Cambridge and Peterborough Combined Authority will discuss plans to invest up to £5.5 million to ensure the county has outstanding digital connectivity – including tackling poor mobile phone coverage – at a board meeting at the end of March.

Ambitious plans for improving mobile, broadband and public Wi-Fi coverage for everyone – whether at home or work, on the move, in market towns or rural villages – form part of agenda papers published in advance of the  authority board summit on March 28.

The plans to be discussed are part of a bold vision shared by all combined authority members to ensure that as a leading digital county of the UK, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough has the fixed and mobile connectivity needed to underpin the region’s growth and prosperity – now and in the future.

The business and technology sectors of the county are still complaining about poor connectivity in too many areas of a supposedly world-leading cluster.

Internet access is now seen at the ‘4th utility’ which underpins almost all aspects of modern life. Superfast broadband is now available to over 96 per cent of homes and businesses in the county with more to come, but poor mobile coverage is below the England average in all areas except the main cities.

If agreed by the Combined Authority Board, the funding will be used to extend the successful Connecting Cambridgeshire digital programme, which has been led by Cambridgeshire County Council and with Peterborough City Council, supported through a combination of public funding and private sector investment.

Connecting Cambridgeshire has recently been allocated up to £4 million additional Government funding to help to bring full fibre broadband connectivity – capable of gigabit speeds of over 1000Mbps – to Cambridgeshire and Peterborough over the next four years.

In addition to current plans to bring Superfast Broadband access to over 99 per cent of homes by 2020, the programme aims to target improvements in Mobile (2G & 4G), Full Fibre coverage, 5G (next generation mobile) and Wi-Fi coverage in market towns over the next four years.

The delivery programme would work with telecoms providers and mobile operators to:-

• Improve mobile network coverage so that people can make reliable mobile phone calls and use 4G across the whole geography of the county, including A and B roads, and rail services by 2022.
• Expand public access Wi-Fi services to market towns, so more people can get online in public buildings and open spaces, as is already in place in Cambridge and Peterborough.
• To prepare for the next generation of mobile services and full fibre networks, the programme could also:-
• Target a threefold expansion of full fibre networks bringing ‘fibre to the premise’ (FTTP) services offering broadband speeds of up to 300Mbps.
• Be among the first in the country to trial future facing 5G services, working with businesses to maximise the impact and generate long term benefits for the area.

The four-year plan supports CA’s devolution deal commitments to double the size of the economy, deliver outstanding and much needed connectivity, make public services more responsive to local need and improve people’s quality of life.

Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough James Palmer said: “Digital connectivity is a vital part of our area’s infrastructure. The Combined Authority is committed to ‘outstanding’ digital connectivity that will support the growth of our local economy and improve the day to day lives of our residents. 

“A strong mobile and broadband network is key to enable us to remain competitive in the national and international marketplace through the use of smart technology.

“We also want to see greater equity of free public access to Wi-Fi, which is why we are keen to extend free public access across our market towns to follow the very successful projects that are already in place in Cambridge and Peterborough. 

“This scheme would allow local people and visitors to get online in public buildings and open spaces across our area, so that they can be connected wherever they are.”

• PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS: James Palmer, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and Cllr Steve Count, leader of Cambridgeshire County Council

Cambridge and Peterborough Combined Authority will discuss plans to invest up to £5.5 million to ensure the county has outstanding digital connectivity – including tackling poor mobile phone coverage – at a board meeting at the end of March.

Ambitious plans for improving mobile, broadband and public Wi-Fi coverage for everyone – whether at home or work, on the move, in market towns or rural villages – form part of agenda papers published in advance of the  authority board summit on March 28.

The plans to be discussed are part of a bold vision shared by all combined authority members to ensure that as a leading digital county of the UK, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough has the fixed and mobile connectivity needed to underpin the region’s growth and prosperity – now and in the future.

The business and technology sectors of the county are still complaining about poor connectivity in too many areas of a supposedly world-leading cluster.

