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Bristol entrepreneurs launch 'world's most sustainable' bedside crib

Three Bristolian entrepreneurs are hoping to revolutionise the baby market in Britain with “the world’s most sustainable crib”. Mike Hoffman, Nina Szamocki and Angus Whiston, who met at Cambridge University, established furniture company Alora Baby in 2023 in Fishponds. The trio have spent the past year creating an eco-friendly bedside cot that can be sold back to the company after use and the materials remanufactured into brand new cribs. The founders were inspired to set up the business after discovering how many baby products are sent to landfill each year. “The baby market is notoriously wasteful - with many products being used for a short period,” Mr Whiston told BusinessLive. “The Alora Baby Crib is the world’s first baby product manufactured under the principles of the circular economy - meaning raw materials get reused in new iterations of the product for as long as possible. “The circular economy is a revolution for the baby market - allowing for a truly win-win situation: a high-quality, completely new, UK-made product which is radically better for the environment.” The founders came up with the idea in January last year and spent around 11 months working with a product designer to develop the cot. The trio also secured funding from Innovate UK to help with the business. The cots are manufactured in Bristol and delivered nearly fully assembled. Once customers have finished using the crib they can sell it back to Alora under the company's buy-back scheme. The cot is then collected by the firm and taken apart after which it undergoes a series of industrial processes to fully remanufacture it into an entirely new cot. “Unfortunately we still live in a horrid ‘landfill economy', where products are designed to be thrown away and are poorly built to match," said Ms Szamocki. "You don’t even have to be environmentally driven to realise that this is a horribly inefficient system. With Alora, we’re changing the game and turning this system on its head.” LIKE THIS STORY? Why not sign up to get the latest South West business news straight to your inbox. Alora, which launched at the UK Baby Show in London in March, told BusinessLive it is hoping to develop more environmentally friendly products in the future - and has plans to grow the business in the next 12 months, including hiring staff to join the firm.

Steel firm goes into administration with dozens of jobs lost

A steel firm has closed with the loss of dozens of jobs after going into administration. Atlantic Steel Processing, based on the dockside in Birkenhead, called in administrators from FRP Advisory after suffering a fall in sales and after an attempt to sell the company fell through. The business has now closed and most of its 41 staff have now lost their jobs. The 23-year-old business supplied steel products across the UK and Ireland. It specialised in steel decoiling, taking rolled steel and uncoiling it to press it into flat sheets so it could be used in industry. The company called itself the only steel processor of its kind inside a port with direct access to a quay, and boasted “the world’s widest decoiling line” at its base in Vittoria Dock. Richard Goodall and Martyn Rickels, of specialist business advisory firm FRP Advisory, were appointed as joint administrators on May 3. They said: “The company faced challenging trading conditions primarily due to a reduction in demand which resulted in cash flow difficulties and impacted its ability to operate.” "After an accelerated M&A process yielded no transacting partners for a going concern sale, the Company ceased trading and was placed into administration as part of an orderly wind down." FRP said most employees were made redundant soon after administration “with a small number retained temporarily to assist the joint administrators with the wind-down process”. The remaining assets of the business are being sold by property agency Sanderson Weatherall. Richard Goodall, director at FRP, said: “Unfortunately, mounting external pressures, most notably a reduction in demand and movements in commodity prices, resulted in the business being unable to meet its financial obligations. Regrettably, this meant the necessary closure of the business. “We are now supporting the employees affected to file claims with the Redundancy Payments Services and would encourage any parties with an interest in acquiring the assets to make contact with us as soon as possible.”

