Former Richard Huish College Student, Robbie Adams (pictured) has been awarded The Royal Navy Award for Higher or Degree Apprentice of the Year for the South West region following his outstanding individual work whilst completing his Apprenticeship at IBM. Winning this Award has also put him forward as one of nine finalists for the National Degree Apprentice of the year award. Back for their 17t...

Taunton law firm Clarke Willmott LLP has renewed its support of the Somerset County Cricket Club (SCCC) Pathway Programme which supports young people in developing their cricket skills. Clarke Willmott, based at Blackbrook Gate, extended the partnership with the Pathway after being impressed with the achievements of the young cricketers on the programme. After lockdown called a halt to all games...

Chamber Business Partner Truespeed has launch four new, full fibre broadband packages with speeds to suit all users, following two years of product research and consumer feedback. Truespeed’s guaranteed speed range now starts from 80Mbps and delivers all the way up to 900Mbps. The company has grown considerably since it first invested £75million in 2017 to roll out a full fibre network to loc...

Strode College has made it into the finals for the Beacon Edge Award for Excellence in Real World Learning.  It is one of three colleges that will now be visited over the coming months to determine who will win the title of Excellence in Real World Learning sponsored by the Edge Foundation. The submission was based around the college's unique partnership with Historic England and the delivery of ...

Bethan Evans, a partner and banking and finance expert at national law firm Clarke Willmott LLP, predicts a huge demand for green bonds following a recent announcement by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak on financial support for the green industrial revolution. She said it was inevitable the UK would follow suit after several European countries either issued or announced plans to issue gre...

So here we are, in what some people are calling Lockdown 2.0. If we’re being honest, I think most people are feeling a little weary about the pandemic and looking for that light at the end of the tunnel. I’m Dave Crew – Head of Business Growth & Employer Partnerships at Weston College and Somerset Chamber has let me loose on their newsletter to provide an insight into how our business i...

With women representing 51% of the population and 47% of the UK workforce, companies are realising the gains to be made in understanding and recognising the specific health and wellbeing needs of their female employees. Continuing their webinar series, WPA has organised two thought-provoking speakers:   Professor Dame Lesley Regan, instrumental in the 2019 Better for Women report and recent...

Leading Taunton law firm Clarke Willmott LLP has renewed its business partnership with the Somerset Chamber of Commerce following a successful first year. The firm is one of the Chamber of Commerce’s longest standing members and became a business partner in 2019. The business partnership brings members to the heart of the business community, together with unrivalled opportunities to engage wit...

2020 has been like no other for young people in education and lockdown has left many reaching for a creative outlet and reassessing the importance of the Arts. Richard Huish College musicians, writers, artists and thinkers have all been working on various projects inspired by the UK lockdown. It felt fitting that ‘Lockdown’ serve as the theme for the 25th anniversary of the Huish Original Wri...

The South West offices of national law firm Clarke Willmott LLP are celebrating after achieving top rankings in the prestigious Chambers UK 2021 Directory. The Bristol and Taunton offices achieved the highest possible ranking - Band 1 - in an impressive five practice areas – Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Family (Bristol), Family (Somerset), Personal Injury and Professional Negligence as well a...

Here, in the first of a series of blogs, Dave Crew, Head of Business Growth & Employer Partnership at Weston College, looks at how his team has overcome the communication challenges posed by the pandemic. COVID, where to start? Huge disruption across Somerset and beyond, to employers and employees – really challenging times. As a manager, when this all began I concerned about how our team,...

Government plans to change the language and presentation of information in debt letters to help people better manage their debts, have been welcomed by specialist debt recovery lawyers. The new rules are due to come into force in December 2020 and will mean debt letters are easier to understand, less threatening and will assist debtors to source free debt advice. Letters will have a restriction ...

Strode College welcomed Gillian Keegan, Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills, to open its Digital Media and Technology Centre with local MP James Heappey, Minister for the Armed Forces in attendance.  The MPs enjoyed touring the high-tech facilities and meeting the students studying new digital and education T Levels. Strode College is not only one of the first providers of new T Levels - m...

A Taunton law firm has pledged to extend its support for its two chosen charities after halting fundraising activities during the Coronavirus pandemic. Clarke Willmott LLP named Pancreatic Cancer UK and the Somerset Accident Voluntary Emergency Service (SAVES) its official office charities in 2020. The partnership was due to end this year but with stilted fundraising efforts because of the lockdo...

Throughout lockdown it was business as usual for the estates team at Strode College. Looking after the fabric of the buildings for a large college site didn't stop. There were jobs that need to be completed and buildings that had to be maintained.  In addition, the college received £1m in funding from a successful bid from the T Level capital fund to refurbish one of the older college areas, C ...