9.9 Commerce in the Exe Valley Analysis of the four published parish plans shows that:

9.9.1 Halberton has 93 businesses, 56% of which were ‘sole traders’ compared with the Mid Devon average of 20%. 35% of these businesses were agricultural. There is a need for office accommodation in the village.

9.9.2 Stoodleigh would like to see the development of small-scale workshops in the village. The village has no business forming a focus for community.

The largest employers are a racehorse trainer, and Stoodleigh Court which is used for functions. There are a number of bed and breakfast businesses in the village. Stoodleigh Court has capacity for limited business development.

9.9.3 Oakford has a converted complex used for small-scale industry, a pub, village shop and post office, and bed and breakfast businesses.

9.9.4 Burlescombe have lost their shop and Post Office. The area has two main industries, quarrying and a tile factory (which is closing). The parish plan is more concerned with the effects of local industry than with the income they generate. Two sorts of environmental problems are generated: dust in Westleigh and Canonsleigh, and traffic in Burlescombe.

9.10 Business Survey in Tiverton

This was conducted in August 2006 Tiverton, and comprised the medium and large businesses of the town, using a questionnaire approved by MDDC and the MCTA facilitator. Of 35 businesses contacted, only 7 responded with returned questionnaires, including three classing themselves as large, three as medium and one as small. Of these, three are locally started businesses and the remainder relocated to Tiverton. Further efforts are being made to encourage the other 28 businesses to respond, but even if successful, their input cannot be analysed in time to include in this Plan. The results will be passed to the Exe Valley Enterprises Ltd. Board of Directors.

The purpose of the business questionnaire is to assess the extent to which local businesses are embedded in the local economy by asking what percentage of the total budget was spent locally, what proportion of the staff live locally, what proportion of their source materials were sourced locally and what proportion of the sales of their goods/services were sought by local customers.

The responses and conversations around these responses indicate a wide variety of positions and some interesting trends. The sample of returns is not yet large enough to draw general conclusions – some critically important large businesses have not yet replied – but it is possible to infer some initial idea of embeddedness and a few trends that may be significant for the future.

9 . 1 0 . 1 Most businesses (5), regardless of size, banked in Tiverton or Exeter or in one case Ottery St.Mary, which in business terms is local. On economic research trends (NEF), this is a strong indication of their local embeddedness. The same firms and one other that banks at a national location estimated that between 50% and 90% of their budget was spent locally. Most, and in one case all, staff were local.

Within this group, the level of local sourcing of materials varied hugely and this related to the nature
of the business/service they were offering. For one firm, all materials were sourced through the internet,
and this related to the service they offered. For another firm, the specialist nature of the equipment they required meant that it was not possible to source locally. Others sourced between 38% and 60% of their materials locally. The business sourcing 60% of materials locally banked nationally, showing that banking location cannot be considered an overriding factor in assessing the local embeddedness of a business. One business reported that its charitable donations were all given locally.

Overall, the returned sample indicated that six of the seven firms are strongly embedded in the local economy. It also indicated that established relocated businesses are as deeply embedded locally as locally started businesses.

9.10.2 One large business showed a low level of embeddedness in the local economy. It did not bank locally, recruited few staff locally, sourced very little material locally and sold no services to the local community. The presence of the business contributes more in terms of prestige to Tiverton than directly to the local economy. Its original reason for locating in Tiverton, a low wage economy, now no longer applies with the development of the global wage economy, and the purpose-built premises are no longer large enough to maximise the services it offers. With Tiverton unable to offer new business land of the size required to build the desired accommodation, with the lease on existing premises due for renewal in the near future, and with substantial new business park development on the east side of Exeter becoming available, it is anticipated that Tiverton will shortly lose this prestigious company. The difficulties faced by this company locally show the need for more employment land to be made available, and also point to a wider trend towards global approaches to employment.

9.10.3 Four of the seven businesses serve members of the public, with one business serving only the Exe Valley Area, and the others having 85%, 60% and 10% sales locally. The last also supplied local businesses, having 5% of its contracts locally.

The remaining three businesses supplied, or provided services for, multiple retailers, statutory organisations and national/international agencies. All contracts for the business serving statutory organisations were outside the Exe Valley Area, although Exeter was an important location for successful contracts. This range provides an insight into income generation for the Exe Valley area. Of those businesses serving the public, three of the four
are generating income into the area. The business serving multiple retailers sells nothing locally but generates income into the area by selling elsewhere, and employing locally. This is also the position of the business serving statutory organisations. The business serving the international market banks nationally and generates income in national terms.

As it employs few local people and does not bank locally, this income only benefits the local economy in terms of hard outcomes through rent for premises.

9.10.4 Soft outcome benefits of the business for the area however, are harder to evaluate, and the departure of this business may impact significantly in terms of what might be regarded as the ‘critical mass’ of related, prestigious businesses that might encourage the relocation of other comparably sized, related and prestigious businesses to Tiverton.

9.10.5 Other than the last business, none of the businesses in the returns employed more than one hundred staff. All but one employed between 21 and 100 staff, and the smallest firm employed between six and twenty staff. Without exception, all the firms tried to employ local staff. Three had difficulty employing staff locally with the right qualifications, and four did not. The latter group did not recruit nationally, whereas the former did try to recruit nationally and also had difficulties at this level. One business was looking for staff with degree level
fluency in 35 different European, Middle Eastern and African languages, MBAs and financial market qualifications, while another was looking at appropriate NVQ qualifications. The third experienced a shortage
in well-qualified engineers and accountants. The same pattern emerged when skills were addressed. The firm looking for staff with appropriate NVQ qualifications was also looking for high level skills. Their comment related to the calibre of potential young employees, and is one that further education locally might address. The response of the third firm highlights an issue that has its roots in the orientation and emphases of the current secondary school education trends, the need to encourage more school students to persevere with mathematics and science subjects. This is particularly glaring with regard to the shortage of well-qualified and capable engineers. This issue can only be addressed nationally. The current national trends in higher education with regard to the trend in numbers of students studying foreign languages are likely to impact on firms
requiring these qualifications. If not addressed, this issue may mean such firms will ultimately relocate to other countries where the language skills and qualifications are better.

9.10.6 Two businesses responded to the questions on business support and partnership to win contracts. In one case there is no need to work this way, and in the other, the business is unique to the South West, generating considerable business in the south west, and looking to expand business in other regions, and notably Scotland. Business organisations that facilitated networking and through this generate potential partnerships were felt to be beneficial.

9 . 1 0 . 7 One managing director felt that local publicity for business organisations in the area could be improved considerably, and that a regular business section in the local paper would be desirable. Independently, the Mid Devon Business Association (MDBA) also takes the same view. The chief editor of the Mid Devon Gazette wishes to encourage this but does not have enough staff to implement it. The outcome of this identified need is
an MDBA-led business publicity project in the Exe Valley Plan whereby the businesses themselves provide appropriate data for the local paper, generating a business section.