The Business Exchange Bath & Somerset Issue 4: Summer 2017 | Page 20

MADE IN BATH Celebrating all things manufactured, designed or produced in Bath and the surrounding areas. Whilst some manufacturers such as Mulberry are well-known for the items they produce locally, there are many other firms that fall under the radar, quietly working behind the scenes on exceptional products and services that we should be proud to say are home-grown innovations. Examples include Cross Manufacturing, renowned for producing innovative rotary valve engines used in motorbikes and sports cars, as well as specialist sealing rings used in iconic British engineering, such as the Harrier jump-jet. Just outside of the city, in the village of Box, is the only surviving tennis ball factory in the Western World- J Price Ltd. Each week they produce 10,000 tennis balls alongside many other sports balls such as squash and racket balls. New designers and innovators in the city NOVIA GLOBAL For more info: www.novia-global.com are being spawn from our well-respected universities and business incubator hub, Bath Innovation Centre. Others are just inspired by Bath’s natural and architectural beauty igniting their creative talents. Here we showcase the diversity of some of Bath’s latest exports, saddling a whole host of industries, from IT to financial services and handicrafts. @Novia_Global Novia Financial is a well-known business institution that launched in Bath nearly ten years ago. They’ve recently created a new company, Novia Global that is already making its mark internationally. We met with Chris Skelhorn, head of distribution to find out more about it. What is Novia Global? Where are you currently exporting to? Novia Global Ltd is an international online financial services investment business that provides market-leading technology, enabling professional advisers to efficiently and effectively manage their client investments. Novia Global Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom. This authorisation allows us to trade in the crown dependencies (Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man) and in Europe under the Market in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFiD). Outside of Europe, the Novia Global service is available in many other jurisdictions including the UAE and the Cayman Islands. How does it differ from Novia Financial? Novia Global specifically targets offshore advisers and trust companies and aims to provide them with the same high levels of service and choice that is available in the UK through Novia Financial. How big is the Novia Global team at present? Novia Global has a core team based in Bath with a number of distribution relationships established around the world. How do financial services compare internationally with the UK in terms of pricing, regulation and red tape etc? There is a clear, irreversible shift globally towards transparency and a better deal for consumers in the investment world. In the UK, platforms have completely taken over the retail savings space from life companies, the vast majority of whom have disappeared, with the handful that are left having had to transform themselves. The same thing is going to happen in the ‘offshore’ markets and it is only a matter of time until this happens. What made you decide to base the business in Bath and what are the benefits? Bath is usually associated with the Roman Baths, Jane Austen and its World Heritage status, but it also provides us with a number of key business factors. Fantastic transport links to the rest of the UK and Europe, access to highly experienced staff, and a number of sports and social venues on our doorstep. What are your ambitions for Novia Global? Our aim is simply to see the same level of success for Novia Global that we’ve seen with Novia Financial. COMPLETE CONTROL Based in Corston, on the outskirts of Bath is leading children’s digital agency Complete Control. For the last 18 years, they have been producing interactive content for the best in children’s media. Their clients include Cartoon Network, Sky, BBC, Premier League and Lego. Complete Control is a double BAFTA winning agency, with a creative development studio producing games, websites and apps for some of the most loved children’s brands. They are also digital publishers of their own children’s brand Bebods. Glynn Hayward, creative director said: “A Bebod is a little digital avatar of you. Once you have created your bebod, you can play games, star in YouTube videos, share yourself with your 20 THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2017 friends and use as a sticker and a profile picture. Bebods focus is on creating a personalised, fun and creative experience for children, their friends and family. It’s also a positive tool to encourage children to shy away from using photos of themselves, protecting them from any potential online threats.” Still in its early days, Bebods is already starting to make an impact with over 85,000 followers online and generating a lot of industry attention. Bebods recently won the best ‘early stage project’ at MIPJunior in Cannes at the worldwide market place for children’s media. Glynn and the Complete Control team is also one of just nine agencies, working with the BBC helping on a prestigious 4 year contract, to help shape its digital future for children’s online entertainment. In April, the agency launched a brand new game for CBeebies TV show ‘Down on the Farm’ featuring JB from JLS - a well fitting project as the Complete Control studio was once an old pig farm. For more info: www.completecontrol.co.uk @contweetcontrol