AIS won’t be a household name for most of us, but if you work in a sector where sub-sea safety is a priority, in defence, off-shore wind, marine, chemicals, power, ports, harbours or own an electric vehicle, then it’s a different story.

The business is global, employs more than 800 staff and develops and produces insulation that delivers vital safety barriers in all kinds of sectors - from protecting you should your electric car catch fire to blast-resistant materials for our Royal Navy vessels.

And Advanced Innergy Holdings, which has its UK headquarters in Quedgeley West Business Park (and uses HCR Law in Cheltenham as its solicitors) has just published its latest financial results.

It’s a report that shows considerable growth, bodes well for 2026, and marks AIS out as a firm well and truly deserving of a place in our Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series, which tracks the fortunes of our county’s biggest firms by turnover.

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A leading wine distributor based in Cheltenham, with a turnover in excess of £64m - making it part of our Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series - has been sold.

Off-Piste Wines, founded by Ant Fairbank and Paul Letheren in 2007, has grown into one of the UK’s favourite suppliers.

The business partnered with the investor BGF (Business Growth Fund) in 2019 to help drive its growth, and saw it develop its own brands including Most Wanted and The Wanderer labels.

That relationship has now come to a happy ending for both parties, with the sale of the business to Terold Invest SL, one of the largest family-owned, world wine groups.

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A housebuilder from Gloucestershire has merged with another business to create one of the UK’s largest housing associations.

The deal is said to mark a “significant milestone” in the group’s long-term strategy to deliver more genuinely affordable homes, and continuing to invest in, or regenerate, existing homes and services.

The merger brings together the joint forces of Tewkesbury-headquartered Bromford Flagship and Exeter-based LiveWest.

Robert Nettleton (pictured above), former group chief executive officer of Bromford Flagship, will become chief executive of Bromford Flagship LiveWest (BFL), with Jac Starr, former chairman of LiveWest, becoming group chairman of BFL.

Together the organisation will serve close to 300,000 customers across the South West, east and central area.

Nettleton said: “Almost three million people are using food banks, more than 170,000 children are living in temporary accommodation, and as a country we’re building fewer than 15,000 social rent homes a year against a need for 90,000.

“It is incumbent upon housing associations to step up and work with government and other key stakeholders to do more, and that’s why this merger makes so much sense.

“By bringing Bromford Flagship and LiveWest together, we’re unlocking an additional £1.5bn in capacity between now and 2040 – in addition to the £1.9bn we unlocked last year taking us to a total of £3.4bn in additional capacity.

“That means we can deliver over 50,000 new homes by 2040, including around 7,000 more than would have been possible as Bromford Flagship or LiveWest alone.

“That’s thousands of families and individuals each year getting the affordable homes they need to build or rebuild their lives and ultimately thrive.”

ProCook, the Gloucestershire-headquartered online and in-store kitchenware retailer, says it is confident of delivering a a strong full-year performance.

The Gloucester-based business has revealed it delivered a record peak-season performance and outperformed the market over the Christmas period.

It means that ProCook has now delivered nine consecutive quarters of retail growth, and the company believes there is more to come.

Lee Tappenden, the firm’s chief executive officer, said: “We are firmly on track to achieve our medium-term ambition of 100 UK retail stores, £100m revenue and 10 per cent operating profit margin.”

Revenue in the 13 weeks to 4 January increased 28 per cent to £32.8m.

Which helps explain why the business is included in The Raikes Journal’s Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire Series, sponsored by Randall & Payne, which tracks the fortunes of the county’s biggest firms by turnover.

Apparently this means the business outperformed the UK kitchenware market by approximately 30 per cent during the quarter.

Tappenden said the achievements were down to “continued disciplined investment”, which had also seen its active customer base growing to new heights.

It opened four new stores during the final quarter of 2025 and 10 across the financial year to grow its portfolio to 75.

ProCook was founded by former software engineer Daniel O’Neill in 1996, beginning with a single advertisement in the BBC Good Food Magazine, which generated £77,000 in sales from a 12-piece cookware set priced at £199.

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Cotswold-based labour supply specialist to UK infrastructure sector, Hercules, has announced new contracts worth around £6.5 million.

The latest news refers to contracts in the water sector. The South Cerney-based business will supply staff to Galliford Try, Costain, Tilbury Douglas, MWH Treatment, Glanua and Thames Water UK-wide.

The majority of that work, an estimated £4.5 million, will be delivered in the Thames Water region and £1m each in Severn Trent and Anglian Water areas.

