The Covid-19 pandemic has caused severe disruption to 海角视频 plc in 2020 - and the West of England is no exception.
The region's economy has been hit hard as major industries, such as hospitality and tourism, have struggled to operate under tight restrictions.
However, despite the challenges facing the region, a number of major business deals have still taken place in the South West this year. Here, we take a look at 20 of the biggest ones.
1. Scottish Power sells off 113 acres of land
The energy company sold off 113 acres of industrial land in Avonmouth, near Bristol, for an undisclosed sum in January.
It sold its commercial landholding to Walters Land - the development and regeneration division of civil engineering business Walters Group.
The site is situated alongside the River Severn and will be known as Severnbanks. Walters Land said it was planning to target industrial and logistics companies with "land hungry" requirements.
2. Cubex sells historic building housing Channel 4
Bristol-based developer Cubex and funding partner Fiera Real Estate sold an historic building in the city centre to Mendip District Council for £11.9million this year.
The Fermentation Buildings at Finzels Reach are rented out to a number of companies including Historic England, English Heritage and Channel 4, which has based its new creative hub there.
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The company also secured £70million from Tesco Pension Investment - the in-house asset manager for the supermarket's pension scheme - for its huge eco office building Halo.
The Grade A office in Bristol city can fit around 1,000 staff inside and will be one of the greenest in the country when it opens, according to Cubex.
3. Plymouth-based Fuel merges with Ruckus Marketing
Plymouth-headquartered brands communications agency Fuel merged with another Ocean City digital agency – and expanded by opening a branch in Birmingham’s new £22million enterprise facility.
The merger with Ruckus Marketing, based in the University of Plymouth’s Marine Building, was the product of three years of close collaboration between the companies.
It also followed hot on the heels of Fuel’s acquisition of immersive technology company One Polygon, in late 2019.
4. Burrington Estates buys Exeter's Winslade Park
Commercial regeneration specialist and luxury homebuilder Burrington Estates bought up 18th century Grade II-listed manor house Winslade Park, in Clyst St Mary, in February for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisition was the first step towards plans to provide 150 new homes and 125,000 ft of commercial office space at the heart of a new purpose-built community, according to the developers.
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It will also be home to a £5million leisure complex with fitness studios, gym, spa facilities, beauty salons and a swimming pool.
5. Brittany Ferries completes purchase of Condor
Brittany Ferries completed the purchase of Channel Islands-based Condor Ferries in March after the deal was given approval by competition watchdogs.
The deal, announced in 2019, had been subject to scrutiny by competition authorities. But following their green light at the end of January 2020, and work to complete the transition in February, the sale was finalised.
The Plymouth-based, French-owned, freight and passenger company, which runs services between the 海角视频 and Europe, linked with the Columbia Threadneedle European Sustainable Infrastructure Fund (ESIF) to snaffle the smaller Condor Ferries for an undisclosed sum.
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6. M Subs lands £1m deal to build robot sub for Royal Navy
Plymouth’s submarine manufacturer M Subs secured a £1million Government contract to build a prototype robot sub for the Royal Navy.
Business Live broke news of the deal in 2019 but it was officially confirmed by the Ministry of Defence in March.
Measuring about 30ft in length, the autonomous submarine is significantly larger than other robot subs used for beach reconnaissance, allowing it to operate at a range of 3,000 nautical miles.
The vessel is being built as part of the MoD’s Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) project.
7. Pennon agrees sale of recycling and waste business for £4.2bn
The Devon-based utilities giant entered into an agreement to sell Viridor, its recycling and waste business, for £4.2billion this year.
Viridor was sold to Planets 海角视频 Bidco Limited (Bidco), a newly formed private limited company established by funds advised by American global investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P (KKR).
The sale was agreed on a cash-free, debt-free basis, with Pennon intending to use the net cash proceeds to reduce its company borrowings and make a return to shareholders, while retaining some funds for ‘future opportunities’.
8. Rovco secures contract for East Anglia ONE wind farm
A Bristol-based offshore energy company landed a multimillion-pound contract to carry out work to subsea structures on a wind farm off the coast of East Anglia in May.
Rovco agreed the deal with offshore power operations business CWind, which will manage the project.
The agreement will see Rovco providing a campaign of inspection and survey work on all subsea structures on the East Anglia ONE wind farm. The work will inform the maintenance of the wind turbine and substation foundations, the company said.
9. GripHero signs deal with US gas station chain
A South West invention that protects fuel pump users during the Covid-19 pandemic was rolled out across the United States earlier this year.
Hatherleigh-based GripHero saw its nozzle-mounted hand-protection dispenser put to use at North America’s convenience store and fuel chain Thorntons.
Installed to reduce the risk of spreading germs, biohazards, chemical or biological contamination, GripHero has allowed Thornton’s forecourts to remain open during the Covid-19 crisis.
Based in Louisville, Kentucky, Thorntons operates over 200 convenience stores across six states including Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and Florida.
10. Create Flavours sold to Nactarome Group
Bristol-based natural flavourings company Create Flavours was sold off for an undisclosed sum in May to Europe's Nactarome Group.
The deal, which was funded by European private equity house Ambienta, saw the Create Flavour's management team remain at the helm of the business.
Managing director Jonathan Jones, technical director Nick Dyson, and commercial director Bryan Jones said they would guide the business through its next stages of growth.
