Businesses begin pitching for a share of ‘£500,000,000’
The first of a series of special events has seen Gloucestershire SMEs pitch to a major buyer organisation. Here’s what happened, when the next events are due and how you can take part.
Dear reader,
Welcome to Friday’s email edition of The Raikes Journal.
For the main story today we report on a momentous moment for Gloucestershire - the launch of a market place which puts vetted SMEs in front of some of the county’s biggest spending businesses to forge commercial partnerships.
We’re talking about the first Meet the Buyer event staged at Patch Gloucester by the Together Gloucestershire team that’s created the market place, an event which saw firms pitch for a share of a £1m pot.
We’re so impressed by the project we’ve made it one of our Raikes Rewards articles, a series for 2026 we’re running showcasing the achievements of businesses, charities, education and training providers. A series made possible by sponsors Willans LLP Solicitors and leadership development experts QuoLux.
The launch followed in the footsteps of an increasing number choosing to host their business events in Gloucester, which we think says a lot about the rise of the city.
Luke Lutman, ceo of the city’s chamber of commerce, told us: “Gloucester is finally growing into its role as Gloucestershire’s capital.”
We also celebrate two Gloucester firms winning a 2026 King’s Awards for Enterprise. And in keeping with the Gloucester theme, we also mention the opening of the Coro Lounge café-bar on King’s Square.
And speaking of pitches… we explain why The Raikes Journal should be on your partner if you want your business to be found online as AI changes everything about how we find businesses online. Only two out of 10 internet searches now result in clicks through to websites. You’re more likely to be found if a trusted, third party source - like The Raikes Journal - writes and posts about you.
AI likes Raikes and will reference it over your website if we mention you. Our recent story on the business club event at Gloucester Rugby had 3,700-plus impression in our LinkedIn channel, nearly 3,000 through our Facebook page and 1,000-plus on our website. That’s about par for us. Know anyone who can beat that?
Have a great weekend.
Best regards,
Editor | 07956 926061 | LinkedIn: Andrew Merrell | andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk
AI is causing plummeting website visitor numbers. Here’s part of the solution…
You can social media your own stories all you like, but there is nothing more powerful when it comes to being found online as also having an independent, trusted, credible, third party website writing about you.
With the advent of our new ‘best friend’, AI (artificial intelligence), only two out of 10 internet searches now result in someone clicking on a link to a traditional website now. AI prioritises data from trusted third-party sites first and delivers that as its answer to internet searches.
If you want your business to be found more through online you should consider a special relationship with The Raikes Journal. It’s the only independent, trusted, third party, journalistically-led business news platform in Gloucestershire, and that’s why AI likes us so much.
AI also loves LinkedIn. If we run your story on one of our email editions, we predict you’ll have between 700 and 1,000 pairs of eyes on it through Raikes as a minimum and, at a very conservative estimate, a minimum of 1,000 more pairs of eyes via LinkedIn. That’s not how many followers we publish to on LinkedIn (we have close to 12,000 connections); that’s how many impressions you’ll get. Although you can usually double that last figure.
Our recent story on the Gloucester Rugby Business Club, sponsored by Willans LLP solicitors, had 3,700-plus impressions in our LinkedIn channel, nearly 3,000 through our Facebook page and 1,000-plus on our email newsletter. So nearly 8,000 impressions. That’s not unusual for us. Know anyone who can beat that?
We rarely clock fewer than 2,000 impressions per post on LinkedIn. That’s not counting shares or re-posts. That means if we run your story on one of our editions, more than 3,000 people will see it at least. We’ve touched 10,000 impressions for one edition recently on LinkedIn alone.
If any other local or regional business news website nationally or locally says they can beat that, ask them to show you the figures.
To find out how you get a special relationship with Raikes so we look at your stories, email our editor, Andrew Merrell.
Businesses and organisations at least need to become Founding Members, and individuals need to become paid-up subscribers to benefit.
The weekend ahead…
Friday 8 May:
🏉 Gloucester Rugby play Sale Sharks at 6.45pm.
🎸 Band The Wonder Stuff play The Sub Rooms in Stroud tonight at 8pm.
🎸 The House of Love play Gloucester Guild Hall. Doors open at 7.30pm.
Saturday:
🕺🏼💃🏼🕺🏼💃🏼 Abba Gold take to the stage at The Sub Rooms in Stroud tonight from 7.30pm.
📽️ Paula Rego, Secrets and Stories – Film Screening at The Wilson in Cheltenham. A unique and intimate insight into the life and work of Paula Rego, directed by her son, filmmaker Nick Willing.
📽️ Want something arty, original, funny and inspiring? Don’t we all. This film, DJ Ahmet, could be it. Running until Monday at The Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury.
Sunday:
🎻🎶 Verdi Requiem. From 7pm at The Sub Rooms in Stroud.
