Nesta Challenges has announced the launch of the new Longitude Explorer Prize People’s Choice Award. Since September, teams of young people aged 11-16 have been creating and developing technological solutions to some of the greatest challenges we face. Innovations in the running include robots that clean the ocean and devices to help young people take part in lessons remotely, to tech that helps isolated people connect with others and apps to help people lead healthier lives. The winners of the new People’s Choice Award will receive £5,000 for their school or youth group.
The UK’s number one gift-card exchange platform, Exeter-based Cardyard, has used the COVID-19 crisis to push ahead on major changes to support near-instant delivery, consumer safety, and less handling of plastic cards.
The company, that buys and sells second-user giftcards at discounted rates, has now launched their service so supplies of physical plastic cards are switched into digital vouchers for use online and in-store when trading gift cards online
This was a planned upgrade for 2021/2, and the safety implications for handling plastic (where COVID-19 virus may...
Two Exeter community centres have completed solar power generation projects this month, having faced a deadline coinciding with the COVID-19 lockdown and threatening their viability. Westbank Community Health and Care in Exminster, and The Beacon Community Centre on Beacon Lane are among the UK’s last solar projects to get government feed-in-tariff subsidies.
Exeter Community Energy (ECOE), which owns the solar panels, and installer SOL Electrical had to register the sites with OFGEM, the government power regulator, before the end of March. That was needed to get the subsidies that...
Mental health is a difficult subject in customer service. In an often-stressful environment it’s a big concern, how do you make a difference?
When someone phones our team at Westgate for IT support, it is usually the case that the client or enquirer are having problems with their workstation. They are already frustrated and that frustration can attach on to the person answering the call. We don’t often get phone calls where the client is bouncing with joy and happy with their current IT set up but we do get a lot of thanks, daily, in the form of online reviews or through our...
Exeter’s oldest building is hotting up with an environmentally friendly heating system.
St Nicholas Priory in Exeter is probably the oldest building in Devon, boasting rare Norman architecture, but a brand-new heating system will soon see it brought bang up to date without impacting on the historic structure.
After years of closure, Exeter Historic Buildings Trust took over St Nicholas Priory in 2018, with the intention of painstakingly restoring the ancient building and adapting it for public use. Since reopening, it has become a thriving community venue hosting an...
Yesterday provided some very interesting housing market intelligence. Hard data from HMRC and market commentary from Rightmove showed that the only certainty is uncertainty and there is no need to rush into buying a home today if you don’t actually need to move home tomorrow. Perhaps Time, Time, Time is the new Location, Location, Location
For me, the most telling commentary was from Rightmove for whom the current level of housing market uncertainty rendered them unable to provide guidance on their future profitability. Rightmove’s revenues are generated from estate agents and...
Two Exeter climate scientists have received prestigious awards from the Royal Meteorological Society (RMetS).
Professor Adam Scaife and Professor Richard Betts MBE, both of the University of Exeter and the Met Office, have won the Buchan Prize and the Climate Science Communications Award respectively.
The Buchan Prize recognises Professor Scaife’s recent work on the atmospheric dynamics behind seasonal predictions, published in Society journals and “adjudged to contain the most important original contribution or contributions to meteorology”.
Seven people in Exeter are celebrating today after winning £1,000 each thanks to their lucky postcodes.
EX2 5AR and EX4 1PA were both announced as winners with People’s Postcode Lottery on Tuesday 23rd June 2020.
There were four winners in EX2 5AR with a further three players winning with EX4 1PA.
People’s Postcode Lottery ambassador Danyl Johnson sent his well-wishes to the winners. He said: “Congratulations to our winners! I'm thrilled for them and I hope they treat themselves to something nice with their winnings."
Restrictions at Devon’s Recycling Centres are to be eased further this week, with personal vans allowed to bring household waste from Wednesday 24 June. Vans will need to pre-book their visit at three of the county's busiest sites.
To ensure the recycling centres have enough capacity to serve as many people as possible, and to keep unloading times to a minimum, vans will only be able to bring the same amount of waste that would fit in a normal sized family car or trailer.
For example, standard vans such as a Ford Transits, VW Transporters or Vauxhall Vivaros should be no...
Fore Street in Topsham could be temporarily turned into a pedestrian zone, under new plans being put forward for consultation.
Officers from Exeter City Council and Devon County Council are looking at ways of getting Topsham back to business following the coronavirus pandemic, keeping businesses, shoppers and visitors to the town safe.
A number of the town’s streets, have very narrow pavements, and in Fore Street the shops open up onto the pavements, making social distancing very difficult. A number of options to create a safe shopping environment have been assessed in...