Gloucestershire manufacturer rescues engineering firm from administration

A Gloucestershire manufacturing firm has acquired a Lancashire-based business from administration for an undisclosed sum. Tewkesbury's Geometric Manufacturing, a provider of mechanical components to the defence and security industry, has taken over Precision Engineering Pieces (PEP) - a sheet metal and fabrication company. PEP, which is registered in Chorley and also has a unit at Ashchurch Business Centre in Tewkesbury, appointed administrators from advisory firm Interpath on March 21. The acquisition includes PEP's entire business and assets, including its equipment, staff and customer base. "This strategic move strengthens Geometric's position within the industry by adding complementary capabilities, improving supply chain integration and enhancing our product offerings," Geometric said in a statement. Geometric now occupies over 50,000 sq ft of industrial space across three sites in the Tewkesbury area, with a customer base across the UK. “We are committed to providing a seamless transition for Precision Engineering Pieces employees and customers,” said Paul Wenham, managing director at Geometric Manufacturing. “This acquisition secures jobs and preserves over 40 years of excellence in the sheet metal fabrication sector. We are excited to welcome PEP's talented team and their expertise.”

Existing home sales inch up in July on modest pullback in mortgage rates

Sarah Brown 

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose in July as homebuyers were encouraged by a modest pullback in mortgage rates, slowing home price growth and the most properties on the market in over five years.Recommended VideoExisting home sales rose 2% last month from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.01 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.Sales edged up 0.8% compared with July last year. The latest sales figure topped the 3.92 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet.Home prices rose on an annual basis for the 25th consecutive month, although the rate of growth continued to slow. The national median sales price inched up just 0.2% in July from a year earlier to $422,400.That was the smallest annual increase since June 2023. Even so, the median home sales price last month is the highest for any previous July, based on data going back to 1999.“The ever-so-slight improvement in housing affordability is inching up home sales,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “Wage growth is now comfortably outpacing home price growth, and buyers have more choices.”The U.S. housing market has been in a sales slump since 2022, when mortgage rates began climbing from historic lows. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes sank last year to their lowest level in nearly 30 years.This year’s spring homebuying season, which is traditionally the busiest period of the year for the housing market, was a bust as stubbornly high mortgage rates put off many prospective homebuyers. Affordability remains a dauting challenge for most aspiring homeowners following years of skyrocketing home prices.First-time homebuyers, who don’t have home equity gains to put toward a new home purchase, accounted for 28% of homes sales last month, down from 30% in June, NAR said. Historically, they made up 40% of home sales.The average rate on a 30-year mortgage has remained elevated this year, although it has been at a nearly 10-month low of 6.58% the last two weeks.Homes purchased last month likely went under contract in May and June, when the average rate ranged from 6.76% to 6.89%. Mortgage rates eased in July, dropping briefly to 6.67%.As home sales have slowed, the number of unsold homes on the market has been rising.There were 1.55 million unsold homes at the end of last month, up 0.6% from June and 15.7% from July last year, NAR said. That’s the most homes on the market since May 2020, early on in the COVID-19 pandemic.Still, the inventory remains well below the roughly 2 million homes for sale that was typical before the pandemic.July’s month-end inventory translates to a 4.6-month supply at the current sales pace, down from a 4.7-month supply at the end of June and up from 4 months in July last year. Traditionally, a 5- to 6-month supply is considered a balanced market between buyers and sellers.Homes are also taking longer to sell. Properties typically remained on the market for 28 days last month before selling, up from 24 days in July last year, NAR said.Home shoppers who can afford to buy at current mortgage rates or pay in cash are likely to benefit from the slower growth in prices and increased supply of properties on the market.It’s not uncommon now for sellers, especially those in Southern and Western markets, to lower their asking price and offer incentives such as money for closing costs or repairs in order to sweeten the deal, real estate agents say.In July, some 20.6% of homes listed for sale had their price reduced, according to Realtor.com. That’s down slightly from June.“One can say that things are a little better today as a buyer, compared to say just a couple of years ago,” Yun said.Join us at the Fortune Workplace Innovation SummitMay 19–20, 2026, in Atlanta. The next era of workplace innovation is here—and the old playbook is being rewritten. At this exclusive, high-energy event, the world’s most innovative leaders will convene to explore how AI, humanity, and strategy converge to redefine, again, the future of work. Register now.