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One of Gloucestershire's biggest businesses, home-grown Brockworth-headquartered Mears plc, has reported “a period of strong operational, financial and strategic performance” for its first six months of the year.

Lucas Critchley, the firm’s chief executive officer, was upbeat despite a fall in revenue of four per cent (from £580 million to £559.4m) - probably helped by the increase in pre-tax profits by five per cent to £32 million.

The scale of its financials make it a focus for The Raikes Journal’s Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series, which follows the fortunes of the county’s biggest firms by turnover and which we cover on in our Reports and Deals channel.

Critchley said: “We have continued to make progress against each of our key strategic goals; delivering growth in maintenance activities, developing a full compliance and asset management offer, and positioning the group to deliver additional housing services to central Government.

“Importantly, we have continued to do the basics well, which underpins our drive for both service excellence and strengthening commercial performance.”

Mears employs an estimated 5,000 staff UK-wide and manages and maintains an estimated 450,000 homes across the UK and works predominantly with central Government and local government, typically through long-term contracts.

Everything you read on Raikes is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne; our sponsors Hartpury University and Hartpury College; our Founding Members and all our wonderful paying subscribers. A massive ‘thank you’ to you all for making this community interest company possible. Please do spread the word about what we do and encourage others to sign-up!

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Major Gloucestershire employer, aerospace legend Safran, has said it is confident for the future.

The firm, which has a major landing gear manufacturing plant at Staverton, between Gloucester and Cheltenham, said the sector was in a “positive” place and the future looked bright.

The comments, from its chief executive officer Olivier Andriès, came after the Paris Air Show - and accompanied the French firm’s half-year results.

Andriès said: “The Paris Air Show confirmed the sector’s underlying trends and underscored the promising growth outlook for both civil aerospace and defence.

“Reflecting this positive environment, Safran delivered excellent results in the first half of 2025 achieving a record operating margin of 17 per cent as well as unprecedented cash generation, driven by robust civil engine aftermarket activities.

“In the light of this strong performance, we are raising our full-year guidance on all metrics and reiterate our confidence in our mid-term outlook.

“On the trade front, we welcome the progress made on transatlantic tariff exemption for most aerospace products, and remain vigilant and proactive in managing any residual exposure.

“On July 21, Safran achieved a major strategic milestone with the closing of the acquisition of the Collins Aerospace actuation and flight control business.”

H1 2025 revenue stood at (euros) €14,769 million, up by 13.2 per cent compared to H1 2024 (plus 13.2 per cent on an organic basis).

Everything you read on Raikes is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne; our sponsors Hartpury University and Hartpury College; our Founding Members and all our wonderful paying subscribers. A massive ‘thank you’ to you all for making this community interest company possible. Please do spread the word about what we do and encourage others to sign-up!

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The biggest firm by turnover in Gloucestershire has reported a “strong” operating and financial performance for its first half of 2025.

Cotswold-based FTSE firm St James’s Place has taken on board £10.5 billion of funds to manage in that period, up from £8.5 billion in the same period in 2024.

Retention “remained high” too, according to the wealth management experts, at 95.3 per cent - up from 2024’s 94.6 per cent for the same period.

There has been, said the business, “continued growth in client numbers and advisor headcount”.

Mark FitzPatrick, chief executive officer at the Cirencester-headquartered firm, said: “I am pleased to report strong operating and financial performance in the first half of 2025.”

St James’s Place continues to make progress in delivering on a “new simple, comparable charging structure to be in place from 26 August 2025” and its “cost and efficiency programme”.

FitzPatrick said the firm was “confident in delivering against our plan to take around £100 million out of our addressable cost base by 2027”.

In December last year St James’s Place announced plans to cut 500 jobs, representing about one-sixth of its 3,200-strong workforce. Read that here.

Everything you read on Raikes is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne; our sponsors Hartpury University and Hartpury College; our Founding Members and all our wonderful paying subscribers. A massive ‘thank you’ to you all for making this community interest company possible. Please do spread the word about what we do and encourage others to sign-up!

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It’s been a month of extremes for Gloucester Rugby’s biggest corporate partner, which has seen it achieve everything from having a doughnut named after it (we kid you not) to revealing just how it’s faring financially too.

When the Kingsholm club reopened its newly purchased bar, The Heritage Bar, on Kingsholm Road, this month (July) it revealed a space that now accommodates the club shop (in collaboration with technical kit partner Macron) as well as coffee chain Guilt Trip.

And as part of the grand reveal that coffee chain, which also has a cafe at Gloucester Docks as well as in Cheltenham, proudly unveiled a surprise of its own - ‘THE BiGDUG’ doughnut, a ‘thank you’ to the club’s main sponsor.

