Dorset Innovation Park has added 125 full-time equivalent jobs over the past year, according to the company that manages the site.

Dorset Innovation Park Ltd took over full management of the county's only Enterprise Zone in July 2026 and began work with Dorset Council in September 2025. It says the extra jobs have come mainly from businesses expanding and investing on the park, and that it has also found operational savings worth more than £500,000.

Plans are moving ahead for a new Advanced Engineering and Defence Skills Centre, which Dorset Council and Yeovil College are developing together. The council puts the project at £2.6 million. Yeovil College is proposing around £2.4 million of Defence Technical Excellence College capital funding, plus about £800,000 for specialist equipment, subject to approval by the Department for Education and the Ministry of Defence. The aim is a permanent base offering full-time technical education, apprenticeships and adult training for Dorset's defence and advanced manufacturing industries.

Other projects include Bournemouth University's Security Operations Centre of the Future at BattleLab, and a £20 million Global Autonomy Cluster led by Plymouth University. Businesses are preparing a funding request for a command and control centre within that programme, and proposals include a drone corridor linking the park with Portland.

A Dorset Defence Prospectus is due by the end of 2026. The council says the defence sector already contributes £437 million to the county's economy. In September, BattleLab hosted a NATO event attended by more than 44 companies from 14 nations, and a delegation from the University of Connecticut is expected to visit.

Cllr Richard Biggs, Dorset Council's cabinet member for regeneration and economic growth, said the rise in jobs and the commitment to new facilities show the work is producing results. Kevin Forshaw, managing director of Dorset Innovation Park Ltd, said significant growth is projected for next year.

Source: Dorset Council press release, 4 November 2026.