Southern Contracts involved in renovation of former mail ship

A Bournemouth company was involved in the galley and laundry refit of former Royal Mail ship St Helena, now the floating centrepiece for Extreme E.

Southern Contracts provided and installed the appliances at the Cammell Laird Shipyard in Birkenhead.

Their work was part of a multi-million pound renovation of the vessel.

It included a comprehensive mechanical overhaul and full refurbishment of the interior, including the galley and laundry, as well as fresh livery and branding for the new owners.

St Helena was the last Royal Mail Ship (RMS) bringing post and freight from the UK to the island of St Helena in the South Pacific.

She was only decommissioned as a mail ship following the installation of an airstrip on the island.

The vessel is now being used by Extreme E to transport its freight, including the all-electric SUVs named Odyssey 21, around the world.

Adam Elphinstone, MD of Southern Contracts, said: “Extreme E is the brainchild of Founder and CEO Alejandro Agag, to highlight to the world the devasting effects of climate change and human activity on the planet, through world-class sport.

“We have a long and happy relationship with Cammell Laird so when they approached us to work on this latest project, we were absolutely delighted to be a part of something so unique.”

The St. Helena arrived in Saudi Arabia for the Desert X Prix – the amazing inaugural Extreme E event.

She is now in Dakar, Senegal, before going to Greenland, then down to the Amazon and then further south to the final destination of the season in Tierra del Fuego, Argentine Patagonia.

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Don’t delay – applications close May 16 for two Peer Network groups

Registrations are invited for two Peer Network groups being run by Dorset Business Mentors.

But hurry, applications close on Sunday May 16,

‘Leadership and Management’ and ‘Women in Business’ will have a maximum 11 participants each and will be led by a qualified and experienced facilitator who will work through a total of 18 hours action learning between now and March 2022.

Each participant will be able to focus on a critical issue in their business in the group setting and receive additional dedicated one-to-one support and mentoring to take their learning forward.

The Leadership and Management group is aimed at owners of businesses which are growing, or have aspirations to, and who wish to develop their skills in this area critical to healthy growth.

The Women in Business set is exclusively for female business owners.

While there are many common issues for men and women seeking to grow their businesses, women face more barriers than men.

These were identified in the Treasury commissioned Alison Rose Review of 2019 and include:

• Bias against, and shortage of, funding for female entrepreneurs
• Childcare
• Lack of networks and mentors
• Less tangible psychological barriers such as a lower level of confidence in personal skills.

The group will enable participants to air and focus on critical issues holding them back in order to generate actions to help them propel their business forward.

It serves to provide an all-female network, and one-to-one mentor support.

Alistair Bayliss, Programme Manager for Dorset Business Mentors, pictured left, said: “We are delighted to contribute and facilitate these two unique Peer Network groups for Dorset LEP’s Peer Network Programme.

“Both sets enable participants to address issues our mentors are experienced in supporting business owners with.”

The Peer Network programmes are funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

The initiative is designed to bring small and medium enterprise (SME) business leaders together in facilitated sessions to share experience and expertise.

Places are free but applications close on Sunday May 16.

For more details and to apply, please click here.

Peer Network programmes are free for owners, directors and senior managers whose business employs between five and 250, has been in operation for more than 12 months and has a minimum turnover of £100,000.

The ‘Women in Business’ set requires the same turnover with a reduced minimum employee number of 2.

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Great idea takes root as agency marks Mental Health Awareness Week

Team members at a digital agency branched out across Dorset to meet a challenge set by one of their directors.

Lesley Simmons, pictured right, tasked colleagues at Digital Storm to mark Mental Health Awareness Week – and its nature theme – by taking a walk and a selfie with a tree.

Lesley said: “The team are often juggling several projects at once.

“They have collaborated brilliantly throughout the pandemic, often working across departments to ensure tight deadlines and objectives are met.

“This Mental Health Awareness Week, I want to remind them that it’s okay to take a breath and talk about mental health.

“A great way to start is by taking a walk.”

The challenge proved a brilliant opportunity for the Digital Storm team to switch off for half an hour while they explored their area, snapped a tree selfie and connected.

The Mental Health Foundation found that more than half of adults say that being close to nature improved their mental health.

It’s why this year’s theme for Mental Health Awareness Week was nature and how you can connect with it.

Team members at Digital Storm said they felt better after going outside for a walk with the short break actually making them feel more productive.