Industry news

Defence secretary Phillip Hammond has inked a £1bn contract for reactors that will power the next generation of British nuclear submarines, creating 300 jobs.

Two reactor cores are set to be built at the Rolls Royce plant in Derbyshire. One of them will be used for a new Astute-class attack submarine, and the first of the next-gen nuclear deterrent subs.

An MoD spokesman said: "This government is committed to maintaining a continuous submarine-based nuclear deterrent and announced last May that design work would begin to replace our existing submarines. Following a Trident value-for-money study carried out as part of the strategic defence and security review, we are proceeding with initial work to renew the nuclear deterrent, but a final decision will be taken in 2016.”

The Cabinet Office has announced the 29 companies that will tout their wares over the public sector network (PSN).

The PSN will provide a central hub that public sector entities can acquire communications services through, reducing duplication or cost inefficiencies from current ad hoc processes.

Vodafone, Telefonica, Virgin Media Business, Logicalis, BT, Cable & Wireless Worldwide, Level 3, Capita Business Services, Fujitsu, MDNX Enterprise Services, Eircom and Computacenter all feature on the list, amongst others.

PSN programme director Craig Eblett said: “The PSN Services Framework, together with the PSN Connectivity Framework, provides the public sector with the preferred route to market for all PSN networks and telecommunications spend.”

Computacenter shares have fallen 12% to a new year low after warning investors that increased demand for services will mean huge recruitment costs.

The rapid growth of IT services businesses in Europe, particularly in Germany and Spain will mean that the firm will have to take on an extra 700 staff in order to cope with demand. Computacenter had already planned to hire 500 extra workers in the second half of this year and with the new recruitments will have face £7 million in costs, wiping 10% off of expected profits for the year.

Mike Norris, CEO of Computacenter was quoted in The Guardian: “If you go back a year, [it] was growing at 1 per cent. Now it’s growing at 15 per cent. It would be fair to say that it has grown faster than I expected. Is [the £7 million] investment or for poor execution? There’s an element of both”

He continued: “If you look at Logica and BT Global Services, they’ve had to make big adjustments down the line.”

Unilever is planning to close sites in England and Wales, cutting up to 800 jobs and offshoring to Bangalore.

The proposed cuts affect factories in Slough and Swansea, a distribution centre in Bridgend and an office in Ewloe, north Wales. They could mean 500 direct job losses, 300 redundancies among contractors and third parties, with 100 jobs offshored to its IT centre in Bangalore.

At the same time, it plans to invest £40m in its ‘historic home’ - Port Sunlight on the Wirral. This investment is expected to create 150 jobs.

Cognizant today announced that it has expanded its relationship with ING U.S. to offer a comprehensive array of insurance business process services. ING U.S. is the U.S.-based retirement, investment management, and insurance operations of Dutch-based ING Groep N.V. (NYSE: ING). The expanded seven-year, $330 million agreement builds on Cognizant’s ongoing success in providing specific technology systems management for ING U.S.

Under the terms of the new agreement, Cognizant will hire more than 1,000 ING U.S. employees in Minot, North Dakota and Des Moines, Iowa to create a world-class, U.S.-based center of excellence for insurance and finance business process services. This center will be an integral part of Cognizant’s global delivery network and will allow Cognizant to provide an expanded range of business process services spanning the insurance and financial services industries. Cognizant currently provides business process services to more than 40 clients in these industries.

As part of the multiyear agreement, Cognizant will purchase ING U.S.’s existing facility in Minot, North Dakota, and will sub-lease offices in the current ING U.S. facility in Des Moines, Iowa, providing business and workplace continuity for ING U.S. customers and the employees who will transition to Cognizant.

“We are pleased to partner with ING U.S. to launch our U.S.-based business process services center of excellence for the insurance and finance industries,” said Gordon Coburn, President of Cognizant. “We look forward to welcoming ING U.S.’s employees to Cognizant and working with this highly talented group of individuals. Our new center of excellence will serve as a key long-term component of our global delivery network and is yet another step in our ever-expanding in-country delivery capability.”

A Home Office report has found that same sex marriage will cost the government millions in updating IT systems.

The potential legislation would lead to a number of computer systems needing to be adjusted in order to remove references to marriage between men and women. Updating the General Register Office (GRO) IT system is thought to be the most expensive, costing £2 million. However, the government insist this will be a one off cost, spread over two years.

Other costs will include a £1 million for updating the benefits and pensions system at the Department for Work and Pensions, while £250,000 will be needed to reform HMRC’s IT systems £200,000 for the Office for National Statistics and £165,000 for the Ministry of Justice IT system.

