Businesses back wi-fi’s Rikki Hunt (From Swindon Advertiser)
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Businesses back wi-fi’s Rikki Hunt
8:00am Thursday 25th March 2010 in News By Scott McPherson
THE cream of Swindon’s business world are rallying around the man behind Swindon’s wi-fi project.
On Tuesday, South Swindon MP Anne Snelgrove demanded an inquiry into what she labelled the ‘secretive’ deal which saw Swindon Borough Council agree a £450,000 loan to Digital City.
But some of Swindon’s most successful businessmen and women have come out in support of what Rikki Hunt, CEO of Digital City, has done.
Nicky Alberry, Chair of GWE Business West Ltd, said: “I have known Rikki for many years. He is an important local businessman at the forefront of driving Swindon’s strategy for economic growth through the work of the Swindon Strategic Economic Partnership (SSEP).
“He commits a great deal of his own time to bringing together the private and public sectors.”
Adventurer and businessman David Hempleman-Adams has also come to the defence of Mr Hunt, with whom he has completed several expeditions.
He said: “I have found over the years, when you are on an expedition, it’s dark, cold -40 degrees and dangerous, it's a great test of true character.
“Rikki Hunt has always shown the utmost integrity, team work and selflessness. As a son of Swindon, and my home town, I was delighted to read that Swindon was pioneering the internet programme.
“It was one of the few concepts that crossed all boundaries - political, race, religion, sex, age and wealth.”
James Lockhart, of commercial property advisors Whitmarsh Lockhart, said: “He is very straightforward to deal with and is a great business man.
“He has been a great help to the Swindon Strategic Economic Partnership and because of him we are the envy of others in the country.”
At a council meeting earlier this month, members of the cabinet agreed to sign off the rest of the £450,000 loan to Digital City with a special clause that £50,000 should be held back until Digital City hits the original private packages target the council originally gave it.
Comments(40)
politicrat
says...
8:28am Thu 25 Mar 10
This scheme is a farce and we should all be worried about how our council can allow itself to lend such vast amount of money to such a poor entreprise.
If we had an elected Mayor, he would certainly never had agreed to let Mr Bluh and Tory toffs to waste taxpayers money at a time of great need for swindon voters.
SockPuppet
says...
8:37am Thu 25 Mar 10
His character has nothing to do with the facts and the need for scrutiny into this murky affair.
Donkey of Langton
says...
9:09am Thu 25 Mar 10
trevsinclair
says...
9:16am Thu 25 Mar 10
SockPuppet wrote:SockPuppet, because the adver promotes free speech!
Why is the Adver publishing this Ricki Hunt PR stunt?
His character has nothing to do with the facts and the need for scrutiny into this murky affair.
As for calling DHA stale yoghurt! Wow! I'd like to see others do the things he has done.
mrwoo
says...
9:20am Thu 25 Mar 10
p.s Will SBC lend my small IT company £450K?
technics1210
says...
9:20am Thu 25 Mar 10
politicrat
says...
9:52am Thu 25 Mar 10
technics1210 wrote:The way I see it is that Rikki Hunt used his personal influence and local network in order to secure finance from the swindon council (Taxpayers money), that he wouldnt have been able to obtain should he have gone to the banks!
The only thing I know about Rikki Hunt is that he used to be the onlt Football director in the whole 92 team league who took a wage from the club for his role. No wonder STFC ended up in such a mess with people like him bleeding them dry!
the expense scandals, the peerages for sale and locally we have the New Swindon Company £6 million pounds unaccounted for, and this half a million pounds Loan to Digital UK
Labours or Tories, they are all in it together!! they are disguting and a shame for our Democracy that our brave soldiers are supposedly fighting to defend in barbaric countries.
real -life
says...
10:48am Thu 25 Mar 10
9:16am Thu 25 Mar 10
As for calling DHA stale yoghurt! Wow! I'd like to see others do the things he has done""
I think if you actually read the post you would find it was SBC who were called stale yoghurt and not DHA, although if the cap fits!
trustnopolitician
says...
11:09am Thu 25 Mar 10
All we seem to get is propaganda from Mr Hunt and his allies or those who just want to beat him for the alleged harm done to the football club.
Voters should withhold their vote for councillors who backed this until the facts are much clearer.
The cream of Swindon Business would not in most peoples eyes include Mr Hunt but that should not deter from putting all the facts before the public so that they can make up their own minds.
There seems to be a marked reluctance to argue either case from fact - perhaps because so much information is withheld.
politicrat
says...
11:25am Thu 25 Mar 10
trustnopolitician wrote:we should have a list of all the councillors that have voted in favour of releasing the monies to Digital UK
Whatever the rights or wrongs about this project an independent review and/or enquiry is needed to establish all the facts. All we seem to get is propaganda from Mr Hunt and his allies or those who just want to beat him for the alleged harm done to the football club. Voters should withhold their vote for councillors who backed this until the facts are much clearer. The cream of Swindon Business would not in most peoples eyes include Mr Hunt but that should not deter from putting all the facts before the public so that they can make up their own minds. There seems to be a marked reluctance to argue either case from fact - perhaps because so much information is withheld.
and let the voters decide about them. how can we get this list?