Internet access is now seen at the ‘4th utility’ which underpins almost all aspects of modern life. Superfast broadband is now available to over 96 per cent of homes and businesses in the county with more to come, but poor mobile coverage is below the England average in all areas except the main cities.

If agreed by the Combined Authority Board, the funding will be used to extend the successful Connecting Cambridgeshire digital programme, which has been led by Cambridgeshire County Council and with Peterborough City Council, supported through a combination of public funding and private sector investment.

Connecting Cambridgeshire has recently been allocated up to £4 million additional Government funding to help to bring full fibre broadband connectivity – capable of gigabit speeds of over 1000Mbps – to Cambridgeshire and Peterborough over the next four years.

In addition to current plans to bring Superfast Broadband access to over 99 per cent of homes by 2020, the programme aims to target improvements in Mobile (2G & 4G), Full Fibre coverage, 5G (next generation mobile) and Wi-Fi coverage in market towns over the next four years.

The delivery programme would work with telecoms providers and mobile operators to:-

• Improve mobile network coverage so that people can make reliable mobile phone calls and use 4G across the whole geography of the county, including A and B roads, and rail services by 2022.
• Expand public access Wi-Fi services to market towns, so more people can get online in public buildings and open spaces, as is already in place in Cambridge and Peterborough.
• To prepare for the next generation of mobile services and full fibre networks, the programme could also:-
• Target a threefold expansion of full fibre networks bringing ‘fibre to the premise’ (FTTP) services offering broadband speeds of up to 300Mbps.
• Be among the first in the country to trial future facing 5G services, working with businesses to maximise the impact and generate long term benefits for the area.

The four-year plan supports CA’s devolution deal commitments to double the size of the economy, deliver outstanding and much needed connectivity, make public services more responsive to local need and improve people’s quality of life.

Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough James Palmer said: “Digital connectivity is a vital part of our area’s infrastructure. The Combined Authority is committed to ‘outstanding’ digital connectivity that will support the growth of our local economy and improve the day to day lives of our residents. 

“A strong mobile and broadband network is key to enable us to remain competitive in the national and international marketplace through the use of smart technology.

“We also want to see greater equity of free public access to Wi-Fi, which is why we are keen to extend free public access across our market towns to follow the very successful projects that are already in place in Cambridge and Peterborough. 

“This scheme would allow local people and visitors to get online in public buildings and open spaces across our area, so that they can be connected wherever they are.”

• PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS: James Palmer, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and Cllr Steve Count, leader of Cambridgeshire County Council

Cambridge and Peterborough Combined Authority will discuss plans to invest up to £5.5 million to ensure the county has outstanding digital connectivity – including tackling poor mobile phone coverage – at a board meeting at the end of March.

Ambitious plans for improving mobile, broadband and public Wi-Fi coverage for everyone – whether at home or work, on the move, in market towns or rural villages – form part of agenda papers published in advance of the  authority board summit on March 28.

The plans to be discussed are part of a bold vision shared by all combined authority members to ensure that as a leading digital county of the UK, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough has the fixed and mobile connectivity needed to underpin the region’s growth and prosperity – now and in the future.

The business and technology sectors of the county are still complaining about poor connectivity in too many areas of a supposedly world-leading cluster.

Internet access is now seen at the ‘4th utility’ which underpins almost all aspects of modern life. Superfast broadband is now available to over 96 per cent of homes and businesses in the county with more to come, but poor mobile coverage is below the England average in all areas except the main cities.

If agreed by the Combined Authority Board, the funding will be used to extend the successful Connecting Cambridgeshire digital programme, which has been led by Cambridgeshire County Council and with Peterborough City Council, supported through a combination of public funding and private sector investment.

Connecting Cambridgeshire has recently been allocated up to £4 million additional Government funding to help to bring full fibre broadband connectivity – capable of gigabit speeds of over 1000Mbps – to Cambridgeshire and Peterborough over the next four years.

