The future of cross-border trade for your business
The Trade Horizons Roadshow is coming to Exeter this July to provide local businesses with the advice and tools needed to prepare for Brexit and to take advantage of future international sales opportunities .
Attend our interactive Exeter leg of the roadshow to hear from Green & Blacks Co-Founder, Jo Fairley, who will share her export story and provide practical insight on how his businesses are preparing for Brexit. Jo will be joined on stage by Brexit expert, Sam Lowe from The Centre for European Reform, who will...
New data protection regulations have post-Brexit trade implications
In anticipation of the introduction of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations), an EU-wide stricter version of the current Data Protection Act which come into force in May 2018, PKF Francis Clark have got ahead of the game by achieving a Gold Standard IASME accreditation for cyber security the highest of the four levels of accreditation available.
IASME (Information Assurance for Small and Medium sized Enterprises) is one of the 5 accreditation bodies set up by the UK Government to roll out the Cyber...
Business confidence in the South West rose to an 18-month high in the last six months, according to the latest Business in Britain report from Lloyds Bank, based on data gathered after the snap election had been called. The confidence index – an average of respondents’ expected sales, orders and profits over the next six months – increased to 27 per cent, up from January’s score of 17 per cent and from 10 per cent immediately following the EU referendum vote. The Business in Britain report, now in its 25th year, gathers the views of more than 1,500 UK companies, predominantly small to...
So, have the results of the General Election been good for the environment?! On the face of it, the Green Party did not gain ground, issues of ecological sustainability did not seem high on candidates’ agendas and Britain now has an Environment Secretary who is not exactly known for his green credentials. Is the outlook therefore bleaker than it was? Firstly, let’s identify six of the key challenges we face: a) Implementation of the Paris agreement on climate change b) Revising UK environmental policies after Brexit c) Addressing major air quality concerns d) Reviewing Britain’s energy...
Devon’s farming leaders are calling on those in the industry to cast their votes carefully in the forthcoming general election and support candidates who pledge to back British farming.
With the crucial vote now just over three weeks away, and with the main parties in the process of publishing their manifestos, now is a good time to assess their commitment to agriculture, the food industry and the wider rural economy.
“Farming in the West Country is at a crossroads. We are facing the sort of decision which only comes once in a generation, so after the election it is vital...
We are living at a crossroads when an emphasis on the common wealth or common good is being replaced by an uncertain and dubious individualism.
I have spent the last 35 years of my life and ministry struggling against ‘social evils’ and the forces of reaction. I have collectively engaged in activities promoting greater compassion and equality, peaceful resolution of conflict, justice and togetherness. With others, I have actively campaigned against lack of purpose, homelessness, ecological destruction, xenophobia, social exclusion and so on.
The UK construction industry could lose almost 200,000 EU workers post-Brexit should Britain lose access to the single market, putting some of the country’s biggest infrastructure and construction projects under threat, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has revealed.
RICS has cautioned that for Brexit to succeed, it is essential to secure continued access to the EU Single Market or to put alternative plans in place to safeguard the future of the property and construction sectors in the UK.
Latest RICS figures show that eight per cent of the UK’s...
More than 70 per cent of region's exporters looking to Europe to fund growth, according to Thomas Westcott survey
Despite the looming prospect of Brexit the overwhelming majority of businesses in the South West looking to export are eyeing Europe as part of their 2017 expansion plans.
That's one of the headline findings of a far-reaching survey into South West businesses' growth plans carried out by leading independent firm of chartered accountants Thomas Westcott.
Thousands of small to medium sized companies were asked about their expansion strategies and what they...
Written by Midge & Rosie Mullin and Nathan Simpson
A Tale of intolerance, alienation and Findus Crispy Pancakes!
After their recent nomination as finalists in the Devon Performance Awards, Substance & Shadow Theatre return in Feb 2017 with The Brexit Club.
It’s the 23rd June 2016 – the day of the Euro Referendum and just an ordinary lunchtime in the works canteen for cousins Len Silver, Melvyn Gould and their workmates, but beneath their love of haute cuisine and jovial banter there’s trouble brewing. Sid’s Vishnu’s lentil Dahl and Don Beattie’s bangers and...
The first quarter of 2017 has seen a boost of confidence in the South West with hiring intentions of +8% according to ManpowerGroup, the world’s workforce experts. The ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey is based on responses from 2,104 UK employers. It asks whether employers intend to hire additional workers or reduce the size of their workforce in the coming quarter. It is the most comprehensive, forward-looking employment survey of its kind and is used as a key economic statistic by both the Bank of England and the UK government. Krissie Davies, Operations Director at Manpower said...
