Business

Sellers return to the South West housing market in record levels

Rising prices and burgeoning buyer demand have led to significant increases in homes coming onto the South West property market, says the August RICS Residential Market Survey.

During August, 68 percent more chartered surveyors reported increases not decreases in new instructions in the region (from +42 percent in July). This is the highest number since RICS started to record these...

Accounting red tape cut for smallest UK companies

Measures to reduce "burdensome" accounting red tape for micro-businesses have been confirmed today by Business Minister Jo Swinson. In the government response to the consultation on how best to implement the EU’s Micros Directive, published today, the UK’s 1.5 million micro-entities will now become exempt from certain financial reporting requirements.

They are currently subject to the...

'Local banking' brought back to Devon as TSB returns to the high street

Welcome Back to Local Banking in Plymouth, Barnstaple, Exeter, Exmouth, Ford, Okehampton, Torquay and Tavistock.

The new TSB Bank which has launched today – with more than 4.6 million customers and over £20 billion of loans and customer deposits – is one of the biggest changes ever seen in UK banking as ‘local banking’ is brought back to Britain. There are ten branches in Devon which...

Devon Venus Award winners revealed at glamorous gala evening

Following thousands of votes and over 1,432 nominations and applications, the Devon Business Women Awards announced the 2013 winners at the University of Exeter's Great Hall on 5 September 2013, hosted by Celia Delaney and Tara Howard.

Plymouth had its share of finalists, and two - Glynis Lidster of Welcome Hall Ltd and Jacqui Batterbee of Batterbee Thompson & Co Ltd - walked away...

Bank of England maintains interest rates at 0.5%

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has voted to maintain bank interest rates at 0.5% at its meeting on 4 September.

The decision is in line with the monetary policy forward guidance announced last month by Governor, Mark Carney, alongside the publication of the August 2013 Inflation Report.

It has also agreed to keep the scale of its quantitative easing programme...

Plymouth council leaders green light landmark city plans

A meeting of Plymouth City Council's cabinet on Tuesday (3 September) has seen the approval of a number of landmark development projects which will bring a high profile transformation of 'Britain's Ocean City' over the next few years.

The cabinet gave the green light for free wi-fi for the city centre and waterfront areas, a critical land deal in the £50m redevelopment of Home Park, a...

Kitsons warm up for Three Peaks trek with series of charity challenges

Staff at leading Devon law firm Kitsons have taken on a trio of charity challenges in aid of Children’s Hospice South West with an ultra marathon and a firm-wide kilometre challenge covering more than 1,200km in 32 hours ahead of the mighty Three Peaks Challenge next month.

Kitsons’ Partner and Head of Property, Patrick Gaskins and Andrew Morris of Headland Finance kicked off the first...

CBI raises its 2013 UK growth forecast

The CBI has raised its growth forecasts for 2013 and 2014 from 1.0% to 1.2%. But the UK's leading business lobbying organisation says the rebalancing away from consumption towards investment and trade is taking longer than expected.

The CBI says it has increased the figure from its May forecast, after a better than expected second quarter and signs of a pick-up in confidence across a...

Plymouth-born business The Range to create 6,750 jobs across the UK

Businessman Chris Dawson, who launched the successful homeware chain The Range in Plymouth, plans to create 6,750 new jobs with 45 new stores planned across the country.

Plymouth-born Chris Dawson, 153rd on the most recent Sunday Times Rich List, began as a market trader in the city before opening his fisrt superstore at Sugar Mill Business Park in 1989, bought the retail park and...

Investment guide to Plymouth goes off with a bang

Plymouth is launching its investment guide to tell the world why Britain’s Ocean City is the perfect place to invest.

The guide is a snap-shot of why businesses should look at Plymouth and is being launched with a bang at the British Fireworks Championships which attracts thousands of people to the city’s stunning waterfront.

A special event will take place on the final night...

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