Business news - October 2016
These business newsletters
are produced by a member of the Growth & Enterprise team at Exeter City
Council. They cover different topic areas such as local business initiatives,
new developments. and topical business issues.
This month we look at the planned development of Exeter's Bus Station site, suggest 10 steps that local businesses could be making to be 'Brexit-ready', preview the University of Exeter's £52.5m Living Systems Building, spot Crowdcube's London ad, review this month's much acclaimed VenturefestSW 2016, and examine work going on at the A379 Newcourt Junction.
Keep informed by following @InvestInExeter
CGI of St Sidwell's Point facade, design team led by AFL Architects
Plans for the multi-million pound redevelopment of Exeter bus station site have been approved by Exeter City Council’s planning committee.
Creation of a new leisure complex and bus station at the site can now go ahead. Both schemes are being funded by Exeter City Council. Work is expected to begin next spring with the new developments opening in late 2018.
The leisure complex, called St Sidwell’s Point, features an eight lane main pool and four lane pool for learners, a confidence pool, 150 station gym, soft play area, café and crèche as well as extensive health and spa facilities. Ultra-filtration will ensure that the pools will have exceptional water quality with minimal chemical content. It will be the UK’s first leisure centre built to super-efficient low energy Passivhaus standards, saving around 70% on annual fuel costs.
St Sidwell’s Point will be built next to the new Exeter bus station. The station will have 12 bays and improved facilities for passengers. Further development is also planned elsewhere on the bus station site.
Outline planning permission has been granted to the Crown Estate for Princesshay Leisure, a mix of new shops, a cinema, restaurants, cafes and public open space.
More information: http://bit.ly/2dGAPRa
Kate Westbrook, commercial partner at law firm Thrings, wrote an excellent article in Insider magazine this month about the ten steps businesses in the UK could be taking in order to assess the impact of Brexit and respond to the opportunities and threats.
You can read these 10 steps here: http://bit.ly/2dU0RRJ
 This brand new world-class building with over 7,500 m2 of flexible space has now been handed over by the construction team to the University. Once up and running, the Living Systems Institute (LSI) will pioneer novel approaches to understanding diseases and how they can be better diagnosed. Read more at http://bit.ly/2etjavn
And to see what this building will look like when completed, you can watch the fly through here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYeW6zTk7Xw
 Positive messages about Exeter spread far and wide. In just one week, we saw Crowdcube's advert (above) on the London tube, received a call from a Local Authority in Scotland that had heard about Exeter's joined up approach to being active, read news of veterinary diagnostic firm TDDS's work in The Daily Express, and celebrated the winning Exeter businesses in the Insider SW Property Awards.
If you are 'outside our patch' and hear someone singing Exeter's praises, or if your business has won a national or international award do please pass it on. Just send a quick note to e-news@exeter.gov.uk and we might just be able to give your business a name check.
The flagship event Venturefest SW on 18 October 2016 at Sandy Park, Exeter was a huge success. It championed the most cutting edge innovation, technology and entrepreneurship coming out of Devon, Cornwall and Somerset in 2016. Over 800 entrepreneurs, investors and innovators were involved in the event.
This full day of collaboration between innovative businesses and
potential investors featured talks from world-class speakers and
regional technology companies, an Innovation Showcase, and a Hackfest. The latter was a schools' competition where 200 students in the region created innovative products and built working prototypes.
Accessing funding was a key focus area for
the day with an expert panel exploring all options. Session topics included collaboration, partnerships and exporting in order to drive growth in key tech sectors in the SW.
Martin Brown, Chair of Venturefest SW said, “This event really exceeded all of our expectations. It was a powerful
exchange of ideas with a real energy for supporting tech businesses
in the South West. The success of
this year’s event is proof that technology innovation is thriving in the South
West.”
Exeter-based Custodian
Solutions won the Pitchfest competition. Its winning product, an anti-counterfeit software platform, was
selected from 11 other businesses pitching on the day. This company has been previously described by the Department of International Trade (DIT) as being one of the UK's most innovative companies.
The key delivery partners for Venturefest SW 2016 were Plymouth University; University of Exeter; Heart of the South West LEP; Oxford Innovation; Plymouth City Council; Torbay Development Agency; and the South West Academic Health Science Network. Exeter City Council was very proud to have been a sponsor.
Works continue on the £2.68m upgrade of A379 Sandy Park Junction,
Newcourt, Exeter.
The left-in, left-out junction on the A379 at Sandy Park is currently
used to access the land to the east of the Exeter to Exmouth railway line,
including Exeter Chiefs rugby stadium and David Lloyd Leisure Centre. This
arrangement was originally intended as an interim solution, which would require
upgrading with more development in the local area. The planned addition of 450
dwellings and 8.3 hectares of employment land on this area would put greater
pressure on this junction.
Maintaining the left-in, left-out arrangement would have been problematic
for vehicles wishing to access the motorway from the development area, as no
right turn is currently provided.
The ongoing junction upgrade will transform this to a full movement,
signalised junction which will allow right turns in and out of the site. This will unlock growth potential of this
area.
Completion is scheduled for March 2018.
More information: http://bit.ly/2exRGXF
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Exeter's Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM to its friends) is to open its new shop on Thursday 27 October.
Just one more reason to revisit this award-winning, child-friendly, awe-inspiring, free attraction!
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