Devon Blog

Exeter's Waterfront gets a contemporary new look
Renowned interior designers Fruition give Exeter’s Waterfront restaurant and pub a contemporary new look.

Providing a new look just in time for the tourism season, Devon-based design company fruition have transformed a dark, dated pizza restaurant in to a welcoming eatery with a modern relaxed feel.

With tourism key to financial success in the leisure industry, more and more businesses are realising the importance of creating the right impression when it comes to both increasing footfall through the door, and encouraging customers to stay longer and spend more. Having recently completed interiors for a number of high profile bars and restaurants, commercial design specialists Fruition has developed a strong reputation for increasing profits via professionally designed commercial interiors.

Its latest success story is the newly-opened Waterfront bar and restaurant, enjoying a prominent position on Exeter’s quayside. Previously the building was dark, cluttered and tired, and the design brief was to transform this space and bring it up to date – although this may sound simple, the period structures of the arched buildings on the quay required the company to think outside the box in order to enhance the style. As a historic building they had to work sympathetically with the building to create a welcoming cool space with a designated restaurant area. To great success, the Waterfront is now light, contemporary, clean and fresh. An immediate success with the locals as well as tourists, it is a vibrant, cool place to be.
Posted : 27/04/2007 14:45:49

The Italian Job for Devon's publicity experts
South West publicity firm expands into Europe with the opening of a satellite office near Florence, Italy.

Arthouse PR are no strangers to representing clients from all across the UK but this year sees the further expansion of their business into Europe with their first overseas office opening in Tuscany.

The PR business was started 6 years ago by Sharon Finnigan Kilby and Gary Kilby who both had backgrounds in marketing and publicity, since then the business has grown steadily and now represents clients across the region and further afield.

Partner Sharon Finnigan-Kilby comments "We have successfully built our organisation by word of mouth and recommendations from our clients and are now delighted to be expanding into Europe. We offer affordable publicity support and have particular expertise within a number of industries including homes and interiors, architecture, leisure and hospitality.

Much of our work is with hotels, interior designers, furniture makers and master craftsman, many of whom are South West based, however our love of Tuscany has led us to expand our business to promoting Italian businesses to the UK marketplace.

On our last visit we were able to secure new contracts based in Italy and are delighted to be working with clients both in the UK and in Italy, so it's really exciting. Our Devon offices remain central to our organisation and we are continuing to grow our business in the region, however, it's nice to have a valid reason to fly off to Tuscany on a regular basis".

Arthouse PR is a family business with offices in Crediton and Tuscany, services include: Press Relations, Editorial Features, Copywriting and Brand Development. If you are looking to establish a career in PR please send in your CV via email to Arthouse PR.
Posted : 19/03/2007 10:55:46

c£70million to be spent on highway improvements
Nearly £70 million is to be spent on Devon's roads, bridges and associated improvement schemes during the next year.

The majority of the money will be spent by Devon County Council on maintenance and repair of the county's 12,800 km road network - the longest in any county in England - with the remainder used to fund a range of safety initiatives, improvement schemes, projects to reduce congestion and improve air quality, and initiatives to encourage people not to use their cars but to walk, cycle or use public transport instead.

Major structural maintenance projects to be carried out include two major projects in the South Molton area each costing more than half a million pounds on the A399 between Aller Cross and Northland and between Northlands Cross and Huntstone Wood. Two other schemes costing nearly £300,000 will also be carried out on this road.

Improvements to the A381 between Gerston Cross and Harbertonford will cost just under £1 million and work on the A383 between Mile End Road and Greenaway Road in Newton Abbot will cost £395,000.

Maintenance on the A376 at Winslade Park will cost £405,000 and £240,000 will be spent on the A361 at Gornhay. In Exeter schemes on Alphington Road and Barrack Road and Tollards Road will cost a total of £505,000.

The biggest bridge project is in Exeter with £1million earmarked for vital work on the Canal Swing and Bascule Bridges. Many critical electromechanical components are 70 years old and the operation of the bridges has become unreliable. The works will include the construction of a footbridge attached to the swing bridge to improve the capacity of the ring road and provide safer access for pedestrians and cyclists to the National Cycle Network.

