Industry news

The London fire and Emergency Planning Authority (which runs the London Fire Brigade) is looking to modernise it's Control and Mobilising function through access to new innovative software solutions and by awarding a contract to undertake its control and mobilising services.

The requirements are broken into 2 lots as follows:

— lot 1 - Control and Mobilising Information Communications Technology (ICT) services (including support)

— lot 2 - Control and Mobilising Services including ICT Services (and support)

Contractors may apply for Lot 1 only, Lot 2 only, or both Lots. The Authority intends to award one or two contracts to one or more Contractors.

LV Asset Management said it expects to see some staff redundancies as it finalises its deal to outsource the management of its funds to Threadneedle.

All the LVAM funds will remain in their current structures and stay segregated when they transfer across to Threadneedle on 31 October, regardless of overlap with its own fund range, LV said.

Threadneedle will then decide how the final fund offering will look, including merging away products where there are similarities.

Romania can become the new regional leader in terms of IT industry in outsourcing regime, after Endava company, one of the main local services companies in the field, was nominated in Top100 Global Services /GS100 Top/, a reference annual ranking for the world's IT outsourcing industry.

According to the Romanian company, the nomination is included in the 'New regional leaders - Eastern Europe' category, along other five relevant companies, Endava being the only one unfolding activities also in Romania.

The contract to manage $800m of BAE Systems, Inc. annual indirect procurement spend is the first procurement outsourcing contract for Xchanging in the Americas region and represents an exciting and significant extension of Xchanging’s global procurement services

BAE Systems, Inc, a leading defense, security and aerospace company, has awarded a seven year procurement services contract to Xchanging, the business process and technology services provider.

As part of this innovative arrangement, Xchanging will provide sourcing and supply base management services for $800m of BAE Systems, Inc annual indirect procurement spend across most categories of indirect goods and services including Information Technology and Telecommunications, Transportation, Contract Labor, Industrial Supplies & Services, Utilities, some Professional Services and others. Xchanging will also provide procurement management activities related to reporting, supplier and contract management. The contract runs through July 2018 with an option to extend for an additional three years by mutual agreement.

Xchanging helps customers around the world drive sustainable improvement in supplier costs and process efficiencies associated with the procurement process. The contract reflects Xchanging’s position in the global procurement services market and firmly establishes its position in the Americas region.

“We consistently seek opportunities to reduce cost, improve efficiency and increase speed to market,” said Dennis Bent, Vice President Strategic Sourcing, BAE Systems, Inc. “Outsourcing indirect procurement to Xchanging enables us to access top procurement talent supported by a proven approach to sourcing that will provide value to our business.”

Scott Dever, Managing Director for Xchanging Procurement Services in the Americas, said, “We are excited to be adding BAE Systems, Inc. to our broad customer portfolio and we are proud to be associated with such a high-performance, professional organization. This agreement opens up tremendous opportunities for growth and establishes Xchanging as a strong provider of procurement services in the Americas.”

Ken Lever, Xchanging CEO commented, “We are delighted to extend our relationship with an existing customer of Xchanging. This contract not only enables us to deliver value to BAE Systems, Inc, it also acts as a springboard for Xchanging Procurement Services in the fastest growing procurement outsourcing market globally.”

Outsourcing firm Mitie is sitting on a record order book after securing most of its budgeted revenues in just the first three month of the financial year.

The company, which employs about 6,000 people in Scotland out of a 61,000-strong workforce, said it had made "significant progress in each of its key target markets" and had seen "good levels of organic growth" in the period since 1 April.

Wincanton plc, the leading provider of supply chain solutions, has announced that it has signed a conditional agreement for the disposal of its remaining operations in Mainland Europe to Rhenus AG & Co. KG via the disposal of Wincanton's Mainland Europe Holding Company.

The Disposal operations comprise Wincanton's German Intermodal and Contract Logistic activities, which operate from 38 locations, and Wincanton's businesses in France, which provide contract logistics and transport services and operate from 30 locations. Collectively, these businesses employ approximately 3,000 employees who will transfer to Rhenus upon completion of the Disposal.

Consideration from the Disposal will be approximately €44m (pre transaction costs). In addition, Rhenus will assume a net pension deficit of c.€30m resulting in an enterprise value of €74m. The consideration will be payable in cash upon completion of the Disposal. The Disposal will be implemented by way of a share sale.

There are signs of maturity in the social media market, as some users in certain segments are showing “social media fatigue”, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc. The survey reveals continued localization of usage, whereby certain country-specific social characteristics dictate preferences. However, large global brands such as Facebook are making headway in countries where they have not historically been strong.

Gartner surveyed 6,295 respondents, between the ages of 13 and 74, in 11 developed and developing markets in December 2010 and January 2011. Consumers were asked about their use of and opinions about social media sites with the aim of examining usage trends and how enthusiastic users were about social media in general across a range of countries.

“Overall, our survey underlined respondents’ continued enthusiasm for social media,” said Charlotte Patrick, principal research analyst at Gartner. “Teenagers and those in their twenties were significantly more likely to say that they had increased their usage, while at the other end of the ‘enthusiasm spectrum’, the age-related differences were much less marked, with fairly consistent percentages saying that they were using social media less.”

bss has bought creative digital agency M-Corp strengthening its technology strategy.

The purchase means it will enhance its technology services to include web design solutions, systems integration and mobile platforms to offer organisations a multi-channel communications solution backed up with industry leading expertise.

Bss is a provider of outsourced multi-channel public and customer contact services today and delivers information systems solutions for a number of government and non-governmental organisations.

An innovative jobs partnership between Birmingham City Council and Service Birmingham - the joint venture with Capita providing ICT and contact centre services to the council - is aiming to transform the job prospects of people from some of the most disadvantaged communities in the city.

Over the last year, 126 people have found employment as customer service advisers with Service Birmingham as a result of the initiative. Recruits have included long-term unemployed, lone parents, disabled people and those living in parts of the city blighted by social and economic deprivation.

Around forty of the group are classed as "homeworkers", based at home but providing frontline services as part of Service Birmingham's contact centre operation. Many of the group work flexible shifts, fitting their working schedules around their caring responsibilities.

The initiative is part of the Jobs and Skills Charter between the council and Service Birmingham which was signed last year. This arrangement sees the council's employment access team work with local recruiters in the city to identify potential candidates and assess their capability before forwarding suitable applicants to Service Birmingham for interview as part of the company's commitment to create jobs in the city.

Welcoming the success of the scheme Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council, Councillor Paul Tilsley said: "The Jobs and Skills Charter is helping to secure decent jobs for Birmingham people from groups that traditionally struggle to enter the labour market.

"It is important that we do everything we can to ensure that all people have the opportunity to work, but this is considerably more difficult if you are disabled, have caring responsibilities or have been out of the labour market for some time.

"This charter is delivering on the ambition we set it and the success of the recruits shows that no group of people should ever be overlooked by employers."

Service Birmingham's Chief Executive Stewart Wren added: "We are delighted by the success of the partnership and the calibre of the people we have recruited. What is so pleasing is that it shows that when people are given the chance to work and contribute they are able and willing to do so."

Surrey County Council is looking for a supplier to provide a wide-area network (WAN) and managed IP services for public sector organisations in the region.

The council expects the total value of the contract to be worth between £48 million and £240 million.

Under the Unified Communications over Regional Networks (UNiCORN) contract, in addition to WAN, the council is looking for a supplier to provide local area networks, IP voice services and other managed IP services.