The Home Office has received more than 100,000 responses to its proposal to pass legislation in order to give same-sex couples equal rights to get married.

Xerox is planning a number of acquisitions in order to boost its business services repertoire. The acquisitions are designed to boost revenue and profit margins and to gain a new reputation as an innovative forward moving business.

Ursula Burns, CEO stated Xerox has set aside between $350 million and $400 million for purchasing companies, particularly those with specialty analytic capabilities or healthcare technologies.

However, Burns ruled out any major purchases, such as its acquisition of Affiliated Computer Services Inc (ACS) for $5.5 billion in 2009. The purchase moved Xerox into the outsourcing business in what was the company's biggest deal in its 106-year history.

Xerox sources more than half its revenue from its services division which includes processing credit card applications, managing toll systems and unemployment benefit provisions for public sectors.

"We have to grow this services business without doubt around it with continuous revenue growth and predictable margins...so that people see yeah they are really in this business." Burns said.

Adam Tilson, Director of Direct Response Limited’s call centre business outlines the importance of creating a good first impression…

“Make a good first impression” was my mother’s mantra when growing up and to some extent it has stuck with me into the business world. But often companies overlook perhaps the most important area where they could and should be making a good first impression – the reception. She’s the meeter, the greeter and most importantly the telephone operator. It’s a vital part of company’s operations and getting it right is critical in order to deliver excellent service and effectively represent your organisation’s brand.

But getting a reception right is not easy. One of the main challenges is that calls volumes are never constant. They are variable and unpredictable – there are peaks and troughs throughout the day, week and year. So getting the balance right is key as staffing to cover busy periods is costly yet if there are too few people to handle the calls customers don’t like being left waiting or on hold for lengthy periods.

Secondly, even the most dedicated and well-trained receptionist only has one pair of hands and isn’t able to answer two calls at once, or deal with the important customer who has just arrived simultaneously with a telephone call. Then there’s the receptionist’s lunch break that needs covering (which may coincide with a peak call period), holiday leave and sickness absence. Pulling other employees off their usual tasks to provide cover at such times is not the ideal option and not the best use of their time and expertise.

So what do you do? Employ temporary staff? Yes, that’s an option but it’s a costly one both in terms of wages and training time, not to mention the potential unreliability and lack of expertise. Not ideal, especially when the pressure to reduce costs without compromising on service or ones brand values is ever increasing.

There is, of course, the option to outsource your company’s inbound telephone calls. This can guarantee that callers are not kept waiting and that all calls are handled professionally and promptly. There is the additional benefit that this frees up the in-house team to meet and greet visitors and create a great first impression to people visiting the company.

But selecting the right outsourced partner is the real key to success. It’s vital that the partner is the right one as they will be representing your brand. To get the best results, take some time to brief them on your business, on how you like your calls answered and even who your more important clients are. This will ensure that you have great brand ambassadors at the end of the phone who reflect your company’s values and ethos.

We make it our business to get to know your business, its operations, its products, its people and its way of working. In this way, our call handlers can deliver a seamless service so that clients don’t even know they are located remotely. And the service can be tailored to individual requirements with calls either being diverted or messages taken and relayed via SMS or email as requested.

The service is flexible too – it can be used simply to deal with calls when the inhouse reception is under pressure right through to a fully outsourced service dealing with each and every incoming call.

Or perhaps used to manage calls generated from a particular marketing campaign or new service offered.

Whatever system is chosen, it is all about striking the right balance between reception costs and maintaining excellent standards of customer service that match a business’ needs and brand values. This balance seems best achieved with the help of a supportive outsourced partner. But choose that partner well as you only get one chance to make a good first impression.

The majority of organisations outsource recruitment for new personnel, especially for C level roles, without a second thought, but are they right to do so?

Finding the right candidate has arguably become even more difficult than ever. All the rules to successful recruitment have changed in the recession and whilst it’s true that there are more good applicants available, they are vastly out-numbered by inappropriate candidates, so talent acquisition can often feel like a searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack. Is this the perfect time to outsource or not?

Ten years ago when the market was buoyant, those recruiting for a senior management role rarely needed to look very far. They either had a preferred recruiter or they were able to tap the right contact on the shoulder, either metaphorically or literally, and doors opened quite effortlessly through contacts or personal recommendations. If that didn’t happen, then the next step was to take out an ad with the Sunday Times Appointments supplement, the automatic choice for many high level candidates.

The routes to market have multiplied year on year so deciding upon a strategy can in itself be a full time job. The key to successfully filling vacancies still lies in good contacts, but now all parties need many more than previously to off-set the size of the candidate pool and the limited opportunities available.

