Background

One of the cultural jewels in west Cumbria’s crown is Rosehill Theatre. Located only a short drive from Whitehaven, the theatre was founded by a Hungarian who established Sekers Fabrics and a silk mill at nearby Hensingham. Sir Nicholas Sekers would probably have preferred a career in the arts to manufacturing, but his wealth enabled him to pursue his first love as a leisure interest, and in 1959 he built a theatre in the grounds of his home, Rosehill House. Supported by Cumbrian business patrons, Rosehill’s red silk-lined interior and its founders connections and charm attracted international performers such as Yehudi Menuhin, Benjamin Britten, Mstislav Rostropovich, Jacqueline du Pré and Cleo Laine – even the fledgling David Bowie. The Queen Mother paid a visit in 1964.

Following the death in 1972 of Sir Nicholas, who was also one of Glyndebourne’s founding trustees, the venue slipped slowly into decline. By the early 2000s, it was in need of a complete refurbishment. The trustees and community supporters launched a fund-raising project to create a contemporary theatre that would help to revive the performing arts in west Cumbria and involve the whole community in creative ventures.

What was involved?

During the two-year refurbishment phase, the theatre’s resident staff went out into the community with a series of Rosehill on the Road workshops, concerts and productions, seeking to draw in new audiences and reaching out to schools. They organised performances in village halls, community centres, colleges, schools, historic houses and other Cumbrian venues. Their partners included Cardboard Citizens and the English Touring Opera. Director Richard Elder said:

Re-imagining Rosehill as a theatre to match the prospects and aspirations of west Cumbria, has been a challenge, but the splendid results are here for all to see, with international, national and local performers, and people of all ages taking part and enjoying performing arts.

Key to making Rosehill work are our partnerships with, and the support of, the corporate sector and other key stakeholders, our individual donors, the commercial income from The Green Room and Messel’s Bar, and from producing the diverse, quality performances that attract funding from a range of national trusts and foundations.

Our mission remains the same: high quality performing arts and excellent hospitality, entertainment and fun for everyone; creating a local theatre of national significance.

At the same time, we are aware of our growing social impact, spending four times as much in the local economy and employing 26 staff while providing life-changing apprenticeships, training and first job opportunities.

What worked well?

A visit from HRH Prince Charles was the highlight of events to celebrate Rosehill’s re-opening, followed by the opening show First Hippo on the Moon, an adaptation of David Walliams’ children’s story.

A few highlights since have included a series of recitals by international pianist Paul Lewis; concerts by Anna Tilbrook, introducing a range of other musicians alongside her, including young rising stars; jazz from Stacey Kent and Jacqui Dankworth and cabaret-style dining on stage, with entertainment from singer Tina May. Theatre has addressed issues of contemporary life and provided great entertainment and spoken word has included TS Eliot Prize-Winning Cumbrian poet, Jacob Polley, performing accompanied with original music. A roll call of big name comedians including Mark Thomas and Zoe Lyons, have already visited with more to come and a new regular comedy night introducing new voices.

What could be improved / feedback?

Rosehill continues to run an innovative participation programme Taking Part including Snappy Operas (ten minute contemporary music theatre pieces) with Mahogany Opera and its own children’s choir, or Mini-Messel’s Makers craft sessions in school holidays. A two year Heritage Lottery funded project called Creative Connections, is exploring Rosehill’s connections to the world of fashion and theatre design whilst Rosehill has also used forum theatre with people at risk of homelessness, addiction and with low self-esteem.

It is perhaps no surprise, given all of this, that Rosehill has just been crowned Cumbria Life Venue of the Year.

Next steps

A second phase of the refurbishment project will focus on developing the neighbouring barn, doubling its size to include a courtyard theatre. This new building will become the centre for further community activities while also providing further space to generate commercial income in support of Rosehill’s artistic, cultural and community plans.

The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) is partnering with Cranfield University to hold an engagement day specifically aimed at small to medium-sized enterprises and academia.

The event is on 11 February 2020 at Cranfield University.

You’ll get to hear about current funding opportunities, gain advice on accessing mentoring and finance and have a chance to question the Armed Forces’ innovation hubs in a panel discussion.

We hope you’ll go away from the day understanding how you can help UK defence and security, but more importantly, understand how we can support you – either through funding, guidance or support.

To register for the event, sign up here by Friday 31st January.

Published 14 January 2020

Background

Bubblewrap Waffle (Bubblewrap) recreates a historical street dessert from Hong Kong and brings it to London’s Chinatown. Its founder Tony Fang was the first to bring this delicacy to the UK. The sweet treat consists of homemade egg waffle, topped with fresh gelato, fruit, cream, chocolate, sauce and biscuits.

Bubblewrap began as a university project. After nearly two years of trading in markets across London and catering for food festivals, Tony opened the first Bubblewrap store in March 2017. The products soon became a viral success. The desserts were featured in Facebook videos created by Time Out and Buzzfeed, amounting to 33 million views.