Grimwald
says...
11:53am Thu 25 Mar 10
£450,000 was never enough and because there is no queue of significant investors this is a dead duck and if more SBC money is loaned you will never see it again. As an Accountant I cannot see why our Rod is so enthusiastic, but then it is for his vanity and is not to be achieved with his money. Unless new Adver headline - COUNCIL LEADER ROD BLUH MATCHES COUNCIL LOAN IN SHARES.
If he did that and there has never been any indication that he will I might give this whole business some credit, excuse the pun!!
Support_British_Manufacturing
says...
12:01pm Thu 25 Mar 10
themoonraker
says...
12:08pm Thu 25 Mar 10
Hardly surprising though as Mr King from the advertiser is on record through his interview on BBC Radio Swindon as fully supporting this venture.
If I recall correctly Mr Kings comment was that the swindon residents should stop being so negative and fully support Mr Hunt and the council.
The implication by Mr King, during this interview was that we would be stupid to let such an opportunity pass by!
I think all us stupid people know where the advers allegances lay.....some chance of them dealing with this matter objectively on behalf of its swindon readership.
Choker
says...
3:57pm Thu 25 Mar 10
Choker
says...
4:01pm Thu 25 Mar 10
Sad Local
says...
4:18pm Thu 25 Mar 10
Is bad news pending?
If it does the controlling group may be thinking of regime change. Who will wield the knife on Rod.
"Et Tu Brutei"
Robh
says...
5:33pm Thu 25 Mar 10
Jaz B
says...
6:03pm Thu 25 Mar 10
There only two and the third is an explorer???????
Me thinks this is an exercise in Headline Placement by the Adver, whose motives for doing so are becoming clearer by the day.
Shame on you Adver, you have the ability to investigate, report and conclude, but you don't.
Why is that?
trevsinclair
says...
6:15pm Thu 25 Mar 10
How do we know that RH didn't go to the bank first?
Once the council make a decision there is little that the public can do to change it. If we don't back the project and get on board to see it benefit the town then who's loosing out? ....Us!
If SBC make money on this they can then re-invest it! If we try and cut it down then it fails... it's our money that has been lost... so out choice is to stand and support it and make it a profitable venture, the SBC re-invest.
If it is such a bad scheme (not the politics behind SBC's decision) why as @getsignal said on twitter earlier today is there news like "Going to feesability stage for WiFi with town two." - if other can see it is a benefit to their town why are Swindon residents not supporting this.
They also announced that if it gets the sign off from cabinet on the 31st the Town Centre is next...
I say stuff the politics, use your vote to vote in the PM (of which none of them get my vote as yet) then support a local project that has, and will do even more, put Swindon on the map as a centre for innovation along side all the other great science and tech businesses we have in the town.
itsamess
says...
6:39pm Thu 25 Mar 10
Do tell us all what you have been drinking?
Meldrews Dad
says...
8:20pm Thu 25 Mar 10
We all know that the Labour party has hordes of media experts manipulating their dumb clones to write letters to the paper and they are certainly showing up here.
At least SBC is backing a potentially viable project this time - or would you prefer the money to be wasted on a canal?
Forget anything that Ms. Snelgrove says, for in a few weeks she will be past history and the town can move on into the digital age.
We must be the only town to have Intel as a headquarter company but a Labour backed bunch of idiot detractors who want to remain in the carrier pigeon age.
Choker
says...
8:30pm Thu 25 Mar 10
It has taken the public a while to wake up to the idea that wireless transmitters could be less than benign. As with mobile phones, we first embrace the liberating new technology and only later ask the awkward questions. Perhaps, as with pharmaceuticals, the order should be reversed. The official line on the health implications of wi-fi is that exposure to low level electromagnetic radiation from wireless networks is well below recommended levels and that there is no evidence of risk. But despite these soothing words, the groundswell of concern is mounting, with some people blaming everything from headaches to cancer on exposure to radio-frequency fields.
As reported in this newspaper, a number of schools have dismantled their wireless networks after lobbying from worried parents, and others are under pressure to follow suit. In Austria the public health department of Salzburg has advised schools and kindergartens not to use wLAN or cordless phones. Lakehead University in Ontario, Canada, which has 7,400 students, has removed wi-fi because of what its Vice-Chancellor, Dr Fred Gilbert, calls “the weight of evidence demonstrating behavioural effects and physiological impacts at the tissue, cellular and cell level”.
Some experts have also expressed concerns. In September, 30 scientists from all over the world signed a resolution calling for a “full and independent review of the scientific evidence that points to hazards from current electromagnetic field exposure conditions worldwide.” Closer to home, the Irish Doctors Environmental Association (IDEA) has asked its country’s Government to carry out “a full assessment of the health impacts of electromagnetic radiation”.
“There has been no research specifically looking at the effects of wireless networks on human health,” admits Alasdair Philips, the scientific and technical director of the lobby group Powerwatch. “But I have seen enough anecdotal material to be convinced that some people are affected by them.”
