The local business environment is changing.

Radstock Nub News understands that the former butchers in the town will become a hair and nail salon after being rented out.

And in case you missed it, the hoardings to mark the beginning of demolition work on the old Radco store, have been put up.

A number of new businesses have started in the Somer Valley recently, including a sewing shop in Midsomer Norton, and a new Greek restaurant opposite the town hall.

But equally Nub News noted that two businesses have folded and in a sign of the demands of running a business in the current economic climate, the former home of the local charity PEOPLE, at the top of the Midsomer Norton High Street has an application in to be turned into flats.

You can read about the challenges of business in Midsomer Norton HERE

According to the planning application for 55A High Street, several local estate agents were approached with the intent on marketing as a commercial property. But "The consensus being that it would not be a marketable commercial property."

Meantime today (June 14) the latest job figures have show a record number of job vacancies - up to 1.3 million from March to May. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has reported that the unemployment rate is 3.8% in the February to April period.

However they also recorded that annual growth in regular pay, excluding bonuses, fell by 2.2% in the three months to April after adjusting for its preferred measure of inflation – the biggest fall since November 2011.

Wages are failing to keep up with rising prices with regular pay - which excludes bonuses - down on the year by 2.2% when adjusted for inflation