Welcome to Thursday’s standalone story.

What we try to outline below is what really won Gloucestershire the £71 million of funding it needs to complete a crucial upgrade to junction 10 of the M5, a project critical to our economic prosperity. And a project that until now has always felt just ever so out of reach.

Why spend so long talking to so many people when we could just have run the press release? Because one’s marketing and the other is journalism. It’s not about republishing press releases. It’s about looking beyond so you know what really took place.

This time, what lies beyond it is something we think speaks incredibly well of Gloucestershire, offers considerable hope and should be promoted, because this is a county that is at risk – at risk of being overlooked for funding, of being deconstructed by devolution, of being overlooked for investment and drowned out in the corridors of power by neighbours like Bristol.

And if it is to ever deliver a successful Golden Valley Development, described as ‘a once in a lifetime opportunity’, it will not do it by just building a motorway junction.

It needs to present itself as a county that can work together, that can unite, that will work hard to get what it needs, and only then – through the sheer weight of that collective might, and probably standing on tiptoes too, will it get the recognition.

Wouldn’t you want to be part of a place like that?

Congratulations to everyone involved. Which, by the sound of it, is just about everyone that matters!

Best regards,

Andrew Merrell (editor).

* The Raikes Journal is a community interest company. Everything you read by us is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne, our sponsors, our Founding Members and wonderful paying subscribers.

If you upgrade to become a paid subscriber you’ll be part of this CIC too. You’ll help make us sustainable, be able to see past the paywalls, comment on our stories, and know you’re making possible the county’s only editorially-led platform dedicated to delivering quality journalism for Gloucestershire about its businesses, charities, education and training sectors.

Sign up for just £2.30 a week - or £1.80 a week if two or more people sign up at once. Or go all in and become one of our Founding Partners or Founding Members!

What really won Gloucestershire that £71.5m for a new motorway junction

Beneath the glossy veneer of the press release about Gloucestershire’s winning £71.5m to transform the M5 junction 10, key to success for the £1blln Golden Valley Project, there’s a hugely positive story.

By Andrew Merrell.

A press release promoting the county council was widely recycled this week, promoting the news that the Government had granted it the £71.5 million needed to complete crucial remapping of a motorway junction.

It’s big news. The reshaping of junction 10 is regarded as critical to economic success, not least the much-hyped and still-pending Golden Valley Development, billed as a £1 billion housing and business park development beside GCHQ.

But ask a few questions and you quickly find out something very, very important has just taken place in Gloucestershire to make this happen – a county some think is becoming fragmented when only recently it seemed to stand as one.

Since the days of GFirst LEP, the once powerful business-run group that helped unite and champion Gloucestershire, making the junction accessible both ways has been recognised as a key economic catalyst.

But when the LEP was merged into the county council in April 2024 many felt business had lost its voice, major projects like the motorway junction, the Golden Valley, seemed to be stalling.

Privately, among the county’s business community at least, frustrations were mounting. Devolution appeared on the horizon, and the political bunfight that ensued didn’t fill anyone with any confidence either.

As for the motorway junction, it didn’t help that the estimated cost of £200m, when it was first mooted four years ago, had ballooned to £365m by the end of last year – forcing the county to go cap in hand to central government.

It seems that the very thing that made all these big projects seem possible was slipping away – that ability to put aside individual differences and present a united front. Until now.

Raikes spoke to key players involved in securing the money, political leaders, MPs, well-connected types, countywide, on and off the record, and what it turns out was a crucial element - the business people from across Gloucestershire who helped push this over the line.

We wanted to find out how they made it happen and how significant it really is.

I’m afraid we’ve paywalled this story to help pay for what we do - which is stories like this, delivering Gloucestershire some journalism, connecting the dots, creating community, celebrating the real heroes, and cutting through the marketing that flows fast through the social media channels and elsewhere.

Read more

A double-edged edition today. One story bringing home the stark reality facing the start of the new year for more than 100 staff at a Gloucestershire factory, after news broke it plans to close operations in the county.

And then there is the potentially fantastic news that the Golden Valley Development is facing its final planning hurdle before work can begin.

We’ve decided not to get caught up entirely in the fanfare following in the wake of the Golden Valley media release.

If it wasn’t such a thoroughly exciting project, and if we lived in a time when local media held councils to account, the amount of noise on social media and unchallenged press releases published about what is a project funded by public money would have been balanced out somewhat.

There are frustrations out there among more than a few about the progress of the scheme, and we know conversations have taken place about leadership and costs, but in a landscape where hope of lots of investment is a powerful force for keeping everyone in line, most do not want to go public and jinx it all.

And neither do we!

I hope your first full week of 2026 has gone well. Long may it continue.

As for the first story, my thoughts are with the staff at Invista.

Best regards,

Andrew Merrell (editor).

Fears for 125 jobs as factory announces closure plans

Staff at a Gloucester factory on the site of the county’s historic former airport could be facing redundancy after the owners announced plans to move all work abroad to “strengthen” its position.

By Andrew Merrell.

One hundred and twenty five staff await to hear their fate after the owner of the factory they work for in Gloucester announced it was exploring plans to close the operation.

Brockworth-based Invista, owned by American giant Koch Industries, said if it went ahead with the plans it would move operations to its base in Kingston, Canada, and also be exploring sites in China.

The intention, according to the business, would be “to strengthen its global operating footprint and position the business for long-term competitiveness”.

Brook Vickery, INVISTA president and chief executive officer, said: “These proposals are not a reflection of their performance or commitment, but rather a response to today’s market environment and the need to align our operations with where we see long-term opportunity.

“Our top priority now is ensuring the safe, stable operation of our facilities as we work through the changes necessary to evaluate and, if approved, implement these proposals.”

Read the full story here: Fears for 125 jobs as factory announces closure plans.

* The Raikes Journal is a community interest company. Everything you read by us is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne, our sponsors, our Founding Members and wonderful paying subscribers.

If you upgrade to become a paid subscriber you’ll be part of this CIC too. You’ll help make us sustainable, be able to see past the paywalls, comment on our stories, and know you’re making possible the county’s only editorially-led platform dedicated to delivering quality journalism for Gloucestershire about its businesses, charities, education and training sectors.

Sign up for just £2.30 a week - or £1.80 a week if two or more people sign up at once. Or go all in and become one of our Founding Partners or Founding Members!

Briefing notes…

🏭 Members news: High profile advanced engineering firm appoints administrators: Back in 2018 the Gloucestershire-based co-founder of a county engineering firm was escorting Theresa May on a three-day trade visit to China. All seemed rosy with the fast-growing firm, which had also become a darling of the Alternative Investment Market. That founder and the face of the firm, Neil Ricketts, was also part of the successful Gloucestershire’s local enterprise partnership team at GFirst LEP. And then in 2023, Ricketts, then chief executive officer of Versarien plc, resigned. This week the Forest of Dean-headquartered business has appointed administrators.

👨‍💼👩🏿‍💼👩‍💼 New centre for 100 businesses officially opens in Gloucester: It’s enjoyed its fair share of hype in the build up to this moment, but a new business centre which hopes to be home to 100 businesses and host 500 staff is now officially live in Gloucester. Opening in The Forum, the city’s new flagship office, retail and leisure development, the centre has already attracted tenants.

⚡🏗️ 🏘️ Former EDF offices could be demolished to make way for up to 300 homes: Plans are afoot to redevelop EDF’s former site in Gloucester to make way for up to 300 homes and new offices, industrial units and warehouses. The French state-owned energy company, which relocated to Gloucester Business Park in 2021, is looking to turn its former offices at Barnett Way in Barnwood into homes and business use.

The weekend ahead…

Friday.

🏉 Gloucester Rugby play Edinburgh Rugby away from 8pm this evening.

🎸 Cinema. Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere at The Roses, Tewkesbury. An “intimate, behind-the-scenes exploration of the creation of Bruce Springsteen’s stark 1982 masterpiece, Nebraska”. From 7.30pm.

Saturday.

⚽ Cheltenham Town play Championship side Leicester City in the third round of the FA Cup at home. KO is 12.15pm.

⚽ Forest Green Rovers FC play Ebbsfleet United away. KO 3pm.

⚽ Gloucester City FC play Marine away. KO 3pm.

Sunday.

📺 Gloucester History Festival Winter Warmer 2026 online festival continues through this weekend with more than 70 historians, broadcasters and top names. Tickets are £7 per event with a pass costing £32 for all 50 events.

Will 2026 be the year the Golden Valley Development begins?

Conceived almost 10 years ago, hailed as a “once in a lifetime” £1blln project, the team behind the Golden Valley Development is confident that 2026 will be the year spades finally go in the ground.

By Andrew Merrell.

“If you build it they will come,” as the widely misquoted version of the original line from the 1989 film Field of Dreams goes.

In Gloucestershire it’s happened the other way around. Many cyber and tech businesses have come, but they are still waiting for the “it” to be build while they hold up in the Hub8 MX building in central Cheltenham.

That “it” being the Golden Valley Development. But it now looks like one of the key final hurdles to that happening is about to be cleared.

This week we learned that the final detailed plans have been filed with Cheltenham Borough Council’s planning department, and bearing in mind the project is owned by the local authority’ it seems not unreasonable to see this step as a formality.

Despite the long wait, filled with endless social media posts reminding us what’s coming, the Golden Valley Development - a business and residential scheme on a 45-hectare site beside GCHQ - remains difficult not to get excited about.

Once described as significant enough to see Gloucestershire crowned the UK’s cyber capital, the message has changed over time - toning down the cyber element considerably – but it continues to compel.

Today the narrative is broader, its most recent release talking about “leveraging the region’s specialism in security technology, clustering expertise in fast-growing sectors such as AI, quantum technologies, defence tech and communications”.

That’s what the 160,000 square-foot IDEAS building planned for the centre of the scheme will apparently be for. If you want to explore it now, you can - albeit virtually, online.

Cheltenham Borough Council first acquired the site for the development in 2017 and since then £130 million of public money has been committed to the project.

In typically British fashion when it comes to major projects the need for more and more public money knows no bounds.

The borough named its ‘preferred development partner’ as the HBD X Factory partnership in July 2021 before HBD (part of Henry Boot) took overall control in 2022, submitting its outline planning application for the scheme in October 2023.

Contractors Bowmer + Kirkland were then appointed in September 2025 in readiness to deliver the project’s first phase. In between times those social media posts have continued without pause.

All of which makes it a near 10-year journey to this point.

For some, the unending publicity with little progress on the ground was in danger of starting to sound a little like hyperbole.

There have been growing mutterings as to whether the promised community benefits, such as affordable housing provision within the scheme, were being diluted.

Behind the scenes a number of significant parties in Cheltenham and the wider county have begun to grow frustrated and concerned about the speed of progress.

And then there are the concerns over commitments to improvements to junction 10 of the M5 to provide access in all directions on and off the motorway.

Work on the junction, approved by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander in June 2025, is scheduled to start early in 2027 with completion expected in 2028.

Or will it?

Question marks remain over funding. It was revealed in September that costs had risen from £70 million to £363m leaving a funding gap of £110m.

Some £40 million of that will be taken care of with more public money from Gloucestershire’s councils, but central government is yet to confirm it will foot the bill for the remaining £70m.

But while the project “remains on track” those who have begun to get frustrated by the lack of progress continue to publicly support the scheme.

And why wouldn’t they?

Read more: Concern over the management of the Golden Valley Development

The £1 billion tag line is an estimate of what those behind the project claim will be invested in the county as a result, along with the creation of 12,000 jobs and thousands of new homes.

The potential ripple effect across the local economy should be unprecedented, aside from the less well-publicised plans around nuclear that could take place down in Berkeley that still risk overtaking its north Gloucestershire rival.

If the Golden Valley plans just submitted to the borough council are approved, it will mean we truly can talk with much more confidence about 2026 as THE year when spades will eventually go in the ground.

“This is the final application which must be made before work can begin. It sets out more detailed proposals, including layout, appearance, scale, access and landscaping,” is how HBD’s marketing release puts it, a release widely cut and pasted on other websites and social media channels.

Hamer Boot, executive director at HBD, is quoted as saying: “We look forward to moving into delivery this year.”

If that happens, 2027 will be the year when that first phase - the IDEA building and ROUTER transport hub - opens its doors.

More buildings will open in 2029, as will the first 1,000 homes, with “the biggest phase yet” coming in 2033 when “diverse residential development, blurring the lines between hotel and residential” comes on line alongside “workspaces with best-in-class amenity offer” and a second transport hub.

In 2035 we should expect the “future industry quarter”, the final phase of a project that will by then have taken the best part of 20 years to conclude.

As one member of the business community told Raikes today, they still have reservations but remain right behind the project publicly, and confident 2026 will indeed finally be lift off for the Golden Valley.

Before reminding us that “we live in uncertain times.”

Welcome to Friday’s edition. As we edge back to some kind of normal service I would like to welcome the numerous individuals who spent August signing up as subscribers to The Raikes Journal.

We’re now chasing down 1,000 subscribers. That might seem small, but Raikes is growing entirely organically and has an incredible rate of readership. More so than any other database I’ve touched to date. And is supported by more than 12,000 social media connections.

When you consider Monday’s edition was read by more people than we sent it too - which is often the case - and that we’re now touching 12,000 views a month for our email edition - that’s not too shabby.

You could say that with six to 10 stories per edition on a Monday and Friday, if you went by views per story (what everyone else does) you can multiple 12,000 by at least six-fold. But we don’t. Although we do think that in 18 months that’s pretty good - and about halfway towards optimal critical mass.

We remain supported by our fantastic Founding Partners, Founding Members and paying subscribers - and to help bolster that number and allow us to continue to do what we do - real journalism about Gloucestershire - we’re currently running an offer on annual membership below (you can thank them for today’s edition not being paywalled, as is usually is on a Friday).

If you don’t pay to subscribe currently, please do consider it!

We’re a community interest company and the only editorially-led, independent, business-focused digital platform edited by a journalist in the county.

Have a great weekend.

Best regards,

Andrew Merrell (editor).

Gloucester’s The Forum office space has new competition…

It’s officially open, but just how challenging its ambitious project to repurpose the former Debenhams building in Gloucester and turn it into its new city centre campus is becoming clear. The University of Gloucestershire has officially opened the doors to the new-look building, but lots of the vast space remains still up for grabs. And it’s announced the appointment of commercial agent Alder King to help it work out how best it can use the building and is open to ideas from “commercial partners”. With the nearby Forum development still yet to fill all of its space too, the battle is on. Will the premium-priced Forum lose out? The city campus, which opened to the public in August, is now home to the university’s education, psychology and social work programmes.

Briefing notes…

👩‍💼 The granddaughter of one of the founders of Gloucestershire-headquartered manufacturing, engineering and tech giant, Renishaw, has joined the board of the firm as a non-executive director. Camille Deer, whose grandfather John Deer founded the Wotton-under-Edge-based firm with Sir David McMurtry, has previously acted as an observer on Renishaw’s board. Camille, 31, has experience in intellectual property, innovation and risk management, and holds an MA and MPhil in History from the University of Cambridge. She was previously a director of Swansea-based Regeninx, which specialises in research and experimental development on biotechnology.

👩‍🏫 Chiquita Henson, the chief executive officer of the Gloucestershire-based Corinium Education Trust, has announced she will step down on December 31. Henson is said to have been pivotal in founding the Cirencester and South Cotswolds trust in 2018. Since then it has grown from three schools to six, all rated good by Ofsted. She joined Cirencester Deer Park School in 1989, becoming head of English to headteacher in 2003 and remaining in that position for 19 years. She also chaired the training provider Gloucestershire Initial Teacher Education Partnership for many years. The Trust Board is now actively seeking a new CEO.

🏗️ If you went by social media posts you’d think the Golden Valley is the happening development in Gloucestershire. Some say the smart money, however, is now on the redevelopment of Berkeley Science and Technology Park in the South of the county beating it to the start line. Plans for the nuclear and clean energy research and development facility beside the River Severn have now been submitted to Stroud District Council. The proposal claims it could bring 1,000 jobs and 600,000 square feet of manufacturing, education and laboratory space. Will it actually happen? Project manager for the Berkeley scheme, Gerry Hughes, told the BBC there was already “significant interest” from a number of businesses.

🧴 Iconic British designer Paul Smith has partnered with Gloucestershire-based SLG Brands to bring a new range of men’s personal care and grooming products to market. Founder and creative director of the Cheltenham firm, Miles Dunkley, took to social media this week to announce the fact - and praise his team for doing a “brilliant job”. Smith is not the first big name to use the skills of Dunkley’s firm. Others include Superdry, Julian McDonald, Little Mix, Fearne Cotton and Laura Ashley. Expect to find the new Paul Smith range in Boots.

Diary Dates…

• Friday:

  Cheltenham Cricket Club Beer & Wine Festival 2025 - Friday: 6pm - 10pm.

  Concert: Dub Catalyst play Croft Farm Water Park, Tewkesbury.

  Stonehouse Walking Festival begins today and lasts until Sunday 14th Sepember.

• Saturday:

  Gloucester Day - Two parades, a costumed 1643 civil war demonstration of Musketry at the Folk of Gloucester, a community market, Thanksgiving Day service at St Mary De Crypt and more as the city continues to revive the historic Gloucester Day of 1643.

  Gloucester History Festival kicks off too and tuns until 21 September.

  Cheltenham Cricket Club Beer & Wine Festival 2025 - Saturday: 12 noon - 10pm Sunday: 12 noon - 6pm

• Sunday:

  Cheltenham Cricket Club Beer & Wine Festival 2025 - Sunday: 12 noon - 6pm.

* The Raikes Journal is a digital magazine and community interest company whose supporters believe, like us, that journalism about Gloucestershire is worth keeping alive. Everything you read here - original stories about our county - is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne; our sponsors, Founding Members and wonderful paying subscribers.

If you upgrade to paid you’ll be part of this CIC too. We’re dedicated to championing the county, its businesses, charities, education and training providers, and to creating an even stronger community. If you upgrade to paid you’ll be able to see past the paywalls often put on our 2cnd and 3rd email editions of the week, that lock our archive after two weeks and our Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series. You’ll be able to comment on our stories too.