There is more to this article ... http://www.timesonli
ne.co.uk/tol/life_an
d_style/health/featu
res/article665419.ec
e
Choker
says...
8:36pm Thu 25 Mar 10
All you SBC decision makers should be ashamed of yourselves!
Mum's The Word
says...
8:43pm Thu 25 Mar 10
Just out of interest do you have a direct involvement with this scheme or are you just an avid supporter?
Choker
says...
9:00pm Thu 25 Mar 10
Choker
says...
9:02pm Thu 25 Mar 10
Meldrews Dad
says...
9:57pm Thu 25 Mar 10
I work with a large wireless network and the health implications are on the "Old wives tales" level.
As to the canal, this is the 21st century not the 18th where your thinking comes from.
I Too
says...
11:29pm Thu 25 Mar 10
People come from all over the world to see Stonehenge, Shakespearean properties, cathedrals, railway features, museums,etc .
Bath isn't a tourist attraction, because it is modern.
For decades, we've had a council intent on destroying everything of historical value, or character, in Swindon.
Trev Undeclared Interest Sinclair, we don't need to make sure that the WiFi business is successful, just because our money has been used(without consent) for this project.
Do we encourage burglars to invest swag, taken from our homes, in the hope that they'll build us a patio and extension, if they make a profit? NO.
Choker
says...
12:26am Fri 26 Mar 10
As for my 18th century thinking, I'm 32, & I am proud to hold some traditional values in my life, SBC have been intent for decades on destroying this town - Well put 'I TOO', couldn't have put it better myself.
Choker
says...
12:44am Fri 26 Mar 10
trevsinclair
says...
7:28am Fri 26 Mar 10
Mum's The Word wrote:Complete avid supporter... try and get involved in the project and it is like trying to get into an old boys club... in that respect they have had the guys lined up for delivering this project for a while I am sure...
Trev Sinclair
Just out of interest do you have a direct involvement with this scheme or are you just an avid supporter?
...Health implications... did SBC cabinet and the WHA throw out any concerns?
Captain Sensible
says...
7:32am Fri 26 Mar 10
politicrat
says...
8:30am Fri 26 Mar 10
Captain Sensible wrote:I have national wifi included in my cable package, why would I need to sign up to this stupid scheme?
Lets just ask one question, how many people have signed up to this 'free' WIFI? At the last count the Adver said it was 11. Not bad for a £450k 'investment' by robber Bluh and his cronies.So to provide 2 hours of 'free' internet access for 11 people thats approx £40909 each. My unlimited access via dongle with '3' costs me £15 a month, methinks the figures don't add up?!
jhnhck
says...
9:06am Fri 26 Mar 10
SockPuppet
says...
9:20am Fri 26 Mar 10
trevsinclair wrote:I advocate free speech but this is a blatent PR stunt and the Adver should be ashamed for printing it.
SockPuppet wrote:SockPuppet, because the adver promotes free speech!
Why is the Adver publishing this Ricki Hunt PR stunt?
His character has nothing to do with the facts and the need for scrutiny into this murky affair.
As for calling DHA stale yoghurt! Wow! I'd like to see others do the things he has done.
Mum's The Word
says...
10:27am Fri 26 Mar 10
trevsinclair wrote:Whatever happened to free tender? Is it really all about who you know?
Mum's The Word wrote:Complete avid supporter... try and get involved in the project and it is like trying to get into an old boys club... in that respect they have had the guys lined up for delivering this project for a while I am sure...
Trev Sinclair
Just out of interest do you have a direct involvement with this scheme or are you just an avid supporter?
...Health implications... did SBC cabinet and the WHA throw out any concerns?
Why do we need this in your opinion? I really can't understand the benefits? You can access the internet through your mobile phone provider all over the UK, not just in Swindon and as Captain says for £15 a month you can use a 3 dongle. We are told that ours will be the first town in the UK to have Wifi, but aren't there three other places in the UK who already have this? Norwich? Somewhere in North London and another place which I have forgotten? How will it be good for business when almost all businesses already have the internet? And in your opinion is the grant appropriate and reflective for the project or could it be done cheaper? When doing some research I discovered that sites such as dating sites and even sites which sell underwear are going to be blocked, isn't this a bit "nanny state?" Also, last question, I promise! Will you be able to send emails via other email addresses such as hotmail or even a work address? I know that my other half had problems doing this with a 3 dongle in the past.
Apologies, a million and one questions! But clearly as an avid supporter you can see benefits and I am interested to find out why you so wholeheartedly support this project.
Captain Sensible
says...
12:06pm Fri 26 Mar 10
Choker
says...
2:53pm Fri 26 Mar 10
Kineasy
says...
3:23pm Mon 29 Mar 10
Dodgey dealing should be restricted to MP's.
real -life says...
8:11am Thu 25 Mar 10
Hahahahahahahaha, oh god don't make me laugh so much please, I can take any more Adver jokes........... Does that mean because SBC backed it, they are the cream of the business world in Swindon? More like stale yogourt if you ask me! Oh I do love a good laugh first thing in the morning.