The former chief of chain stores Wickes and Iceland has claimed that 20,000 independent shops in the UK are at risk of closing, in an alternative report into the high street to be published this week.
Bill Grimsey has criticised a government report and high street rescue strategy overseen by 'Queen Of Shops", Mary Portas, as "little more than a PR stunt". Mr Grimsey has compiled an alternative report to be published on Wednesday (4 September) in which he will argue for a "holistic solution" to tackling the problems on our high streets.
Developer Urban Renaissance Villages, which is behind Exeter’s first retirement village Millbrook Village, is welcoming Eric Pickles’ advice issued last week to planners, urging them to build more ‘bungalows and retirement villages of 100 or so houses with activities for residents’ to deal with the predicted housing crisis for the over 65s.
“We totally support Eric Pickles and Nick Boles! This is what our aging population needs – a mixture of property types covering a range of prices - and we have been providing it for upwards of 30 years,” comments Bill Gair, CEO of Urban...
Each year Darts Farm in Topsham grows a beautiful field of sunflowers for customers to pick in return for a donation to Hospiscare. This year the fantastic weather has made for a bumper crop, allowing Darts Farm to raise more money than ever before for the local charity.
So far, over £2,600 has been raised for Hospiscare and there are still plenty of sunflowers left for people to pick or to buy in store. For a map of the farm and instructions on how to pick your own, please visit the farm shop.
Once the sunflowers die down, they are left in the field as feed for local birds...
An iconic global brand is on the hunt for one of their biggest fans to feature in their 60th anniversary celebrations. WD-40 Multi-Use Product, renowned all over the world for helping silence squeaky joints and protect motors from rust, will celebrate its diamond anniversary in September and is commemorating the event by releasing a limited edition can. The company is looking for one lucky person, who has a great use for WD-40, to feature on the limited edition can which will be available in retailers across the country. Sara Simpson, Senior Brand Manager from WD-40 Company, said: “WD-40...
A BBC investigation has revealed that an employee of integrated support services company Carillion, which provides infrastructure services at six Exeter schools (West Exe, St Peter's C of E, St Luke's, St James', Isca and Wynstream Primary School) attempted to cover up a test result that revealed the water supply at St Peter's C of E School contained almost 10 times the legal limit of iron.
The falsified document was reportedly discovered in January, in which a reading for iron that found 1,840 micrograms per litre of water was changed to just 184 by a Carillion employee - the...
Real Madrid have paid €100m (£85.2m) to sign Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur, making the Welshman the most expensive player in the history of the game.
After the protacted transfer finally came to a conclusion on Sunday evening (1 September), the club announced the news shortly after their 1-0 defeat to Arsenal in the North London derby.
Spurs had initially attempted to hold onto their prized asset, but chairman Daniel Levy and manager André Villas-Boas eventually conceded that the 24-year-old should be allowed to achieve his dream of playing for Real. In so doing, Levy...
In a follow up to a survey conducted in the wake of the 2012 London Paralympics, a new survey by disability charity Vitalise one year on from the Games has found that the feel-good factor is flagging and urgent work is needed to sustain the legacy of the Games.
Despite hopes that the Games would change attitudes, improve understanding and lead to greater inclusion of people with disabilities in society, Vitalise's study has found that 6 out of 10 (59%) people with disabilities say there has been no perceptible change to their lives one year on from the Games, increasing from 40%...
A new, rapid access service to help people with gallstone disease has now started at the Nuffield Health Exeter Hospital.
The gallbladder is a small (roughly the size of a pear) storage organ for bile, close to the liver. In some this organ can become diseased, with the formation of gallstones. A new service at the Nuffield Health Exeter Hospital now offers patients a new option.
Gallstone disease is very common. The symptoms can range from being mild, with occasional abdominal discomfort, to much more severe prolonged pain or very serious, even life-threatening conditions...
Bell & Loxton's Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil from South Devon has been nominated for one of this year's Golden Fork trophies in the highly acclaimed Great Taste Awards 2013. The trophies will be presented at the Great Taste dinner, which is taking place at The Royal Garden Hotel in London on Monday 9 September.
This follows the recent news that this cold pressed rapeseed oil wowed the judges and was given 3-stars in this year's awards. It then went on, with the other 3-star award-winners, to be privately judged and scored again by a specially selected team to make it into the...
A new study has revealed that global warming is resulting in the spread of crop pests towards the North and South Poles at a rate of nearly 3 km a year.
The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change and carried out by researchers at the University of Exeter and the University of Oxford, shows a strong relationship between increased global temperatures over the past 50 years and expansion in the range of crop pests.
Currently 10-16% of global crop production is lost to pests. Crop pests include fungi, bacteria, viruses, insects, nematodes, viroids and oomycetes....