Usually you can sign up for just £2.30 a week - or £1.80 a week if two or more people sign up at once. Or go all in and become one of our Founding Partners or Founding Members!

But we’re currently running this offer to make it even cheaper (just £1.60 a week for a year!!).

Get 30% off for 1 year

For every person you refer to The Raikes Journal’s email service you get points towards a free membership allowing you to see beyond our paywalls. Please do sign up (free or otherwise), send the referral link to a friend or colleague, and help us grow.

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Cyber firm called up to protect top-tier UK financial services

The very exclusive club handpicked to help keep the UK’s top financial institutions safe from cyber criminals grew by one this week, revealing a fast-growing firm based right here in Gloucestershire.

We keep hearing Gloucestershire is a hotbed for cyber entrepreneurs, but less about who they are and what the do. So often the discretion their work demands cloaks them in relative anonymity.

But every now and again the cloak falls away, a news story reveals a name and the curious among us have an opportunity to find out a little more about the business and what it does - and to ask if being based here in the county is really as significant as we keep getting told.

This was the case with the announcement that Prism Infosec had been chosen to join a small number of elite cyber security firms tasked by the likes of the Bank of England with defending the UK’s premiere financial institutions against online criminals.

Our conversations with that company also revealed how the move will help the already fast-growing firm, which aready has 50 staff, drive even more growth - and just how big cybercrime is in the UK.

Cyber breaches in the UK financial services sector have tripled in recent years. Between 2021 and 2023, attacks on the sector rose from 187 to 640 - an increase of over 240 per cent.

In the South West, 4,000 cyber-related crimes were reported last year, costing organisations £73.3 million.

If you run a top tier financial institutions or financial market infrastructure organisation (FMI) in the UK you don’t just call anyone to ensure your systems have adequate defence.

You must call one of an elite group of 16 firms, which incudes just three businesses in the South West, of which Prism Infosec is now one.

The Cheltenham-based business is now accredited to carry out what are called CBEST certification tests, administered by international accreditation and certification body, CREST, on behalf of the Bank of England.

CBEST being a targeted assessment that allows regulators and firms to better understand weaknesses and vulnerabilities and take remedial actions

Phil Robinson (pictured below), founder and chief executive officer of Prism Infosec, which is based in Eagle Tower, said: “We’re proud to have achieved this world-class accreditation as a threat-led penetration testing provider under the CBEST scheme.

“Our team brings decades of experience delivering bespoke services across critical national infrastructure, government, and the banking and financial sector, supporting organisations in meeting and exceeding the required regulatory standards.

“Holding both CBEST and STAR-FS accreditations, a complementary framework for simulated cyber security testing across the financial industry which we achieved last year, places us among a select group of UK providers trusted to strengthen cyber resilience across the entire financial services sector, including the UK’s most critical and top-tier institutions.”

Founded in 2006, Prism Infosec already delivers range of cyber assessment services to some of the world’s largest organisations including major enterprise Silicon Valley firms, media and technology companies, globally significant banks and His Majesty’s Government and UK defence firms.

It also holds a series of industry-leading certifications administered by bodies such as the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), UK Government as well as CREST (an international not-for-profit, membership body representing the global cyber security industry).

Robinson told The Raikes Journal the accolade would also help drive the firm’s already sizeable growth.

“We’ve grown just over 25 per cent year on year from last year, our red team (the practice of emulating real-world attackers to test an organisation’s security defences) revenue continues to grow as we build our reputation in the space

He added: “BEST (the most effective and appropriate methods to reduce risk and protect systems) and red teaming is a growth area within the cyber space growing at a faster pace than traditional penetration testing.

“The requirement for red teaming or threat-led penetration testing, is driven by global regulators therefore the potential to grow both our business, but the industry as a whole is significant. “

As well as the Bank of England notable regulators also include the FCA, PRA, European Central Bank, Singapore Monetary Authority.

Threat-led pen testing is part of the DORA Act within the EU which requires by law financial services and associated businesses to perform testing.

Which means top UK financial institutions are legally required to undergo CBEST test every three years.

Hollie Wakefield, general manager of CyNam, the influential Cheltenham-headquartered cyber-focused network, said: “It’s brilliant to see a Gloucestershire-based firm achieving national recognition for its expertise in cyber security, especially in such a critical area like financial services.

“This kind of success really highlights what we already know: Gloucestershire is a fantastic place to build and grow a cyber business.

“With a strong talent pool and a collaborative community sitting at the heart of a world-renowned ecosystem, it’s no surprise that companies like Prism Infosec are thriving here.

“We’re proud to support and celebrate these achievements.”

Robinson said: “Cheltenham has a rich history with cyber security both in terms of GCHQ but also with regards to people locating to the area as it’s known for cyber security.

“There is a significant cyber community here with events such as BSides Cheltenham, Cynam as well as other community events always very well supported

“Major cyber businesses have been located within Cheltenham for many years.”

He added: “The UK is a market leader in helping organisations bolster their defences against online threats.

“This is due in part to the skills, talent, and capabilities within our mature cyber security sector, thanks to our ever-evolving accreditation and certification schemes.”

It was bound to happen at some point over the course of what is a long-term project, especially one promising so much and grabbing so many headlines, but local political figures have broken ranks over the Golden Valley Development.

Billed as the biggest opportunity for the county, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the “£1 billion” project has had the backing of just about everyone - and with good reason. The potential economic and social benefits are obvious.

The promise of 12,000 new jobs and up to 3,700 new homes, with a business park at its centre focusing on tech is hard to resist. The emphasis on purely cyber shifted some time ago, with the development orginally billed as the town putting a flag into the ground to lay claim to being the UK’s cyber capital.

But frustrations have been bubbling away in some quarters for a while now about progress, with many reluctant to go on record as they know that with major projects confidence can be key.

So they’ve towed the cross-party line. Until now. As you’ll see below.

Should we be worried that local politics is beginning to take centre stage over something which once united everyone behind the local authority?

Raikes understands there are concerns in other quarters too, with everyone remaining onside publically, but in private calling for some sign of progress.

We have a follow-up coming too which looks into the challenges in a little more detail.

Best regards,

Andrew Merrell (editor).

For every person you refer to The Raikes Journal’s email service you get points towards a free membership allowing you to see beyond our paywalls. Please do sign up (free or otherwise), send the referral link to a friend or colleague, and help us grow.

Refer a friend

Charity of the week: Man Up Gloucestershire

On Sunday 17 August a cricket match with a difference will take place in the north of Gloucestershire in aid of Man Up Gloucestershire. The charity offers peer-to-peer support groups for men throughout the county with free drop-in sessions in Churchdown, Cheltenham and Newent. Former Cheltenham Town goalkeeper and Gloucester City manager Tim Harris will be leading his team onto the pitch against the Farmers XI at Dymock Cricket Club. Last year Harris, now a director of football at Worcester City FC, lost his son to suicide. Even if you can’t buy a ticket and attend, there’s a raffle with tickets priced at £10. Prizes include a signed Cheltenham Town shirts, 10-game Worcester City FC ticket, hampers, a range of golfing day vouchers, two tickets to Worcestershire County Cricket Club and more. More here.

* The Raikes Journal is a digital magazine and community interest company whose supporters believe, like us, that journalism about Gloucestershire is worth keeping alive. Everything you read here - original stories about our county - is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire+ College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne; our sponsors, Founding Members and wonderful paying subscribers.

If you upgrade to paid you’ll be part of this CIC too. We’re dedicated to championing the county, its businesses, charities, education and training providers, and to creating an even stronger community. If you upgrade to paid you’ll be able to see past the paywalls often put on our 2cnd and 3rd email editions of the week, that lock our archive after two weeks and our Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series. You’ll be able to comment on our stories too.

You can sign up for just £2.30 a week - or £1.80 a week if two or more people sign up at once. Or go all in and become one of our Founding Partners or Founding Members!

Subscribe now

Briefing notes…

🍽️ Calls for public debate over Quays bid for huge food and drink venue: Plans that could see what would be one of the county’s biggest restaurants open at Gloucester Quays could be debated at a public meeting. The retail outlet owners want a planning condition clarified that could allow a 691sqm venue to open - which would be bigger than the nearby vacant former TGI Friday’s (480sqm) and The Lord High Constable of England, J D Wetherspoon at Llanthony Warehouse in the Docks, which is around 565 sqm. More here.

🏆 Judges prepare to draw up shortlist of Gloucestershire businesses. In case you’ve missed it, preparations are well underway for the Believe in Gloucester Awards 2025. The event celebrates the very best businesses, organisations and indivuals that make the city a success. Nominations are in for 15 awards, which range from ambassador, business, small business and new business of the year to retailer, food business, event, and charity of the year. Judges are due to meet this month to shortlist the entries with a public vote on the finalists expected to open in September. Headline sponsors making it all possible are once more WSP Solicitors and Gloucester Quays. More here.

🏗️ Villagers turned out in force at a council meeting on Monday night (11 August) to voice their opposition to plans for a new 3,000-home town off the A417 near Redmarley. It was standing room only at Redmarley Village Hall as parish councillors gathered to discuss their response to the latest blueprint for development in the Forest of Dean district. The council is currently consulting on its local plan and among the options is one or more new towns to help meet their shortfall of 13,200 homes needed by 2043. More here.

📈 Strong first six months for one of Gloucestershire’s biggest businesses: County-grown Brockworth-headquartered Mears plc, has reported “a period of strong operational, financial and strategic performance” for its first six months of the year. Lucas Critchley, the housing maintenance specialist’s chief executive officer, was upbeat - despite a fall in revenue of four percent (from £580 million to £559.4m). Pre-tax profits were up by five per cent to £32 million. More here.

📈 Why there is cause for optimism, despite poor regional business growth: There is cause for optimism, despite a softening of business growth in the South West and a fall in staffing levels at firms in the region for the ninth straight month. According to the Nat West, growth was up for the seventh month in a row, although its Growth Tracker survey’s business activity index for the region shows the rate slowed, slipping from 53.9 in June to 51.1. Nat West described the growth as the ‘softest’ since February and only marginal. However, there was optimism from business regarding the 12-month outlook for output. It rose to its highest level in nine months. More here.

🏗️ New housing development revealed: Gloucester City Homes has bought land in Longford, just north of Gloucester, as part of a plan to deliver 17 new energy-efficient social rent homes. The housing association plans to work in partnership with developer Cape Homes and Tewkebury Borough Council on the scheme, which is supported by funding from Homes England’s Affordable Housing Programme. All homes in the scheme will be available for social rent and ‘built to the highest environmental standards’, with 35 per cent meeting enhanced accessibility standards for wheelchair users. More here.

*The Raikes Journal is the only independent news outlet in Gloucestershire approved to use the copy of the BBC local government reporting service. Why? Only only independent, credible journalistically-led platforms that meet the BBC’s high standards win that permission.

Concerns over the management of the Golden Valley Development

When local politics makes its way centre stage in a story about a major development many will begin to shudder. Opposition councillors question the Golden Valley Development plans.

Concerns have been raised over a shortfall in affordable housing linked to Cheltenham’s Golden Valley Development next to GCHQ, with critics claiming “community benefits have been eroded”.

HBD Golden Valley Limited’s outline plans for up to 576 homes and up to 1,353,002 sq ft of employment floorspace were approved by Cheltenham Borough Council last month.

The council’s flagship project is expected to create 12,000 jobs and be home to hospitality, retail businesses and 3,700 new homes.

It is also hoped that the state-of-the-art Golden Valley campus off Fiddlers Green will help secure GCHQ’s presence in the spa town for decades to come.

But opposition councillors are concerned about the proportion of affordable homes in the first phase of the project.

Officers said during the planning committee meeting last month that the development had viability issues.

And as a result the proportion of affordable homes would be 26 per cent and not the 35 per cent standard.

They also said the scheme would not fulfil the entire contribution request for the improvements to junction 10 of the M5.

Cheltenham Green Party has since issued a warning about what they call the “erosion of promised community benefits” from the Golden Valley development.

One of their councillors was the only member of the planning committee to vote against the proposals when social housing provisions were being watered down.

Councillor Jan Foster (G, Prestbury) said at the planning meeting in July: “In principle, I support the development of this land for housing, but I am concerned about the shortfall in affordable housing.

“If we and our partners don’t keep to our own policy how can we expect other developers to?

“With regard to developer profit, perhaps it is time that developers accepted lower profits than have become considered acceptable.

“For this reason I cannot support the application.”

The Greens say they are concerned about the management of the Golden Valley development because promised benefits to today’s residents were already being compromised.

The dilution of social housing commitments is a warning sign of what today’s Cheltenham residents can expect from a project they are financially underwriting, they said.

“This development was sold to Cheltenham residents on the basis of significant community benefits. Today’s council taxpayers are underwriting tomorrow’s promises, yet those promises are being broken,” a Green Party spokesperson said.

“The Liberal Democrats’ unwillingness to hold developers to pre-planning promises stems from their political investment in the project’s perceived success.”

Major developments cabinet member Alisha Lewis (LD, Oakley) said they have increased the percentage of affordable housing across the southern parcel by 26 per cent through negotiations and are continuing to explore every option to deliver more in later phases.

The first phase of the project includes a significant investment in infrastructure, which is crucial for the future delivery of important assets, ranging from a new primary school to improved libraries and green spaces, coming in later phases of the southern parcel, she said.

“These contributions will directly benefit the local community, and while the final figures are still being agreed, the scale of investment is something we’re proud of,” she said.

“Phase 1 is the first of many—and as it’s focused on commercial space such as the Innovation Centre (IDEA) and Mobility Hub (ROUTER), with no housing being delivered in this initial phase.

“Future phases will focus on the delivery of housing, including affordable homes, as well as further commercial space.

“We’re working with local housing experts to make sure the homes we do build meet Cheltenham’s real needs, from accessible homes to larger properties for families, and a mix of different tenures.

“Our priority is not just to build homes, but to build the right ones for the people who need them most.

“Our wider commitment to affordable housing is clear: Cheltenham Borough Council is building more purpose-built affordable homes than ever before, with a new wave of developments moving steadily through the planning process.”

By Carmelo Garcia, local democracy reporter for Gloucestershire. carmelo.garcia@reachplc.com

Welcome to Friday’s edition of The Raikes Journal.

About the only thing welcome about yesterday’s news of cyber attacked on major retailers M&S, the Co-op and then Harrods was that it distracted the national media from delivering the latest daily installment on President Trump’s second term in office.

It was certainly no less worrying for many.

Speculation was rife. Images of dark forces at work on the web abounded and anxiety crept over anyone whose livelihood depends on their business being secure and safe from harm in an age where digital is everywhere. So that’s just about everyone!

In Cheltenham a special gathering took place at the University of Gloucestershire’s FuturePark yesterday that saw business people and experts in cyber security discuss what had really taken place, how scared anyone really should be and what measures could be taken to prevent any of them becoming the next victim.

Raikes was invited down to listen in, and the report is below.

We would like to thank ReformIT, the firm of Cheltenham-based experts that led from the front at that meeting, and CyNam, the influential Cheltenham-based cyber group, that partnered with ReformIT to make the event possible.

Here’s wishing everyone a safe, secure and very enjoyable bank holiday weekend.

Best regards,

Andrew Merrell (editor).

PS: In case you are new to Raikes, we often paywall parts of our Friday editions to help fund what we do and to give our paying subscribers value for money.

For every person you refer to The Raikes Journal’s email service you get points towards a free membership allowing you to see beyond our paywalls. Please do sign up (free or otherwise), send the referral link to a friend or colleague, and help us grow.

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Top 100: The incredible impact of National Star

The bottom line is what counts for every business, of course, but sometimes it’s worth just taking a quick look at their impact first - because sometimes it is simply incredible.

As we played catch-up on some of the organisations featured in our rolling Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series, which follows the fortunes of the county’s biggest businesses by turnover, we came across the National Star Foundation.

Before you get to its financial data in its latest annual report you get to numbers outlining the impact of what it does - support young adults with disabilities and learning difficulties. It is simply astonishing. Read it here.

Your briefing notes...

📈 Will Abbott of Randall and Payne will be hosting the latest in a series of bootcamp workshops for businesses on Tuesday from 9am to 11am. The peer-to-peer workshops are designed to challenge thinking, develop perspectives and deliver results for business owners and leaders. They run monthly, so if you can’t make this one (The 2030 Leader: Essential Skills for a changing world), there’s one due on 2 June (Strategic Acceleration: tools to out-think and out-perform) and 1 July (Influence & Authority: Building long-term success in any workplace). Email marketing@randall-payne.co.uk or call Jo Kline on 01242 776000 for more information.

🥂 Cheltenham Chamber of Commerce is due to stage its annual general meeting on Thursday 8 May at 5.30pm. The full agenda will be published on the chamber’s website. As well as the official proceedings, attendees will be able to enjoy networking with refreshments provided by Ken Sheathers Wines, of Cheltenham. Guest speaker will be Max Wilkinson, the town’s MP. More here.

🥇 The University of Gloucestershire – already rated First Class in the 2024/25 People and Planet University League – has launched a ‘transformative action-driven programme with the QUIN Institute designed by industry experts for immediate real-world application’. The Sustainable Leaders Accelerator online programme will ‘empower business leaders to assess climate-related challenges and build organisational resilience, drive innovation around sustainable supply chains, and apply sustainability principles to improve efficiency’. Read more.

📈 Acquirz, the award-winning Gloucestershire-based B2B data solutions and email marketing agency is marking five years in business with the appointment of Vickie Stacey as head of data operations. Its seven-figure turnover is now up 40 per cent year-on-year. Its client base has grown by 600 per cent and its team expanded by 800 per cent since 2020. From launching with just 10 clients at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it now works with over 50 large enterprises and SMEs. Read more.

Stroud Brewery hosts mini B Corp summit

Representatives from Gloucestershire B Corps gathered at Stroud Brewery to meet representatives from the Better Business Act and Stroud MP Dr Simon Opher.

