The apartments near Musgrove Park Hospital will provide affordable accommodation in Taunton

An office block in the centre of Taunton is set to be transformed into new flats for NHS staff following approval by local councillors. Somerset Council offloaded C Block of County Hall (situated at the southern end of The Crescent) in March 2025, with the proceeds earmarked to fund front-line services.

Prime PLC, a specialist developer of health and care property, submitted revised proposals in November 2025 to convert the 4,600 sq m building into 111 flats, targeted at new recruits joining Musgrove Park Hospital and neighbouring NHS services.

The council’s planning committee west (which oversees major applications within the former Somerset West and Taunton area) has now granted approval to the conversion scheme – though concerns were raised about parking provision and how “cramped” the accommodation will be.

The flats will span eight floors, made up of 99 one-bedroom studio apartments, six two-person apartments and six three-person flats.

Each studio apartment will offer just under 25 sq m of floor space and will feature a bathroom and kitchen/dining area.

Shared laundry facilities will be made available to residents, while a new lift shaft will be installed to bring the 1960s structure up to the requisite fire safety standards.

Just 10 parking spaces will be available on site within an underground car park, with most staff expected to walk, cycle or carpool to Musgrove Park Hospital, which sits roughly half a mile away — approximately a 15-minute walk.

Richard Baum, head of strategic planning at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, set out the case for the development when the planning committee west convened in Taunton on Tuesday afternoon (June 23).

He said: “There is an urgent and growing need for high-quality and affordable accommodation for NHS staff.

“We continue to face sustained workforce pressures; we are actively trying to recruit new staff all the time at Musgrove, whether that’s newly qualified staff, experienced staff or trainees.

“One of the issues we currently face is that there isn’t enough access to suitable housing. We regularly see people accept roles and then struggle to find accommodation that they can afford, and others decline roles altogether because there isn’t sufficient housing in the local area that they can afford.

“When we recruit staff early in their years, they move around geographically a lot. They require accommodation that’s flexible and affordable, and the traditional private rental market doesn’t provide that.

“This development addresses a clear gap that we have and enables staff to live locally in a way that is affordable to them, so that they can remain in their roles, train up in the NHS and keep delivering patient care locally here in Somerset.

“This will allow people to come into our organisation, settle quickly and reduce the pressure they have with commuting. This is an ideal and highly sustainable location.”

The new flats are expected to experience a considerable turnover of residents, with entry-level NHS employees residing there while they train at the hospital before purchasing or renting larger homes locally as they progress through the various salary bands.

Councillor Andy Hadley (Conservative, Minehead) hailed the proposals as “a great idea” but raised concerns about whether the scheme could trigger parking problems in the surrounding streets.

He said: “Yes, people won’t used their cars to go to work, but most people do own a car. What is being done to stop the local area being snarled up with 111 cars all day long?”.

Councillor Nick O’Donnell (Liberal Democrat, Rowbarton and Staplegrove) echoed Mr Hadley’s parking concerns, and expressed doubts over whether the flats would offer sufficient space to ensure tenants enjoyed an adequate quality of life.

He said: “When I was looking at the plans, I was quite concerned about the living space – 24 to 27 sq m, which is 12 sq m below what is marketable.

“If you’re a student living at university, it’s probably more than enough room, but then in halls of residence you’ve got a separate kitchen space. I just think it’s going to be a bit cramped.

“These flats aren’t that much bigger than the average sized hotel room.”

Councillor Caroline Ellis (Lib Dem, Bishop’s Hull and Taunton West) welcomed the proposals, contending that they would smarten up the look of the building while relieving pressure to develop greenfield land on the town’s outskirts.

She said: “It’s good to be using a brownfield site of this kind. We’ve got to be mindful that every single dwelling on a brownfield site, at an accessible location for the town centre, is one less that has to go on precious green space.

“This is serving a burning social and community need, because if Musgrove cannot attract a decent workforce, then we are going to miss out majorly [sic].

