Sorry to hear that Mike, where in Dorset are you based? I work for an IT firm in Dorset too and we hit hard times, a laying off and some back to basics cost cutting kept us afloat but things were certainly brighter this time last year.
Best bet in Dorset is Poole/Bournemouth. I used to be a senior network engineer/programmer for this lot:
Merlin Entertainments, leading name in location based, family entertainment
They are probably the biggest employer in the area in terms of profit (with the exception of the financial sector). Worth a try!