Proposals to strengthen Bideford's historic Long Bridge are currently being formulated with public consultation to take place in March. A total of £850,000 has been earmarked for this work for design and service diversions. Work on the refurbishment will not commence until the consultation work is complete and a decision made by the County's Executive on the final solution.

Two other major bridge schemes are at Kismeldon on the C461 and on an unclassified road over the Little Bovey Leat.

Street lighting will benefit from nearly £5.5 million with another £8 million spent on integrated transport initiatives. In addition, the County Council has been given a special government grant of just over £1 million to pay for the maintenance of the recently de-trunked A39/A361.

More than £3.5 million has been allocated to pay for operations to keep traffic moving in severe winter weather.

Nine million pounds will be spent on general maintenance to improve the road network throughout the county including structural work, reconstruction, resurfacing, surface dressing and patching and just over £3 million will be spent on footpath maintenance.

The budget for road cleaning and ditching is just over £1.5 million and a similar sum will be spent on grass cutting and weed clearance. Ongoing work to improve drainage receives nearly £2 million.
Posted : 10/03/2006 16:03:10

Work starts on missing link path in Braunton
Work starts next week to create a new length of footpath along Saunton Road in Braunton to fill in a missing link.

The new 40 metre path will link with the zebra crossing and complete the path from Field Lane to the village centre.

This £28,000 scheme is one of the projects being carried out by the County Council to improve walking routes, road safety and accessibility.

The work, which begins on Monday, February 13, will be carried out for the Country Council by South West Highways Ltd. It will take about five weeks to complete as the scheme involves building a stone retaining wall at the back of the path.

Temporary lights will control traffic flows while some of the work is carried out.
Posted : 07/02/2006 16:16:58

Devon celebrates full house of specialist schools
DEVON has become the only shire county in the country where every secondary school has specialist status.

Devon is one of just nine local authorities out of 150 nationally to have achieved this success.

Earlier this month it was confirmed that Holsworthy Community College had been awarded specialist technology college status from next September.

It means that every one of Devon's 37 secondary schools how has a specialism.

The status brings extra Government money for both capital and revenue projects.

Devon's Executive Councillor for Children's Services, John Smith, welcomed the news.

He said - Our secondary schools are already a key part of their local communities.

But specialist status brings them extra funds to work more closely with their feeder primaries and the wider community and that can only be good.

They can share their specialist experience with feeder primary schools and enhance the range of opportunities and activities that they offer for adults.

Devon County Council has worked closely with our secondary schools to build up a good network of specialist colleges.

We now have a good spread of expertise across the county and this can only serve to enhance the education our family of schools provides.

Experience in Devon and elsewhere has shown that standards in all subjects are given a lift by specialist status.
Posted : 07/02/2006 16:09:13

Devon village primary in nation's Top Ten
A Devon village primary has been named as one of the top ten schools in the country in an influential national survey.

West Hill Primary near Ottery St Mary is placed seventh in the country in The Sunday Times's Parent Power table featuring the 500 best primary schools.

It rose dramatically from 101st place in last year's figures.

The table is based on the school's National Curriculum SATs results for the past three years.
Children sit their SATs tests in English, maths and science and the results are published as percentages. So a perfect score over the past three years would see a school achieving 900 while West Hill actually recorded a score of 897.

Headteacher Sue Nield said: "This is a fantastic achievement for the school".
Posted : 28/11/2005 10:15:28

Crackdown on underage alcohol sales
As part of a nationwide campaign by the Home Office to stop the sale of alcohol to Under 18s, Devon County Council Trading Standards Service and Devon and Cornwall Constabulary are planning a series of joint test purchasing operations in the run up to Christmas. For the first time in Devon, this will include on-licensed premises as well as off-licences.

Over the past few years Devon Trading Standards Service has carried out a series of regular under-age sales checks at off-licences. The most recent in September resulted in a significant improvement in compliance.

The Trading Standards Service will be distributing training and advice packs throughout this period, entitled 'No proof of age - no sale' to all licensed premises in Devon. The packs, produced by a South West regional partnership of local authority trading standards services, include a training course on a CD Rom for retailers to use to train their staff and a video highlighting the problems involved in preventing the sale of age restricted products.
Posted : 28/11/2005 10:10:58

Barnstaple Bypass reaches major milestone
Work by Devon County Council on the Barnstaple Western Bypass continues to gather momentum with another significant milestone approaching.

