4


news opinion


The number of unemployed young people in the south is a cause for concern. But the headline figures mask some very real problems


Some youngsters find it easier, if not more lucrative, to not work than to work. One employer, running a successful online business, told us recently that she advertised a position and had 100 responses. But of the six that she shortlisted, only two turned up for an interview.


That suggests two-thirds of the shortlisted were just going through the motions. How many of the 100 in total were disinterested, and probably only replied to tick a box at the Jobcentre, is anyone’s guess. Her experience is not uncommon.


The other side of this is that there are many employers who would like to take on more 18-to-24-year-olds but want more encouragement from the Government in the form of tax breaks and grants to help them do so.


You have probably heard it before, but it’s a truism that if the money spent on dole payments was given to SMEs to help pay for them to employ and train apprentices, those youngsters would benefit enormously, as would the employers, as would the UK economy.


It’s true that many companies are cautious about hiring new staff, but if they are given real incentives by government, they will be encouraged to do so.


And at the same time, the dependency culture that exists in some areas would be usefully eroded.


David Murray Publisher


www.businessmag.co.uk


Biomedical research awarded £17m funding


Clinicians and scientists working in the Southampton Centre for Biomedical Research, established by the partnership between Southampton’s University Hospitals Trust (SUHT) and the University of Southampton, have been awarded £17 million to progress the city’s world-leading nutrition and respiratory research facilities.


The funding, which is part of the government’s record £800m investment in NHS and university partnerships, has secured the future of the Southampton Centre for Biomedical Research for the next five years by supporting its core infrastructure required for cutting-edge clinical research for patient benefit.


The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Respiratory Biomedical Research unit (BRU)


and the Nutrition, Diet and Lifestyle Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) – key elements of the Southampton Centre for Biomedical Research – focus on taking research out of the laboratory and into the clinic.


Having already shown how poor nutrition in childhood can set the stage for chronic ill health during adulthood, experts recently discovered that a child’s chances of developing allergies or wheezing is related to how they grow at vital stages in the womb.


”It is testament to the quality and expertise of clinicians and scientists within the Trust and the University of Southampton that the Government and our fellow professionals nationally and internationally are so strong in their support both clinically


Support urged for the region’s ports industry


Hampshire Chamber of Commerce urged businesses to support the south’s vital ports industry in the final days of the consultation on controversial plans to open a turnaround cruise terminal in Liverpool.


The Chamber led a campaign against the proposed move, working closely with the Southampton-based UK Cruise Port Alliance, and gathered more than 3,200 signatures on a petition to ministers.


Liverpool’s bid to operate turnaround cruises comes two years after a terminal was built with £21 million of government and EU funding, awarded on the condition it would host visiting ships only.


The government’s decision on the city’s application for a change of use was announced last month.


Jimmy Chestnutt, chief executive of Hampshire Chamber and chairman of the UK Cruise Port Alliance, said the issue was about ensuring a level playing field and protecting thousands of jobs in Southampton, Portsmouth and other ports


Jimmy Chestnutt


around the country: ”We are not against competition, but we are against unfair competition and the use of public money to subsidise competition.


”Every ship that goes to Liverpool will take money from other ports. We have a huge number of businesses who depend on the port industry and who don’t want to see their livelihood damaged by subsidised competition. There is the genuine prospect that, following


and financially,” says Christine McGrath, director of research and development at SUHT.


”This huge investment is not only a striking endorsement of our achievements to date, but also of our ambition to move forward and continue to be at the forefront of medical developments.”


The Respiratory BRU, which specialises in looking at new therapies for diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cystic fibrosis, and neonatal, paediatric and adult intensive care, has been allocated £7.3m. Meanwhile the NIHR review panel’s decision to increase funds for the nutrition, diet and lifestyle BRC, based on the quality of its application, means it will receive a total of £9.6m.


many tens of millions of pounds of hard-won private sector investment, the industry is sleepwalking onto a new and dangerously uneven playing field.”


Southampton is the largest turnaround port in northern Europe. The Alliance estimates that each cruise ship turnaround can bring in as much as £2m to the local economy. A Liverpool bid to have the turnaround ban overturned was rejected by ministers 18 months ago on the grounds of unfair competition.


The current consultation, by the Department for Transport, involves Liverpool hosting turnaround cruises for more than 150 days a year – more than the Ocean Terminal in Southampton. Liverpool offered to repay just £5m of the grant funding over 15 years.


In the November issue of The Business Magazine


• Solent 250 • Taxation • Entrepreneurs • Focus on Basingstoke • Asset-based Lending


Details: 0118-9766411 sales@elcot.co.uk


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – OCTOBER 2011


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44