£19 million export order raises hopes of more large deals at Cambs battery parts firm

A Cambs-based manufacturer has high hopes for further large orders after winning a £19 million deal to export electric car battery parts to the US in a joint venture with Toyota Tsusho America. The components, made from recycled plant waste will be shipped from TRB Lightweight Structures' Huntingdon hq and assembled at a new factory in Richmond, Kentucky. The finished products will be supplied to a major US engine producer. Andrew Dugmore, president at TRB said: “Sustainability is important to us and ...