In addition to current plans to bring Superfast Broadband access to over 99 per cent of homes by 2020, the programme aims to target improvements in Mobile (2G & 4G), Full Fibre coverage, 5G (next generation mobile) and Wi-Fi coverage in market towns over the next four years.

The delivery programme would work with telecoms providers and mobile operators to:-

• Improve mobile network coverage so that people can make reliable mobile phone calls and use 4G across the whole geography of the county, including A and B roads, and rail services by 2022.
• Expand public access Wi-Fi services to market towns, so more people can get online in public buildings and open spaces, as is already in place in Cambridge and Peterborough.
• To prepare for the next generation of mobile services and full fibre networks, the programme could also:-
• Target a threefold expansion of full fibre networks bringing ‘fibre to the premise’ (FTTP) services offering broadband speeds of up to 300Mbps.
• Be among the first in the country to trial future facing 5G services, working with businesses to maximise the impact and generate long term benefits for the area.

The four-year plan supports CA’s devolution deal commitments to double the size of the economy, deliver outstanding and much needed connectivity, make public services more responsive to local need and improve people’s quality of life.

Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough James Palmer said: “Digital connectivity is a vital part of our area’s infrastructure. The Combined Authority is committed to ‘outstanding’ digital connectivity that will support the growth of our local economy and improve the day to day lives of our residents. 

“A strong mobile and broadband network is key to enable us to remain competitive in the national and international marketplace through the use of smart technology.

“We also want to see greater equity of free public access to Wi-Fi, which is why we are keen to extend free public access across our market towns to follow the very successful projects that are already in place in Cambridge and Peterborough. 

“This scheme would allow local people and visitors to get online in public buildings and open spaces across our area, so that they can be connected wherever they are.”

• PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS: James Palmer, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and Cllr Steve Count, leader of Cambridgeshire County Council

A surge of office space take-up by technology companies in Cambridge has shredded availability in the sought after sub-10,000 sq ft bracket – and that could stifle startups’ growth plans, according to Savills analysis.

Savills reports spiralling deals relating to offices of this size in the second half of 2017, with technology occupiers accounting for 42 per cent of new leases.

The second half to date has seen only five deals exceeding 10,000 sq ft, including PWC’s pre-let of 12,195 sq ft at the Maurice Wilkes Building on St John’s Innovation Park. Savills notes that whilst deals this year have been largely dominated by small startup firms moving into second and third phase growth stages, the first half of 2017 also saw a number of corporate occupiers including Amazon, Heptares and Astex Pharmaceuticals commit to more than 130,000 sq ft of office and lab space across the city.

As a result, Savills research shows that in Cambridge’s key tech cluster, located in the city centre, only 23,832 sq ft of space remains available in the sub 10,000 sq ft bracket.

Furthermore, the parks are seeing similar strains on supply with circa 50,000 sq ft of vacant existing office accommodation across the northern cluster of varying grade.

William Clarke, associate director in the business space team at Savills Cambridge, said: “Despite there being more than 160,000 sq ft of speculative office space under construction at 50 and 60 Station Road in the city centre, this is not due to complete until 2019.

“In the interim, a lack of existing opportunities within the northern cluster and city centre means that we will need to find creative solutions in order to deliver the space that businesses from corporates to startups might need.”

The lack of stock, coupled with strong ongoing occupier demand, is set to drive up rents in Cambridge city centre. Savills predicts that rents in this location will continue to strengthen during 2018 as they edge closer to £40.00 per sq ft.

Clarke adds: “Whilst the city will always attract household names due to its status as a key global business location, there is a danger that its startup community will find it harder to spread their wings, stifled by a lack of suitable space, both in the beginning and as they continue to grow. 

“For this reason, Cambridge needs to provide a spectrum of available space, along with the necessary infrastructure to nurture home-grown talent.”

• PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS: William Clarke

Stansted Airport has opened up direct services to the Middle East in an historic alliance with Emirates – handing another huge boost to the Cambridge and East of England business community.