“This is very much starter, ‘meanwhile’ housing, to make sure that we remove barriers to the labour market, so people can just get their feet under the table and get started. I can’t see why we would be objecting to this.

“C Block is a minger building – you wouldn’t build that nowadays, would you? – and this might make it slightly less minging.”

Councillor Norman Cavill (Conservative, Monkton and North Curry) was in agreement, remarking: “Quite frankly, a change in the appearance of this building is highly desirable.

“The accommodation is much needed for the hospital, the college and the nurses training at the latter. I don’t think there will be a lack of customers for a long time.”

The proposal was granted unanimous approval by the committee following a debate lasting just over an hour, paving the way for construction work to commence before Christmas.

Revenue grew five per cent to £1.8bn

Halfords shares have surged after it exceeded analyst forecasts to deliver a £44m profit, signalling that the motoring and cycling retailer’s transformation is starting to gather momentum.

The company recorded a £43.6m pre-tax profit in the year to April, bouncing back into profitability following last year’s £30m loss, as turnover climbed five per cent to £1.8bn. Its shares leapt 14 per cent on Thursday morning to 205p.

City analysts had predicted the firm would post £40.3m in profit before tax, while the company’s own guidance pointed towards the “upper end” of a £41.2m ceiling.

The FTSE 250 business has been pursuing expansion in its motoring division in recent months under new chief executive Henry Birch, as the segment begins to eclipse its retail revenues.

Birch’s approach has focused on a swift expansion of the firm’s garage network as the Redditch- based company looks to its motoring services division to fuel its growth, as reported by City AM.

Turnover in Halfords’ autocentre operations rose by six per cent on a like-for-like basis to £740m. The business said its repairs services are accelerating, with the firm having previously identified the UK’s ageing vehicle fleet as a growth opportunity.

The robustness of this repairs activity more than offset “ongoing weakness” in the tyres market, it said.

Duncan Ferris, an analyst at Freetrade, said the firm is “finding growth in keeping Britons’ ageing cars on the road,” 43 per cent of which are 10 or more years old. Halfords has reported that it has bucked a “subdued consumer environment” to post a four per cent like-for-like rise in revenue, reaching £1bn, at its retail division.

Bicycle sales are spearheading this growth, climbing 6.4 per cent, indicating that this segment of the business is finding its footing once more following the boom and bust triggered by the surge in cycling demand during the pandemic.

The retailer’s bike sales soared during the pandemic, propelling its share price to significant heights, yet Halfords has since struggled to replicate those figures in subsequent years.

“There are still reasons to be cautious, though. In Halfords’ retail business, profits remain under pressure as inflation and reinvestment offset the impact of positive sales momentum,” Ferris said.

The company’s share price peaked at 430p in June 2021 but has since shed nearly 60 per cent of its value in five years before Thursday’s update.

Last April, the retailer announced the abrupt exit of Graham Stapleton, who had steered the business for seven years. Birch, the former chief executive of Very and William Hill, was named as his replacement on the same day.

The incoming Halfords chief said: “These are early days in our growth strategy and there is much still to do as we seek to leverage Halfords’ clear strengths: leading market positions, an unmatched physical and digital presence in motoring and cycling, a trusted brand, and a unique services proposition.”

The firm revealed on Thursday that former EY partner Jock Lennox will join its board as chair, taking over from Keith Williams, whose exit was confirmed in November.

Halfords was established as a wholesale ironmongery in 1892 before growing its cycling and motoring retail operations. It has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 2004.

The online cards and gifts business said overall revenues rose 8.6% to £284.5m

Growing numbers of gift-givers are turning to AI to compose their cards or create bespoke content including stickers and images, Moonpig has disclosed.

The online cards and gifts retailer said it had made substantial investments in artificial intelligence (AI) which can “lower barriers to content creation”.

It revealed that creative features were incorporated into 31 million greeting cards in the year ending April, representing a twofold increase on the previous year.