Dr Simon Opher MP visited Stroud Brewery with representatives from the Better Business Act campaign to hear how local B Corp businesses exemplify the economic and social benefits of purpose-driven enterprise and support the route to better business. Alongside Stroud Brewery, Dr Opher met with local B Corps — Glos B-Initiative, Hobbs House Bakery, Austin Design Works, and QuoLux — who are all members of the Better Business Act coalition. Read more.

Diary Dates for you bank holiday weekend and beyond (business and pleasure!)…

Today

• The Bookshop Band is due to play Postlip Hall, Winchcombe, from 7,30pm.

Saturday

• Cheltenham Town play Bromley away at 3pm.

• Cathedral Quarter Pop-Up Market, Gloucester. Bringing together the best of local artisans, designers, and makers in a vibrant showcase of creativity, according to Gloucester BID. From 10am to 4pm. Find out more here

• Cheltenham’s vintage super kilo clothes sale takes place at St Philip and St James Church, Leckhampton, from 11am to 5pm.

Sunday

• Cathedral Quarter Pop-Up Market, Gloucester (see directly above). From 11am to 3pm. Find out more here

• The band EMF is due to play the Sub Rooms in Stroud from 8pm.

Monday

• Gloucester City AFC play AFC Totton away on Monday at 3pm.

• Forest Green Rovers FC play Hartlepool away at 3pm.

Tuesday

• The National Business Growth Exhibition & Conference at Cheltenham Racecourse begins today. Staged over two days.

• Will Abbot of Randall & Payne will host the latest business bootcamp - The 2030 Leader: Essential Skills for a changing world. See the story above in Briefing Notes for more detail.

Wednesday

• A digital masterclass covering the power of AI and video that will ‘transform your digital marketing’. Due to take place at The Growth Hub, Cirencester, from 9.30am to 3.30pm.

• Cotswold Networking is due to stage a business brunch club from 9.30am to 11.30am at Hotel Du Vin in Cheltenham.

Thursday

• Cheltenham Chamber of Commerce is due to stage its annual general meeting on Thursday 8 May at 5.30pm. See story in Briefing Notes above.

• For those in construction who need to know about health and safety. Nick Jones, HSE advisor at H & G Construction Safety Association Ltd, will lead. Due to take place from 6pm at Brickhampton Court Golf Complex.

Friday

• Tewkesbury’s branch of the networking organistion BNI is due to meet from 9.30am to 11.30am the the town’s Growth Hub.

* The Raikes Journal is a digital magazine and community interest company whose supporters believe, like us, that journalism about Gloucestershire is worth keeping alive. Everything you read here - original stories about our county - is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne; our sponsors, Founding Members and wonderful paying subscribers.

If you upgrade to paid you’ll be part of this CIC too. We’re dedicated to championing the county, its businesses, charities, education and training providers, and to creating an even stronger community. If you upgrade to paid you’ll be able to see past the paywalls often put on our 2cnd and 3rd email editions of the week, that lock our archive after two weeks and our Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series. You’ll be able to comment on our stories too.

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Co-op, M&S, Harrods: Cheltenham provides answers to the latest cyber attacks

As the national media spread the news that major UK retailers had faced potentially damaging cyber attacks, a gathering of Gloucestershire businesses and experts took place in Cheltenham to discuss.

By Andrew Merrell.

News that two of the UK’s major retailers were admitting to coming under attack from cyber criminals sent shockwaves through the business community.

If M&S and the Co-op were vulnerable then who was next? That answer came by the evening, when Harrods went public too. It didn’t help calm anyone’s nerves.

In between times, away from media noise and rampant speculation about who these ‘dark forces’ could be, Gloucestershire businesses gathered to hear from cooler heads about what to do.

As all experts in cyber security will tell you, if your business has not been subject to such nefarious forces it will be; the best prepared are the ones with the best chance of survival.

“There is definitely a sense that ‘if organisations like M&S and the Co-op can’t get it right what hope have the rest of us got?’,” said Neil Smith, of managed IT service and security provider ReformIT.

Smith was leading a session for county firms, in partnership with Cheltenham-based cyber network CyNam ,at the University of Gloucestershire's FuturePark campus - convened just hours after the attacks on M&S and the Co-op.

The format aimed to deliver the best advice for the moment, share best practice, solve challenges and make everyone’s organisations more resilient.

The room was, unsurprisingly, buzzing with conversations - and delivering lots of food for thought for businesses too.

“We need to remember we don’t know exactly what happened at each business yet. People often assume these attacks are very sophisticated, but they often happen when people leave the keys in the ignition,” said Smith.

“Nine times out of 10 these kinds of attacks are because someone inadvertently left the front door open. The action people need to take is to mitigate against that happening, but also to understand what to do when it does.”

The attack itself, he said, may not actually have been that sophisticated at all - but once hackers are inside a system that might all change. And that is where the real damage can begin.

“Educating ourselves so that we are more aware of the risks is vital, but it will happen. So, businesses and organisations need to develop a culture that allows anyone to put their hands up and say ‘I think a fire has started over here, we need to put it out', rather than walking away and hoping no one notices. It’s only going to get worse.”

Smith’s business, Reform IT, has been a quiet rising star of the county’s business community, a provider of managed IT services and cyber security experts - and a specialist coaching for companies keen obtain Cyber Essentials, the minimum cyber security standard for all organisations as set out by the UK Government.

“We are definitely making progress. I am really encouraged by today. There are people in the room who have come along because they want to learn, even if they are already really knowledgeable.

“There is a desire to understand. They want their business to be sure. I'm really pleased about that. It’s a very different story to what it was five years ago.”

What sort of lessons were learnt? As well as the need for a culture of continual learning, and one where everyone in an organisation felt comfortable raising alerts, and where a plan was in place for those moments, there were other simple measures too.

These included never just hooking up brand new It equipment likes laptops and phones to systems before ensuring all the relevant updates were installed, staying on top of updates to software issues by software providers, being aware that default settings were not necessarily the best for your organisation, making sure passwords were updated to something secure - all of the low-hanging fruit a criminal would try first.

Tom Exelby was one of those at the event. A former office in the Royal Engineers where he delivered security and risk management, before he joined Oxfordshire-based Red Helix as head of operations at the experts in cyber security and network performance.

“There is a lot of speculation about the attacks on M&S and the Coop, which we need to get away from.

“I think there are three key points. Firstly, it is about having the right conversations. It has been reported that M&S has brought in experts. This is the right thing to do if you are worried.

“You should make sure this is a managed security service provider - not a managed service provider. There is a difference.

“Secondly, M&S has done the right thing. It has communicated really well, and we can applaud it that it is still able to trade.

“And thirdly, we do not yet know if any of these attacks are connected. We should not jump to any conclusions. We only know currently that they are all in retail.

“It is a sector that has many cyber challenges. They have multiple transactions happening all the time, different systems interacting with one another and it is very difficult to detect attacks in that environment. It makes them a target for cyber criminals.”

We hope you’re had a great week.

Today’s edition includes some briefing notes and diary dates which we are endeavouring to make a regular feature on Fridays.

Our main story is a look at a snippet of news we picked up about a firm from Cheltenham that has just been taken over by an American growth fund.

Those in the cyber community will know of Ripjar, but perhaps not those outside it. Founded by two former employees of GCHQ the firm’s tech supports leading global companies and governments in detecting criminal behaviour. It’s headquartered in Eagle Tower.

In 2022 is raised £28 million of funding for growth and was tipped for big things.

From one perspective those ‘big things’ are already happening in the form of the takeover.

For others there are more pressing questions around what work the UK and Gloucestershire has to do in order to help other cyber firms truly capitalise on their potential.

With the help of Chris Dunning-Walton from CyNam we try and explore a little of that, and why it is important to look more closely at the Ripjar story if we are to make sure Gloucestershire can continue to capitalise on its potential as ‘the UK’s cyber capital’ and all the promises of the forthcoming Golden Valley is realised.

We also asked the new owner of Ripjar if it plans to keep the firm in Gloucestershire? Can it continue to grow here? Just what are its plans?

And it reminds us that an investor told this journalist just last year that once he would have to be in London to find good prospects in the tech sector. Not any more, he said!

• Remember, Raikes is a reader-supported publication - it is able to deliver journalism and a credible, respected editorially-led platform for Gloucestershire because of those paid-for subscribers and our generous Founding Partners and Founding Members. Which is why today’s edition is paywalled. If you are not one of our growing tribe of paid-up members already, please do consider joining them.

Have a great weekend.

Andrew Merrell (editor).

NB: Raikes publishes probably the best-read business-related email ‘newsletter’, pound for pound, in Gloucestershire.

If you have a story, an issue, a news item, a charity or an interview you want us to write about or investigate, challenge the powers that be on, then please email me: andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk.

Your briefing notes…

🗳️ On Monday 25 November, Cheltenham Borough Council and partners will “initiate its support for the ‘16 Days of Action’ campaign”, aimed at ending violence against women and girls. This initiative will commence with a community-wide effort to ‘Turn Cheltenham Orange’, encouraging businesses and residents to wear and display orange to show their commitment to this cause. Throughout the 16 days, the council will share various safety measures and resources for victims of domestic abuse via its social media channels.

🪩⛪Cheltenham-based national bar operator Epic Bars has acquired the former Vodka Revolution site - the old Baptist Church on Clarence Parade. It plans to reopen the venue from tonight (Friday 15 November) under the new name The Chapel. The new owner, which also owns Home and Botanic Cheltenham, said the move would create approximately 30 new jobs. Epic Bars and Clubs describes itself as the UK’s fastest growing chain of bars and nightclubs with 23 sites across the UK, including the Trilogy, Labyrinth and Botanic brands.

🧼 Lloyds Bank has agreed to back Cotswold-based Queen’s Award-winning business the Little Soap Company as it looks to expand. Founded by Emma Heathcote-James in 2008 to provide ‘natural pure soaps that are good for the skin’, the company now has a team of 10 staff and sells millions of products a year to every major retailer, including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Asda, Boots and Amazon. The funding from Lloyds will help it install new software. It is currently venturing into Taiwan, the Netherlands and Ireland and has its sights set on the United States of America too.

😮‍💨 Outspoken Gloucestershire energy tycoon Dale Vince has launched a new push to sign up landowners to deliver energy independence, public ownership and green electricity to everyone in the county. According to Vince, analysis reveals Gloucestershire could accommodate 100 4MW windmills which would generate enough to meet the electricity needs of every household. The founder of Ecotricity is proposing a public ownership model through local authorities which he says could add an extra £7 million a year to the county council’s coffers.

🚜🐄👩‍🌾 So much post-Budget noise. Plenty for those brainy people in professional services to digest and help us with. The subject of inheritance tax and what it means for the agriculture sector gets closer scrutiny here from one of our long-standing contributors, director of Business West Gloucestershire’s Ian Mean OBE. As he says “far too often , I believe we forget the importance of farmers and associated food businesses to our Gloucestershire economy”. As Mean also points out, 70 per cent of land in Gloucestershire is agricultural. The sector supports 50,000 jobs here. Gloucestershire is also home to innovative agri-tech support centres like Farm 491 and Hartpury College and Hartpury University’s Agri-Tech centre. You can read his thoughts here.

A chancellor of a very different kind!

If the words chancellor bring to mind only Rachel Reeves, and you are breaking out into a cold sweat, then read on for the antidote. There is more than one chancellor grabbing the headlines now. Hartpury University’s graduation ceremony at Gloucester Cathedral saw actor and animal lover Martin Clunes officially instated as the institution’s inaugural chancellor. Fittingly for a university synonymous with equestrian excellence the day also saw an honorary degree awarded to six-time Badminton champion, Olympic team silver medallist and world and double European champion, Lucinda Green. Charlie Whitehouse, a fourth-generation farmer based in the Forest of Dean, was also awarded an honorary degree for his role in the development of Hartpury and contribution to the agricultural industry. Hartpury is in the top 10 per cent of UK universities for graduate employability.

Our to do list for the weekend…

Friday 8 November:

💃🏽👑 Not to be confused with the veteran rock band Queen, Queenz is back with a new show at Tewkesbury’s Roses Theatre - Drag me to The Disco. Described as “where Dancing Queenz and Disco Dreams collide for the part of a lifetime”. Showing tonight from 7.30pm and twice on Saturday 16.

🩰 The Imperial Classical Ballet and Opera House present Swan Lake at Cheltenham’s Everyman Theatre tonight and The Nutcracker tomorrow, Saturday 16 November.

Saturday 16 November:

🎸 One-time BritPop favourites Echobelly bring their live show to Gloucester Guildhall at 7.30pm. Tickets are £21. The band has just recorded its latest studio album.

🥳 The Subscription Rooms presents what it calls Stroud’s “biggest party” tonight from 7pm when it stages its Shindig 2024. The Baghdaddies, Filthy Dirty Disco, DJ Robbie Duncan and more...

⚽ Cheltenham Town FC, currently 16th in Football League Division Two, play sixth-placed MK Dons away at 3pm.

Sunday 10 November:

🧑‍🎤 Pop star Will Young will be on stage at Cheltenham Town hall tonight from 7pm as part of his 50-date tour. Expect to be treated to his new single too from his forthcoming ninth studio album, Light It Up.

* Everything you read on The Raikes Journal is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne, our sponsors Hartpury University and Hartpury College, our Founding Members and wonderful paying subscribers.

If you upgrade to paid you’ll be part of this community interest company too. In an era when local journalism is all but gone and websites covered in pop-ups and full of advertorials, lists and unedited press releases, we are dedicated to delivering quality journalism for Gloucestershire, to championing the county, in particular its businesses, charities, education and training providers and to helping create an even stronger community. If you upgrade to paid you will be able to see past the paywalls on our second and third email editions of the week, that lock all our archive after two weeks and lock our rolling Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire, the series that follows the financial fortunes of our biggest firms by turnover. You will be able to comment on our stories too. You’ll be helping make this CIC sustainable. Please do join us.

If you sign up now you can take advantage of our 30 per cent off offer - and become a member for a year for just £84, which works out at £7 a month or £1.62 a week! Or go all in and become one of our Founding Partners or Founding Members, and overpay!

US fund swoops for Cheltenham cyber firm. What’s going on?

If Gloucestershire needed a business whose journey speaks of the incredible growth potential for cyber and its ability to draw in millions of pounds of funding, Ripjar is that poster boy. Or is it?

By Andrew Merrell.

One the face of it this is a story about a firm founded in Gloucestershire that developed technology in demand by our Government and others, attracted investment, grew quickly and has now been sold.

We are talking about Ripjar, the Eagle Tower-headquartered business which was raising £28 million in funding in 2022, tipped by many for big things and a firm which has just announced new American-based owners, in the shape Long Ridge.

It begs the obvious question of ‘what does it mean for the Gloucestershire business’s county footprint?’, but also ‘what does it say about the potential for the many other cyber-focused firms beavering away in Gloucestershire?’.

Could the county become a hotbed for future deals, or was this a one-off? Should we be excited by the Ripjar story or does it in fact tell us just how much work there is yet to do to help firms achieve their real potential?

Some of those questions are easier to answer than others. Like what it means for its place in the county. But we give it our best shot below.

We think it is a revealing take on just how much some think needs to be done to make sure we can capitlise on the forthcoming Golden Valley development and burgeoning cyber ecosystem, and how determined many are to do just that.

Read more

Dear Readers,

Welcome to your first edition of The Raikes Journal of the week. Those who have followed the social media channels business people keep their eyes on over the last few days will have seen numerous posts about Cheltenham Literature Festival, and some of them about a particular event at the Hub8 MX centre - that new building next to the town’s Minster.

We home in on what happened in that building on Thursday last week for today’s main story. What began as an attempt to report on all that was said at the event by everyone who was there has been stripped back somewhat (there was just too much!), but we hope our story reveals a little of what we think the bigger messages were from the afternoon.

And those messages point to what we big-up as a gathering of probably the most influential group of authors and publishers coming together in one room at the literature festival ever.

Some of those present will probably change your lives, very probably make them safer and more secure, and yet you will never know any of their names or read a single line of anything they ever write or publish. You simply won’t be allowed to.

And lastly, neither were they on stage - they were in the audience, but they are key to something very exciting happening right here in Gloucestershire that the likes of the Western Gateway, one of the event sponsors and an emerging voice of the West of England and South Wales’s economy, very much want to be associated with.

You can find out more about that below, of course, along with some of our usual briefing notes and a charity of the week.

And speaking of weeks, we hope you have a good one!

Just six months into our relaunch we feel safe to say that while other platforms may send newsletters to substantially bigger email databases, our Monday email edition is read by more people than read any other ‘business news’ story on any other website or email newsletter in Gloucestershire.

If you are interested in becoming one of the stable of businesses backing Raikes and making all this possible please email andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk or telephone 07956 926061.

Your briefing notes 

🏗️ 🐟💷 After years of trying to get its ambitious plans over the line Forest of Dean firm Severn and Wye Smokery has been given permission to invest £50 million transforming the former Pine End Works on Harbour Road in Lydney. The development is the brainchild of smokery owner Richard Cook, who founded the business in 1989 and has grown it into a company of 240 staff with a turnover of £50 million a year. Plans include a 180-plus seater restaurant with a covered balcony, a cafe, visitor centre, new pedestrian and cycling access, buildings to house eel pools, accommodation for staff, parking for HGVs and more. You can read our full story here.

💷 Measurement specialist Sempre Group, a Gloucester-based firm that works with more than 25 “well-known manufacturers”, including the likes of county engineering giant Renishaw, has been sold for £5.5 million. The Barnwood-based business, which was founded in 2000, is said to have a “deep industrial knowledge and an established sales and services organisation”, as well as a profitable track record driven by annual growth revenues of eight per cent over the last four years. Read the full story in our Reports & Deals channel, sponsored by Randall & Payne, here.

🔎 Oliver Bruce, the founder and ceo of Cheltenham’s PinPoint Media, has been named as ‘one to watch’ in The LDC Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leaders programme for 2024. Bruce, who founded the creative marketing agency while still at the University of Gloucestershire aged 19, also has ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia and is a passionate champion of neurodiversity. The Top 50 celebrates entrepreneurs demonstrating remarkable ambition and is backed by investment partner LDC, part of Lloyds Banking Group. 