Emirates will launch a daily service from June 8, 2018 utilising new three-class Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Emirates becomes the first Middle Eastern airline to operate out of the popular North East London airport. The service will connect businesses from the London Stansted Cambridge Corridor with Emirates’ global network of over 154 destinations worldwide.

On top of North American services recently announced, Stansted management has opened up a new world of opportunity for companies in the Cambridge cluster, which is Europe’s No.1 science & technology hotspot.

The aircraft chosen for the service is fitted with game-changing, fully enclosed private suites in First Class, as well as refreshed Business and Economy Class cabins.

Outbound, flight EK33 will depart Dubai at 09:30hrs, and will arrive in London Stansted at 14:10hrs. On its return, flight EK34 will depart London Stansted at 21:10hrs and arrive in Dubai at 07:05 the following day.

Opening the London Stansted gateway was a strategic decision by Emirates to serve the thriving business community in London’s north east and the wider 7.5 million population that fall within its catchment area. 

Hong Kong, Dubai, Shanghai, Singapore and Mumbai are the most popular business destinations from the East of England, which Emirates serves daily through its Dubai hub. Leisure travellers can enjoy direct, daily services to Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Bali and the Indian Ocean islands.

More than 25 of the world’s largest corporations have established operations in the wider Cambridge and Peterborough area, with Airbus, AstraZeneca and GSK amongst the multi-national companies based there. Such businesses have helped establish the London Stansted Cambridge Corridor as one of the top five global knowledge regions, alongside world-leading San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Boston.

Laurie Berryman, Emirates vice-president for the UK said: “The introduction of the new London Stansted-Dubai route not only signifies 10 daily flights between Dubai and three different London Airports, but is also welcome news to businesses based in the Stansted catchment area who, before now, travelled to central London to fly to airports with global reach.

“The additional gateway will also prove useful to the new start-ups and existing SMEs, which form a growing section of the Cambridge business community. We pride ourselves as an airline in connecting people and economies and the addition of the Stansted gateway is the latest on our growing network.”

Ken O’ Toole, London Stansted’s CEO, added: “We’re delighted that Emirates has recognised the strength of London Stansted’s catchment and the opportunity that our available runway capacity gives them to continue growing in the South East of England over the next decade.

“At this crucial time, the new Emirates services will provide an important boost to the UK economy by strengthening international connectivity and offering greater choice and convenience for passengers travelling to long haul destinations.

“London Stansted has seen significant capital investment and growth since its acquisition by MAG in 2013 and we’re looking forward to working with Emirates as we move forward with the next phase of development of the airport and its network of destinations.”

Stansted will also be vital for Emirates’ SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates and the world’s largest international cargo airline, due to its large cargo handling capabilities.
 
The carrier connects cargo customers to over 154 cities across 84 countries in six continents and flies 140,000 tonnes of cargo in and out of the UK in an average year.

Stansted Airport has opened up direct services to the Middle East in an historic alliance with Emirates – handing another huge boost to the Cambridge and East of England business community.

Emirates will launch a daily service from June 8, 2018 utilising new three-class Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Emirates becomes the first Middle Eastern airline to operate out of the popular North East London airport. The service will connect businesses from the London Stansted Cambridge Corridor with Emirates’ global network of over 154 destinations worldwide.

On top of North American services recently announced, Stansted management has opened up a new world of opportunity for companies in the Cambridge cluster, which is Europe’s No.1 science & technology hotspot.

The aircraft chosen for the service is fitted with game-changing, fully enclosed private suites in First Class, as well as refreshed Business and Economy Class cabins.

Outbound, flight EK33 will depart Dubai at 09:30hrs, and will arrive in London Stansted at 14:10hrs. On its return, flight EK34 will depart London Stansted at 21:10hrs and arrive in Dubai at 07:05 the following day.

Opening the London Stansted gateway was a strategic decision by Emirates to serve the thriving business community in London’s north east and the wider 7.5 million population that fall within its catchment area. 

