Industry news

Inflation in the UK hit highs not seen since 2014 as the weaker pound made an effect on prices. Consumer Prices Index (CPI) reached 1.8% in December according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS). Input prices, the price for fuel and raw materials paid by manufacturers, rose at an annual rate of 20.5% in January. Click here to read more.

Wipro Limited, a global IT, consulting and business process services company, announced it is delivering analytics-based insights for specific industries with the Data Discovery Platform, its newest big data analytics-as-a-service solution. Built with IBM BigInsights and IBM dashDB and developed on Bluemix, IBM's cloud platform, the solution accelerates insight-driven decision making through pre-built applications for specific industries, such as banking and financial services, retail, energy, education and manufacturing. Click here to find out more.

The employment rate in the UK is at a record 74.6% – the highest employment rate since records began in 1971. Unemployment rate remains at 4.8% which is the lowest rate for 11 years while wages grew by 2.6%. Secretary of State, Damian Green said “With employment at its highest rate since records began, and unemployment at its lowest in over a decade, we remain in a position of strength. With youth unemployment down, women in work at record levels and number of disabled people in work increasing too, we’re delivering on our pledge to build a country that works for everyone.” Click here to read more.

Interesting article on the Entrepreneur about outsourcing to emerging markets. Focusing on the Philippines, Vietnam and Rwanda, the article provides an overview of the potential for business process outsourcing and information technology outsourcing in these economies. It is certainly worth a read.

everjobs.lk, the fastest growing online career portal in Sri Lanka, has in a new report said that jobs in the Information Technology (IT) sector led the demand for jobs in Sri Lanka in 2016. Put together in a simple-to-read infographic, everjobs.lk’s new release identifies key trends within the job seekers’ sphere in Sri Lanka and reveals the top industries hiring in 2016. Rushabh Sheth, Managing Director for everjobs Sri Lanka, as follows: “Sri Lanka is ranked 12th in the world by IBM for business process outsourcing and is home to BPO units of companies such as Google, J.P. Morgan or Microsoft. Needless to say, IT and system engineers are some of the most in-demand talent in the job market and we see this trend continuing in the future.” Click here to read more.

The Co-operative Bank is putting itself up for sale, following its near collapse in 2013. The bank has around four million customers and focuses on ethical standards which it hopes will attract buyers. Potential buyers include TSB who are still completing a separation with Lloyds. It is worth noting that Western Mortgage Services, part of Capita, will continue to provide mortgage administration services and new mortgage application processing for the bank and its clients. Click here to learn more.

Interesting little article in the Economist about H-1B visa programme and how it’s curtailment could affect US industry. The Indian IT industry is struggling thanks to Donald Trump’s mercantilist rhetoric, the pain of this appears unlikely to ease. Click here to find out more.

Blackstone Group has agreed to the acquisition of insurance broker Aon’s employee benefits outsourcing business. It is expected that the deal will be worth just under $5 billion and gives Blackstone a business that processes work benefits of 15% of the US population. Aon is likely to use the capital to move into growth areas such as cybersecurity. Click here to find out more.

Infosys Chief Executive Vishal Sikka said talk on concerns over corporate governance at the software services firm was "distracting" and that he had good relations with the firm's founders. India's No.2 IT services company has been locked in an escalating public war of words with its founders and former executives, who have accused its board of lapses in corporate governance. However, the reassurance has sent shares in Infosys up slightly. Click here to find out more.

DAI Europe, a global development company specializing in the implementation of economic development programmes for international cooperation agencies, seeks to invite qualified firms to submit proposals to execute an advisory assignment titled “Determining the Value Proposition for Palestinian Information Technology and Information Technology-enabled Outsourcing Services in the UK.”

The objective of the work intended under this assignment is to determine a feasible value proposition for UK-based companies to potentially source part of their Information Technology and Information Technology-enabled Services (including ITO and BPO) from providers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

In the request, consultants will be required to identify a competitive niche for Palestinian firms in the UK market, pinpoint the addressable market and services required in the UK, and suggest a market penetration strategy.

This request for proposals is part of DAI Europe’s Palestinian Market Development Programme (www.pmdp.ps), a £20 million, five-year, economic assistance facility in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The Palestinian Market Development Programme is financed by the UK Department for International Development and the European Union.

The deadline for submission directly to DAI Europe is 5pm, 3rd March 2017. Contact tenderpmdp@dai.com to register your interest and obtain full copies of the RFP.