Exeter

£3m Devon County Council pledge for Exeter flood relief

Devon County Council (DCC) is set to invest £3 million into a vital flood relief scheme for Exeter.

Devon’s Cabinet approved the contribution at its meeting this morning.

Now, a Council spokesperson told the Exeter Daily, senior councillors will lobby the Environment Agency to try to bring forward the projected start of the scheme from January 2017.

They will hear that efforts to accelerate the £25 million scheme are dependent on raising £12 million locally.

That would be added to the £13 million national grant which the scheme is expected to attract....

University researchers unlock mystery of the brain

Researchers from the University of Exeter Medical School have for the first time identified the mechanism that protects us from developing uncontrollable fear.

Our brains have the extraordinary capacity to adapt to changing environments – experts call this ‘plasticity’. Plasticity protects us from developing mental disorders as the result of stress and trauma.

Researchers found that stressful events re-programme certain receptors in the emotional centre of the brain (the amygdala), which the receptors then determine how the brain reacts to the next traumatic event.

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Devon & Somerset Fire Service urges students to stay safe

As students begin their university and college terms this month, they are very likely to be preoccupied with new timetables and meeting new and old friends, rather than worrying about domestic duties such as cleaning rotas, bills or crucially, fire safety.

When living away from home, whether in shared or rented accommodation for the very first time, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of student life. Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service are urging all students to take some time to think about fire safety and to take personal responsibility for protecting...

We take you inside the new Exeter John Lewis store

The Exeter Daily brings you a full photo tour of the new John Lewis store, which is due to be handed over to the store's partners tomorrow from the team that has been responsible for the set up.

John Lewis Exeter will stock a number of products and brands, exclusive to John Lewis. These will include, the Alice Temperley Somerset collection, the new JME range by Jamie Oliver and Liz Earle. John Lewis favourites such as JL&Co, John Lewis Weekend and the brand new House by John Lewis collection – a new home range featuring affordable products including furniture, lighting...

John Lewis Exeter in support of local charities

Kate Connock speaks very enthusiastically about working for John Lewis, and having worked for the firm for 22 years she should know what she is talking about. She now sees that extensive experience culminate in her most exciting challenge to date, managing the launch of a very special branch of the brand 'never knowingly undersold'.

However the pride she shows is as much to do with the links John Lewis forges with the local community and how it treats its staff, or partners as it calls them, fairly as it does with the quality products it sells. Despite the mammoth task of...

Exeter Phoenix 48hr Film Challenge opens Friday

Want to try making a film? Now’s your chance! Exeter Phoenix is challenging all budding filmmakers to create, shoot and edit a film in the space of just 48 hours. No experience is necessary – just a good imagination and a free weekend.

On Friday 9 November film-makers, either individually or as part of a team, will receive a brief which will include a theme, a prop and a sentence which must be incorporated into their film. Entrants then have until the evening of Sunday 11 November to plan, shoot and edit a film no longer than 5 minutes.

Submitted films...

John Lewis workers race against time ahead of opening

Authored by Marc Astley
Posted: Tue, 10/09/2012 - 12:50am

Workers were today busy stacking shelves and polishing off displays ahead of the much-anticipated opening of John Lewis on Friday.

Yesterday members of the media were given an early tour around the new department store, including The Exeter Daily editor Natalie Vizard.

"It has a real 'wow' factor," she said.

"The attention to detail is incredible and I think shoppers are going to be impressed by what is on offer."

Meanwhile work continued late into the night at the junction of Sidwell Street and New North Road.

It has been reported that the John...

Earl of Wessex to officially open city's greenest school

Authored by Marc Astley
Posted: Mon, 10/08/2012 - 5:47pm

The Earl of Wessex will officially open Exeter’s Greenest school later this month.

His Royal Highness will visit Montgomery Primary in St Thomas which has been formally certified as England’s first zero-carbon school.

The Devon County Council school is one of the Greenest buildings in the UK and generates all its own electricity – and a surplus – from an array of solar panels on the roof.

The innovative, air-tight Passivhaus design means it doesn’t need a boiler to provide heating.

For most of the time, the building is warmed by the body heat of pupils and...

Exeter firm Plantabox shortlisted for Smarta Award

The Smarta 100 – a shortlist of the UK's brightest, savviest small businesses – have just been revealed, and included is a fantastic small business from Exeter: Plantabox http://www.plantabox.co.uk / .

Plantabox sells wooden handmade crates based on the original apple crate design for storage, toy boxes, storage crates, retail display, wine boxes, herb gardens and planters. Owned by two people from different generations, Martin and Dave believe that fast, smart and focussed decisions are the key to the success of Plantabox as a brand.

“We bought Plantabox two and a half years...

Just three more days before new John Lewis store opens

Authored by Babs Walker
Posted: Mon, 10/08/2012 - 4:01pm

The experience of shopping in Exeter is set to rocket to new heights with the launch of the new John Lewis store on the corner of Sidwell Street, which opens its doors to the public at 9am on Friday 12th October. The Exeter Daily was lucky enough to take a sneak peek around the sophisticated store with manager Kate Connock, whose staff are busily preparing for a smooth launch. Thursday will see the store's partners undertaking a dress rehearsal, but the signs are good as everyone is pulling together to make it happen.

Whether you love or loathe shopping, you can't help but...

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