🏆 The increasingly important role data plays in driving down Scope 3 emissions will be the key focus of Commercial’s Scope for Change Supplier Day this month, which will also see the Cheltenham business give awards to its suppliers in recognition of their efforts. It will welcome key suppliers, partners and clients to the one-day event at the Leonardo Hotel in Cheltenham on Thursday 24 October. In case you were wondering, Scope 3 emissions are not produced by the company itself and are not the result of activities from assets owned or controlled by that company.

🏉 If you frequent LinkedIn and managed to focus amidst the maelstrom of information streaming past you may well have spotted a post from one of Raike’s Founding Partners, Randall & Payne. The county accountants has been alerting everyone to its forthcoming Budget event at Gloucester Rugby’s Kingsholm stadium on Wednesday 30 October. To find out more email marketing@randall-payne.co.uk.

🔊 Another dairy date for you! On the Thursday 17 October, the 2024 Convention for the Western Gateway will bring together businesses, academics, Government and leaders to discuss how together they can develop an economy fit for the future. Led by the Western Gateway Partnership, the event will highlight the potential of South Wales and Western England (including Gloucestershire) to lead the way globally in creating sustainable economic growth. This Convention will also see the launch of Western Gateway’s Plan for Sustainable Growth. Find out more and how to attend here.

Charity of the week: Cheltenham Open Door

We’ve mentioned Cheltenham Open Door before, but this was a chance to give them another outing with a few more words. The picture above was taken on World Mental Health Day last week, when members of law firm Willans LLP’s charity committee (pictured above) were welcomed on board to do some volunteering at the the charity’s guest centre. Their efforts enabled the charity to cook and serve more than 80 meals that day. That’s actually the number the organisation, which offers food, support and friendship to anyone who steps through its door, conjures up on a daily basis. As Cheltenham Open Door says of itself, it’s a ‘small charity with a big heart’. The team from Willans survived, calling the experience ‘a privilege’. You can find out more about Cheltenham Open Door here.

* Everything you read on The Raikes Journal is made possible by our Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne, our sponsors Hartpury University and Hartpury College, our Founding Members and wonderful paying subscribers.

If you upgrade to paid, you’ll be part of this community interest company too. In an era when local journalism is all but gone, we are dedicated to delivering quality journalism for Gloucestershire, to championing the county, in particular its businesses, charities, education and training providers, to defending it, challenging those who need to be held to account and to helping create an even stronger community. If you upgrade to paid you will be able to see past the paywalls on our second and third email editions of the week, that lock all our archive after two weeks and lock our rolling Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire, the series that follows the financial fortunes of our biggest firms by turnover. You will be able to comment on our stories too. You’ll be helping make this CIC sustainable. Please do join us.

You can sign up for just £2.30 a week - or £1.80 a week if two or more people sign up at once.

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The most influential gathering of authors and publishers ever?

Possibly the most influential group of authors and publishers ever at a Cheltenham Literature event gathered last week to discuss a topic well within their grasp – the security of our very nation.

By Andrew Merrell.

As the main Cheltenham Literature Festival was in full swing on Thursday last week it was a fringe show that drew the attention of some of the county’s key business figures and decision makers, with the town’s MP also determined to make sure he addressed the room. 

While the writers were on stage at the main events at the Town Hall at this particular side show they were in the audience – authors of a very different kind, but without doubt some of the most influential of their generation. 

Perverserly, although their work is of consequence to us all it will be read by none of us, sold in a marketplace we will never see, where the stakes are high and the sums of money changing hands significant, where governments takes note and customers are businesses and organisations we have never heard of. 

The language they mostly write is computer code and the ideas they have create our omnipresent digital world, have the power to change all our lives, our identities even, alter our health outcomes, help us to communicate and provide us with vital personal, financial, national and energy security.

And it was security that was the subject of the event - headlined 24.3: Securing the UK’s Future Through Technology - a series of talks and networking staged by the influential Cheltenham-based group CyNam, which represents Gloucestershire’s nationally important cluster of cyber businesses and connections. 

Main sponsors were the team behind The Golden Valley, the £1 billion tech park development planned for beside GCHQ, plus the Western Gateway, the voice of trade and commerce in the West of England and South Wales, and Government-funded Barclays Eagle Labs, but also evident was the support of the likes of Gloucestershire College and the University of Gloucestershire.

Anyone who understands the value of cyber wanted to be in this space on this day. This was the inhabitants of the county’s cyber sector world coming out to play and to make more valuable connections.

That cluster of businesses and organisation outnumbers any other such group outside London, and its sphere of influence is expected to grow beyond our scope and help drive our county and nation’s economy.

Among their number are innovative start-ups solving all sorts of security issues to major international defence firms, representatives whose roles are all about national security, through to academia, agriculture, finance and even the space sector.

It is difficult for us to prove to you just how popular this event really was - the umpteen pictures of the audience were vetted so as not to identify anyone.

Why? The tentacles of that aforementioned Government spy base (GCHQ) reach well within the Minster Exchange (MX) centre where the event was staged, and as sociable and keen on collaboration the cyber world is discretion comes first.

The MX building, for those who don’t yet know it, is a partnership between cyber workplace specialists Hub8, Plexal, and Cheltenham Borough Council, and situated beside the town’s oldest building, its Minster. 

We’re fluffing the scene up a little, of course – but only a little. 

When Alexander Giles, head of innovation at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, stood up to talk about the adoption of deep tech and AI in the health service, he did so to a packed room of 200-plus and couldn’t help but comment on the numbers in front of him. 

“I understand it was a choice between me and Boris Johnson,” he joked, suggesting the reason so many were at the MX could be that the devisive powers of the former Prime Minister, who was speaking at another festival venue at the same time, were still strong. 

Giles told the room the first child had been born in Cheltenham General who would live to 150 years old, that the hospital was trialing ‘very effective cancer vaccines’ and was one of the few centres in the country to put into practice a treatment that would eradicate blindness.

Those advancements in our health outcomes, he said, reflected the abilities of the staff here in Gloucestershire and a new reality, but were only the beginning of what could be achieved - if the NHS was ever able to harness the power of its data. 

That, he suggested, was the Holy Grail of challenges for the likes of those seated in the MX centre - and a challenge coming down the line, coupled with the unenviable task of making that data safe and secure too.

You could see the eyes in the room light up at the thought of the challenge!

Giles’ presence was part of the big overarching statement the CyNam event made to us here at Raikes – that cyber/digital is everywhere and in every aspect of our lives and if we can harness it and the data it can deliver it will be life-changing beyond our imagination.

In other words, the cyber world may still be cloaked in secrecy but it is no longer separate from any of us or any industry - and the profile of the panelists at the event underlined that. Few of them were from the inner world of cyber itself.

Neill Ricketts, a member of the first line-up to take to the stage, is chief executive officer of 720 Group, executive chairman of gas sensor company, GSS Ltd, and former CEO of Versarien PLC, a member of the Forest of Dean Economic Partnership and a former GFirst LEP board member.

He too spotted the change of messaging and posture of his new friends from the digital world.

“I think the cyber sector could be accused of being in a silo in the past, but it definitely seemed more open,” he said. 

Suddenly, wherever you looked, the message was there. 

Bruce Gregory, of CyNam and one of the key players helping bring both the Hub8 concept, the MX and the cyber community together, opened the event with these words. 

“Whether it is health security, food security, energy security, financial security – we’ll be discussing what role that plays in our future,” he said, introducing the aims of the conference.

It’s the line also coming from The Golden Valley now too, the £1 billion tech park and housing development planned for beside GCHQ, so long talked about as the key to making Cheltenham ‘the cyber capital of the UK’. That’s still the aim, but not the message.

Matt Belshaw, director and head of region at HBD, the business chosen to lead The Golden Valley project for the borough council, was also one of the speakers at the Hub8 MX.

“The life-blood of this (cyber) economy is how everyone works together, from start-ups to bigger businesses.

“That is what we are going to build and develop. We are no longer talking about cyber as vertical sector, it’s horizontal,” said Belshaw.  

A vertical market being one in which vendors offer goods and services specific to an industry with specialised needs. A horizontal market one in which a product or service meets the needs of a wide range of buyers across different sectors of an economy.

As for the Golden Valley Project itself, it was progressing well, he said.

“We are going forward with our planning application. The first building is expected to be ready by 2026.

“We are oversubscribed for the first building already. We have engaged designers to work on the next one. It is an exciting time and we are basing ourselves here in the MX now,” said Belshaw. 

Along with the powerful cyber cluster, The Golden Valley Project is the other major factor that’s earned Gloucestershire a place at the top table of the emerging Western Gateway.

The pan-regional partnership is working to create a powerful and influential voice for the West of England and South Wales to ensure its economic ambitions receive their due private and public investment.

Some feel the Golden Valley will need that influence going forward.

Steph Jary, deputy director of Western Gateway, told the conference: “We are really excited to be parnering with CyNam. We are also very excited to be at the heart of the most developed cyber cluster in Europe. 

“Gloucestershire has six times the number of cyber security firms as anywhere else in the UK and they produce a third of all cyber patents that come out of the UK.” 

The Western Gateway area, said Jary, represented 4.8 million people, 2.6 million jobs and an economy worth £129 billion. 

“It’s pretty substantial,” said Jary.

She added: “We want to grow the cyber cluster to one that can be seen from space, that can compete on a truly global scale.”

Joining Ricketts for the first panel discussion was Asif Rehmanwala, chief executive officer of Stroud-headquartered Ecotricity and Green Britain Group, Tim Mays, of the University of Bath and Ben Thompson, head of projects and business engagement at Hartpury University and Hartpury College.

Questionmaster for the session was Raechel Kelly of Planet Cheltenham.

“I think we are at a tipping point like never before. I think AI is coming faster than many of us are really realising,” said Ricketts, explaining not just a desire to embrace technology and the excitement, but also pointing to the anxiety being created by the speed of its arrival.

All the panel agreed that ensuring the benefits from the advancements in technology were delivered quickly was about better understanding the data AI could deliver - coping with the sheer volume, even.

Better communication and education across sectors and communities was part of the solution too, with all members agreeing that a better understanding would deliver more investment and help relieve that anxiety, especially around AI and jobs. 

For Rehmanwala, who was on the panel representing power company Ecotricity, achieving energy security for the UK was not just about digital tech and cyber security – it was about speeding up the transition towards greener sources of power and a system that was more flexible for suppliers.

Renewable energy was the route towards self-sufficiency for the UK, he said, and a major step towards that security.

That solution included embracing a variety of technologies, including ground source heat pumps, battery storage for domestic properties, wind and solar.

And he agreed with Professor Mays that the mix of solutions included hydrogen – for domestic and industrial purposes. 

But perhaps the biggest challenge, said Rehmanwala, was modernising the national grid - infrastructure built to serve a nation once reliant on coal and gas and now not fit for purpose, not to mention owned by a small number of overseas businesses and individuals.

If the Western Gateway was worried how a talk about some of its interests outside of Gloucestershire, even those across the border into Wales, would be received it needn’t have been. It proved still more inspiration about just what is going on in this part of the UK.

Sarah Kocianski, CEO of FinTech Wales, an independent membership association and champion of the FinTech and Financial Services industry in Wales, introduced the room to the South Wales sector she represents.

That cluster is made up of banks including Starling, Monzo and Tandem banks, Admiral, Confused.com, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Principality Building Society, Yoello, Sonovate, Wealthify, Delio, Sero, Final Rentals and more.

In short, the Western Gateway/South Wales patch has become a serious hot spot for the UK’s online banking and insurance industry - all of it built on innovative approaches to technology - said Kocianski. 

Kocianski was in conversation with Dr Ketch Adeeko, from the University of Bristol, and together they explored not only the thriving Tech Wales scene but Future Finance to highlight how inclusion and equitable access to services must be at the heart of innovation.

For those in the audience by now craving a fix of pure cyber it came in a brilliant speech from Scott Francis, chief technology officer of US firm Trust Stamp.

In a short talk he distilled the journey of the former NCSC start-up, a firm now described as ‘operating at the intersection of biometrics, privacy and cyber security’, and a business that has secured million of pounds in investment and boasts a growing turnover in the region of £3.5 million. 

Being part of the Gloucestershire cyber cluster and falling under the wing of the NCSC For Startups, the scheme run by National Cyber Security Centre that supports private sector cyber businesses, had been invaluable, said Francis. 

“The connections and networks you will create is what will make you a success. GCHQ (NCSC falls under its wing) gives you access to people who think like no one else in the world. Those relationships will come back to benefit you again and again,” he said. 

The conference concluded with a discussion about securing the future through deep tech, a session that explored advancements in AI, quantum technologies, space, and compound semiconductors, with insights from Rachel von Hossle, Kimberley Brook of Capital Enterprise, Craig Needham of the UK Space Agency, Professor Adam Joinson from the University of Bath, Alistair Sharp of Capgemini Invent, and Howard Rupprecht of CS Connected.

Those in the audience on the day we are allowed to identify included Ruth Dooley, partner at Hazlewoods Accounts, former leader of GFirst LEP, and current member of Gloucestershire’s economic development board, the University of Gloucestershire and the Western Gateway.

“It is encouraging to see so many here in support of what is going on in Gloucestershire and the Western Gateway and potential all this has for the county and beyond,” said Dooley.

Tom Gastrell, partner at Wiggin, was another who used the day for the incredible opportunity it was, to also network among a rich field of potential contacts.  

The growing market for mergers, acquisitions and investment blossoming around the county’s tech sector is what had encouraged him transfer from a major UK law firm to the specialist Cheltenham legal practice, he said. 

“I am excited by what a dynamic place Cheltenham is. It is an area that is absolutely ciritical and something the UK clearly excels in,” said Gastrell.

“It is great to see organisations like CyNam giving voice and championing some of the really exciting business and support systems we have in Gloucestershire.” 

Max Wilkinson, the Liberal Democrat MP for Cheltenham, made he closing remarks at the event.

“It is important we recognise the significicance of cyber to Cheltenham. It is clear the community is already doing so much already and has grown so much. We want it to continue to do that and I intend to help support it all I can,” said Wilkinson.

Welcome to Monday’s edition of The Raikes Journal.

We’re a little late posting this today as we had to pull the first edition after one of our contacts asked us to hold off on our main story for another day. Being obliging sorts, and valuing their input, we agreed.

But that’s given us a chance to deliver what you will find below - a main story about a new building that has quietly opened in the county following a near £10 million investment, and which is already filling with possibly the most exciting new collections of firms we can think of under one roof in Gloucestershire.

We also continue our coverage of the build-up to the Believe in Gloucester Awards, and let you know about an important milestone in that journey this week.

And we also help a very special firm marking a very special birthday. One of our Founding Partners, the firms that make this community interest company possible and able to continue to write about Gloucestershire and to champion it like no other, has…

Read more

“When I went to talk to my sixth form about not going to university and doing an apprenticeship instead they said ‘we can’t help you’,” Rowan Edlington told the Bridging the Cyber Skills Gap conference at Blackfriars in Gloucester.

“I had to do all the preparation for an apprenticeship, for interviews, on my own - while also forced to go through applying for university anyway; an application I later withdrew.”  

It wasn’t that she wasn’t going to get the grades for university, she was predicted top marks, it was that she knew university was not for her, and neither were A-Levels for that matter. 

In short, Edlington knew her own mind, but she was discouraged by those who could have helped her. 

The former A-Level student was part of a five-strong panel, the second of two groups, at the Blackfrairs event staged by CyNam (which represents cyber sector businesses in the county), Gloucestershire College, the University of Gloucestershire and supporting businesses.

All were there to try to get a better understanding of how everyone can work together to help talent access a fast-growing sector of our economy. 

As the delegates at the event heard, Edlington’s story has a happy ending. Through sheer determination she won a cyber degree apprenticeship at EDF, based here in Gloucestershire, her passion for physics and her enthusiasm convincing the energy firm to invest in her. 

But the point of the debate was how to remove such obstacles from anyone else’s way, to raise awareness, share views, solutions and stories and show willingness to work together.

Tim Atkins, of Cynam, said: “We had a conversation a year ago about how to bridge the skills gap and a lot of information came out of it. 

“We took that away, thought about it a lot and decided we wanted to keep the conversation going and see where it took us. 

“We applied for some pots of money, and got them, and we’ve been able to start trying to bring about change - but we must keep talking.”

That investment has allowed the partnership to launch the likes of the Tech Talent Lab and the Cyber Launch Pad - both designed to help businesses access apprentices easily - with all the paperwork, bureaucracy, interviews etc done for them, and the salaries paid by someone else too.

The former is an initiative involving the South West Apprenticeship Company (SWAC) and Gloucestershire College, which you can read more here. The latter the university, which you can read about here.

Andy Bates, chief finance officer for Gloucestershire College, said: “We’ve listened hard to a lot of what businesses told us and continue to. That’s what this event is about, but we also know they may not tell us everything. We have to try out new things and keep the conversation going.” 

Why? The college has plenty on its plate, CyNam is a successful organisation with 5,000 members and the university - which was also at the event front and centre - has just been given £8 million to supercharge its computer school at its Park Campus.  

“We are doing it because we care. I live in Gloucestershire, my children go to school here, I have friends in the same position, we know the businesses.

“We are part of this community. We see the possibilities of continuing to talk and to keep experimenting to see what works,” said Bates, reflecting the passion of everyone involved in driving the skills gap initiative along. 

As panel member at the event said the college was already pushing the educational boundaries to deliver what was needed. It is is the only further eduction college in England to offer a cyber degree apprenticeship certified by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), for a start.

“It’s ratified by the University of West of England,” said Mark Higgins a senior assessor and training at Gloucestershire College and previously of American tech giant IBM.

* Everything you read on The Raikes Journal is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne, our sponsors Hartpury University and Hartpury College, our Founding Members and wonderful paying subscribers.

