For the last time: The week's business news from Hampshire and Dorset

This is my last LinkedIn roundup of the week’s business news, at least in this form.

As some of you know, I'm leaving the Echo titles today, ready to take up a job as content manager with iplicit , a rapidly growing business which is disrupting the market for accounting software. I know every job in the world is described as an “exciting opportunity”, but this one really is!

When business people are represented in fiction, they’re often portrayed as greedy, heartless and venal.

It wouldn’t take any of us long to find some real life examples of those things, but the business world I’ve known over these past few years has been full of generosity, values, community focus, creativity and incredible resilience in a turbulent world.

I want to thank everyone who has got in touch with me to wish me well with the career change. (I hope I've replied to everyone, but forgive me if I overlooked any.)

And thank you to everyone who has supported me in this job, bringing me stories, sharing their knowledge and answering the obligatory stupid questions.

I'm grateful also to Mark Masters , who, in one of his many acts of generosity, first suggested doing these weekly round-ups back in 2018. It cost me a few Thursday evenings, but it’s been a great way of forging connections – and of taking a step back once a week to get an overview of what’s happening in business.

I won't be disappearing from LinkedIn, and I may continue to post collections of the news and insights that have caught my eye.

In the meantime, thanks for reading.

Top stories this week

• Southampton port operator ABP is to invest ￡2bn by 2040 in decarbonising its operations . (Report by Timothy Edgley.)
• A new group has been launched to support women in Dorset's tech sector .
• Restrictions have been placed on a Hampshire financial advice firm amid fears that its director may have misappropriated at least ￡1.15m of client funds. (Story by Chris Yandell.)
• A director of the business which ran a Sandbanks cafe when it was wrecked by a fire has been ordered by a court to pay almost ￡590,000 , liquidators have revealed.
• Company bosses have been warned of the importance of keeping proper records in case of insolvency.
• A Hampshire tech company which has tripled in size is looking for 70 more staff. (Story by Timothy Edgley.)
• A boat sales business in Poole has beaten many of the industry's big brands to an international award .
• The owners of a popular pub in the New Forest are standing down after 21 years. (Report by Jordan Elkins.)
• Women who run their own businesses will meet for a day of inspiration and training.
• A business in Poole is part of a project to break a motorcycle world land speed record. (Story by Alexander Smith.)
• Two business managers have been appointed to the board of Poole Business Improvement District. (Story by Andrew Goldman.)
• An executive search business specialising in the tech sector says it's beating Americans at their own game by recruiting for US companies in the US.
• A vintage emporium in East Dorset has expanded into a third building . (Story by Georgia Revell.)
• And there's been another boost for Poole, with an online fashion retailer choosing the town centre for the opening of its first bricks-and-mortar store . (Story by Matt Simpson.)

Support our journalism with ￡1

Subscriptions - of the digital kind and the old-fashioned print variety - help make journalism possible and have helped keep people like me employed in the business.

At the moment, ￡1 buys you a month's trial subscription to the?Southern Daily Echo , the?Daily Echo Bournemouth? or the?Dorset Echo . The Echo colleagues I'm leaving behind would be really grateful if you'd consider giving it a try.