On 11 April 2018, under section 57(1) of the Enterprise Act 2002, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) formally brought to my attention the acquisition by Trinity Mirror plc of certain publishing assets of Northern & Shell. The CMA considered that the transaction may raise public interest considerations for the Secretary of State under section 58 of the Act. The CMA has also launched an initial investigation into the competition aspects of the merger.

Having considered a broad range of evidence, I have today written to the parties to inform them that I am minded-to issue a Public Interest Intervention Notice on the basis that I have concerns that there may be public interest considerations – as set out in the Act – on two grounds that are relevant to this merger that warrant further investigation.

The first public interest ground is the need for free expression of opinion, and concerns the potential impact the transfer of newspapers would have on editorial decision making. In coming to this decision I have given consideration to the issue of formal mechanisms to ensure that editorial independence is maintained at the acquired titles.

The second ground is the need for a sufficient plurality of views in newspapers, to the extent that it is reasonable or practicable. In coming to this minded-to decision I have taken into account that the merged entity would own the largest share of national titles within the UK newspaper market, owning 9 out of 20 national newspaper titles, and become the second largest national newspaper organisation in circulation terms, with a 28% share of average monthly circulation based on circulation figures for 2017 among national titles, including daily and Sunday titles.

Any decision to intervene would require Ofcom to assess and report to me on the public interest considerations and for the Competition and Markets Authority to report on jurisdiction.

In line with the guidance that applies to quasi-judicial decisions, I have invited written representations from the parties and will aim to come to a final decision on whether to intervene in the merger shortly.

Hanifeh Zarezadeh, 3D Development Engineer at Photocentric, examines the quality of jewellery 3D prints.

CPNI’s Protective Security Management Systems (PSeMS) guidance provides a suite of materials to help businesses create an assurance system for security. By using a self-assessment check list, organisations can assess gaps in their protective security and better understand weaknesses in their own security systems.

Full details are available on the CPNI’s website.

Ploughshare’s move to the Porton Science Park will benefit the site, the region and the wider UK economy. The company, which licenses defence and security technologies and creates start-up businesses, will now be able to support and collaborate with the other exciting new science and technology companies based at the science park. Ploughshare has already created 12 start-ups and has plans for more. Now, with the new Porton Science Park, it is envisaged those new businesses will also locate themselves in the park, which will create more local jobs and retain investment in the region.

The strong links Ploughshare has with the neighbouring Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), which is part of MOD, will provide a unique resource for the new science park tenants. Ploughshare has worked for many years with Dstl and understands the organisation, has excellent relationships with senior staff, and strong links with their world-class scientists and experts. James Kirby, CEO of Ploughshare Innovations said:

The new building is a state-of-the-art facility and we are looking forward to being at the heart of the science park, forging links with the other businesses here to help develop new technologies and grow prosperity for the region. Our move to Porton Down puts us closer to our main source of innovations, enabling us to maximise MOD’s investment in science and technology research.

As the commercialisation arm for Dstl, Ploughshare has a unique set of skills and experience in identifying new markets for novel defence and security-related technologies. The team includes professional commercialisation managers who are experienced in creating investible business plans and have already helped a number of organisations to improve their market position and gain commercial advantage. With their defence and security-related intellectual property portfolio, strong links with scientists at Dstl and across MOD, and their relationships with investment communities, Ploughshare brings a wealth of experience that is much valued by new start-up businesses.

Porton Science Park provides a science incubator and grow-on space for science and technology businesses for the region. Situated alongside the established research institutions of Dstl and Public Health England (PHE), it is in the ideal location to play a critical role in the strategy of Wiltshire Council and Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership to become a world-class cluster of expertise in the life science and defence technology sectors.

Experts at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and their US colleagues have developed a system to identify weapons used by the enemy based on after-attack analysis.

Knowing exactly what has been used in an attack can mean changes are made to kit and equipment, to protect against the latest threats and save the lives of soldiers on the front line.

The system involves simple analysis and forensics gathering at the scene – something which is essential to do quickly in a battlefield environment, with more detailed reconstruction and analysis later on, to build a picture of what happened. Everything, from measuring the craters left by explosives to studying the blast patterns of bullets, can be used to accurately identify the weapons used, even down to the country of origin, with each weapon leaving behind a distinct ‘signature’.

The package, funded by Dstl and created in partnership with the US Army National Ground Intelligence Centre (NGIC), is made up of sophisticated algorithms, libraries of collected data and results from live testing, and can provide accurate results quickly – sometimes within an hour of an incident.

Louis Tutin, project manager from the blast and IED team at Dstl, said:

It’s like a fingerprint, we can accurately identify the exact methods used by the enemy, and so can counter it with improved protection for our troops. Before this project, we relied on experience and opinion, now we can back this up with science. You can’t protect against bombs and bullets if you don’t know what the enemy’s using.

The UK has been working on gathering intelligence from attack scenes since the Northern Ireland deployments and since then in Iraq and Afghanistan. This formal bilateral work with the US brings together best practice from organisations like the Metropolitan Police, the CIA and the FBI to inform the high-speed techniques required to gather evidence from a hostile environment.

Col Charles Crowder, from NGIC, said:

Gathering evidence from a crime scene is a painstaking process, which takes time. We don’t have that luxury; we must collect any data we can within two to ten minutes. With our UK partners at Dstl, we can deploy specialist Combat Incident Response teams within 72 hours, who can then study vehicles and the data collected on the ground for detailed analysis.

The system is already in use at Dstl, providing a real-time resource for troops on the ground, and is set to be formally adopted by the MOD in the coming months.

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