News
Please view the latest news items on our site.
The Chamber recently received notice from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (DfBIS) that the existing Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) will be abolished. To replace the RDAs, DfBIS are inviting Councils and Business Groups to develop proposals and form Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). As proposed in the Budget, a forthcoming White Paper on sub-National economic growth will set out the approach of DfBIS in more detail. Legislation to abo ...
The Yeovil Chamber Of Trade and Commerce has been looking into reports from some members of huge increases in their 2010 business rates. Having reviewed the specific cases submitted where the increase is over 15%, it seems there is no immediate reason for them, and business effected should query these increases! Most business who responded to our request for information, reported an "average" increase of about 5%, but some members have oddly received much higher demands. One member h ...
YEOVIL CHAMBER IS FULLY ENDORSING THIS INITIATIVE. Recent success came for a local business that was involved in the construction of an accomodation block for sailing/watersport competitors at the ex-RNAS at Portland. If you know of any businesses that have gained work from Olympic-related contracts please let us know. So far the emphasis has been on construction-related projects. From 2010 onwards, this emphasis will evolve into support a ...
14 May we sent out an email and flyer to members regarding the re-valuation of businesses in the Yeovil area for 2010-2011. According to the feedback, INCREASES HAVE BEEN BETWEEN 12.9% and 64%! - WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR INCREASE? We need more feedback to enable us establish the general increase across the board, and then use this information to lobby the council on your behalf. PLEASE CAN YOU HELP? If you have already done so we would like to thank you for your support, if not we would great ...
Yeovil Chamber Executive Committee member, Dr Antoinette Young has been closely watching the quality of the rail links that serve Yeovil, and recently attended a meeting at the Pen Mill Hotel Yeovil. At this meeting it was confirmed that with effect from December 2011, a new route will run from Yeovil Junction to the Midlands, via Yeovil Pen Mill, Frome, Westbury, Melksham, Swindon, Oxford and Banbury. It is also planned to extend this route from Banbury to Birmingham ...
Yeovil MP David Laws named as Chief Secretary to the Treasury in new Prime Minister David Cameron's cabinet. Liberal Democrat Mr Laws had previously been tipped to become education secretary in the first coalition government since World War II. Former Lib Dem MP for Yeovil, Lord Paddy Ashdown said he was proud of Mr Laws. "As a young man as a researcher in the Lib Dems I asked him to go up north and negotiate the first ever coalition deal between Lib Dems and Labour in Scotl ...
GO Yeovil! is the campaign title of an event taking place for the first time from 13 th to 19 th June 2010. The ambition is that the whole community, at play and at work (with business support), will be involved in a very special week of activity. The focus is on Healthy Living issues while at the same time raising funds for local charities. The organisers have chosen St Margaret's Hospice in Yeovil and Yeovil Women's Hospital as this year's beneficiaries. This should be a ...
Yeovil Chamber have been lobbying on behalf of local business to improve local rail services. The Bristol-Weymouth Service fails to meet the needs of business users with infrequent services, poor timetabling and unreliability. We are working with the Heart of Wessex Rail Partnership to build a business case for investment in improved services on this line and your help is needed. One of the principal defects of the rail service is the lack of potential for staff to commute b ...
During your visit to the site, please take time to check your membership details. Potential customers continually visit our site. If your contact details are incorrect, you could be missing out on opportunities for business. Contact the Chamber Secretary as soon as possbile if your details are incorrect.
Business Link are holding a series of workshoips in Yeovil over the coming months to provide practical information for busiensses on Fire Regulations. Click the link below for further information.
Employment conditions are expected to remain difficult throughout 2010 as businesses continue to struggle with weak demand. According to the British Chambers of Commerce's latest Monthly Business Survey, almost two thirds of employers (63%) intend to introduce wage freezes or pay cuts next year. Nearly one in five (18%) are looking at dropping employee benefits such as bonuses and gym membership. The squeeze on pay packets, is a sign that firms do not envisage the economy is likely to pick up d ...
