Business news
- November 2016
These business newsletters
are produced by a member of the Growth & Enterprise team at Exeter City
Council. They cover different subject areas such as local business initiatives,
new developments and topical business issues.
This month we briefly look at the devastating Exeter fire, the improvements to the Commercial Property Register, but mainly focus on skills, training, and local education provision.
Keep informed by following @InvestInExeter
Royal Clarence Hotel after the fire but before partial necessary demolition
The Royal Clarence Hotel has been an Exeter icon for
hundreds of years making the fire that started on Friday 28 October 2016 even more devastating.
Thanks to truly sterling
efforts by the Fire Brigades, members of the Police service and others, everyone was safely evacuated from the hotel and neighbouring buildings; no-one
was injured and no-one died.
Despite initial inconvenience caused by a large cordon placed around the affected site, it was surprising just how quickly the cordon shrunk and work progressed in getting Exeter's city centre back to normal although, for a few, the impact will continue for some time.
What has been inspiring throughout this very busy and traumatic time has been
the help willingly offered and given by so many to support those people and businesses
affected by the Exeter fire. We will not
provide a list here for fear of missing someone out. You all know who you are whether you provided
support for hotel guests who had to evacuate from the Royal Clarence
Hotel, or provided on-going food and drink to fire fighters and police officers, or
provided support to businesses where it was
needed.
It is this spirit of co-operation that will see Exeter
through the coming months.
Anyone wishing to donate to the official Exeter Fire Appeal can do so here: http://bit.ly/2eRos2Z
Exeter City
Council has made relocating to (and within) Exeter even easier with the launch of a new and
improved Commercial Property Register. The streamlined database will improve
user experience, include new locations and feature a range of commercial
property facilities.
The
Commercial Property Register provides relocating businesses with an invaluable
tool that lists all available commercial property, including: office space,
industrial units, shops, investment property, hotels, pubs, restaurants,
leisure properties and development sites.
The new changes will significantly improve the users'
experience and allow them to look for new premises in the city centre and
further afield. The register now features property within a much wider geographical reach, including all of the local authority areas of East Devon, Teignbridge and Mid Devon.
The new
register features a clear and user-friendly design, with the advantage of now
being fully responsive when used on tablets or smartphones.
Users can
now narrow down a search through the use of filters such as size, location and
date of when the property or site became available and using geolocation
technology, the register now offers the functionality to find properties
nearby.
Access the Commercial Property Register here: https://cpr.exeter.gov.uk/
Exeter College has won the prestigious City & Guilds ‘UK Centre of the Year’ award – celebrating the outstanding opportunities delivered by the college to technical and vocational learners.
The City & Guild’s Lion Awards are one of most prestigious in the skills education calendar and is a culmination of the Medals for Excellence awards programme, which dates back more than 100 years.
Judges of the awards praised the College for ‘ensuring excellent care, guidance and support for their learners’.
The awards recognise excellent results and progression through learning as well as showcasing excellence in the skills sector by individuals, both in the UK and Internationally, who have overcome significant challenges to achieve their goals.
John Laramy, Exeter College Principal, said: “It is an honour for Exeter College to be recognised by City & Guilds as its Centre of the Year. To be identified as the best centre in the country, by one of the leading Awarding Organisations in the world, is a real credit to the staff and students at the college.
AND STOP PRESS
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John Laramy, Exeter College Principal, tweeted on 17 November:
"Well not a bad day @ExeterCollege named as the best college in the country & shortlisted for the @AoC_info Beacon award for apprenticeships"
More information: http://bit.ly/2gkGjn0
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Students who studied music and technology did better than those with a maths and science pedigree
Words and their meanings naturally evolve. Acronyms do too. Most people today would be aware that
The invention in the late 1990s (in the USA) of this acronym
for the above academic disciplines was a recognition that more attention needed
to be given to these subjects in order for the country to solve the perceived lack of qualified candidates for
high-tech jobs. The acronym has been
adopted worldwide.
In some circles, STEMM is used to recognise the importance
of medicine with the second M standing for Medicine.
And, even more recently, there has been worldwide
recognition that, because of the complex and volatile world in which we live
and work, there is an increasing need for creativity as well as science whether
this skill mix is in one individual or within an interdisciplinary team. Naomi Climer, president of the UK Institute of
Engineers, says that the study of creative subjects are key to the success of
engineering because of the way that they teach spacial, design and practical
skills. So ...
Clearly
it is the combination of creativity and science that is important. As Carl Sagan
says "It is the tension between creativity and scepticism that has
produced the stunning unexpected findings of science."
Exeter is well placed to meet this challenge. Innovation Exeter is focused on cultivating
a region that is a world leader in environmental data analytics which will
benefit from the presence of the Met Office, University of Exeter,
Exeter Maths School and other critical innovative businesses located here.
More information: http://steam-notstem.com/
The first cohort of young people are taking part in BEEP - Business Empowering Employment Programme. These lively creative young people have plenty of potential but typically they have had fewer breaks than other young people may have had.
Introduced by Exeter and Heart of Devon Employment and Skills Board with its partner organisations, BEEP has been described as the 'best work-readiness programme that I have come across'.
Volunteer mentors are a crucial element of this training programme. To quote a famous advert, these young people - aware for the first time that important, busy people are prepared to give up their free time to help - feel that they are worth it. What a motivation!
If you are in business and would like to be a volunteer mentor for BEEP, please email sandra@sampsonhall.co.uk
Future schemes can only take place when sufficient funds have been raised. Each individual supported by this scheme, with on-going trained volunteer mentoring, costs £550 for a 2 week course. If you would like to provide financial support please go to www.beep-uk.org and click on the level of support that you can contribute. A young person's future could depend on your generosity.
 An earlier edition of this Business Bulletin spoke about the Apprenticeship Levy to be introduced from April 2017.
This has brought a new focus on apprenticeships and the responsibility of businesses to provide opportunities to talented young people as well as older existing staff in order to grow our own talent. Does your business employ apprentices? Does your business employ the right number of apprentices? Do you provide Gold Standard apprenticeships?
Have you heard of Graduate Apprenticeships?
Exeter is leading the way in that it is the first Russell Group University in the UK to offer a degree apprenticeship course: http://bit.ly/2fYPJRf
Is it time that your company found out more?
Contact:
University of Exeter on the above link if you are interested in finding out more about their digital technology apprenticeship.
or
www.getingofar.gov.uk/ for information on apprenticeships in general.
Tech City UK is calling for anyone who operates in the UK tech sector to share its voice in its annual Tech Nation survey looking into the current state of the UK’s digital economy. Survey link: http://buff.ly/2ffrv50
Tech Nation 2016 provided the most detailed analysis to date of how the digital sector is driving economic growth, showcasing the innovation and energy of tech hubs across the UK. The report was well received around the world and has become a beacon of information into the performance of 27 of the UK’s digital clusters.
The survey closing date is 5 December 2016.
The report will be released in the first quarter of 2017.
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From 2017, GCSEs will start to be graded 9 to 1, with 9 being the top grade. Subjects will be phased into the new system.
Employers - make sure that you reflect this in your job descriptions and recruitment decisions.
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