The brand

Tony knew from the start that intellectual property (IP) protection should be a fundamental part of his business plan. He explains:

During my study in Imperial College London, we were taught that IP protection is one of the most valuable assets to a company. We knew that we needed to protect any assets we create or own to prevent other people from taking advantage of our creation.

Tony filed a UK trade mark application for the company’s initial logo and a further application the following year for EU protection. After the official store opening, Tony sought advice from an attorney on the company’s IP strategy. He then protected the company name, Bubblewrap, through a trade mark application with the World Intellectual Property Office to protect the brand internationally.

Trade secrets

However, Tony knew that he would not only need to protect the company’s branding, but the all-important waffle recipe. The viral mania from the Facebook videos, alongside Bubblewrap’s unique ingredients, led to queues that lined the streets of Chinatown. Tony soon noticed stores opening across the UK selling replicas of their product:

We were not satisfied by some of the publicly available recipes. We started to develop our own, and even now, we are still refining them. In the first six months, it was always only me or my business partner who prepared and mixed the batter. We had people pretend to come to work for us and ask sensitive questions about the recipes. Our staff were followed and questioned after work.

Now each Bubblewrap employee is only aware of part of the secret recipe. There is a confidentiality clause in the standard employee contract and all those involved in the creation process sign a non-disclosure agreement. Tony explains:

Given the popularity of the Bubblewrap brand, protecting our IP is of vital importance to our business. Since our store opening, there have been many competitors selling similar products. Some used brand names that were very similar or even the same to ours. We have been able to use our IP rights to fight against these behaviours. It is really shocking that people will copy other’s creations so blatantly.

We realise that protecting our IP and business is going to be an ongoing and necessary part of our work.

Advice

Tony wishes to expand the business and develop franchise packs for people who love the Bubblewrap brand, product and want to be part of the family. Along the way, Tony says that they will continue to invest in protecting their branding assets and trade secrets:

A company’s IP strategy can have a big impact on business success. So, I would advise any company to be very mindful and careful about their IP. It is worth spending and investing some capital in seeking professional advice.

From our experience, don’t ignore your IP rights outside of the country you are operating in. Every good product needs a global IP plan.

The Home Secretary’s role in approving police use of less lethal weapons has been strengthened, in the first change to the firearms code for 17 years.

This new code will meet one of the recommendations of the Grainger Inquiry, which called for the process to have greater clarity after they found Greater Manchester Police was using CS cannisters without Secretary of State approval.

The inquiry followed the death of Anthony Grainger, who was fatally shot by Greater Manchester Police.

Policing Minister Kit Malthouse said:

We set up the Anthony Grainger Inquiry to provide answers for his family and to ensure policing learned the lessons from the tragedy.

This new code shows we are responding swiftly to the inquiry’s recommendations.

The use of firearms by the police should always be a last resort, considered only where there is a serious risk to public or police safety.

‘Less lethal weapons’ approved for police use currently includes tasers and attenuating energy projectiles.

The approval process has been strengthened by stating explicitly that Secretary of State approval is required for all new less lethal weapons systems and all significant changes existing systems.

The new ‘Armed Policing and Police Use of Less Lethal Weapons Code of Practice’ will be published by the College of Policing. It replaces the 2003 Code of Practice for the Police Use of Firearms and Less Lethal Weapons.

The code of practice sets out the basic principles of the selection, evaluation, approval, authorisation, acquisition, training and deployment of firearms and less lethal weapons by the police.

Data science experts at the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) use a wide suite of technologies to help interrogate data, infer patterns and communicate results. These include using sophisticated ‘machine learning’ algorithms to identify and analyse complex patterns in data. This emphasis on data science is an important and growing part of GAD’s client offer.

Insights and data

GAD uses machine learning approaches to identify and gain insights into patterns and drivers of change within large and multi-faceted data sets. These insights enable us to provide an improved predictive quality to our modelling.

We combine actuarial judgement and advanced technical output with data visualisation tools to create powerful visual representations. This leads to greater understanding and the ability to deliver clear and relevant messages and better advice to our clients.

Data science in action

Student loans

Working alongside UK Government Investments (UKGI) on preparing and implementing the sale of the student loans book, GAD used machine learning techniques to analyse earnings paths of student loans borrowers. This approach helped us gain a better understanding of what was driving graduate earnings, and how these changed over time.

We used that information to confirm the robustness of UKGI’s existing model while also identifying areas to prioritise for possible refinement. Demonstrating robust modelling performance to investors increases their confidence in the behaviour of the underlying asset which could ultimately lead to increased proceeds for government from the sale of the student loans book.

NHS medical negligence claims

NHS Resolution helps the NHS to manage claims that arise when things go wrong. GAD advises on the likely costs relating to such claims and provides insights from the data to help understand the risks of future clinical negligence claims. We used machine learning techniques to help identify how relationships between multiple factors in the data drive likelihoods of settlement outcomes of claims. This provided additional assurance on the current modelling methods as well as exploring potential benefits of alternative modelling approaches.