Teachers from schools in Yeovil, Taunton, Sherborne and Shepton Mallet have been working together for the past year creating a number of enterprise activities to help embed enterprise into the curriculum. Teachers have worked with local, national and international companies creating a series of enterprise activities involving students from all the schools. Last year, the schools worked with Clarks Ltd on a market research task for Business Studies, others worked with Bishopst ...
Connecting Somerset is helping local businesses develop their IT skills and stay one step ahead of the competition. You are invited to attend our Technology for Business Conference on Wednesday 1 October. The conference, which will run between 9am - 5:30pm, is to be held at Haynes International Motor Museum, Sparkford, Yeovil and will show how technology is beneficial to business. You'll be treated to an introductory speech by a senior representative from CISCO , who will ...
Thursday 30 th October 2008 3pm - 6pm The Shrubbery Hotel, Ilminster ...
Don't forget that 30th September is the deadline for registering for the small business rate scheme. If you don't register you could loose up to £1,100. If you want to check whether you are entitled to relief, just log onto www.leaseholdersunited.com/smallbusinessraterelief/index.aspx . It takes 2 minutes tyo check your circumstances and is free of charge.
The Yeovil Chamber is currently producing its popular Business Directory for 2009. The directory is distirbuted to hundreds of businesses in Yeovil and the surrounding area as well as all Chamber members and is one of the best advertising opportunities to effectively target local business and business people. Chamber members are entitled to substantial discounts on advertising rates and will also get a FREE link to their website . Member advertising rates start at just £ ...
The government has been urged to introduce a number of changes to the tax regime in order to help retailers cope with the economic downturn. In a letter to the Chancellor, who is to begin drafting his pre-Budget report, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) set out its plans for government action to reduce business costs and boost consumer spending. Among its proposals, the BRC called for measures that include ruling out any extension of local tax raising powers, such as Business Rate Supplement ...
We'd all like to do our bit for the planet wouldn't we? I know I am not as good as I could be (I drive a guzzler and go abroad for my holidays) but I do want to help the environment where I can and without too much of an impact on my lifestyle please. Certainly nobody likes pollution and as businesspeople we know waste costs money, so I am all signed up for being "eco friendly", but I don't have a clue what I can do to reduce my "carbon footprint", more than I do now which is ...
In this age of e-commerce, global enterprise and hi-tec solutions to every manner of problems (some of which we never thought we had!), bear a thought for the poor old railway. Once at the cutting edge of technology itself, the railway forged links first across countries and then continents and was instrumental in creating the modern world in which we live. The purpose of the railway remains the same today as it always has done - to transport people and goods efficiently to where they need to g ...
Local builder Rok has teamed up with the Jurassic Coast Trust to support the annual Chesil Beach summer clean up - and is appealing for volunteers to help on the day. This summer's clean-up will focus on just the three beaches of Burton Bradstock, Cogden, and West Bexington from 2pm on Friday, 1 August 2008. A team from Rok's Yeovil office and the Trust, together with families and friends, will be meeting at the Burton Bradstock, Cogden and West Bexington beach car parks 3 and are calli ...
Preston School in Yeovil is also an Enterprise Hub School. There are 51 hub schools nationally and their role is to drive CPD in the region and create, support and sustain a local network. Preston works closely with its spoke and partner schools: Westfield School, Bucklers Mead School, The Gryphon School and Bishop Fox School. The schools work together to create effective enterprise activities, which engage students and develop important skills that they will need for a success ...
The Western Gazette has teamed up with local builders ROK and Soth Somerset Homes to offer one lucky local community group a makeover project worth up to £10,000. The winning grup or organisation can tap into the skills expertise and know how to make a real difference to their activities. Click on the link below for further information and an application form. Closing date: 21st April.