Briefing notes…
👑👑 Businesses crowned with King’s Award named: Awards for innovation in the 2026 King’s Awards for Enterprise have gone to Gloucester businesses Avantis Education and Advanced Innergy. The awards recognise the development of cutting-edge products and services with national and international impact. Avantis Education is based on Waterwells Business Park, Quedgeley, and employs 60 staff. Advanced Innergy on Quedgeley West Business Park. The firm employs 565.
Avantis Education was recognised by the King’s Awards for its ClassVR, a virtual and augmented reality platform for the education sector, with Advanced Innergy recognised for developing NjordGuard, a product that protects subsea power cables at offshore wind farms and pipelines that transmit electricity to shore.
Only last week we ran a story about the firm in our Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series, which tracks the fortunes of our county’s biggest firms by turnover, revealing a growth in turnover for the Advanced Innergy Holdings group to £150.5 million. You can read that here.
🎉🍻🥂 At risk of the whole edition being rather Gloucester-centric: Multi-million pound cafe-bar chain Loungers opened its much-anticipated new venue on the corner of Gloucester’s new-look King’s Square. Coro is a reinvention of the former Chambers pub, just as you leave the square for the new Forum development. According to the business its spaces are ‘neighbourhood cafe-bars, combining elements of a restaurant, British pub, coffee shop culture’. Founded by three friends from Bristol, the operation now has 291 sites across England and Wales under its Cosy Club, Lounge and Brightside brand names and turns over more than £400m a year.
🎉 B2B Data Solutions Agency Expands with Head of Data and AI: Acquirz, an award-winning Cheltenham-based B2B data solutions and email marketing agency, has appointed Kevin Smith as head of data and AI, and Kelly Merchant as campaign manager. The new hires continue a period of growth and recruitment for the agency, following its recent acquisition of Marketscan, a UK-based organisation with more than 40 years delivering full-service data-led marketing. More here.
👩🔬👷🏽👩🏿💼👩🏽🍳Gloucestershire College is starting the following new apprenticeships programmes in 2026: Mechatronics Maintenance Technician Level 3 Apprenticeship (enrolling now), Administration Assistant Level 2 Apprenticeship (August), Construction Build & Design Technician Level 4 Apprenticeship (enrolling now), Catering & Hospitality Foundation Apprenticeship (coming in 2026) and Apprenticeship units (coming soon/register your interest). There are also openings on its Accountancy Apprenticeships (AAT - Levels 2, 3 and 4) starting in September. More here.
The Raikes Journal is a community interest company. Everything you read is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People, our sponsors, our Founding Members and wonderful paying subscribers.
Readers who upgrade to become a paid subscriber become part of this CIC too (from £2.30 a week). It helps make us sustainable, allows you to see past the paywalls, comment on our stories, and know you’re making possible the county’s only editorially-led digital magazine dedicated to delivering quality journalism for Gloucestershire about its businesses, charities, education and training sectors.
Raikes is the only independent website approved to use the BBC’s local Government copy. It recognises Raikes as independent journalism.
Businesses begin pitching for a share of ‘£500,000,000’
Imagine a business with £1m to spend invites you to pitch for a share. The first of many such opportunities. Be good wouldn’t it? That’s exactly what’s just happened at an event in Gloucestershire.
Two years ago we reported on a project that aimed to get Gloucestershire’s many brilliant small and medium-sized businesses in front of the county’s very largest buyer organisations to pitch to become their partners.
Since then we’ve been tracking the emergence of that project, Together Gloucestershire, and its efforts to create the ingredients for that marketplace – a stable of big businesses looking to spend locally and a vetted directory of SMEs they can browse at will.
What happened on Wednesday 29 April was the culmination of all that work – a live event that put WSP – one of the organisations supporting Gloucestershire County Council’s highways delivery – in the room to meet some of those SMEs and hear what they had to offer.
And we’re so impressed we’ve made it one of our Raikes Rewards articles, a series we’re running through the year showcasing the achievements of businesses, charities, education and training providers.
WSP is one of four delivery partners for Gloucestershire County Council’s highways department, working alongside three other major contractors, Ringway, Tarmac and M Group. The contract is valued at around £29m and supports a wider programme of highways activity with c.£100m of capital spend.
Over the course of its four-year contract (starting in April 2025 - with an option of a two-year extension) WSP aims to deliver £7.1m of social value to Gloucestershire, with more than 11 per cent of the contract value returning to the county too (a figure it exceeded in year one).
The important bit for those SME’s lucky enough to get in the room with the firm’s contracts director, Anna Wilson, was that WSP is looking to work with more local suppliers and build relationships across the county’s supply chain so it can spend up to around £1m.
“We have not been involved in anything quite like this ever before. I was involved in another region in something similar, but without the filter, and it was not successful.
“Working with Together Gloucestershire has really been worthwhile because it has already made sure the companies fit our criteria and are relevant,” said Wilson.
“Engaging with local business is essential. We have a new tag line - ‘we’re locally dedicated with international scale’.”
Richard Dodd is managing director and founder of Wildwood Ecology, a Stroud-headquartered ecological consultancy specialising in surveying, arboriculture, and environmental planning across Gloucestershire and South Wales.
He was one of those lucky enough to land an appointment with Wilson.
“It’s a brilliant opportunity,” said Dodd.
“We have the skills a business like WSP needs, we know that. But coming along here today is about relationship building, showing WSP where we can benefit it and make a difference.
“I think WSP is looking for businesses that reflect its values. Yes, price is important, but there is more involved for it, and this allows us to talk about how we can do all that too.
“We are a B Corp as well, so we are value-led. It’s not just about doing a deal; it’s about what impact that deal will have on the environment too, but also on health and wellbeing and community. We can help it ensure the impact is positive.”
According to Adam Vines, who has led the Together Gloucestershire team of volunteers that’s driven the project, if big businesses increased their spend in the county by just five per cent it would amount to an additional £550,000,000 being spent here annually.
The first set of pitches were underway when we spoke to Vines.
“We’re really pleased with how today is going,” he said, as we looked out across the event space at Patch in Gloucester and a full room of SME representatives.
For many, Together Gloucestershire’s choice to launch at The Forum in the new co-working space that is Patch Gloucester is another sign of the changing dynamic driving the rise of the city’s status.
Vines added: “You can be really good at what you do, but unless you can demonstrate it - unless that big business knows you are there and can solve their problem, that you tick all their criteria for what they are looking for from a partner - you’re just another person knocking at the door and they probably won’t come out.
“When you become part of Together Gloucestershire (TG) the buyer can see who you are, they can see what you do and get an immediate idea of your business - whether you are a B Corp or not, for example.
“The whole thing about TG is about bringing these like-minded, ethical businesses together. It’s about connections. Large organisations need networks and this is creating one.
“It’s the old analogy that ‘people buy from people they like and can trust’. We are creating a network they can trust.”
Alex Hathway, commercial director for Nimble Elearning, was also at the event and sits within the Together Gloucester team.
Nimble Elearning specialises in providing a platform that allows businesses, organisations and other clients to create easily accessible online courses on almost any subject of their choice, with scores of off-the-shelf customisable courses too.
“We are Together Gloucestershire’s education partner. We’re putting together a course that will teach sole traders and other businesses how to get in front of corporate companies, so they can get ready to qualify for Together Gloucestershire,” said Hathway.
“We’re looking at the potential of some kind of Together Gloucestershire ‘tick’ (think ‘Kitemark’) for those who qualify through the course - something that corporates can have confidence in.”
Peter Allison, the mastermind behind the likes of The Gloucestershire Business Show, is also onboard. His expertise helped stage the event at Patch, with behind-the-scenes support from the team at Cheltenham-headquartered purpose-led strategic communications agency APT Marketing & PR.
“We plan to have one of these ‘meet the buyer’ events a month,” said Allison, adding that the dates are still being finalised.
However, Raikes can reveal that WSP was so impressed it’s already lining up a second event with the TG team for later this year. As is Hartpury University and Hartpury College.
Hitesh Patel, senior procurement and commercial professional at the university and college, said: “We plan to stage one of these at Hartpury in September.”
Some work still needed to be done, he said, but Hartpury was exploring the idea that businesses within the approved Together Gloucestershire stable would be able to bid directly through the TG website for contracts with it worth up to £50,000.
TG’s project partners already include county-based wealth management specialist St James’s Place, the biggest firm in the county by turnover, Publica, Cheltenham Borough Council, Cotswold District Council, Gloucestershire County Council, the Forest of Dean District Council and engineering giants Renishaw and Spirax Sarco.
Membership comes with a fee, which starts from £20 a year for a sole trader and £80 for a small business to £2,000 for a large business.
As for Together Gloucestershire choosing to launch the event in Gloucester and not Cheltenham, we asked Luke Lutman, chief executive officer of Gloucester Chamber of Commerce, what he thought that said about the changing face of the city.
“Gloucester is finally growing into its role as Gloucestershire’s capital with a real buzz around the Forum becoming a flagship development for the city,” said Lutman.
“Patch has stepped up to the plate and invested in an amazing space right in the city centre, supporting business groups and high level events like the Together Gloucestershire project launch and CyNam Tech Futures Summit attracting businesses from across the county and beyond to Gloucester.
“Gloucester is proving to be the place to do businesses with growing amenities, transport links, high standard housing and an incumbent high-skilled workforce.
“Businesses are now proud to hail from Gloucester with Fasthosts and Patch leading the way, lots more space is still available at the Forum for a bold business community to thrive.”