If you upgrade to paid, you’ll be able to see past the paywalls that fall across many of our second and third email editions of the week and that lock all our archive after two weeks and our rolling Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series, you’ll be able to comment on our stories and you’ll be helping make this community interest company sustainable - able to deliver even more stories about the county, about its businesses, charities and education and training providers.

Currently we’re offering 45 per cent off as we seek to build our membership - which works out at just £1.27 a week or £5.50 a month (that’s £66 a year)! For commercial opportunities email andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk.

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Industry was presented on the first panel by a current IBM employee, Gavin Kenny, assistant partner in the cyber services group, and Alice Price, head of early careers at Tewkesbury-based Amiosec, a firm with a £15 million-plus turnover and almost 80 staff. 

Questions for this first panel came from Barry Tugwood and Heidi Hardacre, of Business West, in their final year of a three-year engagement exercise with businesses across the region to understand their needs and concerns around cyber, digital and AI. 

Their research another piece of the regional picture and more proof of the determination from numerous quarters to work together and deliver meaningful progress.

From the 121 interviews with 331 employees that make up the data for the Local Skills Improvement Plan research Tugwood and Hardacre produced three key questions which they put to the panel; how to deal with a fear of AI, the expense of upgrading systems, and is training for cyber simply too narrow? 

“As far as AI is concerned, you have to remember it is just a tool. Yes it will change roles. It will change how we do things, but it is there to augment your workforce,” said Kenny. 

“It may be able to compare data better and quicker for your business, but you still need someone to be able to interpret its findings and make a decision.

“The young people coming into the new roles will still need the knowledge in their heads to know how to do everything. AI might replace certain roles, but not the need for good staff.”

Higgins said: “I recall when I was at IBM having Watson explained to me. People were terrified. But that was 10 years ago and we are still here.” 

Watson being IBM’s breakthrough computer system first revealed in 2011 and capable of answering questions posed in natural language. 

“If you come and talk to the college or the university and build relationships you may well take on an apprentice.

“They can help make sure you are up to speed with new ideas and better able to cope with change so you can use these new technologies to your advantage,” he said. 

Price added: “The point is, there is a learning process that still needs to happen so businesses can understand what AI is now.” 

Professor Cathia Jenainati, head of school, business, computing and social sciences, at the University of Gloucestershire, said: “I think the important thing is to be able to embed this technology safely in your business. 

“It is important also to understand what might happen in five years’ time, say. 

“Often we leave this investment too late it is a reaction process; people realise they need someone to understand what is going on, and they advertise for that role because the are desperate. 

“There can be a reluctance to talk about how vulnerable your business is and plan.

“You can help solve that by having good relationships with the universities and colleges to make sure we are producing the people you need.” 

Cost, however, was more of a challenge.

The panel suggested a similar transition was happening with most businesses moving to the ‘cloud’. It too involved investment, but companies had come to understand it saved money in the longer term. 

“I think perhaps one of the most important things to pay attention to is taking your workforce with you.

“It is expensive to hire people. If you take your workforce with you can leverage their knowledge and offset the costs,” added Jenainati, hinting at one of the themes of the day - developing a culture of lifelong learning. 

Kenny said it was possible for a business to survive without investing, if it had good service providers, but it was not without significant risk either.  

“We do actually support one of two customers who have legacy systems so old they don’t even write viruses for them any more. But their systems are now vulnerable in other ways. They cannot escape the issues by doing nothing,” said Kenny. 

All acknowledged cost was a significant hurdle.

Jenainati said: “This is where I think we need support from the government.

“Businesses can’t solve the issue of antiquated equipment on their own. We need to lobby, we need the support of government if this country is to become resilient in terms of cyber.

“Lots of other European countries have government support to update the functionality of systems that keep businesses going.”

Was the current approach to training too narrow in our training? 

“Amiosec is looking at graduates, but also graduates from different disciplines, recognising that diversity breeds innovation and innovation is a driver of business,” said Price.

Jenainati said: “We do have a tendency to look at cyber security in its own right, and just concern ourselves with whether the data in a business is secure. 

“It is about recognising much more than that. We need to be aware of what is going on around the world.” 

Lifelong learning was embedded in IBM, Kenny said: “Mandatory training is part of being at IBM. You have to pass.

“There is a lot to be said for creating specialists. Abstraction is great for speed, but if coders were more aware and wrote safe code we wouldn’t need to be so concerned with security issues after the event. We all need to be aware of the bigger picture.” 

Jenainati added that the university was proactive in its search for new cyber talent, actively scouting local schools and she reiterated its part in the apprenticeship-led Cyber Launchpad. 

Its new computing centre, she said, would encourage companies to base staff permanently in workspaces in the building, allowing students and businesspeople to mix, and the university was looking to promote neurodiversity too. 

The business/education mix is already in placed and working at Gloucestershire College, with cyber workspace Hub8 embedded in its Cheltenham campus. 

Panel number two of the Bridging the Cyber Skills Gap event was when the aforementioned Rowan Edlington made her comments featured above.

The year two cyber apprentice with EDF, who described herself as neurodiverse, was joined by Max Vale from Origin8tive, Joe Sharp from CACI (which provides services to many branches of the US federal government including defense, homeland security, intelligence, and healthcare) and Joe Wells, a mature student at the University of South Wales.

Questions were put by Charlotte Smith, of CyNam, and the discussion immmediately picked up where the questions about education ended with the previous panel, beginning with was enough being done to encourage talent into the industry.

Edlington’s comments about being left out in the cold after proposing an apprenticeship route over university emphasised the need for education as well as business to be on board. 

Wells’ story showed how some in education were already vigilant, spotting and encouraging talent and looking past traditional qualifications. 

Wells told the room: “I was homeless for a spell. I had already worked various jobs, and then to try and better myself I started to teach myself website design. I found I had a real passion for solving cyber security challenges. 

“I applied to university, but was rejected. The problem I really faced was that I had no GCSEs, no qualifications. I was told they would not accept me. 

“Then one day I went along to an open day and started asking lots of questions.”

It was the enthusiasm and knowledge he showed at this point that won him a place on the course and he is now studying for a degree in his chosen subject. 

Vale said his own story demonstrated how some businesses were already alive to the pipeline of talent coming out of the nation’s armed forces, but others needed to wake up to the possibilities. 

After seven years in the military and a young family in tow Vale decided to enter civilian life, and found his leadership skills as an officer were well-suited to the ever-changing and challenging world of project management. 

“What I think a lot of businesses don’t yet realise is that most people leaving the Armed Forces have between £3,000 and £6,000 of funding to help them retrain. They have already have security clearance at various grades. 

“I know from the many people I have seen come through the ranks from many backgrounds that the very best thing you can do is believe in someone and give them a go. It will be worth your while.”

He suggested employers get in touch with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP), an organisation run by the Ministry of Defence and Right Management to help former service personnel find new careers.

For Sharp, a former teacher now a software engineer and consultant for CACI, the mindset of lifelong learning and especially mentoring, was something that was key if industry and academia were to arrive completely on the same page and continue to inform one another.

Get that relationship right, he said, and you have another valuable piece of the virtuous circle everyone is reaching for.

The Raikes Journal is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support the work of this community interest company please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

We hope you have had a great week. Welcome to our end of the week edition of The Raikes Journal.

Today our main story is based on an interview with one of the senior figures at HBD, the business brought in by Cheltenham Borough Council to lead on the Golden Valley Development “at the heart of the UK’s National Cyber Strategy”.

You’ll see the Golden Valley described as a £1 billion project and all about cyber, well apparently that’s not actually true. And if you read the story below you’ll see why, but also why that makes it even more exciting for the county - even more inclusive.

We preface it with a couple of stories relating to something else of major importance bubbling away here in Gloucestershire - the potential for the county to find itself at the centre of the nation’s nuclear power industry. It’s no secret those talks have been underway, but it looks like things are moving faster than we might have thought behind the scenes.

We’ve paywalled the main story below, which means it is for the eyes of our paying members only. This is how we help make sustainable what we do here on The Raikes Journal.

For those of you who don’t know, Raikes is a community interest company made possible by its Founding Partners who believe in our aims too - delivering a credible editorially-led platform in the county that relies on journalism to support and champion its business, charity and education and training sectors. Paid for subscribers are an incredible valuable part of making that happen (it’s just £2.30 a week - or £1.80 a week if two or more people sign up at once).

As the saying goes, if you want something good you have to pay for it.

Have a great weekend.

Please do send us your story ideas to andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk. Or telephone 07956 926061.

* Everything you read on The Raikes Journal is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne; our sponsors Hartpury University and Hartpury College; our Founding Members and all our wonderful paying subscribers. If you upgrade to paid too, you’ll be able to see beyond the paywalls we place on many of our second and third email editions of the week and that lock our archive after two weeks. You will be able to view our rolling Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series, comment on our stories and you’ll be helping to make possible this community interest company dedicated to supporting the county, its businesses, charities and education and training providers — all for just £2.30 per week or £1.80 a week if two or more people sign up at once!! For commercial opportunities visit our About us page or email andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk.

More on the nuclear deal expected to supercharge Gloucestershire

Some of you will have seen that the Polish Development Agency, Industria EU, visited Berkeley in Gloucestershire this month. This visit followed the signing of an international collaboration agreement in March between ŚGP Industria S.A (Industria), the Polish Government development agency with responsibility for delivering net zero carbon energy solutions in the Central Hydrogen Valley, and Chiltern Vital Group (CVG), which is in the process of acquiring the SGS Berkeley Science & Technology Park site. Industria has been given formal consent by the Polish Government to apply for licences to build, own and operate the first two Rolls-Royce SMRs in Poland. We run the full press release on this in our PR Wire channel because we think it’s important. It shows the pieces are moving into place in Gloucestershire’s favour. And it leads neatly into the next article (see below), by Ian Mean of Business West, who gives his insight into what’s happening at the Berkeley site and what it could mean for Gloucestershire. You can read more here.

Nuclear deal could be simply massive for the county

This is more about the story mentioned above, the redevelopment of Berkeley Green into a new home for the next generation of nuclear reactors, something that will help put Gloucestershire at the heart of the UK’s nuclear industry and continue a legacy in the county that goes back to the 1950s when building work began on what was then the former Magnox nuclear power station situated on the bank of the River Severn. Ian Mean, of Business West, says confidential talks are underway to transform the site and Raikes understands its sale should go through as early as July. You can read Mean’s insight piece here in our Expert Insight channel.

Why this is one of the most exciting developments in Europe 

It is ‘one of the most exciting developments in Europe’ and work will start on phase one early next year, but it seems we've misunderstood what the real vision is for the Golden Valley Development.

By Andrew Merrell

As we delved into the world of cyber for yesterday’s big read story we were able to get a few minutes with one of the bosses of the firm managing the much-trumpeted Golden Valley Development, and felt it made a story in its own right. 

Matt Bellshaw, director and head of region at HBD, was good enough to give us a little more insight into the project, and to put us right on an assumption spread far and wide that this is all about and only about cyber. 

For Bellshaw, and all those involved in the plans to transform the 47 hectare site beside GCHQ for that matter, the plans are in fact very much about every sector and everyone, and when you understand that it suddenly becomes even more important. It suddenly becomes much, more bigger, as he explains. 

Suddenly you realise the idea of the site is to mix up the sectors, for cyber and digital to be recognised as something which has permeated our lives and every business, and that has become vital for all of us. 

Raikes understands phase one of the Golden Valley Development - 160,000 square feet of office and event space - will begin in early 2025 with doors opening in 2026, not least because someone is already in line to move in! 

From there, HBD will push on to phase two (the architects for which it unveiled this week as Sheppard Robson) and completion of a plan that also includes 1,000 low carbon homes and infrastructure. 

Some pretty big claims have also been made about jobs – that it will create as many as 12,000 along the way. 

“We have been involved in this project for about two years now and it’s really amazing just how collaborative everyone has been - and it is particularly because of the collaboration mission that I think everyone feels part of the dream and the national mission around cyber and the need to secure the emerging sector of he future,” said Bellshaw.

“Which is a very fundamental part of where Golden Valley is positioning itself.

“It is not just about cyber. It is about all of these technologies and a recognition that all sectors need protection and to benefit from them. 

“For a while it was a little disparate, where some of us were telling similar but not the same stories. There’s been a key effort to consolidate that into one key message.  

“Golden Valley is the most exciting development in the UK. I would probably say even across Europe in term of the position the ecosystem has managed to get itself in. We are a facilitator of that. We are not creating it. That already exists. But we are in a position to help make sure people understand. We are there to help.” 

Why tune the message now? What’s changed? And why is this so much more exciting for the county and the UK?

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“We have had conversations with the key stakeholders and talked about what we think the messages around Golden Valley should be. 

“Part of it was if we keep on about a cyber cluster and cyber central, two things would happen; we would probably not get enough businesses that we need to fill that space, and also we will miss the many beneficial effects we could get from the development. 

“Those are the benefits where the innovations happen, and that is where you get the interactions between the different sectors, whether that is bio-sciences or the medical sector and cyber, whatever, when you get these interactions – that's where the magic happens. 

“It is where the new technology and industry are that the magic happens. That’s why we needed to adjust that thread, we wanted to bring in and to work with industry in its broadest sense – all industries, from desk and chair start-ups up to prime businesses, to make sure the space is where those ideas can develop.” 

And part of it is simply that to distinguish between businesses based on whether they are digital or not no longer seems relevant. 

“I look at it as your digital life and your analogue life, and there is really no difference between the two now. Your digital life is not a separate part anymore, and you need security for both of them.

“It is on every business’s agenda. Whether your business is in tech or did not engage in tech before, every business in some way or another is a tech business now. Some elements of it is on a computer and is digital and the security of that is paramount and the technology can be transformative.” 

And that new message also includes new clarity on the meaning of the development for education and training too. 

“That also includes academia, which has two flows – research and conquering new frontiers and research science - and then schools; the training and development of talent. That is everything from engaging with local schools to allowing people to retrain. 

“People have different phases to their careers now. Having the opportunity to help people get reskilled is important. Particularly with quantum computing and AI coming how we spend our time and how we work will change. 

“Giving people the opportunity to retrain and reskill around that is important. And the location of government at the heart of that is central, and the way people inside government can leverage private sector and he private sector can leverage government support will be crucial for industry.” 

The scope of the conversation describes also how HBD sees itself and sees the journey it is on with the Golden Valley. 

“We are in this for the long term. We are not here to do a deal and disappear. We will be here for the next 10 or 15 years at least.

“One of the things we have learned when working with the public sector is you have to have really straight forward criteria, and you have to appreciate that things are cyclical, you just have to keep working together towards the goal. 

“As an organisation, roughly 70 per cent of HBD’s work is via partnerships. We have about 22 partnerships running in the company at the moment. That can be with other developers or with the public sector. 

“We have a really good relationship with Cheltenham Borough Council, with Hub8, with Plexal, with CyNam, all of them are stakeholders. We are all in this together and we all want it to be a success.” 

We hope your week has gone well. We’ve been beavering away on a couple of cyber-related big-read stories this week, one of which is below. The other we might just publish tomorrow (Friday 14 June).

Those who follow the sector closely will know that a trade mission of exciting cyber businesses from the North of the country came to Cheltenham last week at the invitation of CyNam. We’re forever writing about how we in Gloucestershire are the ‘cyber capital of the UK’, so we thought it would be a good idea to see what they think. ‘Is it true’, was one question?

We think their opinions will surprise you, hopefully put you in a good mood for the weekend, and are certainly a huge insight into how effective CyNam, Hub8, the Golden Valley, Cheltenham Borough Council, HBD and others are in the county - and the collaborative working certainly ties in with the article by our expert columnist, Simon Merrell.

Merrell offers up his thoughts on something that is key to the newly published Gloucestershire Economic Plan working (the business plan for the county for the next 10 years unveiled in May) and that is partnership working. ‘Together we’re stronger’, and all that. But just how do you make them work? That’s the question Merrell gives some thought to, and his answers are applicable to businesses everywhere.

You can find that story linked below, along with news that after 60-plus years working and half a century helping build one of the biggest and most successful businesses Gloucestershire has ever seen, its founder is winding down. Well, just a little bit.

We’ve kept today’s post free to all. We usually paywall the Thursday editions for the benefit of our members. Please do consider joining them (£2.30 per week! Less if you pay for two or more people at once). You’ll be helping make this community interest compay sustainable and able to continue doing what it does, providing real journalism to support the county’s business, charity and education and training sectors and help create community.

We hope you enjoy.

Please do continue to bear us in mind for your stories and ideas. Contact andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk or telephone 07956 926061. 

* Everything you read on The Raikes Journal is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College and Merrell People; our sponsors: Randall & Payne and Hartpury University and Hartpury College; our Founding Members and all our wonderful paying subscribers. If you upgrade to paid too, you’ll be able to see beyond the paywalls we place on many of our second and third email editions of the week and that lock our archive after two weeks. You will be able to view our rolling Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series comment on our stories and you’ll be helping to make possible this community interest company dedicated to supporting the county, its businesses, charities and education and training providers — all for just £2.30 per week!! Cheaper if you buy a group subscription (when two or more people subscribe at once) For commercial opportunities visit our About us page or email andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk.

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Will you go to the ball with me?

🤝🏻 This is something of a follow-up to the thread of stories we’ve delivered on Gloucestershire’s new economic plan. Gloucestershire County Council unveiled the plan in May and has begun to invite business people to join a new board for economic growth to help make it all happen. Key to its success, as the document itself spells out, will be partnerships - and more so, making them work. Just how do you create meaningful partnerships, be you an economic growth board or a business? What sort of questions do you need to ask yourself? Luckilly we have Simon Merrell, of Merrell People, on hand to explain how to unlock the answers. Find out more here.

The Raikes Journal is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support the work of this community interest company, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Your briefing notes…

👏🏼 Renishaw: Sir David McMurtry, one of the founders of one of Gloucestershire’s most successful home-grown companies ever, Renishaw plc, will step down as executive chairman of the business from next month (July). Sir David, now is in his 80s and a man who continues to win wards for his outstanding contribution to engineering, founded Renishaw with John Deer more than 50 years ago.

