Business

A national newspaper has praised the joint effort that went into securing the new John Lewis store for Exeter.

Observer journalist Zoe Wood wrote:

Despite the rearguard action being fought by government high street tsar Mary Portas, town centres around the country are being pushed to breaking point as retail chains are felled by the recession. One in seven high-street shops lies empty, with the recent failure of JJB Sports, which resulted in more than 130 closures, making a grim picture worse.

Against that backdrop, the strength of Exeter's retail centre – albeit...

The government has recently published an independent report written by Sir Adrian Montague, who was asked to undertake a review of the barriers to institutional investment in the private rented homes sector.

Sir Adrian is possibly the busiest city grandee there is, having chaired or held directorships in Friends Provident, Cross Rail, British Energy, Anglian Water Group, 3i and recently announced as the new head of the Governments Green Investment Bank). He was also advisor to Gordon Brown for some 4 years and has also worked as Head of Partnerships UK, a Treasury body...

A Crown Estate survey has revealed a huge amount of potential wave and tidal energy around the Southwest coastline.

There are significant wave resources off the north Cornwall coast and England and Wales share the largest single area of tidal range resources in the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary.

The research, carried out by The Crown Estate in association with the Exeter-based Regen SW and devolved administrations, concludes there is potentially tens of thousands of gigawatts of wave and tidal energy to harvest which could contribute substantially to the UK’s...

Business leaders have hailed the new £8.5 million Exeter College Technology Centre as yet another example of how the city is moving forwards.

Derek Phillips, vice-chairman of the Exeter Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: “This college facility is a great asset for the city and should make science and engineering more popular with students, which is great. It’s what we need for the future and it’s a very good development.

“The striking design will appeal to many new students and it’s great news for Exeter.”

He was speaking as more than 100 members of the Chamber...