Hong Kong, Dubai, Shanghai, Singapore and Mumbai are the most popular business destinations from the East of England, which Emirates serves daily through its Dubai hub. Leisure travellers can enjoy direct, daily services to Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Bali and the Indian Ocean islands.

More than 25 of the world’s largest corporations have established operations in the wider Cambridge and Peterborough area, with Airbus, AstraZeneca and GSK amongst the multi-national companies based there. Such businesses have helped establish the London Stansted Cambridge Corridor as one of the top five global knowledge regions, alongside world-leading San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Boston.

Laurie Berryman, Emirates vice-president for the UK said: “The introduction of the new London Stansted-Dubai route not only signifies 10 daily flights between Dubai and three different London Airports, but is also welcome news to businesses based in the Stansted catchment area who, before now, travelled to central London to fly to airports with global reach.

“The additional gateway will also prove useful to the new start-ups and existing SMEs, which form a growing section of the Cambridge business community. We pride ourselves as an airline in connecting people and economies and the addition of the Stansted gateway is the latest on our growing network.”

Ken O’ Toole, London Stansted’s CEO, added: “We’re delighted that Emirates has recognised the strength of London Stansted’s catchment and the opportunity that our available runway capacity gives them to continue growing in the South East of England over the next decade.

“At this crucial time, the new Emirates services will provide an important boost to the UK economy by strengthening international connectivity and offering greater choice and convenience for passengers travelling to long haul destinations.

“London Stansted has seen significant capital investment and growth since its acquisition by MAG in 2013 and we’re looking forward to working with Emirates as we move forward with the next phase of development of the airport and its network of destinations.”

Stansted will also be vital for Emirates’ SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates and the world’s largest international cargo airline, due to its large cargo handling capabilities.
 
The carrier connects cargo customers to over 154 cities across 84 countries in six continents and flies 140,000 tonnes of cargo in and out of the UK in an average year.

A specially developed ‘smart indicator’ technology from Cambridge innovator Timestrip is being adopted in developing countries where missed vaccinations are common.

Working with the Trust for Vaccines & Immunization (TVI), a not-for-profit organisation, Timestrip technology has been used to create a set of Vaccine Indicator Reminder (VIR) bands that are worn by newborn babies to remind mothers when vaccinations are due.

The operation of the devices is based on predictable chemical processes, so no moving parts or electronics are involved – providing a simple, failsafe operation that is very easy to use.

The new  bands are activated simply by pressing on them lightly. An irreversible chemical process, based on a special food grade dye, then provides a highly visible countdown to the next vaccine due date.

Three different colour bands are used: at birth, and at the 6, 10 and 14 weeks’ immunisation schedule. The infant receives the first VIR (Yellow) Band after receiving the birth dose of vaccines, and two more bands at 6 (Purple) and 10 (Aqua) weeks’ visits.

Once the infants receive the fourth dose of vaccines at 14 weeks of age, they are protected against nine vaccine preventable diseases, ensuring their survival and protection from lifelong disability. In Pakistan for example, over the first 14 weeks of a baby’s life, four sets of vaccines are advised, yet these are often missed: estimates suggest that up to 60 per cent of infants do not complete the immunisation schedule.

Dr Noor Sabah Rakhshani from TVI created the potentially life saving concept of the smart bands, and was the recipient of a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenges Explorations Award to bring the idea to fruition.

“We are taking small but very important steps in our quest to protect children from vaccine preventable illnesses across Pakistan and around the world,” said Dr Rakhshani.

“The environmentally friendly, low cost and widely used Timestrip technology has made it possible for the VIR band to be tested in low income communities in Pakistan and Nigeria.  I am thrilled to be working with the team.”

Timestrip CEO, Reuben Isbitsky added: “We are absolutely delighted to be helping bring about change in this vital area of work. Our history of innovation in the medical and pharmaceutical sectors, including the development of temperature monitoring products for blood products and vaccines, has meant we were able to support the creation of a simple but life-saving product that will help millions of children who suffer through incomplete vaccination regimes.”

• PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS: Reuben Isbitsky

Valerie Lambert, a partner in Hewitsons’ Cambridge Employment Law team, explains what the ongoing case involving taxi-hailing firm Uber and its workers means for businesses operating in the so-called ‘gig economy’

What has become known as the ‘gig economy’ is businesses requiring short-term contracts of freelance work rather than needing permanent jobs to operate.

Many businesses within the gig economy are dependent upon individuals to carry out work for them. The gig economy has been at the forefront of the long-running debate about employment status – in particular, whether these businesses engage individuals as workers on zero-hour contracts or self-employed consultants or freelancers. 

The debate is particularly heated because of the associated rights which workers have in comparison with those who are self-employed, as well as tax liabilities.

On 30 November 2016, the Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) commenced an independent review of Employment Practices in the Modern Economy (the Taylor Review), which focused on the rights and responsibilities of workers, as well as on employer freedoms and obligations. The gig economy and the difficulties associated with employment status of individuals working within the gig economy formed the centrepiece of the Taylor Review.

The final report was published on 11 July 2017, and the Work and Pensions Committee and the BEIS Committee are currently carrying out a joint review of the Taylor Review, which commenced on 10 October 2017.

Against this backdrop the Employment Tribunals have faced, and continue to face, a raft of cases about employment status. Perhaps the case which has brought the issues of employment status into sharp focus, is the widely publicised case which was brought against Uber, by some of its taxi drivers, who were aggrieved at not being paid holiday pay and sick pay, amongst other things, and argued that they were workers rather than being self-employed agents of Uber.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) upheld the Tribunal’s decision that the taxi drivers were in actual fact workers, rather than self-employment individuals.

The case was noteworthy because the Tribunal disregarded the written contractual documentation in place between Uber and their taxi drivers, which was very clear in establishing self-employed status and supported Uber’s contentions that their drivers were their agents.

The headline points given by the EAT in dismissing Uber’s appeal were:-
(i) The Tribunal had been entitled to reject the characterisation of the relationship between Uber drivers and Uber, in the written contractual documentation, as being determinative of status and was entitled to look at the situation on the ground;
(ii) The Tribunal, having determined the true nature of the bargain between Uber and its drivers, had been entitled to also reject the label of agency used in the written contractual documentation; and
(iii) The Tribunal’s judgment was neither inconsistent nor perverse. In particular, the Tribunal had permissibly concluded that there were obligations upon Uber drivers that they should accept trips offered by Uber and that they should not cancel trips once accepted (there being potential penalties for doing so), together with various obligations when ‘on-duty’, which indicated worker status rather than self-employed status.

Perhaps one of the key points to learn from the Uber case is that the Tribunal will not be constrained to simply accept the contractual documentation in place between the parties.

Rather, the Tribunal will look at the position on the ground and determine what the status of an individual is, whether that be an employee, a worker or a self-employed person. 

Uber have very publicly disagreed with the ruling of the Employment Tribunal and the EAT and will be taking the dispute further, having now submitted a petition direct to the Supreme Court, leapfrogging the Court of Appeal, seeking that the Employment Appeal Tribunal’s case be overturned. 

It remains to be seen whether the Pimlico Plumbers case – another case in which the EAT found that the plumbers were not in fact self-employed but were workers, entitled to various benefits including sick pay and holiday pay – will be heard in tandem with the Uber case.

Game-changing AI technology for the insurance industry is being rolled out internationally by Cytora after the company secured £4.4 million funding.

Cambridge Innovation Capital invested alongside a cohort of backers including insurance companies QBE and Starr.

Cytora has built a risk engine applying artificial intelligence to identify patterns of good and bad risks over time, allowing commercial insurers to target, select and price risk more accurately.

The technology enables insurers to achieve improved loss ratios and premium growth, whilst delivering fairer prices to customers.

Cytora arose from an idea nurtured by the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School Accelerate Programme and was initially supported by Cambridge Enterprise, the University’s commercialisation arm. 

The Cytora team has taken natural language processing techniques and machine learning technology developed at the university and applied them to commercially relevant applications for the insurance industry.