A number of new business regulations take effect as from 6 April, one of two annual common commencement dates. The new regulations include, among others, extended maternity rights, extra sexual harassment laws, changes to the number of firms affected by rules on informing and consulting staff, and new corporate manslaughter legislation. (Information supplied by Freeman Baker Associates)
Rok, the Yeovil building and maintenance company, has started work on the latest addition to the Abbey Manor Business Centre. Rok is already familiar with Abbey Manor - not only did it build the original business centre which opened six years ago, but its Yeovil office is based there. Located in the grounds of the 600-year-old Grade 1 listed Abbey Manor House on Preston Road on the edge of the town, the new stand-alone building, called Granary Court, is being built on behalf of property compan ...
Small firms are feeling the effects of the global credit crunch, a new survey has shown. The survey, carried out by the Small Business Research Trust (SBRT) and the Forum of Private Business (FPB), covered the first quarter of 2008. Of those firms that responded, almost three-quarters (74 per cent) with both loans and overdrafts said that lending rates had risen during the past six months. Some 59 per cent reported that increases in interest rates had had a ‘negative' or ‘very ne ...
The economic slowdown could bite deeper than has been previously predicted, the CBI has warned. The latest quarterly outlook from the CBI has seen the employers' organisation downgrade its forecast for growth in 2008 from 2 per cent to 1.8 per cent. In 2009, things could be even tougher, the CBI said, with its predicted rate of growth trimmed from 2.1 per cent to 1.7 per cent. Growth in consumer spending is all set to be even weaker, forecast to drop to 1.6 per cent this year before tumbling ...
The Fleet Air Arm museum in Yeovilton recorded record visitor numbers for the first part of the year. Click the link for more information.
The Chamber is giving its backing to the new Innovation Centre currently under development and due to be completed later thisyear. The Innovation Centre is aimed at nurturing 34 fledgling businesses and turning them into fully profitable companies. It is expected to create around 100 high-profile jobs in the first three years and has been hailed as a major boost for the local economy. The Chamber will be giving the new businesses every support and are planning a spec ...
The Chamber has made a £500 donation to the Yeovil College Bursuary scheme to help a young person complete their college course. Chamber President James Richards said "There's nothing more important to the future of Yeovil than the talent of its young people. We want to make sure that this talent is given the best possible chance in Yeovil. A college bursary will give a young person with financial problems the chance to develop their skills which will benef ...
The Chamber is actively campaining for better rail services in the South West to exploit the location of Yeovil as a key North-South and East-West transport junction. In conjunction with local MP David Laws, the Chamber has been lobbying for the promised investment in the Exeter - Waterloo service including the dualling of the track an increasing train frequency and improving the timetable for business users. The Chamber is also fighting for improvements to the Bristol Weymou ...
The Chamber is challenging Yeovil companies to make Yeovil the greenest town for business in the south west. The Chamber is urging all local businesses to save themselves money and help the planet by adopting enviromentally friendly business practices such as reducing energy consumption, packaging and waste. The Chamber is promoting practical ways to make a real difference to the enviroment and can provide members with help and support to look at their own practices a ...
At the Yeovil Supports Green Growth meeting on Tuesday, Emma Burlow from Envirowise gave a presentation about the opportunities and benefits to businesses of improved environmental performance especially with respect to their waste, water and other utilities. Emma discussed the true cost of waste which is around five to 20 times the cost of disposal alone, this includes the hidden costs of labour, energy, time, lost sales and raw material costs are looked into. Envirowise can help companies e ...
A recent survey by the Samaritans provided an interesting insight into stress in the workplace. The report found, amongst other notable statistics, that 32 per cent of workers feel their employers ignore the problem of stress and 43 per cent feel their bosses are simply interested in getting as much out of them as possible, regardless of the effects on their health. More than half of employees surveyed had seen colleagues cry in the workplace because of the pressure they are under. ...
The Chamber is committed to working with the authorities and Town centre Partnership to maintain and improve on Yeovil Town Centres already excellent range of shops and services. The Partnership is driven by Town Centre Manager. One of its biggest successes has been a highly successful anti crime scheme, which has it's roots in the Radio Link project - a system which itself was originally introduced some years ago by the Chamber of Trade! This type of unity between the Chamber and the Partner ...