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Quality of life

The Vibrant South West

How long do you expect to take to get to work? In the South West, the average commute is 22 minutes and that’s leaves plenty of extra time to enjoy sailing, surfing, golf or just doing your own thing.

Home to innovative blue chip companies, skilled workers, dynamic universities, and energizing surroundings, the South West has a lot of advantages.

An exciting and active business community is supported by an unbeatable environment with the region consistently figuring highly in ‘wellbeing@work’ and quality of life surveys.

Exeter also has one of the UK’s fastest growing international airports as well as a mature and dynamic social, cultural, educational and sporting infrastructure.

If you’re thinking of moving to the South West, you may like to find out more about local services, transport links, schools, hospitals and the housing market. Here’s some information and useful links:

About Exeter

Exeter is a Cathedral City and the County Town of Devon with a population of around 110,000. It stands on the River Exe and enjoys a rich history and heritage dating to pre-Roman times. It is the regional centre for business, finance, communications, shopping, entertainment and culture.

A year-round programme of events and festivals cater for all interests, ages and budgets. From animation, music, dance, food and comedy festivals, to Heritage Open Days, dragon boat racing, Shakespeare in the gardens and colourful markets - there is always something new to see and do.

Exeter offers plentiful shopping, with the recently opened Princesshay development transforming the shopping experience further with an additional 60 shops, restaurants and open spaces. You can also browse for antiques and crafts on Exeter's Historic Quayside or stock up on local delicacies at the weekly farmers market. The city also boasts dozens of restaurants, many award winning, serving something to suit all tastes and budgets as well as a huge choice of theatres, cinemas, sporting and leisure facilities and children’s attractions.

Getting here and away

Exeter is at the end of the M5 Motorway for links to Bristol, Cardiff, Birmingham and all points along the M4 corridor to London. The A30 and A303 also provide excellent road links to the rest of the South West region.

There is an international airport located 6 miles from the city centre with regular scheduled services to destinations throughout the UK and Europe. Visit www.exeter-airport.co.uk for more information.

Exeter is well serviced with public transport, with a good local bus service, mainline train services and local rail links to Barnstaple, Exmouth, Plymouth, Newton Abbot and Paignton. London and Birmingham are well served by trains, with London Paddington and Waterloo approximately 2 - 3 hours away. Visit www.nationalrail.co.uk for train times and routes.

Cycling in Exeter is popular both as a recreational activity and as a convenient way of getting to work.. The City Council considers the promotion of cycling very important and works in conjunction with a number of different groups and individuals to encourage cycling throughout the city and the county as a whole.

Visit www.exeter.gov.uk for more information on all transport links to, from and within the region.

Arts & Culture

Exeter has a thriving entertainment scene with a range of galleries and theatres, cinemas, restaurants and clubs.

The city boasts a number of theatres presenting a variety of amateur and professional performances and three cinemas including the Exeter Picturehouse showing the best of world cinema, both old and new, and the recently opened state-of-the-art seven screen Vue cinema,. In addition to it’s three museums, Exeter also has the Phoenix centre - an exciting contemporary arts and media centre with a daily programme of events including music, drama, dance, film, cabaret, literature, poetry and visual arts. It is also a partner organisation in most of the city’s festivals.

Exeter's thriving arts scene is reflected in its many galleries. The city also proudly displays a unique collection of public art including murals, painted tiles, statues, mosaics, ornate windows and contemporary seating.

Further afield, there are various festivals and events held throughout Devon and the South West catering to all tastes and ages.

Things to Do and Sporting Facilities

There are a host of good quality leisure centres and sporting facilities in Exeter catering for all ages and all levels. Facilities are provided for use by the public and by clubs including sports centres, running tracks, indoor bowling greens, a petanque terrain, dry ski slope, golf courses and a driving range, swimming pools, sports pitches and an artificial turf pitch.

The Exeter Chiefs Rugby Club is one of the South West's leading professional rugby clubs playing in National Division One, and the Exeter City Football Club is the home of professional football in Exeter.

Further afield you can enjoy watersports such as surfing, sailing, windsurfing and diving and if your preference is walking or cycling, Dartmoor and the Tarka Trail are within easy travelling distance.

As one of the country’s leading destinations for tourists there are many attractions to visit in both Devon and Cornwall, including Torquay’s Living Coasts, the National Maritime Museum at Plymouth and the Eden Project in Cornwall.

Education

There are a number of primary and secondary schools throughout the region and Exeter is also home to one of the country's top universities. Education in Exeter is currently administered by Devon County Council.

In addition to the links provided below, you can visit http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Childcare/index.htm?cids=Google_PPC&cre=Parents, which supplies information on local playgroups, pre-school, nurseries, nannies, childminders and out of school clubs. The government site www.ofsted.gov.uk - gives reports on all schools in the UK and www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk lists a range of schools with good OFSTED reports including independent and state schools.

Health

Exeter has some of the best health care facilities in the country. The Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital is on a modern campus and has a total of 850 beds. It provides the main Accident & Emergency service for the area. Expansion of the hospital is continuous with new facilities opening each year. The RD&E consistently scores highly in the national league table and has an established and leading reputation in a number of areas, particularly diabetes and vascular medicine, renal services, cardiology, oncology and haematology.

GP and Primary Care services in the Exeter are also of a very high standard, with GP list sizes below the national average and rated highly by patients in the national survey of GP services.

The www.nhs.uk search facility can be used to find nearest doctors or dental surgeries as well as pharmacies, opticians, NHS Walk-in centres.

Relocation

Within Exeter there is a wide choice of property to rent and purchase in a variety of locations. There are also a large number of outlying towns and villages within easily commutable distance of Exeter and Sidmouth offices, including Exmouth, Budleigh Salterton, Newton Abbot, Dawlish, Teignmouth, Honiton, Tiverton and Crediton.
The Exeter City Council website includes a section dedicated to people planning a move to the area which includes some useful information including a list of local estate agents and information on average house prices for the region. Visit www.exeter.gov.uk
Other useful links with information on buying and renting property are: www.upmystreet.com,
www.ukpropertyshop.co.uk and www.rightmove.co.uk