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news opinion What is the point of NI?


National insurance was introduced before the First World War but its purpose has fundamentally changed since then. Originally, NI was a fund to help working people who fell on hard times. An employee would contribute from his wages and then claim back if he lost his job or was in need of medical treatment.


Today, NI is supposed to pay for the NHS, for sickness and disability allowances, for the dole, and for the state pension.


But since the Government borrows from the NI pot to pay for other spending, it is no different to any other part of the government’s bank, in that it will be spent on arms, on schools, on roads, and the rest.


Sometimes, ministers pretend they are holding down taxes, while quietly raising the cost of NI. They like us to forget that NI is also a tax – one that both employer and employee contribute.


Partly because money has been spent (wasted) by successive governments, and partly because the number of people to spend it on is inexorably rising, there is now very little money for pensions.


Which is why the pension reforms which came into effect last month are so important, and why it’s so worrying to learn that nearly half the SMEs in this country know nothing about them.


Auto-enrolment means that all employers must automatically enrol their staff into a qualifying workplace pension scheme, and the company must pay minimum pension contributions in respect of those workers.


Quite simply, employers – the biggest employers at first, but eventually each and every one in the UK – will have to ensure that employees receive a pension when they retire. It’s a fundamental change – but one that is going unnoticed.


David Murray Publisher


www.businessmag.co.uk


Investment in ports pays off


Work has started on a £150 million expansion of Southampton’s container port to safeguard 2,000 jobs and create a further 200.


The ceremonial lifting of the first paving slab marked the beginning of the reconstruction of berths 201 and 202 in preparation for the arrival of the next generation of ultra-large container carriers (ULCCs).


Port director Doug Morrison said the £150m project to create a fourth deep-sea container berth was vital for the port’s long-term future and that without such it would struggle to remain competitive. An increase in size of container ships has meant the current deep-sea berths, 204 to 207, can no longer handle four


of the largest vessels at the same time.


Work has begun with a six-month piling operation. The new berth will be ready for operation in early 2014 with five giant cranes working along the quayside.


The upgrade project is part of a plan to boost handling capacity from two million to 2.7 million 20ft equivalent container boxes by 2020.


A further investment in our ports has paid off with Portsmouth International Port’s new terminal being named Best New Building 2012. The decision was made by the Portsmouth Society, which sent a team of judges to inspect more than 20 buildings and sites.


They decided that the stunning steel and glass terminal was by far the most impressive addition to the city’s landscape, despite competition from the ongoing building boom around the famous harbour.


Celia Clark, president of the Portsmouth Society, said: “It’s a lovely building. It feels like a light, airy airport. The sculptural anti-terrorism protection of giant anchors and concrete chain links enhance the perimeter and the judges were impressed by the innovative use of seawater for cooling and heating via a heat exchanger.“


Designed by Joel Kempsey-Fagg at D5 architects, the project was managed by Halcrow and built by Mansell. Local contractors were used to fabricate the steel frame. Construction began in 2010 and the doors opened to passengers in 2011, on time and on budget as part of a £16.5m investment in new passenger facilities.


Iconic new structure to house Mary Rose


Construction of one of the biggest and most technically-challenging museum projects in Europe is almost complete after Warings handed over the main phase of the stunning new home of the Mary Rose at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.


The iconic building is the spectacular centrepiece of a £35 million project to complete the conservation and create a fitting home for the 16th century ship, which has been a national favourite ever since being raised from the seabed live on national TV in 1982.


Full-service contractor Warings, started work on the landmark project in 2010, 500 years after the original shipwrights began her construction. The project has now been completed in under two years, the same time it took for the world famous warship to be built.


It involved first demolishing and rebuilding around the fragile warship, which has to be kept at an optimum temperature and sprayed continuously with wax preservative. Warings’ managers were on call 24-hours a day for two-years to respond in case the system broke down.


The many challenges were magnified by a specification from


English Heritage that the project be designed so that it could be reversed in the future and the dry dock, a scheduled ancient monument, beneath the Mary Rose returned to its original state. This meant not only 3D mapping of the shape and position of every stone in the dry dock, but also prevented the sinking of foundations, therefore the entire structure was rested on the quayside.


The vessel will be reunited with the majority of the 19,000 artefacts recovered with her from the seabed 30 years ago. The museum, constructed on top of a Grade II listed dry dock at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard just yards from


Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory, takes the form of a finely crafted jewellery box clad in timber planks.


The new museum opens next year during the final phase of the ship’s conservation – controlled air drying – which will take a further four or five years.


In the December/January issue of The Business Magazine


• Solent 250: Ones to watch • Corporate Finance • Environmental Focus • Focus on Bournemouth


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


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – NOVEMBER 2012


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