Exeter residents will take to the polls next Thursday, 1 May, for a major day of local decision-making, with elections taking place for both Exeter City Council and Devon County Council. Two city council seats are being contested following the resignations of Labour councillors Naima Allcock (Mincin Exeter Today | News…

Businesses in Devon have been urged to take proactive steps to avoid disruption from power cuts, with the threat of floods looming. Experts from emergency power specialist, Central Power Services, are warning that businesses in Devon must act now to ensure they can continue to run in the event of likely outages. The UK Government has issued a flood warning and recommended that people prepare for potential groundwater flooding caused by high levels of rainfall from Dolton to Bideford. Severe weather such as heavy rain and flooding can cause powercuts. Being left without power causes significant risks for businesses, including safety concerns, financial losses, disruption to operations, and reputational damage.  Stuart Brakewell, managing director of Central Power Services, said: “As the weather becomes more unpredictable, and storms more severe, we are seeing increasing numbers of organisations caught out by power disruption. Many are businesses that already have back-up generators in place but haven’t tested them – so they have an unpleasant surprise when the power cuts out. “A single hour of downtime can cost thousands in decreased productivity and loss of revenue as well as increased risk to customers and employees. It’s impossible to accurately predict…

=Are you ready to start a business but worried about the cost of hiring employees? It’s perfectly doable and common to run a successful business without permanent staff. This concept, also known as ‘solopreneurship’, offers numerous benefits, such as reduced costs, flexibility, and greater control over business operations. With the right strategies, you can start as a solopreneur and build a profitable business without hiring in-house teams. Below, the UK’s highest-rated company formation agent, Rapid Formations, explains how. 1. Choose a scalable business model First, you need to set the right foundations to build a profitable business without hiring employees. This means choosing a venture that doesn’t require large teams. Ideal options include digital services like content production or graphic design, public relations (PR), consulting, and e-commerce. If you have a business idea, ask yourself if you could do it as a freelancer. If the answer is ‘yes’, then it has the potential to scale as a solopreneur-friendly model. Since you won’t have a team to share the workload with, we recommend focusing your strategy on maximum gains for minimal effort. Prioritise high-margin products and services and explore passive income streams to boost profitability. …