Business Daily

Michael Spiers, the South West’s leading independent jewellery and watch retailer, opened the doors to its prestigious new showroom in Exeter today (Thursday 18 June), becoming the latest luxury retailer to join the prominent Cathedral Green shopping community. The family-run company, which has four stores located across the South West, moved from its previous Exeter premises on Castle Street to 22 Cathedral Yard, which is much larger and located right in the heart of the city’s shopping hotspot. Already Exeter’s sole stockist of the most prestigious brands in the world, including Rolex,...

The biggest pension changes for generations only came into force on 6 April – but with greater freedom comes more risks.

The changes at a glance

The rules have changed about what you can do with your pension money, whether you have pensions in place or money set aside for a pension plan. You’ll have more choice and control when you reach age 55 – but you should make sure you are ready for changes, which may dramatically affect your future.

You can now:

• Take the whole fund as cash, with 25% being tax free • Use some or all of your pension to buy a...

Numbers of claimants of Job Seeker’s Allowance (JSA) in Devon continued to fall in May to just 3,720, representing just 0.8% of the county’s working age population, down from 0.9% in the previous month. This is the lowest number of claimants in the County since records began in 1983.

The percentage drop in claimants fell by 6.4% between April and May 2015. This is in comparison to the UK average drop of 4.3% over the same period.

When compared with figures from a year ago, JSA claimants are 30% lower than in May 2014 and nearly 60% lower than in May 2011.

All of...

Leading South West law firm Stephens Scown has underlined its support for the rural economy in the region with the appointment of a new consultant with extensive financial and relationship management experience in the agriculture industry.

David Perriment joins Stephens Scown after 42 years at NatWest bank. He spent more than 25 years of that period involved in agricultural banking with his last 15 years as Senior Agricultural Relationship Manager where he managed a portfolio of more than 100 large farming clients across dairy, beef, sheep, arable and diversified enterprises....