The Wotton-under-Edge-headquartered operation has remained committed not just to Gloucestershire, but engineering excellence and innovation ever since and created thousands of jobs in Gloucestershire and more around the world. It’s also reportedly earned its co-founder a personal fortune worth £1.25 billion. 

Sir David will remain a non-executive director with senior independent director Sir David Grant assuming the role of interim non-executive chairman while the board searches for a permanent successor. Sir David’s son, Richard McMurtry, will also be appointed as an additional non-executive director. 

📉 Superdry: Julian Dunkerton’s proposed rescue package for Superdry has cleared its latest hurdle with the founder of the fashion brand remaining determined to stave off the Cheltenham headquartered business entering administration. Creditors reportedly voted in favour of the plans, which pins the hopes of a revival on the label’s fortunes on rent reductions across 39 stores, raising equity and a delisting from the stock market. Dunkerton’s plan to take the company private fell through this year. Shareholders will now vote on the delisting of the firm and on the ‘equity raise’ at Friday’s annual general meeting (June 14). If that goes to plan the process moves to the High Court on Monday 17 June to get the plan sanctioned.

🏆 Deadline approaching! This is the deadline is tomorrow (Friday, 13 June) for anyone who wants to nominate a business or individual for the Believe in Gloucester Awards, which return this year for the first time since pre-covid courtesy of the city’s BID (Business Improvement District). Headline sponsors are WSP Solicitors and Gloucester Quays. There are 15 categories, ranging from business of the year, small business of the year and new business of the year to best retailer, best customer service, best bar or pub, community project, event and charity. Find out more here. 

📢 Attention hospitality businesses!!! No one who runs a hospitality business needs telling that Christmas is key to success. What they might need help with, however, is a plan to get the most out of the occassion. According to experts the cost of living crisis continues to have a significant impact on consumer behaviour and is disproportionately affecting independents in the sector. Those businesses need to squeeze as much value as they can from the festive opportunity. In which case this should help… Daniel Jenkins, of Wagada Digital, Aimee, the head of creative from Christmas Makers, and Samantha Walker and Andy Barr of marketing supremos 10 Yetis, are coming together to stage a special seminar to make sure everyone’s plan is as good as can be. Find out more here.

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It has a Silicon Valley vibe and can help launch your business skyward

This Gloucestershire town has the feel of San Francisco’s famous entrepreneurial community and is both inspirational and a launch pad for UK cyber businesses; it has ‘dared to do something truly bold’.

By Andrew Merrell

It is like San Francisco and it’s a launch-pad for cyber businesses into one of the most potentially lucrative sectors in the UK economy - and beyond - and it is right here in Gloucestershire. 

Sometimes you can talk about something for so long – like how Cheltenham is about to become the UK’s ‘cyber central’ courtesy of the Golden Valley Development – that you begin to wonder whether we need a reality check. 

If ever you were going to get such a thing you could do worse than invite a few friends from out of town, perhaps from the North East; friends who also happen to understand just what business, cyber and the digital economy is all about.

Which is exactly what CyNam did, the Cheltenham-based group that represents Gloucestershire’s cluster of cyber-related businesses here in the county - it invited its friends from CyberNorth down for the town’s science festival. 

Raikes was intrigued to hear what they had to say, for all the reasons we outlined above. The feedback was fascinating.

Read more

Welcome to the Thursday edition of The Raikes Journal. It is a members only edition.

As we seek to make what we do sustainable - providing some real journalism to support Gloucestershire business, charity and education and training sectors - we often paywall our Thursday and Friday editions, making them accessible only to our members.

Friday is becoming our round-up of the week, featuring the best stories we’ve written or spotted that we think are relevant, plus another piece of orginal journalism often in the form of a long read of Top 100 article. All usually also locked except to our paying subscribers.

Today we’ve taken a story that went out as a general press release and had a proper look at it. We did that so we can tell you who the company really is, and because we felt strongly that there was a significant message here too for anyone who might have questioned just how effective the teams that made the work of GFirst LEP so special can be now they are under the wing of Gloucestershire County Council.

We also enjoyed the fact that the story gives some glory to one of our Founding Partners, Gloucestershire College. Its efforts with the cyber sector were a factor worthy of credit in the firm’s decision to open its new HQ here in the county.

Please do send us your story ideas to andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk. Or telephone 07956 926061.

* Everything you read on The Raikes Journal is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College and Merrell People; our sponsors: Randall & Payne and Hartpury University and Hartpury College; our Founding Members and all our wonderful paying subscribers. If you upgrade to paid too, you’ll be able to see beyond the paywalls we place on many of our second and third email editions of the week and that lock our archive after two weeks. You will be able to view our rolling Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series comment on our stories and you’ll be helping to make possible this community interest company dedicated to supporting the county, its businesses, charities and education and training providers — all for just £2.30 per week!! For commercial opportunities visit our About us page or email andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk.

Get 7 day free trial

Some briefing notes

(As today’s main story below is cyber-focused we thought we’d lay down another couple of quick shorts first on that very same theme).

💻 🖱️ CyNam, the Cheltenham-based Gloucestershire cyber security ‘cluster’ has been awarded funding for the Barclays Eagle Labs Ecosystem Partnership Programme. 

The programme will help CyNam “forge greater collaboration between its cyber security and emerging technology clusters, unlocking the region’s world-leading capability in securing emerging technologies”. 

Those ‘clusters’ include space, AI, AgriTech, quantum, and semiconductors. The programme will enable CyNam to offer fast-track entrepreneurial programmes, one-to-one mentoring, events, workshops, and more. 

You can read the full press release in our PR Wire channel here. 

🖱️ ⌨️ We have followed the rise and rise of Cheltenham-based ReformIT for a while now, and are thrilled to see its name in lights this week.

The firm, founded by Neil Smith, and now a major player in the county’s managed service provider sector serving all sorts of organisations, has become the first local MSP to earn dual accreditations as a Cyber Advisor and a Cyber Essentials Certification Body.

Launched by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the IASME Consortium, the Cyber Advisor scheme aims to help businesses strengthen their defences against cyber threats.

The accreditation allows ReformIT to certify and assist businesses in achieving the sought-after Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus standards. We send it a massive congratulations.

OUR LEAD STORY…

Cyber firm’s decision to locate HQ in Gloucestershire speaks volumes

A cyber firm’s decision to open a new headquarters in Gloucestershire speaks volumes about the county – and it answers some of the questions about just how effective former GFirst LEP teams can be after moving in-house at the county council.

News broke this week that cyber firm Darkforce had signed terms on a new Gloucestershire office to to establish a headquarters for its operations in Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) and create jobs – making it the latest digital firm to add to the growing number clustering close to GCHQ.  

What stood out in the story for Raikes was that the decision by the New Zealand-born tech firm to choose to locate itself at Cheltenham’s Hub8 office space was heavily influenced by Invest in Gloucestershire, a team that previously run by the influential and independent GFirst LEP.

After 13 years successfully helping drive the county’s economy, news that the Government was closing the local enterprise partnership and that its key services would go in-house at the county council was greeted with scepticism about how effective they could be.

But if Invest in Gloucestershire, one of the LEP’s former programmes set up to drive inwards investment into the county, needed to fire off a convincing ‘business as usual’ message the announcement about Darkscope was not just quick, but a strong start too.

It was able to introduce the firm to the burgeoning digital community through its contacts at cyber networking group, CyNam, and show how the education sector – in particular Gloucestershire College - is also set-up to serve that ecosystem.  

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On Monday we chose to go big on a forthcoming business awards for Gloucestershire, the Cirencester Chamber of Commerce Business Awards.

The Raikes Journal has partnered with the chamber to help flag the event (which we love because it is all about community and all about business) and to let everyone know that the closing date for entries is nigh!

You can find out more - and a link to the chamber’s website with even more information on - right here.

We also highlighted another closing date for another brilliant event - the Gloucester 10k, that gives you the chance to not just challenge yourself against the distance, but to raise funds for the county charities The Hollie Gazzard Trust, Sunflowers Suicide Support and The Chamwell Centre. You can read that story right here.

Speaking of charities, we’ve dispensed with the usual briefing notes/news shorts today as our charity story is a tad longer than usual, but we think it is worth it. If you ever needed inspiration and reminding that life is for living - Ann Pope provides it in spades here.

Please do send us your story ideas to andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk. Or telephone 07956 926061.

* Everything you read on Raikes is made possible by the generous support of our partners (we’ve already let you know about QuoLux, Willans LLP and Gloucestershire College, and more partners will be revealed over the coming weeks) our founding members and our paid-up subscribers. A massive ‘thank you’ to all our other subscribers too. The support from all of you is invaluable! For commercial opportunities visit our About us page or email andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk.

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Why today’s main story?

We hope you have had a great week so far.

Today’s edition is usually paywalled for members as we seek encourage more paying subscribers to make sustainable this community interest company dedicated to delivering some real journalism for Gloucestershire and supporting the county’s business, charities and education and training sectors.

But we’ve lifted the paywall because our main story involves one of our Founding Partners, Gloucestershire College - one of the businesses you can thank for The Raikes Journal being in existence to do all of the above.

But we’ve also lifted the paywall because we want the word to spread about the initiative the college and its partners, CyNam and the South West Apprenticeship Company, are delivering.

We think it is more positive news for the county, supports one of our fastest-growing sectors (cyber) and signposts every other business to the apprenticeship support on offer through the college to help them succeed.

But first, here's that charity story!

A truly inspirational story - about charity and the human spirit

You couldn’t make it up. You contact the son of an 81-year-old planning a charity skydive - first just to check it is true, but also to ask if it is okay to speak to her for your story. He agrees – and then texts to warn you off, with the last excuse you imagine!

‘You won’t be able to reach her at the moment. She’s at the gym,” was pretty much what her son, Kevin Pope’s message said.

He posted the news about his mother, Ann Pope (picture below, right), and her plans on social media hoping it would help her raise a target of £2,000 towards Teckels Animal Sanctuary in Gloucester.

“One of my dogs has come from there. It’s a brilliant place. We had a fundraising do to raise money for it last year, with Jason Leonard the former England Rugby player,” said the businessman, the boss of Gloucester-based ProTrack and Biostart Security.

Mrs Pope then won a Christmas hamper in recognition of her generous nature and support, which includes such efforts as unpaid care work supporting her neighbour, and said she wanted to do something to give back to Teckels too.

“When she was 80 last year she actually did a zip wire ride. So one of my friends suggested she go one better and try a skydive, just as a joke. But she really liked the idea, and here we are,” said Pope, clearly no stranger to his mother’s intrepid nature - and no stranger to jumping out of planes himself having served in the Armed Forces.

“I’m going to be doing the jump with her too, but not for charity. I’ll push any funds anyone offers her way. I’m just there to keep her company.”

Explaining why she chose Teckels, Ann said: “It’s easy to know which people to raise money for. People can speak up for themselves or get someone to do it for them. Animals can’t. They have to rely on our help.

“When I was at the gym earlier I mentioned it to the lady who runs it (Ladyshape, in Westgate Street, Gloucester) and she said I should bring the form in and see if any other ladies want to support it. Which was very good of her. Even if everyone just gives one pound, every little bit helps.”

You can find Ann Pope’s Gofundme page here.

Gloucestershire wins Government investment to create tech jobs

If you are running a business in Gloucestershire and are looking to grow, you should read this, it’s brilliant news – particularly if you’re in the cyber or digital sector and need new talent.

By Andrew Merrell

This morning (Thursday 18 April 2024) at the Hub8 workspace in Cheltenham’s Brewery Quarter the team that runs the ridiculously well-connected CyNam networking group - dedicated to the county’s cyber and digital sector - unveiled something rather special.

Together with its partners it revealed that Gloucestershire has won Government-funding to provide an initiative that will not only help businesses find new staff in the form of apprentices, but employ them so firms don’t have to, provide the right training to suit business needs, pay for that, and provide support throughout.

The new initiative, called Tech Talent Lab, is aimed at helping SMEs and startups maximise the benefits of IT and cyber apprenticeships and tackle a huge skills gap in one of the county’s fastest-growing sectors.

Tech Talent Lab is the result of joined-up thinking by CyNam, Gloucestershire College (one of our Founding Partners here at The Raikes Journal) and the South West Apprenticeship Company (SWAC), with the trio winning the funding from the Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

The focus on cyber and the Government willingness to invest in Gloucestershire can be seen as more proof of how important the sector has become to the county, and how important the ecosystem here is to the UK as a whole.

It is no secret the county has the biggest collection of cyber firms in the UK outside of London, clustering here because of Government ‘listening post’ GCHQ, creating an ecosystem Cheltenham Borough Council plans to provide a permanent home for with its forthcoming £1 billion Golden Valley Development to the West of the town.

The issues for those like CyNam are not just how to help that cluster become a meaningful community, but also how to help those businesses flourish by finding new talent to grow. Which is where Tech Talent Lab comes in.

Tim Atkins, head of partnerships at CyNam, which has more than 5,000 members from businesses big and small stretching across the United Kingdom and beyond, said: “There are only about a third of available roles in cyber being filled. That means two-thirds of roles are not. There is simply huge demand there.

“We live in a county where there are a massive number of jobs being created and after talking to businesses we think apprenticeships are a really good route to those jobs and for the businesses too.

“We want to try and help small and medium-sized businesses and to ease the burden on them and we know SWAC and Gloucestershire College can do that.”

Speaking to the gathering of business people at Hub8, an event which is part of CyNam’s monthly Cyber Sips programme of networking events staged in partnership with Hub8 and Brink Coffee, Clare Vertigen, managing director of SWAC outlined the role her business would play in the scheme.

“We will talk to your business, look at what skills gap you have and see if that matches with an apprenticeship. We will help write the job description to make sure it matches up to the job itself,” said Vertigen.

“We will then work with the college to look at training provision and make sure it is right for the role. Once we have done that we also check the CV’s, do the recruitment and we employ the apprentice and deal with the HR side too.

“The apprentice gets a mentor and an assessor. We hand-hold all the way through and do regular early assessments to make sure they are right for the role and progressing, and if it does not work out we deal with that for you too.

"We can often place apprentices in other roles if it does not work out so they can continue to progress, and the company does not have to worry.”

Dawn Morgan, business development manager at Gloucestershire College, which was earlier this year named National Training Provider of the Year, National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) certification and Tech Industry Gold accreditation, said: “This is all about helping employers grow their businesses and find the talent for the future.

“We are here at the training provider. We offer three key apprenticeships; Cyber Security Technician, Level 3, Cyber Development Technician, Level 3, and the DevOps Engineer, Level 4.

“Our cyber training also takes place in our £3 million advanced digital academy at our Cheltenham campus, beside the doughnut (GCHQ.)

“All of these start in September. If you are interested in an apprentice, we work with A-Level students, school leavers and career changers too. If you are looking to test the water, this is a really good time to start talking to us and see what we can do to help.

“You will speak to a skilled member of staff that will work with you to understand your business model and what you need.”

Aside from the Tech Talent Lab apprenticeships, Gloucestershire College also delivers a Cyber Degree Apprenticeship and provides apprenticeship services and training covering almost all employment areas.

According to SWAC 98 per cent of apprentices that come through its books are employed after qualifying.

Despite the success of the bid to fund the new programme, it was acknowledged there remained some way to go in convincing everyone apprenticeships are the way forward.

“Young people seem to have got it and understand. Parents as well. Some of the issues are still around convincing schools, which might have a vested interest in being able to say the majority of their students go on to Russell Group universities.

“Some of it is about making it easier for very business fast-growing companies. And that is what this is all about,” said Charlotte Smith, cyber skills growth lead and enterprise co-ordinator at CyNam.

Andrew Bates, vice principal of Gloucestershire College, said: “Tech Talent Lab is a great example of collaborative thinking between education and industry, and as the training provider, we are thrilled to support employers by delivering award-winning digital apprenticeships. 

“With the rapidly evolving IT and cyber skills landscape, we firmly believe that apprenticeships are a great asset in employers' skills development strategies, and lead to growth, diversity, and innovation. 

“We only have a limited number of places available for this exclusive package of support for local employers, and we expect these to get snapped up quickly.”

Figures from the NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre) help explain just how significant the sector has become to the UK and is likely to become even more so.

“It is estimated that the UK cyber security sector is now worth £10.5 billion, with close to 2,000 firms in the UK now actively providing cyber security products and services, employing over 58,000 people – an increase of over 5,000 jobs over the past year,” said a report by the NCSC.

“The sector is growing, as is the need for talented professionals. Cyber security remains the largest UK security exports sub-sector, with UK cyber exports increasing from £4 billion in 2020 to £5 billion in 2021, a growth rate of 20 per cent.”

To find out more about the Tech Talent Lab programme and how to get started click here. To contact Gloucestershire College about apprenticeships click here.

* Everything you read on Raikes is made possible by the generous support of our Founding Partners (we’ve already let you know about QuoLux, Gloucestershire College and Willans LLP and more will be revealed over the coming weeks) our founding members and our paid-up subscribers. A massive ‘thank you’ to all our other subscribers too. The support of all of you is invaluable!

🔓 You’ve been reading a free edition of The Raikes Journal, for which we are grateful. Please do spread the word about what we are trying to do - create a real, journalistically-led, community-orientated, Gloucestershire-focused digital magazine. If you upgrade to paid, you will get on average eight extra members-only editions every month and will be able to see beyond any paywalls, as well as read Raikes’ rolling Top 100-plus Businesses in Gloucestershire series. You will also be allowed to comment on stories, make suggestions for what we should be writing about, vote in our awards, and might even be invited to our roundtable events. And you’ll be supporting the rebirth of high-quality journalism in Gloucestershire on a website championing the county you love — all for just £2.30 per week (Ask us about 20 per cent off for groups of two or more subscribers). 

It has been a pretty good start to the year for Gloucestershire-based technology and digital innovation provider Emerge Digital, which has announced contract wins valued at £200,000.

According to the Cheltenham firm the rush to its services has been helped by businesses from the region seeking to ‘mature their IT’, embrace AI (artificial intelligence) and fortify their cyber security.

Emerge Digital says the demand for its expertise is a sure-fire sign that ‘digital transformation’ is moving up the agenda for most companies in 2024.

