Business

One of the UK’s leading housebuilders, Bovis Homes, has opened a new office in Exeter to support the growth of its operations in Devon and the rest of the South West.

With new developments at various stages of build across the county – and with land opportunities springing up elsewhere to deliver much needed new housing stock – the return of Bovis Homes to Devon is a sign that the local economy is on the up.

In fact, the business has restructured to ensure a focus on the local housing market and Deputy Managing Director of the South West (southern) region, David Farley,...

The UK economy has seen a £9.9bn trade and investment boost from the London Olympic and Paralympic Games, one year into a four-year programme of activity and events. The boost comes from businesses securing contract wins, additional sales and new foreign investment in the last year, since UKTI’s British Business Embassy at Lancaster House hosted a Global Investment Conference and a series of 17 business events – the largest such programme ever held in Britain. Further evaluation reports published by the Government and Mayor of London today (19 July) show strong progress against all the...

The final episode of The Apprentice aired tonight on BBC1 at 8.00pm and saw Lord Sugar taking on Dr Leah Totton as a business partner with a personal investment of £250,000. Luisa Zissman with a proposed wholesale bakery business narrowly lost out to Leah's business plan for a chain of Medical Cosmetic clinics to be Lord Sugar’s Apprentice for 2013. The nation was on the edge of their seats to find out whether Lord Sugar would take the safe option of baking or the cosmetic route, which for him, has a moral dilemma.

Yet Leah’s new business venture proposal is not a new concept, as...

The privatisation of Royal Mail last week should present opportunities for private investors, as well as employees and institutions. The chance to buy shares at a discount, the scope for rapid growth following flotation and the injection of private capital and incentives, all contribute to potentially profitable outcomes and the sell-off of such a massive and socially critical institution – must not be held back from the general public – as suggested by some commentators.

Options for raising funds in the pipeline are the sale of its stake in; Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking...