Industry news

Transport for London has awarded Outdoor Plus a £17.6 million contract to bring digital advertising to road underpasses around London according to City A.M. The competitive tender was released last May and includes screens at six locations the A40 in Ealing and A3 Kingston with plans for a further three sites. Graeme Craig, TfL's director of commercial development, said: "Expanding our work with Outdoor Plus will provide tailored, dynamic advertising at nine locations across the capital”. The TfL advertising estate is a major player in the domestic market making up 20 per cent of all out-of-home advertising in the UK.

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Outsourcing group Mitie have named Phil Bentley as its new chief executive as Ruby McGregor-Smith announces she will be standing down after nine years. Mitie recently released a profit warning blaming Brexit for a fall in contract generation. Whilst some analysts are concerned that the announcement now will cause uncertainty at a challenging time, Mr Bentley has plenty of experience having formerly held the positions of chief executive with British Gas and Cable & Wireless.

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Related news: Mitie Group Plc Offers Bleak News to the Market

French President, Francois Hollande, has warned Britain that it will not get its own way in the coming negotiations over Brexit. Last week saw the pound plunge after it became clearer that a ‘Hard Brexit’ (the process by which Britain leaves the tariff free union so as to avoid open immigration and EU laws) was more likely after Mrs May, the Prime Minister, gave hints of Brexit plans at the conservative conference. It is likely that Brussels will set a tough stance against the UK, although many continental elections could see the landscape change as negotiations commence.

Good news for Mr Fox, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states are looking to forge closer ties with the UK post Brexit according to City A.M. Sadly, thanks to EU treaty, any trade deals cannot be negotiated prior to leaving the Union so it could be years before any deal gets organised, and worse, according to the Economist, some in Brussels are considering legal action if the UK gets too close to any deals.

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Related news: The Steady Slide of the Pound

In an interview with the BBC, Yves Bigot, director-general of France’s TV5 explained what happened when the TV network was attacked by a powerful malicious software in April 2015. It’s believed that the hackers had done some reconnaissance on the target months before the official suggesting how sophisticated cyber-criminals have become. Increasingly, cyber-attacks have focused less on information theft and more on physical damage, especially in high profile cases, all suggesting the importance of improved cyber security.

Read more, click here.

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In a move to improve best practice and standards throughout an increasingly globalised sourcing market, the National Outsourcing Association (NOA) has rebranded to the Global Sourcing Association (GSA). The move reflects how the industry has changed, with increasing focus being placed on automation, shared services and other aspects of sourcing rather than just outsourcing. As home to the Global Sourcing Standard, the GSA will aim to share and serve best practice across the world. The new brand was launched in the presence of the President of Bulgaria at their successful European Leadership Summit last week in Sofia.

See the new site here.

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Related news: GSA Award Winners Announced

The Pound has been continuing its slide against the dollar and the Euro, going as low as $1.2253 on the morning of the 7th October. The slide of the pound has accelerated since the Prime Minister, Theresa May, indicated that a hard Brexit, where the UK leaves the single market completely, is a likely option if free movement is not curtailed. The hope from the government is that the falling pound will boost UK exports but worryingly, the UK’s trade deficit widened in August with exports only growing by £100 million pounds from July. The UK has a high propensity to import, meaning that the UK has a large trade deficit which will only grow with a weak pound.

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Related news: Easyjet Hit By Slump in Pound

Last night, the GSA (Global sourcing Association) hosted the European Awards in Sofia, Bulgaria. A celebration of the sourcing industry, the awards ceremony was attended by more than 200 industry leaders from Europe, United Kingdom, North America and Asia. Massive congratulations to the winners of awards and the nominees for their fantastic contribution to the sourcing industry. To read more and see a full list of the winners, click here.

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Related news: New GSA A-List Released

The weak pound (which has been taking a pounding…) could cost easyjet nearly £90 million in this financial year. Jet fuel is priced in dollars so the slide of the pound is hurting costs and UK tourists are finding their money won’t go as far so are maybe considering holidaying at home. The current environment is tough for all airlines, but history shows that at times like this, the strongest airlines become stronger," said Carolyn McCall, Easyjet chief executive. To try and maintain passenger interest, heavy discounts are being applied. The threat of a hard Brexit is starting to show physical signs.

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The new edition of the Global Sourcing Association A-List has been released featuring the good and great of the sourcing industry. The 2016-2017 edition features industry names from across the globe to reflect the ambitions of the new Global Sourcing Association. The A-List acts as a fantastic guide to the sourcing industry and offers readers an opportunity to learn more and share the success stories of the sourcing industry over the past 12 months.

To read more, click here

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Mano Sekaram, the current Chairman of SLASSCOM has been praising Sri Lanka’s talent and ability with IT and digitisation. Talking about the industries, Mr Sekaram said “What enabled our rapid growth was a planned strategy based on a competent workforce, quality of service and cost competitiveness, a strategy that was propelled by strong collaborations between the public and private sectors,”. Sri Lanka has been making great strides in IT education which is creating a hub of digital specialists. The high targets set by SLASSCOM for 2022 including increasing revenue to US$5 billion, creating 200,000 direct jobs, powered by 1,000 start-ups is fast being realised.

To read more, click here.

To read Sourcing Focus’ article on Sri Lanka, click here.

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