Nigel Church, its chief executive officer, said: “All our new partnerships are embracing new technologies to streamline and enhance their service and product delivery for their customers and partners.”

Its most recent contracts have been won with businesses including OPS-BOX in Gloucester, Weston Aviation, at Gloucestershire Airport, Ritual Coffee Roasters and Circle2Success (C2S) in Cheltenham, and The HR Dept, which has offices in the county and its head office in Bristol.

“Providing industry-leading IT and technology solutions from national franchisees to independent SMEs is at the core of what we do, and these recent additions to our client roster are testament to the great work we have been doing in recent months,” said Church.

The HR Dept, a national franchise network of 60 businesses providing outsourced HR support to SMEs, hired Emerge Digital to modernise its CRM - creating and installing a new system that will be ready for the introduction of AI.

The Eagle Tower headquartered company has seen 22.5 per cent growth in the last 12 months.

In October last year it was also announcing the appointment of three new graduate apprentices to help cope with the growing demand for its services.

* Everything you read on Raikes is made possible by the generous support of our Founding Partners (we’ve already let you know about QuoLux and Gloucestershire College and more will be revealed over the coming weeks) our founding members and our paid-up subscribers. A massive ‘thank you’ to all our other subscribers too. The support of all of you is invaluable!

🔓 You’ve been reading a free edition of The Raikes Journal, for which we are grateful. Please do spread the word about what we are trying to do - create a real, journalistically-led, community-orientated, Gloucestershire-focused digital magazine. If you upgrade to paid, you will get on average eight extra members-only editions every month and will be able to see beyond any paywalls, as well as read Raikes’ rolling Top 100-plus Businesses in Gloucestershire series. You will also be allowed to comment on stories, make suggestions for what we should be writing about, vote in our awards, and might even be invited to our roundtable events. And you’ll be supporting the rebirth of high-quality journalism in Gloucestershire on a website championing the county you love — all for just £2.30 per week (Ask us about 20 per cent off for groups of two or more subscribers). 

Subscribe now

Dear Readers,

We hope your week is going well. Welcome to Wednesday’s edition of The Raikes Journal. This will be the last Wednesday edition as we plan to move to Monday, Thursday and Friday from now on - paywalling the majority of the main stories on our Thursday and Friday editions.

This is all part of our plan to make this community interest company sustainable, and to be able to continue to deliver you something different, something interesting and editorially led, dedicated to supporting Gloucestershire.

We will also begin to reveal our partners, those businesses who have stepped forward to help make Raikes possible, because they share the view that a digital magazine that can showcase the county, support its businesses, charities and education and training provider and help foster community, is worth putting their money down for.

We can’t thank them enough or wait to share with you who they are and introduce you to more of what they are up to over the coming weeks. Please do feel free to send us your stories and ideas. If you are a paid-for member, you can also comment on our stories and help influence our direction of travel.

We hope you enjoy today’s edition.

Group subscriptions can get a 20 per cent discount here…  

Get 20% off forever

* Everything you read on Raikes is made possible by the generous support of our partners (who we will be revealing over the coming weeks) our founding members and our paid-up subscribers. A massive ‘thank you’ to all our other subscribers too. The support of all of you is invaluable! If you are not already, please consider upgrading to paid to support our community interest company (just £2.30 a week). To find out about commercial opportunities visit our About page. Email andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk. 

Why today’s main story?

As we say in the story below, when we went looking for influences in the cyber sector in Gloucestershire it was not just one person, but many pointed us towards Dr Nathalie Cole. Cole, the face of the influential Ladies of Cheltenham Hacking Society, seems to be more influential than she knows. So we decided to shine the spotlight on the former vet turned cyber security consultant. After asking her permission, of course!

Our chosen charity: James Hopkins Trust

This picture alone is a good enough reason to feature the James Hopkins Trust. But but aside from introducing those of you who are not aware of the Gloucestershire-based charity to its work - it provides nursing respite care for Gloucestershire’s life-limited and life-threatened young children (it has helped more than 700 children since its foundation in 1989) - we wanted to tell you how you can get involved and support its work. If you play golf, this could be right up your street. If you don’t, perhaps you have it in you and didn’t know it? Or perhaps you know someone who does. On Thursday May 16 the charity is staging its annual golf day at Lilley Brook Golf Club, Cheltenham. Tickets are £300 each for a team of four. Email fundraising@jameshopkinstrust.org.uk.

Your Raikes Briefing

🎉🥂💻If Gloucestershire College was considering a tactic to turn heads in its direction ahead of its apprenticeship open evening and draw people to its brand new website to see its vast array of training opportunities, then winning a national award for excellence wouldn't be a bad way to proceed. Which is exactly what it has gone and done. Last night (Tuesday, February 28) it walked away with the Digital Apprenticeship Provider of the year at the National AAC Apprenticeship Awards. Julie Tegg, director of employer training and apprenticeships at the college, and Mikela Lowthian, its apprenticeship manager for IT and cyber, were invited onto the stage at the awards ICC in Birmingham. The college currently takes on an estimated 700 apprentices a year and has 1,400 under its wing in total, from construction through to dental and business services, engineering, IT and cyber - 49 different programmes from Level 2 to degree level. The apprenticeship open evening is on Wednesday, March 6, from 5pm to 8pm. Find out more here. 

🎓🙌🏽 This is a double-header of celebrations and announcements. We wanted to mark the latest graduation from what has become a leading force for change for business leaders in the county and beyond - QuoLux’s Lead programme. Pictured directly below we salute of the latest CEOs, MDs, directors and senior managers who’ve worked closely with QuoLux’s experienced coaches and facilitators to complete the B-Corp business’s flagship 10-month leadership and business development program.

And following in their footsteps, the leaders of tomorrow. Directly below we include a lineup of the next cohort to step forward to take on QuoLux’s LEADlight - a sixth-month programme for businesses 'middle leaders' to develop their skills, awareness and performance. We wish all of them the very best of luck!

One woman making a difference

When Raikes went looking for key figures i cyber whose positive impact is greater than they know, and who can shed light on the sector. Lots of people pointed us towards Dr Nathalie Cole.

By Andrew Merrell

Those who move in the cyber sector in Cheltenham will already know Dr Nathalie Cole’s story, but we thought it well worth telling everyone. 

Cole was one of the first people Raikes went looking for as it sought out interesting people from the cyber sector who were making an impact and could shed light on an often uber-discreet world. 

Regular readers will know we have spoken to and written about Sophia McCall of NCC Group and Security Queens, and got onto the inevitable and important topic of being a young woman making your way in a male-dominated sector. 

McCall is forging herself an exciting career and if anyone is an example of how a young woman can make progress in cyber and have an impact it is her – but she would point elsewhere.

She would point to Cole and her extraordinary path, for inspiration and for her support. And she is not the only one.

So here we are, singling her out also, not least because her impact is wider than she seems to know! 

Her journey into cyber began after a dramatic career change in her early thirties, from vet to software engineer then into cyber, and what follows is how she inadvertently became a ‘face’ in the county’s cyber sector and a force for change. 

In a world where networks can mean everything, from opening up career paths to continued learning, Cole has helped forge one that is both cyber-focused, about community, in-person, influential and supportive - and a space in which female colleagues can meet. 

That network is the Ladies of Cheltenham Hacking Society, of which she is chapter lead (and which does indeed embrace the humour in its DNA the grandiose name suggests). It is a group that McCall and others have called vital to their careers to date, helping them feel at home, giving them voice and a forum in which to learn. Especially those who have moved to the county from outside. 

McCall is not the only one who thinks Cole is doing something special. 

"Nathalie is making much-needed waves in cyber security and is a breath of fresh air,” said Illyana Mullins, Gloucestershire-based and cyber community lead for techSPARK, director of Tech Forward Ltd and founder of WiTCH (Women in Tech & Cyber Hub). 

“She stands out as she is more than happy to go out of her way to help and is a great role model for those looking to get into cyber security.”

So Cole is a champion for her sector, for community and pushing for positive change. Raikes’ sometimes off-the-record conversation with her covers some of the immense challenges facing an industry resulting from women being in a minority. It is not difficult to understand why she is so passionate about supporting change. 

“When the entire UK tech industry is only around 25 per cent women (including non-technical roles), and this figure gets progressively lower when you look at cyber and technical roles it sends a message to young girls that tech teams are for boys,” said Cole. 

Government stats suggest the UK cyber workforce is currently around 17 per cent female and on technical/engineering teams it can be significantly less than this again. According to Cole there is not formal data, but her estimate would be as low as 10 per cent or less.

“Frequently you're the only woman on a technical team, and many teams don't have any women at all,” she said.

“But if you alienate men in making change, that is self-defeating. It is about collaboration. You have to develop a culture that benefits everyone. 

“The Ladies of Cheltenham Hacking Society is partly about building a space to show what can be done. It has a clear consensus and rules.

“It is a genuinely creative space and we want it to be a genuinely inclusive space. It is women centric, not women exclusively. We want to be able to turn to people to say ‘see, it is possible’.” 

Cole’s take on the sector is perhaps different because she comes from an industry far removed from the digital world. 

“I was a vet for a number of years. I really enjoyed it, but the emotional responsibility of it was enormous,” she said, failing to add she was Honorary Veterinary Surgeon for Riding for the Disabled Association until April 2020, no less.

So she put herself through a crash course as a software engineer. And as she raced up the learning curves she enjoyed it more and more, but could not get away from the feeling the culture needed attention.

Sometimes it was just needing to be able to talk and share without being judged that was all she needed to chase that feeling of ‘imposter syndrome’ from the room, but despite working with immensely talented colleagues she knew she could not always do that, which is how she eventually came to find herself fronting the hacking society’s events. She knew if she felt like that others did too.

As for the gender imbalance across the sector at the root of the need for a culture change, she believes it will take a seismic effort yet.

“Diversity is a huge buzzword. Companies will all tell you they want equality, that diversity makes companies perform better, even makes for more profit, but not everyone knows what inclusivity actually is or how to deliver it. 

“It is something we need to keep talking about and working on,” she said.

But by encouraging more women to succeed - and men - through the hacking society, she is having more impact than she may realise.

Outside of the society, she sees training for senior staff to make them more aware of what change looks like and what it can deliver as absolutely key, to ensure procedures change and culture changes. 

“My mentality has always been to try to make things better for the next person. But when you sit on a steering group, listen and take things up the food chain you need to feel you have been heard to feel like there is a change coming. 

“A situation like that, when you don’t feel like anyone is listening, can be really, really scary,” she said. 

All of which makes her sound nothing like the infectiously enthusiastic person she comes across as.

Salus Cyber, one of the exciting cyber firms headquartered in Cheltenham, in Eagle Tower, supported the most recent hacking society gathering. 

We asked its director of operations, Chantelle Bowring, for a line on why Salus wanted its name in the frame and what it was like being part of the community.  

“It was a pleasure for Salus Cyber to sponsor the Cheltenham Ladies Hacking Society event recently. The enthusiasm from everyone at the event, especially Nathalie, was incredible. 

“It's great to see a leader in the industry taking the time to make such as positive impact on the community and creating a safe space to openly discuss technical topics and get to know one another with delicious pizza and a beer or two!” 

We also wondered, if McCall cites Cole as inspirational – who does Cole point to? 

“Jane Frankland definitely inspired by career change,” said Cole, without hesitation. That is a story for another day. 

Diary date ideas…

Thursday  

💻☕  Gloucestershire Business Show has an embarassment of riches today. There is ‘Business Startups - Getting on the Right Tracks’ at 10am, a discussion on ‘The Arts & Business’ at 10.15am and a debate on ‘Climate, Business & The Future’ at 11.45am. Perhaps the headliner of the day is the discussion on teh future and legacy of Gfirst LEP at 2.15pm. The venue for all of them and more - the University of Gloucestershire's Business School, Oxstalls. You can find our more here.

Friday   

🎼  A Night at the Opera. This is billed as London Concertante presenting some of the finest opera arias and overtures in a sensational evening of operatic music - all staged in the stunning location of Gloucester Cathedral. Due to take plce from 7.30pm to 9.45pm. Tickets are priced from £23.46. Find out more here.

* Everything you read on Raikes is made possible by the generous support of our partners (who we will be revealing over the coming weeks) our founding members and our paid-up subscribers. A massive ‘thank you’ to all our other subscribers too. The support of all of you is invaluable!  

🔓 You’ve been reading a free edition of The Raikes Journal, for which we are grateful. Please do spread the word about what we are trying to do - create a real, journalistically-led, community-orientated, Gloucestershire-focused digital magazine. If you upgrade to paid, you will get on average eight extra members-only editions every month and will be able to see beyond any paywalls, as well as read Raikes’ rolling Top 100-plus Businesses in Gloucestershire series. You will also be allowed to comment on stories, make suggestions for what we should be writing about, vote in our awards, and might even be invited to our roundtable events. And you’ll be supporting the rebirth of high-quality journalism in Gloucestershire on a website championing the county you love — all for just £2.30 per week (Ask us about 20 per cent off for groups of two or more subscribers). 

Happy Valentine’s Day, 

We hope your week is going well - and you are enjoying The Raikes Journal. Thank you once again for the incredible support you have already shown us and our community interest company since we relaunched our digital magazine for Gloucestershire. 

We have a growing number of subscribers on our email list, and would like to say a very special thanks to those who have signed up to become full-paying members of Raikes, as well as those ‘founding members’ who’ve pledged even more in order to help make possible our mission - serving community in Gloucestershire.  

To join them, get access beyond the paywalls we will soon introduce to our second and third email journals of the week, to be able to comment on all our stories, help shape our direction, be able to read all our rolling Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire reports in our Reports & Deals channel, as well as knowing your contribution is proving a platform to promote our county’s amazing charities, education and training providers and businesses (as well as help support the future of local journalism!), please think about beoming a paying member too.

Groups of two or more can claim a 20 per cent discount on their annual subscription.

Get 20% off forever

* Everything you read on Raikes is made possible by the generous support of our partners (who we will be revealing over the coming weeks) our founding members and our paid-up subscribers. A massive ‘thank you’ to all our other subscribers too. The support of all of you is invaluable! Contact andew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk.

Today’s main story 

As we continue our cyber-themed week we publish an interview with Phil Whitby, of Obsidian Security. Those in the cyber sector will already know about Obsidian, but for everyone else we explain why it is such an exciting business to have in Gloucestershire.

And, as we keep being told, the county has the most important cluster of cyber firms in the UK outside of London. Obsidian, a business from the United States of America that would could have gone anywhere to start and grow its UK operations, but chose Cheltenham. We ask why?

The article follows Monday’s interview with Sophie McCall (more of which below) and will be capped with another cyber feature on Friday, reflecting on the sector in Gloucestershire through a feature including Hub8 and CyNam. 

Catch up and coming up 

💻 In case you missed Monday’s newsletter we flag it again here. This was the interview with Sophia McCall. Who better to hear from to get a glimpse from inside the uber-discreet Gloucestershire world of cyber, one of those sectors working hard to tackle a significant gender imbalance, than a young woman making her way in that very world. McCall’s observations are fascinating and although her career may only be just beginning, her CV to date is already impressive. You can read it here.

🚪 One of Gloucestershire’s biggest housing associations and builders of affordable homes has said the cost of living and the impact on people in the county has been ‘the’ theme of its last financial year. Nevertheless, Two Rivers Housing remains optimistic, revealing it will continue to chase its target of delivering 100 shared ownership homes a year and that a new partnership with Cotswold Oak and David Wilson Homes will see it provide more than 100 new homes before 2026. Two Rivers Housing is part of Raikes’ rolling Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series, which tracks the fortunes of the county’s biggest firms by turnover. You can read all those stories in our Reports & Deals channel, but only if you are a member! 

❤️ It's hard not to get through today, Valentine's Day, without matters of the heart being mentioned. We liked this LinkedIn post especially... a message full of passion - because it could quite literally save someone's life. Okay, we digress slightly from romatic matters, but we're taking the lead from the post by Tidal Training's Clare Seed, the driving force behind Cheltenham’s incredible Public Hearts Defib Campaign. It is a community effort that’s helped install 72 publically accessible defibrillators. And now, together with the charity Cardiac Screening, it’s offering cardiac screening for residents in the St Paul's area. Here's how you can help.

Upgrade to paid 

To help make our community interest company sustainable and fund this new way of providing quality journalism supporting the county we rely on the generosity of our partners, but also on subscriptions and ‘founding member’ contributions - rather than clickbait. So if you do not already, please consider subscribe using the button below. It costs just £2.30 a week or 33p a day if you pay for 12 months up front (£120), or £12 per month. The benefits include access to two extra newsletters a week. Groups of two or more who subscribe for a year get a 25 per cent discount. 

Our featured charity: Gloucestershire Deaf Association 

👏🏽 Today we introduce you to Gloucestershire Deaf Association, our eyes drawn to the Barnwood-based charity this week for two reasons. Firstly, it has just appointed a new chief executive officer, Danielle Neale, and secondly because later this month it teams up with another much-loved charity, the CCP, for a fundraising firewalk and it needs your support – either by donating to its cause, or by joining in the ‘fun’ and taking on the challenge yourself! The Barnwood-based charity’s vision is a society that actively supports ways to break down communication barriers for deaf and hard-of-hearing people, to allow them to live confidently with their deafness. All the services GDA offers, aim to enable a person to live confidently with their deafness. Find out more about the firewalk (February 23 at 6pm) here. 

Saluting something incredible 

🚣‍♀️ If you can imagine the trials and tribulations of sailing across the Atlantic, then try to picture rowing the distance on a tiny boat with three others! Laura Langton has just completed the journey and described it like this: “I encountered 20ft waves, unbearable sea sickness, frustrating equipment failure, blistering sunshine and paralysing storms.” Langton, an investment manager with JM Finn, grew up in Winchcombe and lived in Cheltenham until last year. Teammate, Beth Motley, works for Cheltenham PR and marketing firm Counter Context. Liz Watson and Katherine Windsor made the team a four. “Throughout it all, we pulled together, looked for the positives and kept making progress, no matter how minimal,” added Langton. Gloucestershire firms Mira Shower, Counter Context, Ontic and Vitruvius Management Services, DDecks, Gravity Drinks, The Stronghold, James Ford Design, JRD Surveyors, Martins Meats and Oak and Stone Developments all sponsored the epic journey in aid of Prostate Cymru, The Charlie Waller Trust, The Outward Bound Trust and Macmillan Cancer Support. You can too, by clicking here.  