As for BiGDUG, which took over from long-standing sponsor of Gloucester Rugby, Mitsubishi Motors, four years ago, as impressed as it surely must have been by the ever so sweet tribute from Guilt Trip, it had other things on its mind.

The Gloucester-headquartered business, an expert in storage solutions ranging from shelving and racking to workshop kit and flooring, was preparing to officially publish how well it had fared over the 12 months of its last full financial year.

It’s a performance it also suggests sets it up for bigger things to come.

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A firm followed by The Raikes Journal as part of its Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series has revealed it’s set for more growth after a multi million pound takeover - made possible by another Gloucestershire firm.

Hercules, the Cotswolds-based supplier of skilled and semi-skilled workers for major infrastructure construction projects, has bought Advantage NRG Ltd for a consideration of up to £15.7 million.

The Preston-headquartered firm provides skilled staff to major utility contractors to work on overhead powerlines, refurbishing, upgrading, dismantling and constructing high voltage transmission systems.

It is a deal that is expected to add millions of pounds more to the turnover of its Cirencester-based owner, with the Lancashire businesses turning over £11.1 million for the year ending February 28 2025, with pre-tax profits of £1.7 million.

Paul Wheatcroft, Hercules’ chief financial officer, said: “This acquisition is a transformational step for Hercules. It not only gives us a strong foothold in the power and energy sector but also supports our mission to meet the UK’s growing demand for skilled infrastructure labour.

“Advantage NRG’s reputation and capabilities are a perfect fit for our long-term growth strategy.”

It was a deal made possible by Staverton and Cheltenham-based accountants Hazlewoods’ corporate finance team.

Rich Grover, corporate finance director at Hazlewoods, said: “Advantage NRG is a high-quality business with a strong track record in a rapidly growing sector.

“This deal represents a significant step forward in Hercules’ diversification strategy and positions them well to benefit from the UK’s energy transition.”

According to analysts the deal reflects Hercules’ forward-looking strategy of expanding into sectors with long-term growth potential as the UK increases investment into the energy sector and the resilience of the national grid.

National Grid itself plans to invest £58 million to support a projected 64 per cent increase in electricity demand by 2035, which includes everything from offshore energy grids, reinforcement of thousands of miles of existing network, and building a north-to-south electricity network.

Everything you read on Raikes is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne; our sponsors Hartpury University and Hartpury College; our Founding Members and all our wonderful paying subscribers. A massive ‘thank you’ to you all for making this community interest company possible. Please do spread the word about what we do and encourage others to sign-up!

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When Elaine and Paul Lewis founded their IT business in 1989 the idea of selling it to a multi-million pound turnover American firm would probably not have been on their radar – but that’s what has just happened.

And that deal, which has seen the their company, Kemble-based Cadventure, acquired by US-headquartered infrastructure engineering software company Bentley Systems, was made possible by another Gloucestershire business.

It was the corporate finance team at county accountants Hazlewoods that advised on the successful sale of Cadventure, which is described as “a provider of industry-leading software used by architects, engineers, and designers of major infrastructure projects worldwide”.

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As we play catch-up on some of the organisations featured in our rolling Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series, which follows the fortunes of the county’s biggest businesses by turnover, we come across the National Star Foundation.

Before you get to its financial data in its latest annual report you get to numbers outlining the impact of what it does - support young adults with disabilities and learning difficulties.

It is simply astonishing.

The report, for the year ending 31 August 2024, show that those young people benefitted to the tune of 1,064,531 hours of service.

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Major wood wholesaler Panel Supplies has spelled out just how difficult the headwinds have been that impacted its business in its last financial year.

The multi-million pound turnover firm endured a fall in its bottom line of more than 10 per cent.

And profits at the Stonehouse headquartered operation also fell. It is the second year on the trot that the firm has endured difficult market conditions and a significant cut in revenue.

But despite the significant trend it remains part of The Raikes Journal’s Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series, which tracks the financial fortunes of the county’s biggest firms by turnover.

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A Gloucestershire-headquartered firm that is a leading wholesaler of computers, software and computer and telecommunications equipment has achieved a turnover in excess of £220 million last year.

The Cotswolds-based business reported an increase in revenue of more than 11 per cent compared to the same period of the previous financial year, with operating profit almost doubling.

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Major Gloucestershire employer, Cheltenham-headquartered engineering firm Spirax Sarco, has reported a fall in profits.

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I hope your week has gone well so far.

