Business news

Don’t look back – you’re not going that way

There’s no hiding from the times, says Dorset Chamber CEO Ian Girling, but keep moving forwards. Working together everyone can be stronger

Like me, I am sure you are fed up with the constant depressing news coming from the media. Yes, we know it’s a very challenging time; a cost of living crisis, soaring domestic and business energy costs, huge inflationary pressures and spiralling interest rates. This is on top of the current recruitment crisis and the longterm challenges that have been thrown at businesses by Brexit, COVID and now, the terrible events in Ukraine. These are all very serious issues and it’s easy to feel despondent if you watch the news.

Stubborn resilience

We recently held a business exhibition with over 200 business people attending and it struck me how resilient businesses are. So many of the people I spoke to shared their concerns regarding the doom and gloom but were also very clear we need to get on with things and maintain a positive, can-do approach. Business has to continue and to look to the future. We must keep business going. Ultimately the event was alive with energy and optimism and I came away inspired.

Keep looking forward

Of course, there’s no hiding form the fact that it is a challenging climate, that should not be overlooked. But there are practical steps that businesses can take. Cashflow needs to be carefully managed – but we must keep cash circulating around the economy and I would encourage all business to treat their suppliers fairly in this respect. Obviously all businesses need to look at efficiencies and see where savings can be made. Unprofitable areas of activity within businesses should be identified and corrected. However it is important to keep looking forward. Businesses should maintain a focus on their marketing and future plans. I’d strongly suggest all businesses look at their digital platforms such as websites and social media channels to ensure any and all opportunities are being maximised. Businesses also need to look after their staff in this challenging climate to ensure core capability and skills remain in the business. And I’d urge businesses to work together and support each other. This is vital, and a core offering of Chambers of Commerce. We will get through this.

And lastly...

It’s hard to believe Christmas is upon us already. I’d like to wish you and your loved ones a happy Christmas and peaceful and successful New Year.

The Dorset labour and skills report

Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has issued its latest insights on the current labour market and employment situation in Dorset.

The report, which analyses detailed national and local data from July to September as well as an overall view of 2022 thus far, looks closely at the latest economic and labour market developments. Unsurprisingly, financial volatility, rising prices and mortgage rates and a decline in real terms earnings all feature. A continuous decline can be seen in labour demand across Dorset, coming after almost two years of unprecedented growth. Overall, vacancies across the county for the first three quarters (circa 79,500) was a third higher than the same period last year – and nearly double the figure from 2020. The report also captures: • Homeworking – the number of work from home vacancies increased exponentially over the past two years in Dorset, but markedly slowed down in the last quarter. • Employment – employment in the county fell, but remains comparable to the national rate. There was a significant drop in the proportion of economically inactive people who want a job but a big increase in those who are not seeking work • Top employers – the NHS remains by far the largest employer in Dorset, followed by BCP and Dorset Councils alongside key finance and tourism private sector businesses. • Who’s hiring – over the first nine months of 2022, vacancy growth continued across most sectors of the economy in Dorset. The largest was recorded in ‘accommodation and food service’, which more than doubled. There were almost 15,000 vacancies in ‘human health and social work’. • Occupation trends – the high-skilled labour market continues to be strong, with the scale of professional job vacancies now reaching prepandemic levels. • Top jobs – carers and office assistants overtook nurses and software developers as the jobs most required in Dorset. Other roles such as customer service, chefs, cleaners and kitchen staff continued to be in demand. • Skills – the most frequently requested soft skills in advertised job descriptions were communication, customer service, management, sales, detail orientation and marketing. • Salaries – advertised vacancies appear to suggest that wages are not markedly increasing • Demographics – approximately 19 per cent of hospitality businesses said the proportion of over-50s in their organisations had increased in the past year

Vinita Nawathe, Executive Director of Dorset LEP said: “The results are set against the volatile political and economic backdrop of the last quarter. The impact of rising prices has largely eroded any increases in wages which is also reflected locally. ‘The fact that UK hospitality businesses are increasingly turning to older workers to plug staffing shortages is interesting, reflecting shifting demographics. The continued demand for people to fill care roles is only expected to increase as the county’s ageing population increases and shortages continue.”

The full report is available to read/ download on the Dorset LEP website

Sherborne-based lettings agency wins prestigious award

Harling Taylor, a leading independent property management and lettings agency covering the Dorset and South Somerset areas, has been announced as the Gold Winner of The British Property Lettings Award for Sherborne. The team performed outstandingly throughout the extensive judging period, which focused on customer service levels, and has now been shortlisted for a number of national awards which will be announced towards the end of year. Richard Comstive, Managing Director and owner, says: ‘I am delighted that our team has been rewarded with this accolade and recognised for the care and attention we place on all our clients.’

Simple ethos leads to successful hyper-local business awards

Now in its third year, entries for the Sherborne Business Awards closed in mid-November and they are now with the judges. Entries and nominations for the first year of the Shaftesbury Business Awards closed in late November. Sherborne saw an increase on the record number of entries in 2021, while Shaftesbury was 20 per cent higher than the expected number for its first year. Both sets of awards break the mould when it comes to awards events. Up until recently business awards have always covered large areas and focused on promoting large businesses rather than the smaller traders. Said Nigel Reeve of the organisers, MW Events, ‘Local businesses and SMEs drive the economy in this country.’ he says ‘Large or small, they are the backbone of the UK economy. The idea of a series of hyper-local business awards first evolved during the first lockdown, when it was clear that small local businesses were really suffering. ‘The first Sherborne awards were one of the test areas and our idea of simple grassroots awards just seemed to take off. It’s important to us that they are always free and simple to enter, with categories reflecting the range of local businesses in the specific area. The Shaftesbury awards are the eleventh of this type of awards to be launched by Nigel, all of them in Dorset. ‘Our funding is purely from the sale of category sponsorship. We have had over seventy local businesses supporting and sponsoring categories across all the awards to date. Without them this would not have been possible.’

The Sherborne awards ceremony is at lunchtime on Thursday, 12th January at the Oborne Grange Hotel, Oborne and the Shaftesbury awards ceremony is at lunchtime on Thursday, 26th January 2023 at the Grosvenor Arms Hotel in Shaftesbury.

Dorset bosses urged to champion more SEND talent in the workplace

Efforts to help more young people with disabilities or special educational needs to find work in Dorset have taken a major step forward with the launch of a dedicated one-year programme. Dorset Careers Hub has launched the Removing Barriers initiative to raise the number of locallybased employers who are confident about taking on and supporting young people aged 16 to 19 with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The Hub, jointly funded by Dorset LEP and Careers and Enterprise Company CEC, has appointed Andrew Holland of consultancy sendme2work.com as project manager. Andrew says: “We want to change mindsets and encourage more employers to come forward and recruit and champion disabled talent. We will be running a series of events to reach out to employers and will provide training, mentoring and coaching. Employers should know there are grants available to help when you take on and retain people with disabilities and special education needs. Chelsey, an apprentice in business administration spoke of how the opportunity to start a supported internship two years ago had changed her life. ‘It really helped me with my confidence,’ she said. ‘Everyone at SAMEE made me feel really safe and secure. My manager always gave me extra time which meant that I wasn’t rushed, and they always made sure that the workplace was quiet and calm around me which made me feeI really relaxed. ‘Everything they did for me meant I could concentrate on doing my best work, and I was really excited when they offered me my first paid job as their official Business Administration Apprentice.’