Local News

A recent survey of the South West tech sector commissioned by Tech South West revealed that over half of tech companies in the region are finding it impossible or very difficult to recruit.

This is perhaps par for the course given the meteoric growth of the region’s tech sector, which has seen an increase in Venture Capital investment of over 500% since 2016 and a corresponding boom in job roles to fill.

Tech companies are also increasingly forced to compete with national companies for homegrown talent, as remote working makes it easier for people in the region to work for...

The Islamic Finance team at national law firm, Foot Anstey LLP, has advised the Saudi based investment management firm Sidra Capital on a strategically aligned real estate acquisition worth £43.6m. This is the latest acquisition Foot Anstey's Islamic Finance team has advised Sidra on, having acted for the firm in 2021 on a real estate acquisition worth £19m.

In this latest deal, Sidra Capital has acquired Coca Cola Uxbridge Head Quarters for £43.6m, a prime located, 122,000 sq. ft., office asset let to Coca-Cola Europacific Partners PLC and representing a 7% net initial yield....

Cases of COVID-19 are at their highest in Devon this month since the pandemic began, leading health experts to renew their calls urging pregnant women to have their vaccine.

Pregnant women with COVID-19 have a higher risk of intensive care admission , however research by the UK Obstetric Surveillance System found that no fully vaccinated pregnant women were admitted to intensive care with COVID-19 in England between February and the end of September last year. During the same time period at least 55,000 pregnant women had received one or more doses in the UK.

NHS Devon’s...

After two years of uncertainty and social isolation, new research from the Jo Cox Foundation (conducted by ICM Unlimited) suggests people in the South West are less lonely - with 58% having reported ever feeling lonely in the past month, versus the national average of 67%. However the vast majority in the South West (75%) still think there is a stigma around talking about loneliness, rising to a worrying 91% among young people in the UK.

Kicking off on Blue Monday (17 January) and running until 30 January, the Great Winter Get Together is the Jo Cox Foundation’s annual campaign...