Energy technology company Fotech has secured 6.5 million pounds venture funding from Scottish Equity Partners, Energy Ventures and Saudi Arabia-based Shoaibi Group to commercialise its pioneering solutions for the monitoring and surveillance of oil and gas wells and pipelines.

Fotech, which is headed by Chief Executive Douglas Gibson, has developed optical fibre-based acoustic monitoring systems with a wide range of applications. These include the oil and gas industry which requires high-performance systems to detect pipeline leaks and other problems. (more…)

The Hogg Robinson Group, with head offices in Basingstoke, saw the The Emirates Group taking a stake in the corporate travel market with a subsidiary of the Dubai based company taking an 18.7 per cent stake this week.

Dnata, bought 57.3m shares and said the stake was “for investment purposes” stating that it had no intention of making a formal offer for Hogg Robinson and intended to be “a long-term, supportive shareholder”.

However, it added that it reserved the right to make an offer for the travel management company.

Hogg Robinson issued a statement in response, saying it had worked successfully with Dnata for several years “and welcome them as a long-term supportive shareholder in HRG”.

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A multimillion pound deal to finance the management buy-out of Hollybourne Hotels, owners of The Red Lion Hotel in Basingstoke, has been funded by Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets.

The Hollybourne Group, which has hotels in Basingstoke and Alton and an annual turnover of £7 million, has become renowned for offering first class venues for business conferences, corporate events and weddings. (more…)

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has announced that outsourcing firm Capita is its preferred bidder in the gas installer registration scheme tender meaning current registrar CORGI, based in Basingstoke, has been appointed reserve bidder.

CORGI expressed its disappointment with the decision but said it would work to ensure a smooth transition process between scheme providers. It stressed the decision would have no disruptive impact on the day-to-day running of CORGI-registered businesses. (more…)

Scott Wilson Group plc, has announced another consecutive year of strong revenue, profit and margin growth, which looks set to continue with an increased order book. The Group has doubled in size over the past few years and from its Basingstoke headquarters and currently controls a worldwide network of 80 offices.

Revenue for 2008 was up 24.2% on last year with a 29.9% rise in operating profit to £19.1m. (more…)

With businesses in the UK increasingly mandated to curb their carbon emissions, reduce their oil dependency and adopt responsible environmental initiatives, Linde Material Handling, a world leader in forklift production and material handling, has taken a major leap forward in providing viable eco-friendly solutions.

Based locally in Basingstoke, Linde has recently unveiled a series of new product designs in development that are intended for eventual use within the UK market.  These designs will incorporate environmentally-friendly hybrid solutions aimed at maximising fuel efficiency. (more…)

Basingstoke shopfitters, Routledge and Young, took the Gold prize for “Best Supermarket and Food Project of the year 2008″ for the second year in a row at this years Shopfitting and Display Industry Awards held on June 18th.

The award was to mark the company’s work at Tesco Nailsea, a project completed in the early part of 2008 and comes hot on the heels of their 2007 award for Somerfield Broadstone, a market fresh concept.

Karen Routledge, Business Development Manager said:

What an achievement, two years in a row, and for two of our largest clients, we are delighted.

Now all of the celebrations have calmed down though, it’s back to the hard work of performing well for another entry for next year. After all you’re only ever as good as your last job and luckily for us, ours comes with the title of ‘Best Supermarket and Food Project of the year’. It would be great to get three in a row!

Richard Routledge, Contracts Director of R&Y  and Lorraine O’Sullivan, Development Manager at Tesco collect the award.

Kind-hearted Early Learning Centre, of The Malls, Basingstoke, came to the aid of of a local children’s nursery recently with a gift of over £200 worth of toys, following a raid in May.

The Hatchlings Nursery, in Worting Road, had most of its outdoor toys stolen. Katy Stubbington, sales manager at the Basingstoke shop, was reading an article in The Basingstoke Gazette, about the theft, and persuaded her bosses to help out. (more…)

Linde Material Handling (UK) Ltd has installed three K range very narrow aisle trucks at the recently expanded Davies Turner freight and logistics hub in Bristol. To enable pallet retrieval from this location, Davies Turner needed a truck with a substantial lift height capability of over 16 metres - an industry first. Linde, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of forklifts and warehouse equipment, was able to effectively deliver the solution. The lift heights of these newly acquired Linde trucks currently exceed those of any application on record.

Roger Lucy, Director for Davies Turner said,

Linde were able to meet the specific requirements that we had in Avonmouth. They helped us gain maximum benefit from our new building and I am very pleased with the final outcome.

Part of the Linde package also included training one of the five Davies Turner operators at Linde’s headquarters in Basingstoke on a ‘train the trainer’ course enabling him to train his colleagues in the safe operation of this specialised equipment.

More from 24-7.

Today saw the official launch of Inspire 08 at The Anvil in Basingstoke, with speeches from Councillor George Hood, Mayor of Basingstoke; Phil Wilding of Business Link; James Hague of last years Business of the Year - Daisy’s Dairy (pictured) - and Andrew Finney, leader of Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council.

Inspire 08 promises to be bigger and better than last years event event for Basingstoke & Deane, with seminars and network opportunities with the highlight being the Inspire 08 Business Awards, with four added categories for 2008 to cover:

• Business of the Year
• Exporter of the Year
• Rural Business of the Year
• Sustainable Business of the Year
• E-Business of Year
• Basingstoke Business Personality of the Year
• New Business of the Year
• Business Woman of the Year
• Employer of the Year

Basingstoke-based businesses are being encouraged to enter the Inspire 08 Business Awards with some encouraging words from James Hague, who spoke about the opportunities his business had derived from winning last years award.

As ever, the event will be covered heavily in The Gazette and there is also the Inspire website, with contact details for your business entry, or for sponsor opportunities and table reservations for the event.

Picture below, Councillor Andrew Finney.