Business

Dorset portfolio aims to ignite multi-billion investments

An investment roadmap aimed at delivering a multi-billionpound boost to Dorset’s economy and thousands of jobs over the next 10 years has been published, at investindorset.com. The Dorset Living Better investment prospectus presents an ambitious portfolio of investment opportunities across all that is best and unique about the areas covered by BCP Council and Dorset Council. In the next decade it aims to deliver: n a £24 billion uplift to the local economy n 48,000 jobs n 480,000 sq m of new commercial floorspace n and 8,600 new homes while protecting and enhancing Dorset’s world-class environment. It sets out how Dorset can embrace technology to be at the forefront of confronting some of humanity’s biggest challenges –from an ageing population, to sustainable food production, to tackling climate change and cyber security – while also growing the local economy. It details how key sectors in the Dorset economy including health, finance, defence and aquaculture can evolve and attract new investment, and why 5G connectivity is a vital catalyst for innovation, social inclusion and wellbeing. And it focuses on why some of Dorset’s unique attributes, including an older population, one of the best integrated care systems in England, and an outstanding natural environment, can be harnessed for social good and economic gain. Ambitions include: n Delivery of the proposed Medtech (medical technology) Science Park at Wessex Fields, bringing together health research, education and industry to be a global leader in health innovation, especially for healthy ageing. n The creation of a National Aquaculture Centre of Excellence and an offshore aquaculture park to tap a global £173 billion market for sustainably farmed fish, shellfish, aquatic plants and algae, and build on Dorset’s national status as a ‘High Potential Opportunity’ for aquaculture investment. n Developing Dorset’s defence and cyber security cluster, working with the Army’s BattleLab Defence Innovation Centre at Winfrith, to develop new products and technologies that could be commercialised. This is especially relevant given the recent defence review and the commitment to invest £23bn in new technology. Work on the prospectus began last summer and has been driven by the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), working closely with local authorities, business, education and environment groups. The prospectus will help inform future bids to the Government’s £1.5 billion regional Shared Prosperity Fund which is launched next year, and more immediately to the £220m pilot scheme called the Community Renewal Fund.

The Army’s BattleLab Defence in action

Furlough could cost companies dear

By Miranda Robertson

newsdesk@blackmorevale.net An HR expert is warning businesses that furlough cannot be used for notice periods – and to take stock of the viability of all their staff roles now or face even higher costs. Gemma Murphy, Director and HR Consultant at ViewHR, which has clients Dorset-wide, says there is a danger that keeping employees on furlough could be ‘kicking the can down the road’ if it allows unviable jobs to survive short term. The furlough scheme has been extended to the end of September. Gemma said: “There is no doubt that the scheme has helped the country avoid the huge rise in redundancies that many were predicting 12 months ago. But has it just enabled financially distressed businesses to keep unviable jobs going? And what will happen to such jobs when the scheme ends? “At ViewHR, we have had the unfortunate job of working with many businesses who have had to make redundancies during the pandemic. “Whilst the opportunity to keep more people employed on Furlough longer is of course wonderful, I cannot help but think that many businesses are kicking the can down the road. Ultimately, the furlough scheme exists for what will be viable jobs down the road but instead there are strong signs that many unviable roles are surviving just because of the scheme.” Gemma says costs associated with furloughed employees such as the accrual of holiday, length of service and also the introduction of contributions from August, could be the difference between sink or swim for many businesses. She said: “If ultimately employees will have to be made redundant, the costs will become higher as service increases as there may be the risk of claims.” She added: “If a business does need to make redundancies, it is critical that they follow a fair and reasonable redundancy consultation process. Failure to do so will in the long run result in costly claims in the employment tribunal. So many businesses try to save money and take short-cuts at the restructuring stage only to have to pay it back in compensation costs later. This can be crippling.” View HR and insolvency practitioners Antony Batty & Co are offering a free initial discussion to businesses worried about how to proceed. Call your nearest office for details.

Get a midlife MOT check

Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is asking businesses with employees aged over 45 to take part in the new Midlife MOT programme. Funded by the Department for Work and Pensions, the pilot has been created to help individuals in midlife evaluate personal health, finance and skills and for employers, the scheme claims to help drive business growth, increase productivity and improve staff retention. For the individual, it can help with planning for the future. Employers taking part can access a free bespoke toolkit, helping them review finances and staff’s personal health and skills. Dorset businesses who sign-up to take part will be given access to a digital resource pack enabling them to promote the initiative to their midlife workforce. The online resources include links to comprehensive support and advice from wellrespected organisations. A series of webinars and podcasts are being offered by Dorset LEP from Monday April 19. For details go to To find out more or register and take part go to: dorsetlep.co.uk/midlifemot

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Why do we still vote with ballot papers and pencils?