11. Barberry and Moog agree deal to build £40m aerospace manufacturing centre
A huge £40million aerospace manufacturing and design centre is set to be built in Gloucestershire for a global aircraft component and systems maker, it was announced this year.
Developer and investment firm Barberry Industrial, which controls the 10-acre site at Ashchurch, Tewkesbury, agreed the deal with engineering giant Moog.
The 184,000 sq ft centre of excellence for Moog's Aircraft Controls Segment will be built on the site at the A46, near junction nine of the M5, and will be let out to Moog on a 35-year lease.
The off-market agreement, which took place in June, is believed to be one of the biggest deals the industry has seen this year.
12. Ultraleap strikes deal with US cinema advertising giant CEN Media
Bristol-based touchless technology company Ultraleap landed a major deal with a cinema advertising business in the US in June.
The company, which has developed hand-tracking and mid-air haptic technology, secured the deal with CEN Media Group.
The agreement was for the installation of screens that can display standard adverts and touchless interactive content in 10 US cinemas.
Ultraleap also agreed a deal this year to install its tech in museums and aquariums across the US.
The contract was with Virginia-based immersive experience company Cortina Productions.
13. Bath-based Inspecs buys up Norville for £2.4million
Inspecs Group, which is headquartered in Bath, bought the assets from Norville Group from administrators BDO for £2.4million.
The deal included £1.2million of freehold property for Norville’s Gloucester site and the remainder for stock, plant, IP and contracts.
Norville is a manufacturer of optically advanced spectacle lenses, supplying optical retailers with complete spectacles, including well-known brands such as Barbour.
Its operations were undertaken mainly at the company’s headquarters in Gloucester, with smaller bases in Bolton, Seaham and Livingston.
14. Quantuma completes £27m merger with AIM-listed K3 Capital
Business advisory firm Quantuma completed a merger with AIM-listed professional services company K3 Capital for nearly £27m.
The companies have become an independent global advisory practice, specialising in restructuring, corporate finance, tax advisory, forensic accounting and witness services.
The deal included a cash-free, debt-free initial consideration of £26.95m, as well as combined earn-outs - a common feature of merger and acquisition transactions - of £15m and an additional 645,513 growth shares, according to Quantuma.
Carl Jackson, founder and chief executive of Quantuma, joined the K3 board as an executive director.
15. NHS snaps up huge factory Plymouth factory
A huge Plymouth factory building was bought up by the NHS to give it extra space and a training facility in the summer.
The University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust took a lease on the 96,000sq ft building on Plymbridge Road, Estover, in the heart of Plymouth manufacturing area.
Originally built in 1967 for Gleason Works, the building was bought in 2010 by Underhill Engineering, which has recently moved to new premises in the Langage area of the city.
The transaction took the best part of two years to complete with the landlords undertaking a major refurbishment of the 1960s-built unit that included a complete external strip and reclad as well as internal redecoration.
16. Bristol Energy sells customer book to Yü Group
海角视频 utility provider Yü Group bought up the business customer book of council-owned Bristol Energy in August.
Yü Group paid £1.34m for the portfolio, which included a number of public sector and business gas and electricity supply contracts running for up to three years.
Bristol Energy’s B2B industry specialist staff transferred to Yü Group as part of the deal. According to AIM-listed Yü Group, Bristol Energy’s management team provided “full support” during the transition of the contracts, with all parties following Ofgem’s best-practice rules.
The deal did not include Bristol Energy’s forward commodity purchases.
17. Royal Clarence Hotel site sold to Plymouth Argyle chairman
Exeter’s famous fire-ravaged Royal Clarence Hotel site was sold this year to former Plymouth Argyle chairman James Brent.
Andrew Brownsword Hotels announced the completed sale of .
It was sold to South West Lifestyle Brands Limited, one of the companies Mr Brent is a director of. The site has planning permission in place for the creation of a 74 bedroom hotel.
18. Curtis Banks acquires pensions administration firm for £25.5
The Bristol-headquartered financial services company Curtis Banks bought up Nottingham-based pensions administration firm Talbot and Muir for £25.5million, with the deal completing at the end of October.
Curtis Banks said the pre-conditions to its acquisition of Talbot and Muir, including approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), had been satisfied.
19. Network Rail buys up Brunel's Old Station
Network Rail bought the Grade I listed station in Bristol, designed by 19th century engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, in September.
The acquisition of 'Bristol Old Station' from the city council brought the building back into railway ownership for the first time since rail privatisation in the mid-1990s. The announcement was on the 161st anniversary of Brunel’s death - on September 15, 1859.
The building, which is now home to business incubator Engine Shed and events space Passenger Shed, was Bristol’s first railway station when it opened in 1840 as the western terminus of the Great Western Railway from London Paddington.
20. Kier lands contract for £16m Plymouth crematorium
Work has started on Plymouth’s new £16millon crematorium after construction firm Kier Group secured the contract to build it.
The 17-acre site is on the eastern edge of the city, off Merafield Road near the Stag Lodge entrance to Saltram Park.
Kier, which has been integral to the success of the award-winning Oceansgate marine engineering enterprise zone project at nearby Devonport, was chosen after a competitive tender process with several other internationally renowned organisations.
Over the course of the build, Kier said it would commit to meeting social objectives via a detailed local employment and skills plan to make sure as much of the £16million ear-marked for the project can be spent in Plymouth and the surrounding areas.