Our Managing Director has for around the last 10 years had a unique insight from perhaps a more objective point of view as to how the area that many of us reside and work in has operated. He has been in a position of trust with many of the business owners who have created businesses, who have continued their businesses at a steady pace and those who have grown and expanded businesses.

He has also been involved with those who have invested in both commercial and residential properties and although these things go on all the time. There have been most obviously especially in recent years been particular times when you can tell that there are peaks and troughs in Weymouth and Portland in these both business and property.

Being the President of Weymouth & Portland Chamber of Commerce for two and half years also afforded him the privilege and sometimes curse of being involved in important decision making and sometimes having to disagree when he felt that what was being proposed by other agencies for blessing wasn’t particularly good for the business community that he and the rest of a committee represented and of course vice versa.

Working together in a collaborative way can be a fantastic thing and much can be done but not so that only one party gains from the end result unless of course, that is the main purpose.

So that is the background and experience along with working in the insurance industry and business for the last 25 years. Here at Oakes Insure when you are originally buying Property that you wish to let or lease or you are thinking of starting any type of business we think there are probably three businesses you should speak to first. Your financial advisor or bank manager if you are looking to borrow, your accountant and of course your Insurance Broker.

So let’s hear from what we hope becomes your insurance broker here in Weymouth & Portland. When you decide to bust out onto the scene & make major changes in your life and you either decide to enter the world of business or buy some property that will yield you some income whether it be residential or commercial. 

Many will read this who like me will have spent their whole lives in Weymouth or a coastal town like it and will think if only. If only we still had the Navy here on Portland. Life was much better in Weymouth when the gargantuan engineering firms of the past in the Granby and Lynch Lane employed so many and the output of our economy was so much better. The rail links were better even going as far as Portland and of course along the quay and dropping people and goods to the ferries and big cargo ships, which we also don’t have any more and again did of course bring many income streams into the area. Recently from a retail point of view. National names seem to be dropping like flies from not just Weymouth & Portland but Dorset in general. Debenhams, M&S, Iceland and of course others.

Nostalgia happens wherever you go and things change. I am talking generally now and looking at some of the things above. Yes I think growing up some of those things not being part of Weymouth & Portland and the surrounding area may have had a huge impact into how the economy in our area has been stagnant for a period of time and Tourism and Hospitality in Weymouth has always been regarded by those who visit as charming. We don’t have 5-star hotels but what we do have in abundance is proud Hotel, Guesthouse, Pub and Eatery owners. Who year in and year out entice people to spend money in our area. An underpinning if you like that rarely fails.  

So lets look at the present day. I can’t talk to you about the present day without mentioning the term Coronavirus. Our local business environment on this very day without a shadow of a doubt just like the rest of the UK at least is still currently being hampered by the effects of Covid. I don’t need to tell you this but I do need to say that from an insurance point of view we are in a hard market – https://embarkgroup.co.uk/insights/the-insurance-market-2021-hard-markets-conditions-bite/. This isn’t necessarily being caused by Covid but it isn’t helping. So if you started thinking about opening a business 3 years ago and you go to Insure the business the premium could be quite a bit higher. It’s where I come in. Just talking about what you are proposing can make all the difference. I don’t charge for advice. If you try to work your details for business through a computer system you are likely to either underinsure yourself or pay over the odds.

So to summarize in this area we still advise speaking to a human first. In anything that you do that you are hoping to gain income from. Talk to an accountant, Talk to a local financial advisor or a Bank if you are looking for a business loan and definitely talk to an insurance broker the Advice you get is almost always free and it could definitely mean you ultimately pay less.

Ok so let’s look at Weymouth & Portland and what the future holds. Which is of course the title of this blog. Now we all know that living in Weymouth & Portland is about opinion and I’ll say first that this is by no means what will happen in the next couple of years but my observations mentioned previously above have led me to believe that there are now a few things that have fallen into place which could help the local economy in the future. What I will say is that I rarely use statistics from local bodies such as the Dorset LEP and the BID as in my time have seen these to be wildly out and to have no real bearing. No offence but these are my own instincts gleaned from much experience noted earlier in this blog.

So this year 2022 – This year will mostly involve a lot of planning still and we all know that there are various Council strategic plans ongoing in Dorset, in Weymouth and in Portland. So this year for the economy I think we are going to see a continued economic level from last year with some small growth. There will be a few more events set up but on the whole, there will be nothing huge to boost the local economy.

We only have a finite amount of Hotels and holiday accommodation and once they are at capacity and booked people will like last year enjoy UK holidays.

Planning will be going on in the background and on the industrial side that will steadily increase. It is unlikely that we will ever go back to the large scale engineering firms (although we still have a few larger firms doing well) that we lost that we mentioned above because technology will most likely negate the need.

Smaller firms can operate in smaller units and are more efficient and although there will be more firms the competition will be healthy and some firms will specialize in certain areas. Steady Growth not exponential growth yet. Having said this in the next couple of years as we look to the UK to produce more again. Weymouth & Portland was always known internationally for providing quality workmanship. We did have a big apprentice gap though.

Weymouth Town Centre which has a lot of speculation about redevelopment around it and of course the harbour and peninsula will not have huge changes but plans will begin to fall in place and Conservation and listing is being pressured all of the time and as we move forward a decision will need to be made as to what is more important heritage or the life of the Town Centre or at least a compromise.

The same around the harbour and brewers quay etc. Those decisions will begin to be made but nothing will actually be announced on the face of it as such. Decisions made in the background and then big decisions in 2023 at some point when also a decision will be made as to what is done with the peninsular area. Especially now that it looks possible the ferry also mentioned above could be operational again in some way, shape or form.

We are only at the beginning of 2022 and as I say still very much being controlled by Covid. One step forward and then two steps back. The more we get used to it the more people will adapt and the more people will be inclined to dabble in risk where it comes to opening a business or buying property again. My job is to tell my clients what the risks are and not tell them not to go ahead with their plans but to help them to manage those risks and transfer some to an insurer. So it’s all about assessing the future.

When you buy into or start a business you are usually doing it knowing you are going to have to build a business and that will take a few years at least and you buy a property to Rental or Lease when you own that property you only get the rental or leaseback and it takes time.

I am not a business expert as I have said. This is my own opinion and I have only given you a couple of observations that I have noticed for Weymouth & Portland in the coming years. They say that there is never a good time to start a business or invest in the property market. Don’t get me wrong those who know me will remember that I have fought tooth and nail for Weymouth & Portland in the last 3 or 4 years for sure but at the moment our area is not at its best. It was at its best as was mentioned at the beginning of this blog but things change and Weymouth & Portland is not unlike a lot of coastal areas.

I have a very optimistic feeling that if you have it in your mind to start a successful business or buy a property that you can lease commercially or residentially now is the time to do something about it. Within the next 2 or maybe 3 years we will see a huge change for the better in this area.

I’m looking forward to meeting anyone who has the same opinion when you give me a call and say: I want to start a new business or expand my own, or I own a property or I am buying a property and I want to make some money from it by Leasing it. Can you help me manage the risks or even save me some money?