Anyone with employment concerns as a result of Covid-19 is urged by Citizens Advice Dorset and Dorset Council to reach out and seek advice as soon as possible.
Citizens Advice Dorset has helped more than 1,000 people with employment issues since lockdown.
That’s a 35 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.
Redundancy, furlough and pay are the top issues it has dealt with during the pandemic.
If you’ve lost your job, had your hours or pay reduced, or redundancy is on the horizon, Citizens Advice is stressing it can help.
This includes checking your redundancy is fair, entitlement to redundancy pay, furlough, notice period, holiday pay and paid time off to look for work.
Details of the support available can be found here.
Helen Goldsack, Chief Officer of Citizens Advice Purbeck, said: “We have helped people with a huge range of issues since lockdown, but we know that as the furlough scheme draws to an end, lots of people may be feeling worried and need advice.
Helen Goldsack
“If you’re at risk of redundancy, it’s important to know you do have rights to help protect you from unfair dismissal and to ensure you’re paid what you’re owed.
“It’s completely understandable that you may find the rules and procedures overwhelming, but you don’t have to face redundancy alone.
“We are here to help on 03444 111 444 or visit the council’s Reaching Out pages.”
Before Covid19 swept the globe, concern about the environment had reached tipping point. Now, as a radical shift to new sectors of the economy emerges it is vital that the environment is top of the list of concerns, and we support the entrepreneurs and emerging companies that are setting out on a course to protect the environment, as well as promote a path to prosperity.
Covid19 has changed behaviour and created opportunities. One key change is localization – we are travelling less to offices and are investing more time and money in our local communities. It is hoped local high streets and retail parks may attract new customers as a result. Online services still thrive, from food delivery to piano lessons – many of these are delivered by businesses at a local level.
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
Located in Sturminster Newton, Harts is one of the largest in-store and online retailers of kitchenware in the UK. With the majority of its business online, Harts has developed an award-winning app and is currently expanding its garden centre and opening a café. Wessex Internet, based in Iwerne Minster, specializes in delivering high speed internet solutions to rural locations. Award winning Prodigy IT Solutions, based near Blandford, offers IT service management to small and medium business across Dorset.
The Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is supporting a digital and cultural transformation across Dorset by funding growth in Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing (AEM), Creative Technology and Agriculture/Aquaculture. Investment includes engineering and construction centres in Weymouth College, and construction and design in Bournemouth and Poole College.
Courses in cyber security, visual effects, gaming, animation, app creation and post production are available in Bournemouth Universities. This year 162 apprentices trained on high spec workshops and machinery at Kingston Maurwood, and the LEP have funded an innovative agri-tech company, draperVENT, to develop computerized climate control systems for the agricultural sector. Dorset has a long and proud tradition of farming – the agricultural sector is worth over £100m.
The government’s programme, KickStart, provides funding for 16-24 year olds in a six month job placement but will need to do more to support those made unemployed due to Covid19. Our rural and emerging technology economy also needs a more flexible use of the apprenticeship levy to provide technology skills training.
There are reasons to be positive – we live in beautiful countryside and Dorset people are a resilient bunch. If we shop local, choose local produce and use local businesses and services, this will help both our rural economy and the environment.
Jane Westbrook, North Dorset CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England)
Shaftesbury Arts Centre is delighted to resume its live streaming events with Romeo and Juliet. Choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky and performed by the Bolshoi Ballet company.
Celebrated Bolshoi stars Ekaterina Krysanova and Vladislav Lantratov portray the star-crossed lovers destined to pay the ultimate price for their forbidden romance.
The box office is currently closed, all bookings must be made online. Sunday 11 October at 2pm and 7pm.
A brand new audio conference called BEYOND2020 – The Future of Business is to be launched by Dorset Growth Hub (DGH).
The aim is to promote future thinking and share positive stories and business opportunities.
With many businesses focusing on the here and now, DGH is hoping the event will help with forward thinking, what to prioritise next, what’s changed and what businesses can improve.
The free five day audio event will be held from October 19 to 23.
A different topic will be explored each day:
Sustainability
Culture
Diversity & Inclusion
Attracting New Business
Future Trends.