This includes customisation options such as video and audio cards, alongside AI capabilities including handwriting, stickers and face swap, which blends a person’s face from a photograph into a greeting card design.

Customers can also opt to utilise the AI writing assistant by entering prompts while creating a card, with AI then producing the accompanying text.

“As advances in AI continue to lower barriers to content creation, we believe the ability to reliably manufacture, personalise and deliver products at scale becomes increasingly important,” chief executive Catherine Faiers said.

Moonpig’s total revenues climbed by 8.6% year-on-year to £284.5 million.

The firm said that this partially reflected consumers enhancing orders with premium-priced gifts and larger-format cards while opting for next-day tracked delivery.

Almost 18% of orders featured a gift, which can be selected after a card is chosen, driving a 5.7% rise in the average order value. Moonpig offers gifts from retail partners including Next, Jojo Maman Bebe and Boots, alongside experiences from brands such as Pizza Express, Virgin Wines and The Traitors Live Experience.

Mark Crouch, market analyst for eToro, said: “For Moonpig, loyalty is a significant asset.

“With more than 12 million active customers, the company benefits from a steady stream of birthdays, anniversaries and milestones that arrive regardless of the economic backdrop.

“Customers are not only returning but spending more, trading up to premium gifts, larger-card formats and faster delivery options.”

Moonpig shares were up by more than a tenth on Thursday morning. The London group also has a logistics hub in Tamworth and an office in Manchester.

Over the past three months, Indian equities have been highly volatile, but the turbulence has been accompanied by a strong upward drift. The benchmark BSE Sensex gained about 4%, while the broader market quietly outperformed by a much wider margin.

The real action unfolded across the wider universe, where the BSE 500 surged nearly 10%, driven by persistent buying interest across large and midcap stocks. Momentum steadily built beneath the surface, even as the headline indices posted more modest gains.

In this rally, market breadth told the real story: around 32 stocks gained more than 50% in just three months. Among them, 13 standout performers delivered returns ranging from 70% to 200%, including three multibaggers that more than doubled investor wealth in a remarkably short span. What appeared to be a routine market phase on the surface turned into a significant wealth-creation opportunity for investors positioned in the right segments of the market.

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EasyJet has rejected a fourth takeover offer worth £4.93bn from Castlelake.

The low-cost Luton-based airline said the US investment firm’s bid was worth £6.50 a share, compared with the previous offers of £5.60, £6 and £6.25 a share.

A spokesperson said it was giving Castlelake until 17:00 BST on 5 July to make a firm offer or walk away.

“Having carefully reviewed it with its advisers, the board of EasyJet continues to regard the fourth proposal as substantially undervaluing the company and its prospects and continuing to give rise to significant questions of deliverability,” said EasyJet.

EasyJet said the takeover interest came at a time when its share price had been pushed down by concerns about the consequences of the Iran war.

The FTSE 250 firm’s shares had dropped by about 30% over the past year, before news of Castlelake’s interest.

EasyJet said it remained “concerned” about Castlelake’s ownership structure and ability to deliver any offer, adding the investor would need to provide “satisfactory assurances and commitments” on those issues.

Castlelake has assets under management worth $36bn (£27.3bn).

Under the deal, EasyJet would be 49% owned by Castlelake and co-investors including Brookfield Asset Management, and 51% owned by individual European Union investors.

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The amount of money owed to energy suppliers by customers has risen again to a new record high of £4.79bn.

Regulator Ofgem said that total debt and arrears in England, Wales and Scotland had risen by 15% in a year.

The data, external is updated every three months, with the newly-published figures covering the period from January to the end of March. They relate to energy customers who have been in debt for more than three months.

Average arrears for those without a repayment plan hit £1,876 for electricity and £1,623 for gas – more than twice the amount as those who have a repayment agreement.

Energy prices will rise for millions of households in July – driven by the increase in the cost of gas.

Experts say there are options to cut bills, even though people may feel they have already made every saving possible.