The editor’s view

Nicky Godding Editor-in-Chief

07966 510401 nicky.godding@nkmedia.co.uk

@Nickywritesbiz

This magazine goes to print the day before the UK General Election, so I can’t provide any wise words on the result. Actually, I doubt anyone could. Even the most seasoned commentators struggled to make sense of the chaotic campaigning so close to Christmas.

What will 2020 mean for businesses? Probably not the clear vision that the phrase “2020” is normally associated with.

But that’s what the UK economy needs if we are to get through arguably the most challenging times the world has seen in modern times.

However, this magazine always looks to the positive, and to the future. In this issue we focus on the next generation in our 10-page apprenticeships feature. We also celebrate just how much the UK still makes, contrary to widespread received wisdom that our country “doesn’t make anything any more”. Yes, we do, and with some reshoring going on (bringing manufacturing back to the UK from overseas), more is being made across the region. There’s also more collaboration going on between manufacturing companies too, as those who participated in our final Manufacturing Live event of the year at Spirax Sarco in Cheltenham will attest.

We also export more, and to every corner of the globe, as you will read in our special Oxfordshire and the Thames Valley exporters feature.

All in all, across our region the ambition and determination to succeed and grow by businesses of all sizes, never fails to make me proud.

IN THE HEADLINES

WHAT MAKES THAT EVENT MAGIC?

BUSTING THOSE HR MYTHS

INTERVIEW:

WE MEET MARTIN ST. QUINTON, GLOUCESTER RUGBY AND CHELTENHAM RACECOURSE

FEATURE SPECIAL:

FRONT COVER FEATURE: MAKE IT, BOX IT, SELL IT

INTERVIEW: JARL SEVERN, OWEN MUMFORD

Four Oxfordshire businesses are sitting pretty in the latest Deloitte 2019 UK Technology Fast 50.

Oxford Nanopore, which has developed the world’s first nanopore DNA sequencer, the MinION, and recently opened a new manufacturing facility at Harwell Campus near Didcot, sits at eighth in the Deloitte Fast 50 list. The the MinION is a pocket-sized, portable device for biological analysis which could radically transform diagnosis speeds.

Oxford Nanopore’s Chief Executive, Dr Gordon Sanghera, says that within a generation, the MinION will be as ubiquitous as the mobile phone.

In 22nd position sits Venture Harbour, a digital marketing agency based at Howbery Business Park, Wallingford. The company was founded by Marcus Taylor, 28, who built his first computer at aged 10 and taught himself coding by building websites for bands. Venture Harbour has a portfolio of ventures valued at more than £10 million.

At 34 in the Deloitte 2019 UK Technology Fast 50 sits Vocovo, based at Shipton-under-Wychwood. Vocovo’s Rob Gamlin is a former electronics