Each day, three podcast episodes will be released for 24 hours only.
They will be followed the next day by a Q&A panel with the guest speakers that featured in each episode.
Last year’s annual conference featured speakers from Dyson, Monzo and Jimmys Iced Coffee.
Mary Lloyd, DGH’s Marketing Manager, said “After running over 60 online events on Zoom, we started to think about how we could do something new and exciting, bringing together businesses from Dorset alongside larger national brands.
Mary Lloyd
“We went through the process of thinking we would just cancel the conference all together, and wait until next year, but I think businesses really need a little positivity and inspiration to just keep going at the moment.
“As an organisation, we are trying new platforms, pushing boundaries as we try to reach as many businesses as possible to provide helpful content that can make a difference.
“The episodes we have recorded so far are really practical, full of tips and inspiration for ambitious business owners and managers.
“The topics we have chosen are rarely covered locally, but are priorities that we think are paramount going into the next 12 months.
“They will be spoken about from differing perspectives.
“From local start-ups like Ethicly and Street Agency, established local brands like OnBuy and RNLI, to national brands like ITV and Wessannen (Clipper Tea, Kallo & Whole Earth).
“We have some great speakers lined up.”
To register and see all the speakers announced so far, click here.
The event is completely free to attend.
It is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and delivered by Dorset Growth Hub.
Sherborne Market is on Sunday 11th october and again on Sunday the 15th november 2020. A fabulous hand picked artisan market featuring local producers, suppliers, amazing food, arts and crafts. 10am to 3pm both dates, don’t miss it!
Major office supplier Staples is the latest big name to list products designed and engineered by JPL Telecom in Sturminster Newton.
Its innovative headset and webcam range are now available to customers from its stores and online presence in the UK and Europe.
Staples Europe has also signed a partnership agreement with JPL Telecom to resell the JPL headset product line including its webcam, known as the JPL Vision+.
Staples Netherlands has added JPL to its Staples Advantage portal which is being extended into Poland, Nordics, Germany, and Portugal.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the massive global shift towards home working and home learning led to a huge spike in demand for USB headsets.
It proved challenging for Staples because major headset vendors experienced large order backlogs.
Ross Barker, Technology Category Manager at Staples, said: “Demand exceeded supply and as we needed to explore alternative solutions we contacted our Nimans’ Account Manager, Rory Heard.
“Nimans is the largest next-day delivery distributor of telecoms and data equipment.
“Rory suggested JPL Telecom, which had recently adapted one of its popular headsets with a USB connection.
“After an initial trial, we were happy to present the headsets to our customers.
“The feedback has been excellent and JPL Telecom has kept supply routes open during the past difficult months, which has led to the brand being named one of our ‘reliable and trusted vendors’.”
James Clarke, CEO, JPL Telecom said: “We are delighted to welcome Staples as a Strategic Partner in association with Nimans and we are gearing up our efforts in Europe for further growth and brand awareness.
James Clarke
“Staples Europe are ambitious to offer solutions for their customers and we delighted to be part of the Staples solutions portfolio.”
Pete Wilson, Sales Manager at JPL Telecom, added: “Audio, vision and voice solutions are at the heart of our range.
“Therefore, to have an office supply giant such as Staples actively selling our products is fantastic and a great achievement to all involved.”
Currently, St Nicholas Church Silton is open on Wednesdays for private prayer from 12 – 4pm. Services are limited to just two a month (due to Covid) and anyone wishing to attend these must book well in advance of the dates with the secretary, in order that a rist assesment and seating plan can be put into place. It is a very small church and in order to comply with the restrictions we can only fit in about 27 people, I’m afraid!
This month St Nicholas Siltons services will be on 11th october and 25th october, all services are according to the Book of Common Prayer.
Our regular column in which you discover the faces and stories behind the pub sign. This month we’ve been chatting to Gavin at the Ship inn in West Stour.
The Ship Inn is owned and run by Gavin and Sally Griggs, owners of the Ship Inn, West Stour
How did you end up at the Ship Inn?