By Adrian Fisher MBE, an award-winnng maze designer from Durweston

In this global electronic world, there is one human activity where electronics have no place – elections. In his 2012 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama warned: “Our enemies seek the ability to sabotage our power grid, our financial institutions, our airtraffic control systems. We cannot look back years from now and wonder why we did nothing.” On 19 February 2013, a tower block in Shanghai was identified as the nerve centre of one of the world’s most dangerous military cyber-hacking operations; it had launched more than 140 attacks since 2006. On 14 December 2020, hackers believed to be working for Russia were found monitoring internal email traffic at the US Treasury and Commerce departments, as part of ‘a huge cyber espionage campaign targeting the US government and its interests’. Once you have hacked into another nation’s security systems, you can interfere with their elections. A simple innocuous hidden program could tip the balance, scattering votes both ways, but making sure you get the result you want. In 2016 rumours abounded that Russia might have ‘helped’ Donald Trump get elected; and in 2020, that China might have ‘helped’ Joe Biden get elected. In 2020, using the same total of 157,212,717 votes, 176,789 votes (just over 1%) ‘precisely re-allocated’ would have given Trump a 52-seat majority instead of Biden’s 74-seat victory. In this field of human endeavour, Britain leads the world – the ballot box. Ballot papers are numbered to prevent and detect fraud; ballot paper lists are sealed after the count, and remain secret unless opened by court order. The method is pencil and paper, collected in ballot boxes, and counted by hand by tens of thousands of different people, watched by others. It’s as incorruptible as the Women’s Institute. Elections are too important to risk with electronics. Unlike the USA, the UK requires all postal votes in before polling day, so that a definitive result can be declared within hours of closing the polls. I would also change the law and require every voter to reapply for a postal vote every time, to minimise postal voting; this would reduce postal votes all cast the same way by the head of the household, and increase true democratic freedom. Russia and China had the motivation and capability to influence the US 2020 Presidential election. Maybe they didn’t; maybe a few statistical improbabilities were highly significant, but so few as to be “easily dismissed” by politicians. We simply don’t know. I urge the UK never to abandon its ballot papers and pencils, and commend it to the USA.

Small companies in the South West are being warned to beef up their cyber security as attacks on businesses is rapidly on the increase. The South West Tourism Alliance (SWTA) has backed a new police and private industry initiative to persuade businesses to counter the threat as the region gears up for its busiest ever summer. Dorset, Devon and Cornwall top the list for staycation bookings in self-contained accommodation such as cottages and campsites. But the boom comes against a backdrop of small firms being targeted by criminals. According to the Federation of Small Businesses, 46% of businesses in the UK suffered an attack on systems last year and lost an average £3,200 each time. Small firms are collectively subject to 10,000 cyber attacks a day. The SWTA backed a recent seminar by the South West Cyber Resilience Centre (SWCRC), which is headed up by Superintendent Martin Moore, on secondment from Devon and Cornwall police. He told the seminar that the bar for cyber crime was lowering enormously, with so many more people understanding how to do simple hacking. “You can even buy kits,” he said. “There is a real move towards targeting businesses rather than individuals. The threat is only beginning to grow.” According to a report by insurance company Erismus, the UK hospitality and food sector spent the least on cyber security in the 2018-19 period, committing only £1,080 on average compared with £22,050 by financial and insurance firms. The increasing dangers were spelt out by Rob Partridge, a member of BT’s Ethical Hacking Team, which helps customers improve its cyber 68

Small businesses warned of ever changing web scams

security by specifically trying to break into systems. He pointed out that even the simplest social media posts asking people to name their first car, mother’s maiden name or birth date were designed to elicit information that could help change passwords. “There all these little quizzes are out there, so think about what information you are giving away,” he said. “The answers help build up a complete picture of you – and it only takes 32 milliseconds to get onto your device.” The founder of a small firm may well use easy passwords to set up systems, and hackers have what are called Rainbow or Dictionary lists of obvious passwords that they will use to try and gain access. More seriously, if they manage to physically attach a Keylogger into a USB slot on a computer, that will record every keystroke – and password – and pass on the information. The SWCRC also has the backing of the South West Business Council and has hooked up with eight accredited computer security companies in the region which will take firms through a process whereby they can achieve Cyber Essentials Certification for £295. Roz Woodward, co-founder of Securious in Exeter – one of the eight – listed the five essential steps that small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) should take. n Keep systems up to date. These updates include ‘patches’ which are often created to tackle new security threats. n Protect systems from malware with anti-virus systems. n Control who has access to your data. n Secure settings, not default settings which have shared user accounts and passwords. n A firewall. Rob Partridge also suggested that companies consider a password manager, which creates new numeric and character passwords with each log-in. Rob uses one on his Google accounts. The SWCRC covers an area from Cornwall up to Wiltshire. And like other Cyber Resilence Centres s around the UK, it aims to protect SMEs with advice, scam updates and webinars. It’s free to join – just head over to brimcentre.com/ network to find your local centre and sign up. The initiative is not for profit but does offer different levels of membership and services –including a low-cost project whereby students from Bournemouth University attempt to hack company systems to show weak spots. In concluding the seminar, Sup Moore said: “If you want bespoke IT support and don’t know where to start, you’ll be shown how to access inexpensive services through new links with regional universities, or how to find a trustworthy company near you. “We expect to have a continuing relationship with companies that sign up with us. We can’t recommend individuals so our ability to provide services is an important one.”