Talk to me about Dorset

[Hugh Jardon]

Talk to me about Dorset

Looks like me and the good lady are leaving London and moving to Dorset this year We're kind of winging it when it comes to getting work (warchest could come in handy!). Anyone on here live in the Dorset/Wiltshire area? What's the contract market like - do you find most roles are Poole and Bournmouth or Bristol, Taunton, Southampton, London?

I'm a PM/BA with specialisms in Financial Systems, data warehousing, BI etc. Jobs are two a penny in London, but I know they will be harder out in the sticks, but this is our time to move

Moved very close to the Dorset/Wilts/Somerset border some 20 years ago.

Commuted by car or train to Bristol, Basingstoke, Swindon, Salisbury, Bournemouth & Exeter, over the years for contracts mostly within the financial & government sectors.

[MicrosoftBob]

I used to work in London during the week, staying in a hotel then back to Dorset Friday night

If you're in banking, there is Chase in Bournemouth, a bit weird some of them, but theres work there...

Southampton area has more IT than Bournemouth, head west from Bournemouth and it's an IT wasteland though

The coastline is pretty as a consolation, contract rates hold up a lot better than permie ones compared to London, so that's another plus

[MicrosoftBob]

Where is GittinsGal when you need him? ISTR he had some (almost) plausible stories about Dorset.

That's because they live in Dorset if it's who I think it is...

[Whorty]

Well as name suggests i'm downsouth, so ere goes, TBH only real contractor companies in the Bournemouth/Poole area are JP, LV, Barclays and Nationwide

Obv over in southampton theres a few companies also, but nothing on the scale of londinium but the london commute is just about bearable @2hrs

I wouldn't be commuting to bristol on a daily basis (can take 2hrs in traffic and its mostly single lane stuff if you dont fire round the motorways!!!) but plenty of large financials have key offices there, Nationwide in swindon also, so there is work about just gotta travel to it or accept a slightly lower rate on most occasions but i've been seeing @city type rates every now n then

Other than that you'll love living down here, beaches, forests and countryside make for a better person than city folk

where u looking to live?

We're looking at areas around Shaftesbury. Close enough to trains if i need to take a contract in London, and central enough to reach most areas where work might be. I figure I could even get to Newbury and Reading too. Any door to door commute under 2 hours by car or train is OK.

Chap I work with at the moment commutes in from Salisbury -I know that is a smidge closer, but he seems OK with it.

[Big Blue Plymouth]

Looks like me and the good lady are leaving London and moving to Dorset this year We're kind of winging it when it comes to getting work (warchest could come in handy!). Anyone on here live in the Dorset/Wiltshire area? What's the contract market like - do you find most roles are Poole and Bournmouth or Bristol, Taunton, Southampton, London?

I'm a PM/BA with specialisms in Financial Systems, data warehousing, BI etc. Jobs are two a penny in London, but I know they will be harder out in the sticks, but this is our time to move

Did you ever move to Dorset? Moving that way in a few weeks (only from Bristol area) and was wondering what are the best areas to target for contracts . The places that are doable on a daily basis at the moment, i.e. Bristol, Cardiff, Swindon will be off limits. Bournemouth, Poole and Exeter come into play though. Basingstoke will also be doable in a couple of hours by train. I'll be in West Dorset; closest rail link will be Sherborne or Yeovil.

Would be interested in any input from anyone living in that neck of the woods.