On Thursday 1st December, contractors Edmund Nuttall Ltd will take the first steps towards allowing traffic to be switched from the existing Sticklepath Hill and Sticklepath Terrace onto the new road which will run between the top of Sticklepath Hill and Longbridge.

This will involve permanently closing the lower end of Old Sticklepath Hill where it currently joins Sticklepath Hill to all vehicular traffic. Pedestrian routes will be closed temporarily but alternative access and egress to both Old and New Sticklepath Hill will be established and signed.

Access to Lake will be maintained and new traffic management measures as a result of these works will include the removal of the dedicated cycle lanes on both sides of Sticklepath Hill and the addition of temporary bus stops for students of North Devon College to the west of the existing Sticklepath Hill pedestrian crossing.

The closure will allow the contractor to start service diversion works and ultimately facilitate the demolition of the existing railway bridges at the bottom of Sticklepath Hill in spring next year. These will be replaced by a new 60 metre long viaduct for the Bypass and access to the railway station.

Consultation over the closure and temporary arrangements has been carried out with North Devon College, the First Bus Group and the police. A letter and plan explaining the arrangements is being sent to all affected residents.
Posted : 28/11/2005 10:08:48

Poetry fans in for a treat at Devon libraries
Poetry fans have three events to look forward to in Devon County Council libraries throughout November.
Ilfracombe Library is the setting for an evening with the Estuary Poets on Friday 18 November at 7.30pm. Poetry and music will come from North Devon poets Frances Thompson, James Bell and Colin Shaddick, and musician Chris Aycliffe. Tickets are £1 from the library, with concessions for students.
Acclaimed poet Chris Tutton will be at Exeter Central Library at encouraging poets to perform their work.
Chris Tutton has performed his idiosyncratic poems throughout the UK and at many literary festivals. Numerous radio and TV appearances include resident poet on Carlton TV, features on The Big Breakfast, Radio Four's Loose Ends with Ned Sherrin, and The Mark Radcliffe Show on Radio One.
He will be performing his own work on Wednesday 16 November at 7pm (tickets £1.50)
This will be followed by a workshop on Saturday 26 November between 11am and 2pm in which Chris will help poets gain confidence in reading their work in public. The emphasis will be on developing your own style and voice - essential skills for every poet - with individual and group attention, communication skills, performance techniques and delivery. Constructive feedback and help with presentation, preparation and choice of material will form an important part of the day. Tickets for this event are £2.50 with a light lunch included
Posted : 07/11/2005 18:37:06

£4.2 million investment in airport
A £4.2 million investment in Exeter International Airport looks set to be given the go-ahead by Devon County Council's Cabinet - the Executive - when it meets tomorrow (Tues Nov 8).
The investment in baggage handling improvements, a terminal concourse extension and additional aircraft stands and fuel storage facilities is recommended in a new report.
The report recommends that the County Council reaffirms that its paramount objective for Exeter International Airport is to ensure its continuing success as an airport and a driving force in the Devon economy.
Source:Devon County Council
Posted : 07/11/2005 18:35:06

Holiday parks ban smoking
Hoburne, which has holiday parks at Paignton in Devon and Liskeard in Cornwall, is to introduce a ban on smoking in all of its parks.
The company will ban smoking in all enclosed areas of its parks, including restaurants, bars and arcades.
From spring 2006, holidaymakers wanting to smoke at a Hoburne park will have to go outside.
Posted : 28/10/2005 19:00:34

Devon shopping centre to ban smoking
The Exeter Guildhall Shopping Centre in Devon has announced it is to ban smoking in enclosed areas reports the BBC web site. The owners of the shopping centre are introducing the ban from Saturday 22nd October as part of the first phase of a £1m refurbishment.
This will make it one of the first major retail centres in the South West to bring in a smoking ban.
Smoking will still be allowed in designated areas of cafes
Posted : 19/10/2005 14:55:13

Devon has among the lowest jobless rate in the EU
An EU report, revealed yesterday, said that Devon and Somerset have the lowest unemployment rates in the whole of the EU.
The EU average rate of unemployment was 9.2% with Devon and Somerset standing at only 2.4%
Posted : 08/10/2005 14:12:28