With the New Year looming, SoGlos takes a look back at the biggest business stories published in 2024 — from the Autumn Budget to the Gloucestershire Business Awards winners…
There’s no denying that 2024 has been a challenging year. From the general election to the cost-of-living crisis, there’s been a lot for businesses to contend with — but there’s also been an incredible amount to celebrate, especially here in Gloucestershire.
SoGlos looks back at some of the biggest and most-read business stories of 2024 in this round-up.
From famous names like Jeremy Clarkson and Jilly Cooper; ‘unicorn’ entrepreneur Ciara McGurk; environmental pioneer Dale Vince; to Nicola Bird, who is changing the face the construction industry, SoGlos rounded up 50 of Gloucestershire’s most influential business figures this December, in partnership with WSP Solicitors and Hartpury University.
Spanning the width and breadth of the county, covering sectors from hospitality, agriculture and education to professional services, this hot list gives readers the who’s who of Gloucestershire’s thriving business community — and who to watch next year.
Following Labour’s win in the 2024 general election, the new chancellor’s Autumn Budget was one of the most highly-anticipated in years — with Cheltenham-based tax, audit and advisory firm Bishop Fleming’s predictions being one of August’s most-read business stories on SoGlos.
Following the announcement, leading Gloucestershire firm Hazlewoods shared its own key takeaways from the Autumn Budget, breaking down exactly what many of the measures mean for businesses and individuals in Gloucestershire in a handy hot list.
Shockwaves went through Stroud when it was announced that Brimscombe Mill had been silently sold in March and the charities and community organisations that call it home, like The Long Table, had just five months to find new premises.
In another unexpected turn of events, the community was saved from closure in October thanks to an anonymous investor — which turned out to be none other than James Bond actor Daniel Craig, who decided that it was No Time To Die for the much-loved mill.
Gloucester’s flagship new development, The Forum, announced Fasthosts Internet Ltd as its first tenant in October, with the development scheduled to open in early 2025.
Fasthosts is taking 19,000 sq ft of office space at No 2 Cathedral Walk for its 250-strong team of employees, with ‘overwhelming confidence demonstrated by other companies showing strong interest in the remaining workspaces’ according to developer Reef Group‘s development director, Peter Langley-Smith.
Back at the very start of the year, SoGlos broke the news that House of Fraser was closing Cheltenham’s Cavendish House after 201 years of trading, leaving the 236,944 sq ft building on the Promenade empty.
Cavendish House‘s owner Canada Life Asset Management announced in April that it was giving the space back to the community to support small, independent businesses — with a private investor leasing and reopening the building in May, and a food court following shortly in June, breathing new life into one of Cheltenham’s most iconic stores.
With the new Cotswolds Designer Outlet near Tewkesbury due to open in spring 2025, the updates on its development have been popular with the business community in the county throughout the year.
In July, the developer revealed that 75 per cent of the retail space had been secured by top fashion, sport, lifestyle, food and beverage brands — with a centre manager being appointed in November, too.
Superdry founder and local business heavyweight, Julian Dunkerton, revealed his bold plans to replace the controversial marquees at No. 131 in Cheltenham in October, after his appeal to keep them was turned down by planners at Cheltenham Borough Council.
Speaking to SoGlos, he said he wanted a ‘level playing field’ and that the council ‘needs to encourage hospitality to survive and prosper’. We’re yet to see if either of his proposed designs for No. 131 will be approved — watch this space.
SoGlos’s 2024 Charity of the Year, the Hollie Gazzard Trust, hosted the country’s first-ever Active Bystander conference at Hartpury University in July.
A panel of experts, from behavioural scientists and criminologists to leading business figures, shared how Active Bystander training can transform communities and workplaces, making them safer for everyone.
George Davis — the man behind Next, George at Asda and Per Una at M&S — announced he was opening a boutique hotel in his hometown of Broadway in March.
Originally planned for June, it’s still not open yet, but his renovation of the beautiful 17th century property — which includes a fashion-inspired cocktail bar, restaurant and 10 uniquely designed bedrooms — is due to be complete in late spring 2025.
Co-founder of Gloucestershire-based engineering powerhouse Renishaw and globally respected innovator Sir David McMurtry died aged 84 in December.
With an astonishing 200 patented inventions to his name, including Renishaw’s first ever product — a touch-trigger probe used on the Concorde; Renishaw’s revenue hitting £691.3 million in the year up to June 2024; and an incredible legacy of supporting apprentices, he will be missed by people across the world and generations of engineers.
Amid pressure from activists to ‘divest from the fossil fuel industry and from companies that profit from Israeli apartheid, occupation and genocide’, investment management firm Baillie Gifford ended its partnership with Cheltenham Festivals and withdrew funding for Cheltenham Literature Festival.
While the decision was a blow to the event and to Cheltenham Festivals — which is a charity — Cheltenham Literature Festival went ahead as planned in 2024. The charity is open to new corporate sponsorships to help it not only produce its four world-class festivals each year, but to fund its year-round outreach programmes for schools and communities, too.
Severn and Wye Smokery‘s plans for a multi-million-pound fish farm and foodie destination at Lydney Harbour were approved in October.
It intends to transform Pine End Works — a site of former factories dating back to World War II — into a fish processing plant, eel farm, visitor centre and restaurant, with new pedestrian, cycle and vehicular accesses, parking and landscaping, helping the business to secure its long-term future and boost the local economy with a brand-new tourist destination.
Shining a spotlight on the achievements and contributions of the county’s business community, it’s no surprise that the reveal of 2024’s Gloucestershire Business Awards winners was one of the most popular business stories on SoGlos.
Following a spectacular ceremony at Hartpury University’s Equine Arena, thanks to the support of co-headline partners Hazlewoods and Willans LLP solicitors, the full list of winners was revealed in October — with cyber security firm Nova Blue Technologies taking home the prestigious title of Business of the Year 2024.
While March saw the end of esteemed local enterprise partnership, GFirst LEP, August saw six of its former board members appointed to the new Economic Growth Board for Gloucestershire.
Replacing the role of the LEP, the board ensures the continued ‘independent and diverse’ representation of local businesses — with former GFirst board members including councillor Mark Hawthorne, Ruth Dooley, Nicola Bird, Ian Mean, Lucy Ackland and Cheltenham Borough Council leader Rowena Hay.
Celebrating the biggest businesses in the county, SoGlos revealed the Top 100 businesses in Gloucestershire in June — in partnership with Bishop Fleming and The Growth Hub.
Meticulously compiled after months of research by SoGlos’s journalists, businesses are ranked by turnover, ranging from £26,080,833 for Greiner Bio-One in Stonehouse, right up to £1,204,113,000 for St. James’s Place in Cirencester, demonstrating the incredible contributions these big businesses make to the local and global economy.
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