Welcome to our Thursday story ahead of Friday’s full edition. Those of you who follow Raikes will know our Monday’s publications are full editions, complete with news briefing notes, a picture story, focus on a county charity and then our big read lead story.

Thursday has morphed into a lead in its own right, usually long-form like most of our leads, and will arrive sometimes paywalled as we seek to make sustainable what we do - provide an independent, Gloucestershire-focused, journalistically and editorially-led digital magazine.

Today it’s a story about a business group that is one of the biggest operations by turnover in the county, and whose founder is fast-becoming the most high profile and maybe one of the most influential business leaders of the current era. Certainly the most high profile.

We don’t reveal too much about who it is just yet, or which business it is, because we want you to read the story. But some of you will have already guessed who it is.

Fridays sees another full edition sent out, and that will be the case tomorrow. And while you will be able to read the bulk of what is featured on that day’s editions it is more than likley a paywall will fall across part of its main long-form lead too (but not always). A paywall also falls across almost all of our copy after two weeks.

We have paying members who support us to think of - and it is them, our Founding Members, especially our Founding Partners and the others who hire our services to cover stories who enable to to do what we do - provide original journalism for the county. We think of that as our USP, but most of all - we hope you like it.

Best regards,

Andrew Merrell (editor).

If you have a story, an issue, a news item, a charity or an interview you want us to write about or investigate, challenge the powers that be on, then please email me: andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk.

NB: We believe Raikes now publishes probably the best-read business-related email ‘newsletter’, pound for pound, in Gloucestershire. Readership is growing and 2025 looks good!

* The Raikes Journal is a community interest company. Everything you read by us is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne, our sponsors Hartpury University and Hartpury College, our Founding Members and wonderful paying subscribers.

If you subscribe and invite friends to The Raike Journal you will earn rewards towards complimentary membership (three referrals will get you one month, 10 will get you three months and 25 will win you six months).

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If you upgrade to paid you’ll be part of this CIC too. We are dedicated to delivering quality journalism for Gloucestershire, to championing the county, in particular its businesses, charities, education and training providers, and to helping create an even stronger community. If you upgrade to paid you will be able to see past the paywalls often put on our second and third email editions of the week, that lock all our archive after two weeks and lock our rolling Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series. You will be able to comment on our stories too. You’ll be helping make this CIC sustainable to deliver more original articles on our county.

You can sign up to receive your two extra editions a week and see past all our paywalls for just £2.30 a week - or £1.80 a week if two or more people sign up at once. Or go all in and become one of our Founding Partners or Founding Members!

Market forces prune Gloucestershire’s green giant

One of Gloucestershire’s very biggest group of businesses, in the top 10 by turnover alone, has just got markedly smaller – but no less exciting, and its leader no less determined to change the world.

By Andrew Merrell.

One of Gloucestershire’s top 10 biggest businesses by turnover saw its bottom line fall away significantly last year and profits disappear as it recorded a loss of several million pounds.

It’s a business group that declares its mission statement is ‘to fight climate change’ and to promote sustainability in all walks of life, with the vision of making a Green Britain and reducing the use of fossil fuels.

if you know the county well, you’ll probably have guessed who it is by now.

But it is also a group that last year saw its gross profits fall from £144.1 million to £95 million for the year ending 30 April 2024, with net profits plummeting from £38.3 million to a £7.8 million loss.

Despite all that, and climbing to an estimated top 4 in our Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series, sponsored by Randall & Payne (which follows the financial fortunes of the county’s biggest firms by turnover) its turnover is such that it remains in the top 10.

And it remains no less ambitious.

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Gloucestershire-based BookCheck has revealed it has bought the payroll client base of the Essex firm of chartered accountants and tax advisors, Rickard Luckin, and is on the lookout for similar opportunities.

The Essex-based business operates throughout the South East with offices in Basildon, Chelmsford and Southend-on-Sea, and six of its staff will move to BookCheck as part of the deal.

James Wetherall, managing director of BookCheck, which is based near Stroud, said the firm’s core strategy is to “expand its payroll client base significantly, both through organic growth and acquisition”.

“We do anticipate carrying out more acquisitions of this nature in the future, so would encourage directors or partners in accountancy firms that want to focus on their core services and find a new home for their payroll clients, to get in touch us,” said Wetherall.

“We are also very interested in hearing from firms who want to refer any future payroll clients to us, as we have a highly scalable model in place”.

Steve Revill, managing director of Rickard Luckin, said the deal with BookCheck was the “best way” forward for its clients and would provide them with a “long-term, sustainable and scalable payroll service”.

