Dr Lennard Lee, an honorary consultant medical oncologist at Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) and associate professor at the University of Oxford, received national recognition as one of the top three investigator-led research projects in the country at the Royal College of Physicians’ Excellence in Patient Care Awards 2026.

The award celebrates his leadership of the UK Cancer Vaccine Advance programme, a national collaboration involving the NHS, academia, government, and industry to accelerate personalised cancer vaccine development.

Dr Lee said: “We are now seeing leading scientists from across the UK bringing their expertise together to accelerate cancer vaccine research.

“That has become one of the country’s great scientific success stories.”

The programme aims to enrol more than 10,000 cancer patients in clinical trials, using AI, UK supercomputing, and laboratory automation to speed up the discovery and production of new treatments.

Dr Lee said: “It has been an enormous privilege to lead this work while continuing to care for patients as a consultant medical oncologist at OUH.

“Keeping patients at the centre of everything we do has enabled us to build a truly national programme that is accelerating clinical trials, bringing together AI, supercomputing and medicine, and creating the opportunity to deliver new cancer vaccines for the NHS.”

Professor Andrew Brent, chief medical officer at OUH, praised Dr Lee’s ‘well-deserved national recognition’.

He said: “His work demonstrates the extraordinary impact that can be achieved when clinical expertise, scientific innovation and cutting-edge technology come together with a clear focus on improving patient care.”

The business stopped trading earlier this year in January after more than 30 years in business.

Holidays were cancelled when the business folded.

And then the directors of Gold Crest Holidays put the bust company into voluntary liquidation.

Statement of affairs submitted to Companies House reveal debts of £927k, including £102k to ABTA and £63k to American Express.

READ MORE: Haulage firm collapses in liquidation after 35 years with £1.1m debts

The company specialised in coach packages to Disneyland Paris, European city breaks and major sporting events, as well as UK short breaks and themed holidays.

Its advertised itineraries included countryside and heritage tours with excursions to areas such as the Cotswolds, alongside seaside breaks and city stays.

A notice to customers says all future departures have been cancelled and the business has stopped trading with immediate effect.

Travel industry body ABTA is treating Gold Crest as a financial failure and has confirmed that customers with package bookings protected by its scheme can claim refunds for holidays that will not go ahead.

Reports say the collapse affects coach holidays booked through both travel agents and direct with the company, covering trips in the UK and overseas throughout 2026.

Gold Crest’s liquidation comes amid a series of failures involving UK travel businesses, with Oxfordshire Travel Limited also in liquidation.

Industry commentators have pointed to rising operating costs, pressure on household budgets and tighter margins in the coach and package holiday sector as factors behind the recent wave of insolvencies.

For Gold Crest customers who had booked Cotswolds or countryside itineraries as part of a coach package, the liquidation means holidays will not take place, and passengers will need to seek refunds or rebook with alternative operators.

Hart District Council has expanded its cyber security partnership with KHIPU to provide round-the-clock security monitoring aimed at protecting council systems and residents’ data.

The arrangement gives the Hampshire local authority continuous monitoring and threat response without having to build its own in-house security operations centre, a costly model that can be difficult for smaller councils to staff.

Local authorities have become frequent targets for cyber attacks as more public services move online and councils hold large volumes of personal and operational data. For district councils, the challenge is often not recognising the risk but finding the funding and specialist staff needed to maintain a 24-hour cyber defence operation.

Hart’s deal with Fleet-based KHIPU reflects a wider shift among public bodies towards outsourcing parts of their cyber security operations to specialist providers. KHIPU has added six councils to its security monitoring service in the past six months, pointing to growing demand from the sector.

Skills gap

The partnership is intended to supplement Hart District Council’s internal IT team rather than replace it. Under the agreement, KHIPU will continuously monitor systems for suspicious activity and respond to potential threats that could disrupt council services or expose sensitive data.

The model addresses a long-running issue in local government: cyber security expertise is expensive and in short supply, while many councils face budget pressures across core services. Building an internal operation that can monitor networks and systems at all hours requires recruitment, training and retention budgets that smaller authorities often struggle to sustain.

Using an external monitoring service also allows councils to spread costs more predictably, though it increases the importance of supplier oversight, incident processes and clear accountability between the authority and the provider.

Councillor Tony Clarke, portfolio holder for digital and communications at Hart District Council, said: “Protecting council services and our residents’ data is a key priority, and KHIPU’s support is helping us meet those responsibilities in a practical, affordable, and resilient way.”

Local focus

The agreement also has a local economic dimension. KHIPU is based in Fleet, near Hart District Council, and has presented the work as an example of a local authority buying specialist digital services from a nearby supplier rather than looking further afield.

That approach may appeal to councils under pressure to support regional economies while modernising public services, although procurement decisions in the public sector remain driven by cost, compliance and operational need.

Matt Ashman, chief commercial officer at KHIPU, said the contract had significance beyond the commercial relationship itself. “We are incredibly proud to strengthen our relationship with Hart District Council. As a business proudly based in Fleet, working with our own local authority is particularly meaningful. It perfectly demonstrates how investing in specialist capability close to home can drive regional economic development and retain high-value tech expertise within our district.

“Delivering 24×7 security monitoring to local councils is about more than just technology; it’s about protecting residents, vital public services, and sensitive data. We look forward to expanding this partnership and continuing to work together to secure our shared community.”

Sector pressure

The deal comes as councils face a more complex cyber risk environment. Attacks on public bodies can lead to service outages, disrupted communications, delayed transactions and data exposure, with effects that can quickly reach residents who depend on local services.

For smaller authorities, a managed monitoring model offers a way to gain round-the-clock coverage that would otherwise be out of reach. It also reflects the growing concentration of advanced cyber security skills in specialist firms, leaving many public organisations to decide whether to build internal capability, share services with other bodies or contract out key functions.

KHIPU said its services are designed to meet the compliance and security requirements that apply to UK public sector bodies. That matters because local authorities must balance operational resilience with procurement scrutiny, data handling rules and the need to show that external suppliers can meet public sector standards.

The Hart partnership shows how that balancing act is increasingly being managed through outsourced services rather than internal expansion. In a sector where staffing constraints and financial pressure rarely ease at the same time, access to continuous monitoring is becoming less a matter of in-house scale and more a question of whether councils can find a supplier they trust.