MrMuffin

I'm a Surrey lad. You may have seen from other postings that I am trying to plan my move back from the USA with my wife and two small kids.

Since I moved to the USA 23 years ago (blimey that's a long time) all my UK family members have pulled up stumps and spread out all over the place. With the main family as follows: Dad in Telford, Shropshire; Grandmother and Aunt in Bognor Regis; Mum and Sister in Falmouth, Cornwall; it looks like the Bristol area might be a good, central location to look at.

Problem is that I haven't been to Bristol in ages, and even then it was just business day trips etc. I know there are some lovely spots around Bristol and also Bath is close too. But I have no clue, really.

Main issues will be jobs, schools, housing... you know, the normal stuff.

Also maybe Exeter is a possibility too albeit a bit further down towards Mum.

Can anyone give suggestions as to whether Bristol or Exeter might be good choices and why? What's the job market like in those two areas? Should I be focusing on one or the other and why?

Thank you so very much! MrM and Family xox

Almo

I lived in Exeter before I moved to Australia, it’s a nice city. My parents still live there although they are probably looking to move away in retirement, only to be a little closer to my brother who is in Surrey. I have actually just applied for a job back in Exeter although it’s not my first choice – only because I worry about ‘going home’ and it not being how it used to be. A lot of my friends have moved away and it would be weird, I think, for us to go back there. That’s nothing to do with the city itself though.

Let’s see, it’s not a big city particularly but has developed significantly in recent years, with the arrival of The Met Office a fair while ago now, and the redevelopment of one of the main shopping areas. It has relatively good transport links, including trains to London (into Paddington used to be about 2 hours on the quick train or you can go into Waterloo on the slow line) and the M5. It sometimes felt a little ‘end of the line’ (with apologies to Cornwall), but whether or not that bothers you probably depends on how often you’d want to leave the Westcountry. It feels to me a little lacking in decent restaurants but bear in mind that I haven’t lived there for over 5 years. On the other hand, it has some bloody good curry houses and is surrounded by a plethora of villages with gorgeous pubs – some of which have incredibly good food (the Nobody Inn is well known). Plus, for a bit of a day out you could take the trip to River Cottage, in Axminster, where Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall is based. I believe he’s also just opened a café/restaurant in Plymouth. There’s also a lovely (expensive) farm shop at Topsham, just outside Exeter, called Darts Farm. Lovely place for a wander and to buy a bit of a treat.

I can’t give you any exact figures but I remember looking at employment stats and Exeter was significantly lower than the national average. My parents say that there seem to be a decent number of jobs advertised, and certainly my mum was able to find work relatively quickly when she was made redundant a few years ago. It is an expensive city, property wise, or certainly in the desirable areas it is. We lived in St Leonards, which is, I guess ‘posh’ but is also home to some students too. It’s close to the city centre – easy walking distance. I don’t know much about commuting in from outside the city so can’t help on that score. If I ended up getting a job in Exeter I would have to live in walking distance and would be looking at St Leonards first off, certain areas of Heavitree, possibly, parts of Trews Weir. Some of those areas are a little student heavy and there are a couple of areas in Heavitree you would probably avoid, given the choice. I’m happy to elaborate further if you’d like. I have always lived on that side of the river, and would want to stay on that side of the river because it’s what I know and it would be convenient for the job. My partner used to live on the other side of the river, and it’s fine, but I just never warmed to it. What kind of property would you be looking at?

Schools… well, Exeter has a few private schools to choose from (if you’re going down this track I would avoid St Margaret’s as it has just closed its sixth form) and plenty of state schools. I don’t think I could comment with any authority on the schooling really. It also has a sixth form college, Exeter College, which is where I did my A-levels. That’s a fair while ago now so I don’t know that I can be particularly helpful there either.

If you like the countryside, Exeter is great – you’ve got amazing coastline, Dartmoor and even North Devon within easy reach so there is plenty of scope for a day out. Exeter also has both a football and rugby team, if you follow either of those sports (or would like to).

I don’t know if any of that rambling helps, but if you have any questions I’m happy to help.

MrMuffin

Fabulous info thank you SO MUCH! I really appreciate you taking the time.

MrMuffin

Again thanks for all the great info, Almo!

Is there a particular place to look for job listings online?

I'll check out the areas you mentioned, thanks! To answer your question, we'd be looking for something with three beds min. We are married with two small kids and depending on what we could afford initially, we'd like to have a room for family to stay in for overnights as we'd still be a fair drive from everyone.

I have been to Exeter a few times in years back and always liked it. From the two (Bristol and Exeter) I assume the job market would be better in Bristol?

RedDragon2008

Outside tourism and running B&B what is the main industry/vocations in Exeter and Bristol?

cheeky_monkey

I have also lived in Exeter before coming to Canada..the thing with Exeter if you look on a website they are building a huge science park just off the M5 and new town just outside the city. Bristol has more job opportunities simply because its bigger and a lot of national companies have their regional offices in Bristol..but Exeter is second to Bristol in the south west region as a commercial centre..i think it is or was one of the fastest growing cities in the UK.

Still having said that im looking to return to the UK in the near future and for job prospects my choice would be London...Bristol...Exeter. In terms of living i would choose Exeter over Bristol.

BristolUK

I think there may be an earlier thread making a comparison of these two places.

MrMuffin

OK thanks I'll do a search. Sorry to repeat if that's the case! Cheers, M

Almo

To be honest I have found online job sites less than easy to use. The big ones, Monster etc, just seem to be too hard to navigate. I am fortunate that there is a specific job site for the industry in which I work.

I think I need to qualify my answers by saying that I left Exeter when I was 23 and before that had been back and forth to uni in another city so I probably can't give much insight into the job market compared to someone who had 'proper' jobs there. I had one 'proper' job in Exeter, which was at the RD&E Hospital. Family and friends do the usual sort of work - the uni is a big employer, the Met Office, the County Council, various law firms have offices in Exeter, recruitment agents, the police, that kind of thing.

I agree with Cheeky Monkey that I would live in Exeter over Bristol but Bristol would have the better job market. For me personally, I can't command enough of a premium in London to make London particularly attractive (having worked in London before and spent vast amounts on rent and commuting), so I am trying as hard as I can to rule London out, but it does seem to have a huge number of job vacancies.

Irish Guinness

What a great post Almo,also helped me as I am visiting Cornwall and Exeter in Sept.Certainly has given us some lovely places to visit while we are there.

BristolUK

Nothing automatically wrong with a repeat, despite what some say, there are new members all the time after all. It's just that there might be a lot of good comparison information in the other thread.

If I'm right in there being one.

MrMuffin

I found a Bristol vs Gloucester so far, but no worries at all. Thanks!

BritinFLUSA

I know I wrote on another thread about having lived in Devon, Exeter is great but it is remote - think of the end of the Motorway mentality. I almost like to think of it as the "last bastion of civilisation" as once you have left the M5, everything else are market towns (asides from Plymouth). So if you want convenience as well as a nice country life then it isn't too bad. Personally I have been there done that and would prefer to be closer to a bigger city.

Pomster

We have said that if we were to stay in UK we would move somewhere like Bristol/Bath (London just does not float my boat anymore).
It is a beautiful spot and great for access to Wales, Cornwall, M4, BUT I guess everyone else thinks the same as it is amazingly expensive to find property.

The 'M4 corridor' seems to double housing costs!

cheeky_monkey

I dont see how Exeter is remote..it is closer to London than say Liverpool Manchester or Leeds and is as close to Birmingham if not closer than some of those Cities too.