The cyber security firm targeting the FTSE 500

By Andrew Merrell

To those ‘in the know’ news that Obsidian Security raised $90 million (£72m) in a series C funding round and has a UK operation fast-growing out of Cheltenham is not ‘new’.

To anyone outside the well-informed sector the start-up’s funding win is possibly unknown, as is the United States of America-headquartered firm’s decision to develop a place in the lucrative UK market from Gloucestershire.

Its target, the UK’s biggest firms – the nation’s FTSE 500 businesses. Its specialism, providing cyber security for those companies that, like much of the rest of us, have embraced apps.

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While apps bring incredible technology making our business lives easier, the ramifications of the rush to embrace what has become known as ‘software as a service’ (SaaS) brings a very real, complex security risk for big business. The challenge for these companies - what they should do about that risk - is flashing day and night like a giant red warning light.

Which is where Obsidian Security comes in, together with its ‘premier security solution designed to drastically reduce the attack surface area of SaaS applications by 80 per cent on average”.

Read more

Good afternoon,

We hope you had a great weekend - and your Monday has gone well. Welcome to the first edition of The Raikes Journal this week. Those who have been following us so far will know we are starting to lay down the footprint for three email editions a week. All of them currently free.

In time we will move to pay-walling the main articles on the last two newsletters of the week as we seek to build a model which can sustain our community interest company, help us establish an editorially-led platform serving Gloucestershire, creating and celebrating community through a renaissance in quality journalism.

If you become a paying member of Raikes you will be able to help guide our direction and make sure we continue to write about what is interesting to you. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy what we do - and that you have a great week!

If you think you have a story for us, or any comment to make, please do get in touch!

Today’s main story

Raikes has promised to download all it can about our county’s cyber sector, and this week it becomes something of a theme. From the headline-grabbing Golden Valley Development to the many companies already doing incredible things here in the county the sector is exciting - and shrouded in more than a little mystery.

Later this week we will revisit an interview we did when Raikes first started, back in 2020 as the county and the nation was in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic. While some sectors suffered and fell our rush to embrace online seems only to underline the significance of cyber, further boosting its fortunes. We spoke to Hub8 and CyNam about what it meant for the county.

But there is much more to the sector than just growth, an umbilical attachment to GCHQ, unwavering discretion, and investment - there is its people for a start, and Raikes plans to turn its spotlight on some of those. In a sector which, like many others, is top-heavy with men (and making great efforts to recruit more women) - where better to start than one of its youngest, brightest, female recruits.

Before we get to that, we flag one of our favourite stories from last week, in case you missed it, and hope you enjoy our usual selection of notes on some of the best and most interesting posts and news we’ve spotted in the last few days, our weekly introduction to one of the county’s charities - and mention a whole host of seminars on offer for businesses from leading law firm Willans.

Catch up and coming up

🪚👑 Last week, National Apprenticeship Week, Raikes took a good look at the incredible win by Tombs Developments’ carpentry apprentice Amy Brown in the National Apprentice Awards - celebrating her triumph and taking a deeper dive into what the story says about where we are with training and recruitment of women in construction, and what factors need to be in place to make the alchemy happen. In Brown’s case there was no little talent, but her story highlights the special work being done by Gloucestershire College to make sure that when the planets do align, the support is there. You can read the article here.

💻 We are sure CyNam doesn’t really need our help to fill this position, but as we’ve already declared something of a cyber-themed week we couldn’t resist flagging this opportunity at the county cyber networking group. CyNam, which is headquartered at the Brewery Quarter’s Hub8 workspace, is after a new general manager. You’ll split your time between its headquarters and its second centre, at the Cheltenham campus of Gloucestershire College. Salary is £50,000 - £55,000 per annum. Find out more here.

🪄 🧙🏽‍♀️And in more cyber-related news! Cheltenham Chamber of Trade is lending its weight to an event by WiTCH (the Women in Tech and Cyber Hub) to celebrate International Women’s Day, on March 8 from 8.30am to 1.30pm at Leonardo Hotel. Speakers will include Holly Foxcroft, a cyber and diversity champion, and Lindsey Young, ceo of Gloucestershire construction firm Clarkson Evans. Illyana Mullins, founder of WiTCH, cyber community lead for techSPARK and director of Tech Forward Ltd, will also chat to a panel of industry names. Tickets are free. You can find out more here, along with news of a networking event later this month.

🎉 And news is out on this too... something of a must-attend for the business community. We are talking about GFirst LEP's annual review, the final event for the local enterprise partnership before it moves under the wing of Gloucestershire County Council. Expect the powerful business group to look back over the achievements of the last 12 years and spell out how it will operate going forward. Due to take place at the University of Gloucestershire’s School of Business and Technology, Oxstalls, on Tuesday March 12 from 4.30pm. Find out more here.

Upgrade to paid

To help make our community interest company sustainable and fund this new way of providing quality journalism supporting the county we rely on the generosity of our partners, but also on paid-for subscriptions and ‘founding member’ contributions - rather than clickbait. So if have not already, please consider joining those ranks. It costs just £2.30 a week or 33p a day if you pay for 12 months up front (£120), or £12 per month. The benefits include access to two extra newsletters a week (we will soon paywall our second and third newsletters), as well as access to our archive (which will paywall after two weeks) and our rolling Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series in our Reports & Deals channel. Groups of two or more subscribers get a 25 per cent discount. Contact andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk.

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Our featured charity. Emily’s Gift

Today we take a few words to introduce you to Emily’s Gift. Like many charities raising money for good causes related to children, in this case one’s battling cancer, the roots of its story were born from indescribable loss and then a deep emotional reaction to try to help anyone else set to travel the same path. Those of you who have seen the inspirational Julie Kent MBE at work will have seen the mother of Emily. Kent launched the appeal under the umbrella of the mighty Pied Piper Charity, to raise £500,000 to fund a psychologist on the Emily Kent Unit at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital for 10 years. Paul Markey, of Markey Group, is one of many determined to help achieve the target. Bernard Kent, Emily’s father, was a long-term employee of the Markey Group. For Paul, this is personal. You can help him help Emily’s Gift here. And you are also invited to Gloucester Brewery’s Warehouse 4 at the Docks for a special party and update on Emily’s Gift on March 10 from 3pm to 5pm.

Opportunity: Equality, diversity and workplace culture

As we move deeper into 2024 many are looking to invest in training to ensure their business can be the very best it can be through the year ahead. Experts at Cheltenham-headquartered Willans LLP solicitors are offering a variety of seminars suitable for a wide range of industries and organisations. From handling grievance and conflict management, running disciplinary procedures, complying with GDPR, equality, diversity & workplace culture, combatting discrimination in the workplace, the Bribery Act (2010), and more. Some of these are one-hour courses, some half-day sessions. You can take your pick. Find out more here.

Changing the face of cyber

By Andrew Merrell

If the cyber sector is looking for a role model to prove there is room for women to not just work but develop rewarding careers and be themselves, then they could always turn the spotlight on Sophia McCall.

Way back before she was on the radar of anyone in Cheltenham the then student was winning the SC Award for Cyber Security Student of the Year 2020 and being interviewed about becoming a ‘successful young women in the industry’.

The recognition followed her captaining Team UK at the European Cyber Security Challenge 2019; her willingness to embrace the human side of her chosen profession, where online meets people, already becoming apparent.

Then in 2021 digital magazine IT Security Guru named her one of its Most Inspiring Women in Cyber, an award which 'aims to shed light on the remarkable women in our industry'.

By then McCall has already graduated with her cyber degree from Bournemouth, and was beginning to forge a modest profile along with her friend, Sarah, through their blog, Security Queens. And she had moved to Cheltenham to work for NCC Group.

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Read more

Welcome to Thursday’s Raikes Journal, an email newsletter for the county’s business community, its charities and volunteering services and education and training sectors. You are reading an edition only paid-for members will be able to read in full.

We were so very excited to get the Raikes email journal service officially launched in 2024, providing quality journalism for the county, with a core focus on building community, profile and knowledge around its businesses and business people, third sector and education and training providers. We will be covering other areas of interest too, providing a platform for experts’ views and delivering articles with real insight and credibility. No leading on re-published press releases here (although we welcome and celebrate the very best we find in our PR Wire channel!).

If you are not a paid-for member, we’re afraid you will be able to read all of this journal. Here’s how it works. Anyone can sign up to the journal for free, but we would particularly like to thank those who are paying to subscribe (£2.30 a week - £12 a month or £120 a year) - giving them not just the one free email a week, but access beyond the paywall on two more weekly email journals - the ability to see beyond paywalls on any other stories, to read our complete archive, our rolling Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series (that follows the fortunes of the county’s biggest firms by turnover in our Reports & Deals channel) and importantly to comment on our stories and shape our direction of travel. Indeed, they will have a direct email link to our newsdesk.

But everyone who is subscribing is supporting us are helping to make this all possible, and we thank you. If you are not subscribing yet, please do consider it (there are special deals offering 20 per cent off for group subscriptions of two or more people). But most of all, enjoy in the knowledge you are supporting a community interest company dedicated to celebrating Gloucestershire and promoting community!

Before we get to our featured story - please find your end-of-week news briefing, some of the most interesting posts we’ve spotted this week.

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* Everything you read on Raikes is made possible by the generous support of our partners (who we will be revealing over the coming weeks) our founding members and our paid-up subscribers. A massive ‘thank you’ to all our other subscribers too. The support of all of you is invaluable!

A little context on the main story…

As anyone will know who has even vaguely followed business news in Gloucestershire that cyber is considered not just one of the most exciting and fastest-growing sectors in the county, but a bedrock of its economic future. With GCHQ the catalyst, firms have already been gathering in the county.

The other key draw being the much-trumpeted £1 billion Golden Valley Development. It is a scheme expected to become home to Cyber Central, the UK's capital for digital-related businesses. In today’s top story (see below) we take a look at that in more detail. If you want to read the whole article, you will have to subscribe - but there should still be enough text here for everyone to make it clear how exciting this is for the county.

First, some of the key spots we’ve made this week and our regular introduction to the businesses that make up one of our favourite communities - members of Made in Gloucestershire.

Your Raikes briefing notes

👩🏽‍🌾 Places are up for grabs to help 20 businesses in agricultural sector to develop and grow in Gloucestershire thanks to a new partnership between Hartpury University's Tech Box Park, Barclays Eagle Labs. The collaboration, funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, will give the lucky businesses free access to Tech Box memberships (valued at £2,500). The six-month programme of support will aim to boost ‘high-potential businesses’ across the region and develop Hartpury’s thriving agri-tech community. Regular events are organised by the Tech Box Park alongside the adjacent Agri-Tech Centre to help members connect and share ideas. The first event of 2024 is scheduled for 31 January, 8.30am - 10.30am.

🚗 You can’t miss its gleaming glass headquarters as you arrive in Cheltenham along the Golden Valley bypass, but you may have missed its uplifting results. We took a look at The Cotswold Motor Group as part of our focus on Gloucestershire’s Top 100 firms by turnover and thought the figures were well worth shouting about. Who wouldn’t be pleased with adding £30 million-plus to their turnover in a tough market?

💪🏽 Two Gloucestershire charities close to the hearts of young people and families and individuals with complex needs have come together to forge a new alliance. The incredible Young Gloucestershire, which helps support young people to achieve their goals, and Infobuzz, which offers offers therapeutic and practical support for families and young people with complex needs in a crisis, have joined forced. One message stood out for us: “We know the need still outweighs the resource we have available”.

🎓 Twenty years-plus has passed since Holly Gazzard was murdered by her jealous boyfriend in Gloucester and the story still resonates like it was yesterday. Until we change so many things the fear is it will keep repeating - for other women especially. Somehow her father, Nick Gazzard, and his family found strength to forge the Holly Gazzard Trust to help make that change. Its efforts continue and his effort was honoured by the University of Gloucestershire in a special ceremony at Cheltenham Racecourse.

Made in Gloucestershire: Introducing Wholly Gelato

Today we set forth on our quest to introduce you to the growing army of food and drink producers collecting under the Made in Gloucestershire banner, started by those clever people at GFirst LEP to promote the county's very best from the sector. If you think the county is rich with such producers then you are right. Today it is the turn of Wholly Gelato, a family-run food business rooted in the county. Its gelato operation began in 2018 and today is award-winning and produces more than 200 flavours/variations of our artisan, Italian-style gelato. You can find them at the shop on thier Elmore farm or Gloucester Food Dock.

Things to do

👩‍💼👩🏿‍💼👩🏼‍💼👩🏾‍💼 This will be the first Women in Business lunch of 2024 and is due to be staged at the Manor by the Lake, Cheltenham, on Thursday 25 January starting with teas and coffees at 11.45am. As usual, there will be an opportunity for networking, a talk from an inspirational businesswoman and a two-course lunch. New faces are always very welcome. The event’s ‘inspirational speaker’ will be Julie Kent MBE, who will be talking about ‘finding a positive from an enormous negative’. Due to take place from 11.45 to 2pm.

🏆🎉 Cirencester Chamber of Trade is due to launch its 2024 business awards on Thursday 25 January from 6pm to 8pm at the Royal Agricultural University. The chamber will be joined by some of its event’s sponsors as well as previous winners. If you want to get to know who’s who in the Cotswolds and make connections, this is as good a place as any. Categories, deadlines and details about the awards presentation evening itself will all be revealed.

🚜 We mentioned Hartputy University and Hartpury College's Tech Box Park business accelerator community above. This is your chance to take a closer look with a relaxed morning's networking with innovative SME's. If you’re an agri-tech business or looking to the land-based sector as a new market, then this event is for you. You’ll meet Hartpury's Digital Innovation Farm team to better understand how you can be supported with your product development and validation, testing and trialling, find out more about our membership and sponsorship packages and tour the Digital Innovation Farm. Due to take place on Wednesday 31 January 2024 from 8.30am to 10.30am.

* Everything you read on Raikes is made possible by the generous support of our partners (who we will be revealing over the coming weeks) our founding members and our paid-up subscribers. A massive ‘thank you’ to all our other subscribers too. The support of all of you is invaluable!

£1 billion development will generate £300 million in business rates

By Andrew Merrell

When they voted in favour of a £95 million 'development funding envelope' to underpin a commitment to a 'once in a lifetime development' in the county, Gloucestershire councillors revealed a little more of the revenue it would generate for the county.

Cheltenham Borough Council's full cabinet approved the funding on Thursday 28 September 2023 for the Golden Valley Development, a scheme to bring 3,700 new homes and two million square feet of cyber-focused business park to the west of the town.

It is a project predicted to create 12,000 new jobs.

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We hope you have had a good week and are enjoying The Raikes Journal. We cannot thank you enough for the incredible support you have already shown us and our community interest company since we relaunched our digital magazine for Gloucestershire.

Today we round off our cyber-themed week by revisiting an indepth article we ran when Raikes first launched back in 2020 - in which we spoke to two of the then movers and shakers from the county’s digital community, who both remain important players today.

It’s a long read, so be prepared! But we think it makes for interesting reading, and underlines just what a journey the county is on.

We know that thousands of readers viewed our posts this week and that the stories featured on our two editions, on Sophie McCall and Phil Whitby, reached an audience I have never found before for a story I have published in Gloucestershire – and that covers 25 years of doing so. Analytics tell us the spread of readers has been equal, from the very smallest organisations to several thousand from companies of 1000-plus staff to 10,000-plus. That means many, many readers from outside of Gloucestershire looking in – and hopefully liking what they see.

To help us continue on our mission, to grow and develop a sustainable, community-focused platform supporting Gloucestershire please do encourage others to sign up too – for free or ideally as paid-for subscribers.

At the end of this month Friday newsletters will no longer be free in their entirety as we introduce a paywall on our featured stories.

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* Everything you read on Raikes is made possible by the generous support of our partners (who we will be revealing over the coming weeks) our founding members and our paid-up subscribers. A massive ‘thank you’ to all our other subscribers too. The support of all of you is invaluable!

Our featured charity: Friends of Cheltenham Samaritans

🍻 This is one sure-fire way you can support a charity and have a good night out (or maybe even two, if your constitution can handle it!). Starting tonight! We are talking about the 45^th Cheltenham Craft Beer Festival, which takes place tonight (Friday February 16) and Saturday afternoon too. The event is staged by the charity Friends of the Cheltenham Samaritans, which raises funds to support the town’s branch of the Samaritans. The Cheltenham branch costs an estimated £30,000-plus to run annually and the Friends raise just over a third of those running costs through efforts like the beer festival. Due to take place from 4.30pm until 10pm today and 1pm to 6pm on Saturday at St Philip and St James (otherwise known as Pip & Jims), Grafton Road Cheltenham GL50 2DD. Find out more here.

Pandemic only strengthened a sector set to lead Gloucestershire’s economy

Back in 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic was decimating the rest of the UK economy, but cyber in Gloucestershire appeared to be thriving. Just why was that? Raikes spoke to two key players helping build an incredible county community - and finds out where they are now.

Back when Raikes started out in 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic was choking UK plc, something different seemed to be going on in the cyber sector in Gloucestershire - a collection of firms hailed as the ‘UK's most crucial technology cluster’.

Raikes wanted to know just what that was (even if we were still not 100 per cent sure what 'cyber' even meant!), and who better to speak to than Hub8 and CyNam – two organisations who were then and are now at the heart of the county’s cyber scene?

We revisit the article here, updating as we go in what we think makes for an interesting journey (it is quite a read, but we think well worth it. You may want to get yourself a cup of tea to see you through!).

What it tells us is that when Covid was bringing many industries to their knees, cyber was making great strides, driven by the catalytic presence of a certain major Government asset at the end of the Golden Valley and by dynamic private enterprise.

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