Wetherall said the deal delivered “a significant increase in the number of companies' payrolls that BookCheck will now manage”.

BookCheck was started in 1994 by Anthony Pilkington. Today its services include payroll and Xero or Sage book-keeping together with management accounts - thoroughly checked and issued personally by a qualified accountant.

Everything you read on Raikes is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne; our sponsors Hartpury University and Hartpury College; our Founding Members and all our wonderful paying subscribers. A massive ‘thank you’ to you all for making this community interest company possible. Please do spread the word about what we do and encourage others to sign-up!

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One of the best-known engineering firms in Gloucestershire, and a major employer in the county, quietly returned to profit last year in some style, boosted by a 29 per cent increase in turnover.

The Tewkesbury-based business has customers world-wide, is part of a much bigger American-owned group that services the aerospace, defence and industrial markets.

As Raikes seeks to catch up with some of the outstanding results of 2024 as part of our Top 100 business in Gloucestershire series, sponsored by Randall & Payne, we turn our attention to Moog Controls Ltd, which employs 524 staff (up from 500 the previous year) at its UK headquarters at Ashchurch, Tewkesbury.

The Top 100 series follows the financial fortunes of the county’s biggest firms by turnover.

Back in 2023 the Moog Controls confirmed its commitment to the county by opening a new £40 million manufacturing facility beside its existing base off the A46.

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Measurement specialist Sempre Group, a Gloucester-based firm which works with more than 25 “well-known manufacturers” including the likes of county engineering giant Renishaw, has been sold for £5.5 million.

The Barnwood-based business, which was founded in 2000, is said to have a “deep industrial knowledge and an established salesa and services organisation”, as well as a profitable track record driven by anual growth revenues of eight per cent over the last four years.

The firm, which reported revenue of £6.5 million in the year ending 31 December 2023 and a profit before tax of £0.7m and which has net assets of £1.7m, has been bought by Oxford Metrics plc, a smart sensing and software company, servicing life sciences, entertainment and engineering markets.

According to Oxford it paid £5.5 million for the Gloucestershre business, to be funded through a a cash consideration of £5 million from existing resources and up to £0.5 million through an earnout contingent on Sempre meeting business performance targets.

Mike John, founder of Sempre, said: “As part of Oxford Metrics, Sempre will have access, advice and the resources to scale and expand to new markets and geographies.

“One of our key criteria for exiting the business was ensuring we found the right home to take Sempre to the next level.

“Oxford Metrics is exactly that, it shares our company culture and values and has a track record of supporting and growing growth businesses.”

Jim Mangan, director of Sempre, said, “Sempre provides high quality, accurate and reliable metrology solutions so Oxford Metrics, with its track record in precise measurement, revolutionising processes through its technology and software is the perfect fit to take us to the next stage of our development.

“We’re really excited to be joining as the group accelerates its focus and offering in smart manufacturing.”

Imogen O’Connor, chief executive officer of Oxford Metrics, said the deal “strengthens our smart manufacturing division” and “brings us a deep pool of industry knowledge, an established sales and services organisation plus access to new customers, partners and products, taking us into new markets”.

She added: “To continue growing our smart manufacturing division our investment strategy needs to be in both people and products with clear commercial and technical synergies.

“Today highly accurate, error-proof production is mission critical. Sempre helps blue-chip manufacturers to be more efficient and improve quality – ultimately saving time and money.

“As smart manufacturing increasingly becomes the standard, we welcome our new colleagues and move forward together to capture more of this important market.”

Everything you read on Raikes is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne; our sponsors Hartpury University and Hartpury College; our Founding Members and all our wonderful paying subscribers. A massive ‘thank you’ to you all for making this community interest company possible. Please do spread the word about what we do and encourage others to sign-up!

At the start of this year Cotswolds-headquartered Hercules Site Services was predicting a slow-down in growth after three consequentive years at 55 per cent.

The Cirencester-based plc supplies labour to the civil engineering sector for the likes of highways projects and to the rail industry and specialised operators for the water sector.

As it summed up its first full year of trading as an AIM-listed company Hercules said it did not predict such high levels of organic growth to continue, although it did say its pipelines for 2024 remained “robust”.

Then at the end of March it released its interim results and in a change of tune revealed its growth remained impressive, with revenues rising from £37 million to £48.8 million for the period.

It’s now made it official just how good 2024 has actually turned out with a trading statement for the year ending 30 September saying it expects to reveal record results with revenues of more than £105 million - an increase of 24 per cent on the year before (£87 million).

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