A Devon MP is appealing to local businesses to support the next phase of a project helping young people who are out of work to kick-start their future.
The Business Powering Employment Programme (BEEP) gives 16-24 year olds in Devon the confidence and skills to secure jobs and training opportunities.
BEEP helps young people learn through performance coaching techniques and then on-going support from a mentor. Over 95 per cent of those who have been on the programme have gone on to secure work and training opportunities.
The British Chambers of Commerce Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) results for Q4 2015, released on Thursday 7 January, indicate slower economic growth in the short term. The QES, Britain’s largest and most authoritative private sector business survey, based on almost 7,500 responses from companies, shows that most key manufacturing and services balances were weaker this quarter, but nationally manufacturing firms faired worse.
In Devon this is not the case, with manufacturers in Devon indicating an increase in UK sales (+17% on Q3), an increase in UK orders (+10% on Q3) and an...
Francis Clark, the largest independent firm of Chartered Accountants in the South West, today announced a merger with Princecroft Willis, a leading Accountancy Practice in Dorset and Hampshire.
The merger will take place on 1 April 2016.
The newly merged firm will have a combined revenue of £38 million and a team of more than 580 people across nine offices, consolidating Francis Clark’s position as a leading accountancy and advisory firm in the South West.
Once completed, the merged firm will retain the name Francis Clark.
The South West private sector economy ended 2015 on a positive note, according to December PMI® survey data. Output growth accelerated from November’s subdued pace to the strongest since July, while new business rose at the fastest rate since June.
Moreover, backlogs grew for the first time in seven months, and at the sharpest pace since January 2015. Firms continued to expand their workforces and reported higher input prices for the first time in five months, leading them to raise their own charges.
The seasonally adjusted Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking South West Business...
Almost half of adults in the South West are shying away from potentially life saving conversations with their loved ones about health conditions that run in the family, according to new statistics released ahead of the British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) Wear It Beat It campaign to get the nation wearing red to fight heart disease on Friday 5th February.
Having a family history of cardiovascular disease can put you at increased risk of life-threatening conditions such as coronary heart disease, heart attack, heart failure and stroke. Almost eight in ten adults (79%) in the South West...
GAIN, the South West Growth, Acceleration and Investment Network is looking for all start-ups, innovators, disruptors to invest £30,000 as matchfunding to help business growth.
GAIN has partnered with the UK's #1 rewards crowdfunding platform, Crowdfunder, to find brilliant businesses based in Devon, Cornwall, Isles of Scilly or Somerset who have a product, service or approach that is unique or different in some way.
They will offer 10 businesses that meet their criteria, up to £3,000 of match funding each, if they crowdfund on Crowdfunder, from January 10, 2016. Each...
The Business in Britain report, now in its 24th year, gathers the views of 1,500 UK companies, predominantly small to medium sized businesses, and tracks the overall “balance” of opinion on a range of important performance and confidence measures, weighing up the percentage of firms that are positive in outlook against those that are negative.
Since the last report in July 2015, business confidence in the South West - an average of respondents’ expected sales, orders and profits over the next six months - has declined to 40 per cent, down from 49 per cent. However the index remains...
The New Year may not be very happy for hundreds of thousands of people in the South West, as research by Shelter reveals a fifth of rent or mortgage payers in the region are cutting back on winter heating and clothing to meet their housing payments. This is the equivalent to 500,000 people.
The study by housing and homelessness charity Shelter and YouGov shows the strain people in the South West face this January, with one in eight rent or mortgage payers fearing they will be unable to meet their housing costs this month.
This is despite the fact that many have already cut...
New research by Alzheimer’s Society shows that 39% of people in the South West mistakenly think that once a person with dementia stops recognising loved ones, they don’t benefit that much from spending time with them.
In a separate survey of 300 people affected by dementia, the charity also found that 64% of those living with the condition felt isolated from friends and family following a diagnosis. Today, Alzheimer’s Society is calling on people to make a positive New Year’s resolution to spend time with people with dementia and help them take part in activities they enjoy to keep...
House prices in the South West will see an increase of 5% over the course of next year according to the RICS housing forecast for 2016. This is lower than the national average increase of 6% but the same as London and Northern Island. The North East is likely to see the most modest price rise with a predicted increase for 2016 at 3%. Transactions nationally will edge up to between 1.25 and 1.3 million (from 1.22 million in 2015). In the South West transactions are expected to rise to 101k in 2016 from 97k in 2015. Although housing has climbed the policy agenda with supply issues dominating...
