Bath and West showground plans given the go ahead

BBC News Shepton Mallet

 

The showground is best known for hosting agricultural shows

Plans for the £120m regeneration of the Bath and West showground in Somerset have been given the go ahead.

Redevelopment proposals for the ground in Shepton Mallet include a shopping village, business park, exhibition hall and two hotels.
Two fields of solar panels to create 5MW of electricity at the grounds are also part of the scheme.
It is hoped the regeneration will create 1,500 new jobs and encourage over one million visitors per year.
Encourage agriculture Jane Guise, chief executive of the Royal Bath and West of England Society, said: "It's significant because it's the first formal step in the process towards redeveloping the showground.
"The planning and the discussions have been going on for about nine years."
Mendip District Council approved the plans unanimously on Wednesday.
The Royal Bath and West of England Society, which owns the showground, was founded in 1777 and is a registered charity aiming to encourage agriculture, the arts and commerce.

Profits up for Mulberry

11 March 2011   www.bbc.co.uk

Profits up for Somerset-based fashion retailer Mulberry

Luxury goods maker Mulberry has bucked the trend for gloomy retail growth and issued a rosy profits forecast.

The company, based in Chilcompton, Somerset, says its annual pre-tax profits will grow by 16.5% to £18.5m, for the current financial year.

Shares in the fashion house, which were trading at £2 a year ago, reached £13.74 on Thursday.

Capacity at the firm's Chilcompton factory has been increased by a third, creating 60 new jobs.

Retail analyst Philip Dorgan, of Altium Securities, said: "Mulberry's brand has become both relevant and desirable to the global consumer, but it barely has a toe in some of the world's largest luxury goods markets."

The firm's goods are sold in 82 outlets around the world.

It was founded in 1971 by Roger Saul in North Wootton, Somerset. He left the company in 2004.

The Mulberry Factory Outlet is based in Shepton Mallet next to the beautiful Kilver Court Gardens (owned by Roger Saul) and close to the glorious Collett Park. Dont forget to also visit 'the little shops' in the town

Mulberry Factory Outlet

Kilver Court Gardens

Collett Park

'The Little Shops'  in the town

NEWS update 'Turn Back Time' features in Australia

Niki from Nostalgia  at No1 has received a comment on her blog  'For your Aussie friends, 'Turn Back Time; The High Street' is on tonight ABC 8.30pm.' .......Shepton Mallet reaches Australia.

TV Tonight.com

Airdate: Turn Back Time: The High Street

• By David Knox on March 8, 2011

On Thursday night ABC1 features a BBC social experiment in which families are placed “back in time” to see if they can run viable businesses in the late 1800s.
Whilst television has previously placed families into colonial and Victorian eras for television cameras, this time the emphasis is on reviving a retail strip, a dying “High Street” town square in regional UK. Think butcher, baker and candlestick maker -literally.
And the families all have retail experience in their chosen field. But can they make it work with the most basic essentials?

In many countries, shopping is a favourite pastime, no matter how the economy is.
While the Internet, malls and superstores provide us with everything we need, there’s a nostalgia for the days when everyone knew the corner grocer or the friendly butcher in town.
Now, this inventive UK reality series transports viewers back to the late 19th century as five modern shopkeepers and their families set up shop and conduct their lives exactly as merchants did in six earlier eras, to experience what life for the average shopper used to be like. Before the fast food, pre packed, preservative-heavy Pandora’s Box of a shopping experience we have today.
This opening episode features the 1870s, when the high street was born, and by the end of the series we have moved on to the 1970s, a hundred years later. It’s part social commentary and part reality TV show. All of the shop keepers take things very seriously and have their own ‘Chamber of Commerce’ (led by Masterchef judge Gregg Wallace, successful baker Tom Herbert and historian Juliet Gardiner) to ensure that the protocols of the day are correctly followed.
The families also had to live and dress like the families of the eras involved, and in total there are seven different shops involved; The Butchers, The Bakers, The Ironmongers, The Chemist, The Dress Maker, The Record Shop and The Convenience Store Owners. How will they all cope, and will they actually make a profit?

Turn Back Time: The High Street airs 8:30pm Thursday on ABC1.

Thank you for the info' Niki
No21x