News | Page 20

Residential property developer Taylor Wimpey has submitted plans to Bournemouth Borough Council to create a restaurant, 78 apartments, nine holiday-letting apartments, 90 basement parking spaces and associated cycle storage as part of the Bournemouth International Hotel and Ocean Palace redevelopment, a news report in the local media has revealed.

Duchy Timber, a timber merchant with operations in Cornwall, Torbay and Devon has been sold out of administration in a move that saves 60 jobs, a news report in the local business media has revealed. The Duchy Timber sawmill was established as part of the Duchy of Cornwall Estate at Lostwithiel, Cornwall in 1958, and later moved into private ownership. Besides the sawmill, the site now also has timber-drying kilns, machining facilities and a pressure treatment plant.

Bristol City Council has filed a Section 188 Notice with trade unions over its proposal to lose up to 800 full-time posts, affecting up to 1,000 individuals, as part of the council’s efforts to resolve a £90m funding gap over the next three years, a news report in the local media has revealed. Bristol City Council blamed this decision on the shortfall on anticipated real-term government funding cuts of approximately 25 per cent

Hammersmith & Fulham Council has just awarded a ten-year £177m housing contract to outsourcing company MITIE, a news report in the local Bristol business media has revealed.

The housebuilding sector in the South West has reached its fastest rate of growth in six years, the latest construction market survey has revealed. According to an article on this topic in the local business media, the market survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors,eported that the region’s workloads in the third quarter of 2013 increased at their strongest rate since the winter of 2007 with a positive net balance of 14 per cent.

AGD Systems, a Gloucestershire-based company that provides intelligent radar detection systems for the traffic management industry has just completed a £1m investment into new R&D facilities at its HQ near Cheltenham, a news report in the local media has revealed.

A new 30,000 sq ft car dealership is set to be developed in Exeter, on the Matford Green Business Park, and a detailed planning application has been submitted for this purpose, a news report in the local business media has revealed.

Communications business Eclipse Internet has announced plans to double in size following a multimillion-pound investment, a news report in the media has revealed. The firm plans to use the funds in order to focus on further developing its existing connectivity, communications and cloud services portfolios. As a part of this expansion scheme, the company said it expected to be creating "dozens" of jobs in Exeter over the next 12 months.

Underfall Yard, a Scheduled Ancient Monument, is at the centre of a new £4m masterplan, designed to create a maritime centre of excellence within Bristol Harbour, create 46 new jobs and significantly improve the surrounding area, a news report on this matter has revealed.

Technology company Blur Group has announced plans to relocate its global HQ to a site in Exeter where it has set up a R&D base earlier this year. As a news report reveals, the move is set to create a number of jobs in Exeter and it will employ 35 members of staff in the city by the end of September.

Somerset publisher Haynes, as well as A&P Falmouth, two important employers from the South West region, have just announced some concerning redundancy plans, a news report in the local media has revealed. Haynes, which is best-known for its car repair manuals, said it planned to focus its business on the areas with the largest growth potential, namely DIY manuals, information systems for use by professional mechanics and and the expansion of its digital offering.

The principal business of Pro Serv Corporate Ltd, which provided services to schools and corporate clients across the South West and went into administration a few days ago, has sold to Taylor Shaw Ltd., in a move that managed to salvage more than 250 jobs.