news opinion
Pinch me I’m dreaming … Has this past month been for real?
Start with mobile gaming’s latest great step – overlaying the ‘real’ world with a virtual one. Pokemon Go is the hottest craze to hit Britain for some years, and fanatical players, adults included, are wandering into dangerous territories to hunt virtual creatures. ‘There’s a Jigglypuff here, give me two minutes,’ says a youngster being warned off a hazardous waste site.
But never mind the over-zealous teen, post Brexit many of our politicians have made statements and decisions that take even this absurdity to another level. In a spectacular display of bad political sportsmanship, we’ve seen the rulebook of political campaigning ripped to shreds.
The weeks after Brexit have been both farcical and surreal, but while the dust settles and Britain unstitches itself from the continent, resilient Thames Valley businesses are shrugging off Brexit concerns in their determination to invest and grow. Take a look at our TV250 companies for example. They employ 107,000 between them and boast a combined turnover of £22 billion. (See page 27 where we honour our top private businesses.)
Online retail is also breaking an age- old norm and, following Amazon’s collaboration on drone testing with government, we can soon expect to look to the skies for our deliveries.
Going higher still there’s the extraordinary issue of Space, which looks about to go private and where property rights are high on the global agenda. In 2015, more money was invested in Space start-ups than over the previous 15 years combined, and already one company has been granted mining rights on the moon.
Meanwhile back on this planet, we launch the Thames Valley Occupiers’ Survey on page 13. This is to gauge aspirations for commercial property in the region in terms of locational preferences, drivers, and business sentiment, and we hope you will take the time to participate.
We also reveal the latest Manufacturing 100 listing, see pages 38-41 , which celebrate success in the sector and provide interesting insight into the wealth of manufacturing and engineering companies in the region. These companies too are breaking through the limits in their own, admittedly more-accessible ways.
Carry de la Harpe Editor
4
businessmag.co.uk THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – SEPTEMBER 2016
Will Basingstoke be next tech and innovation hub?
Think of Basingstoke and you may not conjure up images of entrepreneurs creating the next big technological innovations, but with help from the world’s number-one university business incubator the area is becoming a tech hub with start-ups from as far away as Italy clamouring to get in on the action.
SETsquared, which was ranked as the global number one university business incubator in November 2015, opened its innovation hub at Basing View at the end of 2014 after receiving £100,000 of support from Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.
Currently the innovation hub works with 13 high-tech and high-growth potential start- up companies, working in sectors ranging from cyber security to transcription services, and provides them with support, mentoring and access to programmes that will help to develop business plans and funding strategies. As well as this, SETsquared’s various programmes put the entrepreneurs in front of real investors in a pitching environment and provides them with the opportunity to exhibit their businesses to corporates looking to adopt new technologies.
A recent success from SETsquared’s Basingstoke hub is the story of RazorSecure, a company which has created a real-time cyber security monitor designed for small-scale networks. RazorSecure is currently working on closing its current investment round and recently had its product trialled in Sweden on the MTR Express, a popular service that runs from Stockholm to Gothenburg.
Other companies supported by the innovation hub in Basingstoke include Sherlock – a company from Turin that’s developed a GPS-based anti-theft device that allows cyclists to precisely locate their bicycle at any moment – which is currently following up on a number of partnerships as a result of a SETsquared event, as well as EV Nav, a company that started life as a sat nav app and changed business model thanks to advice and guidance from SETsquared. EV Nav now operates as a data broker for electric vehicle data and recently attended an Open Innovation event with Ford, organised by SETsquared.
SETsquared will be running its highly- commended Entrepreneurship Training Programme in Basingstoke on September 19-21. Entrepreneurs who take part will experience an interactive course that covers all essential elements of starting a business, such as routes to market, raising money and perfecting a pitching, how to get a business idea off to a great start and how to get into a position to be ready to test the market. The course is open to any entrepreneurs with an idea for a tech- based product or service as well as more experienced entrepreneurs launching a new product or venture.
On October 13, the Basingstoke hub will be holding a Google Developers Group event, as well as starting a 5G technology networking group in the autumn. The hub also provides masterclasses for the companies it incubates, on topics such as accountancy and legal matters, including intellectual property and data protection.
setsquared.co.uk
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