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 31st July

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service says July has been its busiest month ever for emergency calls. Police have recovered a 1970s Austin Mini pick-up stolen in Shepton Mallet. A specialist spinal injuries service at Yeovil Hospital has treated three hundred patients in its first year... and more
Thursday 30th July

The Environment Agency has declared a drought across Somerset as the hot weather takes its toll on the county's water supplies. Police are appealing for witnesses following a fatal road traffic accident near Crewkerne. A bowls player from Yeovil has won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow...and more
Wednesday 29th July

Police have arrested two suspects in connection with a series of moped thefts in Chard. A combine harvester has been destroyed in a farm fire at Forton, near Chard. A bowls player from Yeovil has won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow... and more
Tuesday 28th July

The former Beales department store in Yeovil could be brought back into use as part of a wider masterplan for the future of the town. A yellow heat health alert is in place across Somerset from nine o’clock this morning until nine o’clock on Friday morning. A Somerset farmer says this year is the driest on his land since 1976... and more
Monday 27th July

Gooch and Housego, based in Ilminster and one of the town’s biggest employers, has been sold in a multi-million-pound deal to an American private equity firm. A father who shook his four-week-old baby to death at a house in Chard has been sentenced to life in prison. A doctor who works for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is one of five people to have jointly set a new world record for rowing around Great Britain... and more
Friday 24th July

Avon and Somerset Police are warning people to watch out for scammers posing as Amazon. The CEO of the company that provides Somerset's recycling is warning of a major incident if people continue to put used batteries in waste bins. A former Yeovil pub could be demolished to make way for a major hotel expansion.
Thursday 23rd July

The West Country is officially one step closer to being declared in drought. Somerset Council says it's remodelling its service after a children's home was closed following an inspection. A new McDonald's planned off the M5 at Bridgwater could create up to 120 local jobs... and more
Wednesday 22nd July

Two men have been jailed for stealing electrical items and cash from a property in Yeovil. Somerset Council has defended its use of Yeovil’s new performance area in The Triangle, in Lower Middle Street. Tintinhull Primary School, near Yeovil, has won a top national award for outdoor play... and more