Tavistock’s former railway station is to feature on the new Channel 4 series, Property Snakes and Ladders. Sarah Beeny of Channel 4 has shown a great deal of interest in the unique and historic local buildings now known as Old Tavistock Railway Cottages, which have recently been given a stunning make-over and restoration by Jenny and Colin Rogers. Old Tavistock Railway Station has now been converted into luxury 5 star holiday cottages and will be given a special hour long feature on the 14th July. The aim of the programme is to see what happened to those people who bought at the peak of the property market and how they have dealt with the recent credit crunch. Initially Jenny and Colin bought Old Tavistock Railway Station as a bigger project to add to their existing property portfolio which consists of over 9 buy-to-let flats and houses nationwide. However, as the credit crunch has hit, they have had to consider an alternative use for the property and decided to turn Old Tavistock Railway in to three up-market 5 star holiday cottages. Old Tavistock Railway stopped being used in 1968 with little in the way of maintenance or restoration being done until Jenny and Colin took the plunge to buy it back in 2007. “When I first saw it, I thought ‘Oh my God’ ‘’ admits Jenny. “But Colin wanted to stretch us and he absolutely loves Victorian architecture. So when he saw it advertised, he had to have it. Sadly many of the original internal ‘station’ features were sold off long before we took the property on, but Colin has an amazing eye for antiques and has managed to fill the properties with some beautiful pieces. We have also been very keen to use local trades people and businesses as much as possible and as such have had all our interior soft furnishings made by Tavy Textiles and our guests ‘luxury soaps’ are organic and hand-made in Callington by So Soapy.” With more and more people holidaying in the UK, Colin and Jenny are very hopeful that they have made the right decision. Each of the self-catering holiday cottages has been exquisitely fitted out with every conceivable luxury being offered to their guests. Any extras including catering, theatre ticket booking, walking tours or golf, can be arranged to give a rather unique and special holiday for guests. The cottages have been independently graded by Visit Britain and have been given the full 5 star rating.

There’s a top level line up of speakers at tomorrow’s business needs and support exhibition at St Mellion International Resort. Mark Berrisford-Smith, senior economist at HSBC will report on the state of the UK economy; Viv Rayner, director of the Federation of Small Businesses will advise on how to overcome some of the barriers on facing business; Dave Meneer, chief executive of Fifteen Cornwall will give an in depth view of what makes one of the region’s highest profile social enterprises work – employing eighty people, training a dozen chefs and serving 80,000 meals a year. Carleen Kelemen, director of the Convergence Partnership Office for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly will be explaining how investments will be shaping the future of the Cornish economy and Cornwall Business College will be explaining how leadership and management training can help businesses to prosper. “People come to this event looking for professional advice and fresh ideas,” said Stephen Towers, director of St Mellion International Resort. “Visitors benefit from a wide range of company introductions and exhibitors have the chance to put themselves in the spotlight.” The exhibition will be officially opened at 10am tomorrow (1 July) by the Mayor of Saltash, Councillor Sue Hooper.

More than 60 of the region’s leading businesses will be on display at St Mellion International Resort’s annual Business Needs & Support Exhibition this Wednesday (1 July). The event will also mark the official opening of the new conference, meeting and event facilities at the Resort following the recent completion of a £20 million redevelopment. Hundreds of visitors are expected at the event, which will feature companies such as Air Southwest, Cornwall Council, Fifteen Cornwall, Ocean BMW, Plymouth Argyle and a wide range of other local businesses and organisations. Stephen Towers, director of St Mellion International Resort said: “We’re very proud to be able to host this event, especially at a time when it has never been more important for local businesses to pull together as much as possible. There is a huge amount of talent and expertise in the region and Business Needs & Support Exhibition at St Mellion this Wednesday is just the place to access it.“ The resort’s business development manager, Regan Bailey highlighted the benefits to exhibitors: “Often in our daily business lives, we are just too busy to look at new business opportunities. Our aim is to provide that opportunity on one day, under one roof – with all the excellent amenities that our newly re-launched St Mellion International Resort can supply.” The exhibition will be officially opened at 10am by the Mayor of Saltash, Councillor Sue Hooper and by Carleen Keleman, director of the Convergence Partnership Office, Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly.

Plymouth IT company, MazingTree Ltd has won an order to supply a New Zealand club with its specialist wireless scoring devices for diving competitions. MazingTree specialises in providing customised IT services, solutions and support for businesses. The new system was devised when director John Allan saw the potential for wireless technology to take the place of conventional scoring systems in diving events. MazingTree’s J-Pad device means judges can enter their scores onto handsets beaming them to a central computer where they are also automatically uploaded to the internet. It has set the standard for world class diving events and diving clubs across the UK soon adopted it as their preferred scoring system. The Amateur Swimming Association recommends the J-Pad for use in all high level competitions. John Allan said: “Existing technologies are often too expensive for smaller clubs and the wires connecting the judges’ handsets to the main computer hub can be a hazard by the poolside. The wireless J-Pad simplifies the judging process.” New Zealand based Wellington Aquatics, have ordered eleven of the J-Pad handsets to be used by judges at its Olympic sized pool. The order is the biggest international order to date and Mr Allan is delighted. “At MazingTree we specialise in wireless solutions. Wireless technology has so many untapped uses and it’s great to put our in depth knowledge to such good use. Often people simply aren’t aware of what’s possible.” ends