Devon

Two companies from Devon have been named among the best rural businesses in the UK after winning a national Rural Business Award

The Rural Business Awards, backed by Amazon, is the only UK-wide programme dedicated to showcasing the success of rural businesses

25th February 2022, Devon: Rull Orchard from Thorverton and The Outdoors Group from Shillingford Abbot have been named among the best rural businesses in the UK after winning a national Rural Business Award.

Rull Orchard was named Best Rural Small Business and The Outdoors Group took home the Best Rural...

With March marking the start of spring, dog owners are being urged to protect new-born livestock and breeding birds by keeping their dogs on leads while out walking. With miles of footpaths, bridleways and open access land, Dartmoor is the perfect place for people to enjoy with their canine pets. But livestock worrying is a major concern; already there has been an unusually high number of dog attacks for this time of year. During the breeding season (1 March – 31 July) Dartmoor is a particularly busy place. Ground nesting birds such as meadow pipits, skylarks and snipe love Dartmoor’s...

A new project is supporting businesses in Devon to employ people with disabilities.

“Ability not disability” has been co-designed by Learn Devon and Devon County Council’s Adult Social Care, and Employment, Economy and Skills teams working together with people with disabilities to improve employment opportunities within the county.

The innovative programme is one of 13 projects in the county to receive a share of UK Community Renewal Funding .

Devon County Council is managing the UK Community Renewal Fund in the county, having made a successful bid on behalf of...

A series of upgrades are being made to the superfast broadband network on Dartmoor and Exmoor.

Internet service provider Airband completed its network in the two National Parks, on behalf of Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS), over three years ago.

This network provides access to superfast broadband (speeds of up to 30Mbps) to around 7,000 homes and businesses, making it possible for customers to download a film in under three minutes.

Airband has now commissioned a number of new upgrades to ensure that customers on the moors continue to get the best possible...

Seven pupils from Exeter School competed for their respective swim clubs in the Devon Swimming Championships during January and February.

Emily Bishop competed in 10 events in the U14 category gaining four PBs with a very strong performance in the 50m freestyle placing her only a few milliseconds away from a regional time.

Hanna Sari also competed in the U14 category, gaining qualifying times in 12 events and achieving five PBs, while her sister Sara reached the finals in eight events in the U15 category also gaining third place in the 400m individual medley.

...

Durham is officially the city where residents are most likely to turn to Google to self-diagnose, according to new research. Chester and Glasgow follow ranking 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Residents of Exeter rank 23rd in the UK for Googling their health symptoms. Each month, residents make on average 4770 health-related searches, but the real number is likely much higher.

The conditions residents of Exeter are most likely to search the symptoms of on Google are diabetes, anxiety, depression, flu and chlamydia. This...

Members of the longest-established choir in the South West have a special reason to raise their voices in celebration at a concert in Exeter Cathedral on Saturday, March 12th - the event marks Exeter Philharmonic Choir’s 175th anniversary.

To celebrate this landmark occasion, the Choir will be performing Brahms’ great work, Ein deutsches Requiem, joined by the renowned London Mozart Players and two of the UK’s most exciting soloists: soprano Jessica Cale (winner of the 2020 Kathleen Ferrier Award) and baritone Timothy Nelson. The programme also includes Lo, The Full, Final...

An online veterinary platform on a mission to make the profession a better place to work has been launched earlier this year in late January, by local Totnes veterinarian Olly King.

The Meraki Initiative is a professional community movement intended to accelerate cultural change. By inspiring leadership Meraki supports the profession to create a culture that people love to work in, improving the wellbeing and sustainability of the workforce.

Four-years in the making, Meraki is the brainchild of Olly King. After years working in the profession, he saw an opportunity to...

TV PRESENTER and journalist Steph McGovern is supporting a new skill-sharing initiative celebrating the talents that older people in Devon can share with the younger generation.

It is all part of the #GenerationWOW campaign (which stands for wonderful older wisdom) from Specsavers Home Visits, together with u3a (University of the Third Age), which gives older people a platform to pass on their skills and life experience to others.

New research reveals that 50% of over-60s in the South West believe they have valuable untapped knowledge going to waste, yet 46% feel that...

Latest figures show that the number of businesses in Devon reached a record high during 2021 – despite the continuing economic challenges resulting from the pandemic.

The total number of registered companies in Devon rose to 60,022. During the year 6,825 new businesses were registered in the county.

The statistics come from the Inform Direct Review of Company Formations using data from Companies House and the Office for National Statistics.

Plymouth formed the highest number of new businesses (1,416), followed by Exeter (1,054) and Teignbridge (824).

...