Monday 31st March

Monday, 31 March 2025 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Yeovil Town owner Martin Hellier has announced his intention to put the club up for sale. Somerset Chamber of Commerce says small businesses are bracing themselves for a challenging year. The Children's Hospice South West founder, Eddie Farwell, has died. Tintinhull Gardens near Yeovil have reopened for the new season...and more

Yeovil Town owner Martin Hellier has announced his intention to put the club up for sale. In a post on X over the weekend, Mr Hellier, who bought Yeovil Town in May 2023, blamed online abuse by Yeovil fans for his decision. He says he doesn’t plan to be at Huish Park next season and will leave when a suitable buyer is found. Meanwhile, Yeovil Town’s annual accounts just out show the Club made a loss of £2.8 million for the year ending June 2024, and that it is now reliant on Mr Hellier, through his business the Hellier Trading Group, injecting sufficient working capital into the Club to keep it afloat.

Somerset Chamber of Commerce says small businesses in the County are bracing themselves for a challenging year. Managing Director, David Crew, says companies are cutting staff and having to find additional funds to pay the rise in National Insurance contributions, together with increases in the national living wage.

The Children's Hospice South West founder, Eddie Farwell, has died. Eddie, who was born in Yeovil, founded the charity in 1991 with his wife Jill. Today, Children’s Hospice South West operates from three centres: Little Bridge House in Devon, Little Harbour in Cornwall, and Charlton Farm in Somerset.

Several local businesses were winners at the Somerset Business Awards. ARK at Egwood CIC in Merriott won the Small Business of the Year Award. The Best Use of Digital Technology Award was won by Techosaurus Ltd of Yeovil. Battens Solicitors came runners-up in the Employer of the Year category. The Business Resilience and Growth Award was won by Wessex Pop-Up Coldrooms Ltd of Langport.

Tintinhull Gardens near Yeovil, run by the National Trust, have reopened for the new season. Volunteers have spent the winter tidying the garden to make it more historically accurate.

More from News

Friday 13th March

The first of the new medium lift helicopters being built by Leonardo in Yeovil for the RAF will be delivered in 2031. Somerset Council has launched a public consultation on planned new charges at its two hundred public car parks. More women in Somerset are said to be taking up walking football... and more
Thursday 12th March

A Yeovil headteacher says he’s concerned about plans to stop giving school holiday food vouchers to families on low incomes. The owner of Yeovil Town is calling on fans to be patient as he continues his overhaul of the National League side. A high voltage fault is being blamed for plunging 1700 homes into darkness in the Ilminster area... and more
Wednesday 11th March

Plans have been submitted to convert two properties in Yeovil into houses of multiple occupation. A new court date has been announced for a Yeovil man charged with attempted murder. An engineer who has worked at the Leonardo factory in Yeovil for 40-years has won a top industry award... and more
Tuesday 10th March

Police say a fire at the former Oscar Mayer food factory in Chard was started deliberately. Yeovil College says it would have been adversely affected had Leonardo not won the contract to build new medium-lift helicopters. A seven-foot dragon will be visiting towns and villages in our area during the next few weeks to promote Somerset Day... and more
Monday 9th March

Two Wildcat helicopters from 815 Squadron at RNAS Yeovilton have arrived in Cyprus to help protect RAF Akrotiri from further Iranian drone strikes. New figures show that 40 people were killed on Avon and Somerset’s roads in the last 12-months. A Somerset man has been recalling the day 60-years ago when he was a passenger on the last train on the Somerset and Dorset Railway... and more
Friday 6th March

Defence Minister Luke Pollard has been explaining why it took the government so long to confirm a contract for the Leonardo in Yeovil to build new medium lift helicopters for the RAF. Police are investigating a break in at a pet shop in Ilminster. Somerset Council is to stop using red ink on council tax reminder letters... and more
Thursday 5th March

Two military helicopters from RNAS Yeovilton are being sent to Cyprus to help bolster UK’s defences amid the US-Israel war with Iran. Yeovil Town Council is seeking legal advice over the closure of the hyper acute stroke unit at Yeovil Hospital. Flood warnings have been lifted on the Somerset Levels... and more
Wednesday 4th March

A man has died in a fire in Wincanton. Somerset Council is planning further cuts of twenty-one million pounds to help balance its books. A campaign to raise £30,000 for a minibus has been launched in Chard... and more