How many in-person business events have you been to in recent times?
For some people, all such activity has gone online - while for others, conferences, exhibitions and networking are all back in something like their pre-pandemic form.
This week, I was at Seawork, the big commercial marine event in Southampton. We reported on the opening and on the organiser's expectation of around 6,000 visitors, with deals being done as suppliers and their customers got to look each other in the eye again.
And this was all despite the strikes which frustrated rail users everywhere (as well as disrupting operations at Southampton Docks).
- A Southampton broadband provider is expecting to treble its workforce after a move to a new office.
- A group from the University of Southampton are on their way to Silicon Valley as you read this, to forge connections and take in the atmosphere of the world's top region for innovation.
- Efforts to promote Dorset and Hampshire together as part of a wider Central South region were on the agenda for the Regenerate South conference.
- I spoke to a businesswoman who has successfully launched three related ventures during the midst of the pandemic - and who says personal relationships are the key to it all.
- Primark has denied a persistent social media rumour that it might leave Bournemouth town centre.
- Businesses face consequences such as asset freezes, director disqualifications and criminal penalties if coronavirus recovery loans have been misused or improperly applied for. A firm of insolvency practitioners shared its take on this and the problems some are having in repaying their loans.
- The Bournemouth telecoms company 4Com has made the first acquisition in its 23-year history.
- A boat sales business in Poole is bringing South America's biggest yacht manufacturer to the UK.
- Hampshire Chamber has officially opened its new office in Fareham with a pledge to help with the skills gap.
- A popular Christchurch wine bar is to have new owners after six years of trading. (Story by Andrew Goldman.)
- Here's a sign of the hiring problems that are everywhere: A 24-hour McDonald's in Dorset is closing at 11pm because it can't get the staff. (Story by Sam McKeown.)
- Meanwhile, another McDonald's has opened in Southampton. (Story by Elizabeth Wilson.)
- An increasing number of homes are likely to be built off-site using modular construction methods. The trend could help mitigate rising costs and environmental concerns, it is claimed.
- Dorset Council is investing ￡14m in Dorset Innovation Park, the former nuclear site which has become home to a host of tech-based businesses. (Story by Trevor Bevins.)
- A jeweller which has been a fixture in Wimborne for more than 50 years is to close. (Story by Ben Williets.)
- And research suggests 87 per cent of employees are not engaged with their job. That's got to be a worry, especially since engaged employees seem to drive profit, as an event dedicated to the subject of workplace culture heard.
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