Hampshire Business Leaders Urged To Do More On Diversity

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The positive contribution of neurodiversity to the workplace was one of the key themes of Hampshire Chamber’s latest annual general meeting.

Members were urged to review their company recruitment practices and view greater inclusivity as a strategic advantage in business. Guest speaker Marie Greenhalgh, Relationships Director at specialist education provider Inclusion Education, told the Basingstoke gathering that businesses which embrace neurodiversity are better positioned for future growth, especially as Gen Z enters the workforce with higher rates of cognitive variance. Marie said:

“In today’s competitive and evolving world, businesses need more than just traditional talent, they need diverse minds that bring fresh perspectives, creative problem-solving and unique strengths."

“Neurodivergent individuals, those with conditions such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and others, offer exactly that. They often possess exceptional attention to detail, creative thinking, resilience and strategic insight, qualities that are not only valuable but often rare.”

Marie’s call was echoed by fellow speakers Barry Smith, chair of Hampshire Chamber’s Basingstoke Business Strategy Group, and Matthew Cleaver, Chief Executive of Anvil Arts.

Their presentations complemented a meeting formally organised to review the Chamber’s business performance over the past year and confirm its Board configuration. Describing 2024-25 as a ‘year of investment’ which resulted in a small financial loss, Ross McNally, Chief Executive and Executive Chair, said the forecast was a return to surplus in 2026. And he stressed that events and training income had increased by 16%, one of a series of positive developments.

Ross said two external compliance audits had passed the Chamber’s support for international trade with 100% scores. Activities included the issuing of more than 5,700 documents, with nearly 800 being export or import declarations.

At the same time, more than 2,500 bookings had been made for Chamber training sessions, networking opportunities and other events.

Major occasions included the Southampton business symposium SOGROW, the annual Southampton Boat Show lunch, the fourth year of the Portsmouth & South Coast Business Week and, in Basingstoke, the business sustainability conference and expo Unlocking Hampshire’s Green Potential.

Ross also highlighted the signing of an international UK-EU accord between Hampshire Chamber and Drogheda & District Chamber in Ireland. There was a focus on skills too, with Ross reporting more than 400 engagements between businesses and the Chamber-led Local Skills Improvement Plan for the Solent.

Skills support was a key policy area where the Chamber had lobbied or provided direct insight to government, Ross explained. Other priorities flagged with Ministers included business grants and financial support, transport infrastructure and connectivity, CSR and sustainability.

The meeting, held at the Absolutely Offices in Grove House, Basingstoke, confirmed the re-appointment of Mandy Boughton of Ancasta Yacht Services as Chamber President, a role with both an ambassadorial and lobbying remit and the internal function of providing corporate governance to the Board.

As well as Mandy, two other non-executive directors were given the green light to serve a second three-year term of office: Andrew Kaye of South Hampshire College Group and Richard Thompson of RJT International.

Ross praised the contributions of former President Peter Taylor of law firm Paris Smith and fellow non-executive director Joe Jeffers of Hambledon Vineyard, who are both stepping down after seven years’ service each.

And he thanked Donna Jones, Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire & the Isle of Wight and Chair of the National Association of Police & Crime Commissioners, who was appointed a non-executive director in 2024 and stepped down earlier this year.

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Paul Andrews
Jun 14, 2023
3 min read

Businesses now have just three months to upgrade their technology systems for voice and broadband connections or risk falling behind and face serious restrictions.

Experts from TelephoneSystems.Cloud have urged UK businesses to upgrade their old legacy telephone systems before they get trapped in their legacy setup in September.

As part of the Big Switch - which will see the switch off of all analogue phone systems in the UK in two years time - many providers are currently phasing out all legacy lines, with the aim of moving all customers onto digital based systems.

September’s Stop Sell deadline means providers will cease selling these traditional phone lines, meaning those who fail to upgrade risk normal operations and falling behind.

In three months' time, businesses will no longer be able to make any changes to their old legacy telephone systems, trapping them with their current size and setup.

This is specifically important to those companies moving into new offices, as they will be limited now to only digital installations and can no longer move their old phone systems to new offices.

For example, this autumn those on analogue systems will not be able to amend broadband bandwidth capacity, restart any stopped phone lines, nor amend direct dialling in (DDI) ranges.

Other cancelled changes in three months time include mitigating to non-ultrafast products, increasing or decreasing ISDN channels, converting single lines to multi-lines (and vice versa).

Experts are urging businesses to upgrade from analogue to digital based lines now, else risk falling behind and not having the ability to amend their current systems. SImply tasks such as adding a new employee to an ISDN system can become impossible.

Alongside upgrading from analogue lines, many consumers may also need to upgrade their broadband services and any other equipment which currently operates on the legacy system, such as ADSL, FTTC & G.Fast.

Analogue systems are services which have provided the foundation for both broadband and voice connections for many years, but it won’t be available for much longer.

In three months time ‘Stop Sell’ comes into play - and all sales of copper-based lines will cease, leaving many businesses at risk from catching up if they don’t upgrade their tech now.

From September analogue telephone systems will no longer be available to buy for new supply, as well as the introduction of restrictions for the migration of the services.

Businesses who have not upgraded their systems in time before the Stop Sell, will seriously struggle to provide voice services, as well as risking issues affecting broadband.

Companies need to ensure they are future-proofing their services, else risk falling behind and be unable to get back on board with systems such as changing broadband capacity and increase/decrease ISDN lines.

Those businesses who are currently providing legacy copper-based services are being urged to act now and upgrade all plans before the Stop Sell is introduced.

Failing to upgrade could potentially lead to falling behind competitors, with a significant loss in business, revenue & paying clients along with a huge increase in pricing, as wholesale prices of Stop Sell products will be rapidly increasing.

Juliet Moran, founder of TelephoneSystems.Cloud said: “We are urging all businesses who haven’t already to upgrade their phone systems and connectivity before sales halt completely in September. This is now a three month warning to all business owners to upgrade your old analogue systems imminently else risk seeing your business fall behind become a reality."

“But not upgrading before the Stop Sell deadline in September seriously risks your business falling behind from your competitors and large price jumps - potentially leading to loss of customers and revenue."

“The risk is huge should a service get accidently cancelled, or the need for growth occurs, as old services can no longer be brought back online and systems will no longer be able to expand."

“If you’re not upgrading from your analogue telephone system before the deadline in September, providers will no longer be able to support your businesses which currently rely on these legacy systems.

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