Move over print! Recruitment advertisements in all print media have become less popular, not least because of the lead times and cost of placing an ad. In addition, the process seems fraught and cumbersome by comparison with online appointment adverts which can be up and running in less than half a day.

Added to this, there are a myriad of digital channels where recruiters can connect with their audience: Linked- In, Times Online, Executive Appointments, The Ladders, Executive-I, Executives on the Web, etc, etc . Most ‘C’ level execs seeking a new position will certainly be active in investigating these and ensure they’ve built up their own online profile, the same applies to recruiters.

Of course, the traditional search consultancies still exist, from household name brands through to specialist head-hunters, and of course, the new breed boutique niche consultancies like ours which build a reputation for success by adding value in a number of different ways. Before picking a recruitment partner, check they’re as visible and influential as you’d like them to be.

One interesting, if quirky, development is the arrival of candidate agents. These organisations have turned the traditional recruitment model on its head by seeking a fee from the candidate – often in the thousands of pounds – rather than the employer. In return, they promise to provide connections that would be outside the candidate’s existing network.

Personal introductions aren’t always necessary now, and employers can expect to be approached directly by ardent applicants. Many candidates will have a short-list of specific organisations they’d like to work for within their industry. In most cases this is a welcome development as it saves recruiter fees, often running into £10,000s. Common sense dictates that if the candidate is good enough, their name will already be known to your organisation, so there’s little to be gained by asking a third party to perform the introductions – and be paid handsomely for such easy work.

The best approach for both candidates and employers is to actively tend their own internal and external networks, which should of course include individuals outside the ‘circle of trust’ who are nevertheless part of the professional universe. In fact, I’d caution against using too many recruitment partners; it’s certainly worth favouring those which have proven themselves and earned a place in a trusted network or have been recommended by someone credible.

Another fruitful avenue is the networking event. It’s rarely going to result in the hiring another attendee, but unless it’s a poor event it should provide an opportunity for influence and introductions.

Having read all this, you may think that outsourcing to a third party is still the most suitable approach. If so, then it’s wise to check the health and breadth of the agency’s network. Many of the most experienced recruiters have taken flight and moved in-house. Even if you’ve dealt with the agency for many years, it’s unlikely that the same individuals are in place, and if they’ve left they’ve taken their contacts with them.

With the announcement of the scrapping of the current IT curriculum and the development of a course focused on core knowledge, the future teaching of ICT is undergoing a dramatic shift.

The IT curriculum has received criticism from numerous sectors for being unfit for purpose. Many within the IT industry have commented that the IT curriculum has failed to teach students key abilities and does not provide applicable skills for entry into the IT industry.

The chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt, attacked the teaching of IT within the UK last year, saying that the failure to teach IT was “throwing away your great computing heritage.” A study by e-Skills found that respondents viewed IT GSCE as being "so harmful, boring and/or irrelevant it should simply be scrapped".

In the current economic climate, the IT industry has been an example of good news for the UK economy, demonstrating growth and seeing the creation of innovative start-ups. Silicon Roundabout and Tech City have received backing from the government, which views the IT industry as being a key sector in stimulating economic recovery.

New ICT curriculum will promote innovation

The new curriculum will affect both GSCEs and A-level courses and will focus on providing software development and programming skills to students. The government having taken on board concerns from the IT industry and has consulted widely with organisations to ensure that the new curriculum provides the skills that the industry desires. IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft are just some of the companies that were involved in the shaping of the programme. The new programme is to be a shorter intensive course in order to allow for teaching flexibility.

The new curriculum will be implemented from September 2014, while the current curriculum is to be withdrawn from this September. The removal of the IT curriculum at the end of this year without a planned viable replacement for two years has raised concern. John Harris, head of IT strategy at GlaxoSmithKline, commented: ““We are very disappointed that the government has not listened to our concerns about withdrawing the ICT curriculum from schools before the new computer science programme is introduced in 2014.”

Skills Commission opposes changes to ICT curriculum

The new curriculum has raised concern over the limited numbers of expert IT teachers and the practicalities of delivering the new curriculum when there is a shortage of staff. Prof Steve Furber of the Royal Society said: "We look forward to hearing more about how the government intends to support non-specialist teachers who make up the majority of the workforce in delivering an excellent ICT education without official guidance on lesson content".

The new curriculum programme, while raising concerns over its implementation has been generally welcomed. Education secretary, Michael Gove, has said: "Imagine the dramatic change which could be possible in just a few years, once we remove the roadblock of the existing ICT curriculum.” With the backing of a growing UK IT industry the curriculum has the potential to revitalise IT education and provide students with the skills that the industry requires.