Business

Demand from business for commercial property in the South West rose for the eleventh consecutive quarter, while available space in the region fell for the ninth successive period, according to the latest RICS Commercial Market Survey.

As a result, rents are expected to rise at the fastest pace in the South region as a whole since the survey began in 1998 with 44% more respondents forecasting higher, rather than lower, rent rates going forward. Industrials are the segment of the market in the South West where rental expectations are currently most buoyant, while retail in the South...

Exeter-based Flybe's share price improved this morning as the airline released its latest finacial figures. Flybe, which issued an encouraging trading update for the first quarter, said it had managed to cut the cost of a UK seat by 3.4 per cent to £51.92. The budget airline share price was up 6.3 per cent in early trading on the back of an upbeat trading statement, reporting “sustained passenger and revenue growth” saying it was now in “the next chapter of its transformation”.

Seat capacity climbed 12.3 per cent to 2.8m seats, while passenger numbers grew 9.8 per cent to 2.1m....

The Chancellor’s recent Budget delivered a new incentive for companies to register their intellectual property rights, according to IP experts at Exeter law firm Stephens Scown. The draft Finance Bill published in the wake of the Budget has stopped tax relief for the amortisation (i.e. depreciation) of goodwill and other intangible assets. Ben Travers, intellectual property partner at Stephens Scown, said: “This change published in the Finance Bill means that any business which is selling intangible assets – such as a brand or goodwill - could get a better price if they register those...

Women in business in Devon and Somerset are set to benefit from a £1.1m superfast broadband fund as part of plans announced by the Prime Minister this week to ‘to end the gender pay gap in a generation’.

Devon and Somerset successfully bid for a share of the money which is being made available as part of the extension of a Government initiative, announced by the Chancellor in the Budget, to help women take advantage of faster broadband to move their businesses online, expand or set up new businesses.

The £60,000 will be used to fund LOVE Digital 2, which will offer women...