Throughout my teens, and university, I had always worked in pubs, bars and hotels so back in 2005 when the London-based photography agency I was running was sold, I decided to do something I had always wanted to do, move out of London and buy a country pub. Fifteen years later, I am still here. Tell us about lockdown – were you entirely shut down, or could you pivot your business to offer something new?
We totally shut down. Two days after lockdown came I started helping out down at the Hawtree Riverside garage in West Stour. I have known the Hawtree family for a long time and Sebastian and Paul who run the business were finding themselves inundated with requests for food and drink deliveries from the Spar supermarket side of the business. I ended up helping out for twelve weeks doing whatever was needed, from stacking shelves, answering phones, taking orders, working the till, processing the food and drink orders and then delivering them to all the surrounding villages.”
It was different to running the pub, but we were still helping the community where we could. With the forced closure of lockdown and with Sally being a decorator, she used the time to completely spruce-up and redecorate our trading areas.
What was the biggest challenge in getting ready for reopening?
Making sure that all the correct Covid measures had been correctly put in to place so that when we re-opened the premises, it was safe for both staff and customers. The government guidelines to re- opening were extensive and certain parts were not applicable to all hospitality businesses as they all vary in shapes and sizes. Once the guidelines were read and absorbed there was a great amount to do from doing risk assessments, subsequent customer guidelines, adjusting the trading areas to meet social distancing guidelines to buying all the necessary signage, hand sanitisers, protective screens, PPE, training the staff, implementing our own web based track and trace system. We opened on July 7th so from when the guidelines were released to when we re-opened it was a short space in time to get all this done and make sure that it was done correctly.
Which bit are you most proud of?
The team I have at The Ship – from the front of house to the chefs in the kitchen and the housekeepers, the way we have all had to adapt to a different way of working in that everyone is kept as safe as possible.
Did the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme work for you?
We didn’t take part in the scheme. With the reduction in covers from 78 to 38, throughout the whole pub we were already fully booked throughout August. Not only that, but we had also furlough payments; if we were to give away money from each meal and then claim it back, there was concern about those payments being delayed as well at a time when cash flow into the business was of the utmost importance.
What part of the pub is your absolute favourite?
The old door that’s between the middle and bottom restaurant. The pub was built in 1720 by an old ship’s captain and when he retired he was given his boat. He dismantled it, and used it for the timbers of the pub. The old door remains and information we found in a local library tells us the history of the door. It is gnarled and worn and on it has the initials “BC.” – it’s the door from the Bosun’s Cabin from the original ship. Back in the days of coach and horses, they used to transport prisoners from Exeter jail up to Andover jail and they used to stop overnight at The Ship to feed and water the horses. The prisoners would be locked overnight in what is now our bottom restaurant, so the old door has two big sliding wooden bolts on one side to keep them in there, and the door has large holes drilled in it for ventilation, some of which were later plugged up with cork to stop the wind whistling through!”
Which of your dishes do your customers rave about?
Roast loin of venison, with truffle!(*and I’d strongly recommend the chicken & bacon ciabatta for lunch, myself – Ed)
What’s your favourite thing to do locally with some time off?
Running a hospitality business, with my wife, Sally, a painter and decorator who also helps out at The Ship, well, we don’t really get a great deal of time off together! But when we do have a day off we like to walk our dogs, Douglas and Elliot, up in Duncliffe woods. As for eating out, we both like spicy foods, so more often than not we would probably end up going for a curry in Shaftesbury at either Chutneys or Aroma in the evening.
What’s next?
Social distancing has meant a great drop in the number of people that we can seat indoors, from 78 covers to 38. The warm months of July and August meant we could utilise the garden more but as the winter is now drawing in and people not wanting to sit outside we are largely going to be relying our interior areas. The reduction in seating volume, together with now a 10pm curfew present further challenges as we head into the winter months.
Sadly, Events Crew in agreement with Sherborne Castle Estates have made the difficult decision to cancel Sherborne Castle Fireworks 2020
Since Events Crew took over Sherborne Fireworks it has always been run as a ‘not for profit’ basis, inorder to give any money made back to support local groups. whilst it may have been possible to light up the sky above Sherborne and allow people to watch from the safety of their own location, sadly this option was not financially viable.