The funding comes as Cytora prepares to deploy its Risk Engine internationally across property and casualty lines with a core group of insurers.

For the past year, Cytora has been working selectively with a consortium of commercial insurers to embed its technology. These insurers, including QBE, Starr and XL Catlin have gained early access to Cytora’s Risk Engine prior to the technology becoming available to the wider market.

The funds will be dedicated to increasing data science and engineering capacity to establish Cytora as the market-leading AI solution for the commercial insurance industry.

Andrew Williamson, investment director at CIC said: “Cytora is an exciting company based on ideas created in Cambridge but with global applications. 
It has applied technology developed at the University of Cambridge, has been mentored by the university’s Judge Business School and has been backed by Cambridge Enterprise, the university’s commercialisation arm. We are delighted to support the company as it starts the next stage of its evolution.”

Richard Hartley, CEO of Cytora, added: “Cytora’s technology opens up significant opportunities for the insurance industry. 

“We are proud to be supported by pioneering technologists and leading insurers that share our vision for a new standard in risk selection and pricing that is underpinned by objective data and machine intelligence. The calibre of our investors and advisory board is a testament to our team, our technology and the scale of our vision.”

• PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS: Andrew Williamson

The world-renowned Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge has received an £85 million gift from the estate of Dolby Laboratories founder Ray Dolby to underpin the cost of a new building at the West Cambridge site and the establishment of a new, as yet unspecified, research group there.

The benefactor founded Dolby Noise Reduction, Dolby Surround, and successor audio signal processing technologies, which have revolutionised the audio quality of music, motion pictures, and television worldwide.

The Dolby family gift is the largest philanthropic donation ever made to UK science and will support Ray Dolby’s alma mater; he gained his PhD there in 1961.

Some £75m of the donation is for the new Cavendish building which is expected to open in 2022. It will be named the Ray Dolby Centre. The £10m balance will go to set up up the new research group there, further details about which are awaited.

The group, which will be led by a new endowed Ray Dolby Professorship, will build on and further strengthen the Cavendish Laboratory’s status and impact as one of the greatest centres of physics research in the world.

Ray Dolby (pictured above), who died in 2013 at the age of 80, came to Cambridge as a Marshall Scholar in 1957. Besides doing his PhD at the Cavendish he was a student and later a Fellow of Pembroke College.

He founded Dolby Laboratories in London in 1965 and invented the Dolby System, an analogue audio encoding system that forever improved the quality of recorded sound. He moved the company in 1976 to San Francisco, where it has been headquartered ever since.

The new Cavendish Laboratory will be its third home since its founding in 1874 and was first announced by the UK Government in its 2015 Spending Review. It promised a £75 million investment in the Cavendish, which has been confirmed this week, helping maintain Britain’s position at the forefront of physical sciences research. 

The funding will be delivered by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Work on the new facility is expected to begin in 2019.

Thanks to this exceptional gift from the Dolby estate, the university has now surpassed the £1 billion milestone in its current £2bn fundraising campaign.

This is the second generous gift to Cambridge from the Dolby family, who donated £35 million to Pembroke College in 2015. The Dolby family is now the largest donor to the fundraising campaign and the second-largest donor to the university in its 808-year history.

Cambridge vice-chancellor Professor Stephen Toope said: “This unparalleled gift is a fitting tribute to Ray Dolby’s legacy, who changed the way the world listened; his research paved the way for an entire industry.

“A century from now, we can only speculate on which discoveries will alter the way we live our lives and which new industries will have been born in the Cavendish Laboratory – in large part thanks to this extraordinarily generous gift.”

Professor Andy Parker, head of the Cavendish Laboratory, added: “The Ray Dolby Centre will complete the development of the new Cavendish Laboratory. 

“In addition to serving as a home for physics research at Cambridge, it will be a top-class facility for the nation. This extremely generous gift from the Dolby family is the most significant investment in physics research in generations and a truly transformational gift in Cambridge’s history.”