Monthly Archives: May 2021

News

Government sets out a new round of funding as it eyes innovation across the UK

The monetary support from the government to back the under-aided projects and initiatives has been significant over the years. The new rounds of funding announced for industries and businesses become more vital, especially at a time when most of the enterprises are battling to re-establish themselves, overcoming the Covid-led troubles and the unforeseen disruption caused due to national lockdowns and restrictive operating environment.

Building back green in a more innovative manner has been one of the main agendas of the UK government as the Downing Street administration moves ahead cautiously with the planned easements across the country. After periodic review of the Covid-19 activity and the status of the ongoing vaccination programme at distinctive intervals, the government has allowed reopening in three stages so far.

The businesses and regional enterprises, not allowed to operate during the national lockdowns and the erstwhile tier system, have been given the go-ahead as per the phased reopening plan. Given the present status of immunisation in the United Kingdom, the government has arrived at a position to offer a series of relaxations for the hospitality venues, international holidays, and people visiting large gatherings, including the football stadiums.

Alongside all these, the respective departments have been periodically assigning definite monetary resources that can be utilised for the greater good of the industries, paving the way for more and more innovative products. Very recently, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy launched a second round of funding in order to bolster the innovation across various parts of the UK.

The monetary aid, Regulators’ Pioneer Fund, has been designed to support the initiatives that have been instituted to keep the UK ahead of its peers in areas of experimentation and regulatory thinking. Under the second round of funding, a monetary allocation to the tune of £3 million has been set aside to support the innovative projects, effectively catalysing the innovation by resonating with the forthcoming technological advancements in the near future.

The fund has been desperately configured to help the under-supported initiatives to develop new innovative products and services for domestic as well as international usage. The fund is likely to ensure that all out-of-the-box thinkers, innovators and disruptors don’t feel the pain of conventional and old regulations.

The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy backed funding will remain open for application from 20 May to 15 July 2021. All the individuals or group of innovators who are willing to participate in the competition can apply for a monetary grant of up to £200,000.

The projects and the prospective ideas must be innovative in nature, depicting an adequate approach to learning, experimentation and research under the regulatory framework.

The duration of the project must last for at least six months, and all the operations should finish by the end of 31 March 2022. After the completion of the application, the applicants who have been allotted monetary aid by the awarding panel will be notified by August 2021. The government has expanded the umbrella of funding, including the local authorities, for the first time, following which the regulatory innovations can be tested at national as well as local jurisdictional levels.

The funding has been a prompt attempt to provide the businesses with innovative ideas as enterprises face several unnecessary obstacles while they come up with new disruptive technologies due to the old-fashioned regulatory approach. These monetary aids ultimately support the government’s wider approach to updating the regulatory environment.

Under the competitions, the local authorities, as well as the small-scale developers, will be able to test and pilot some of the ambitious projects that will constructively benefit the innovators.

Earlier, in the first round of funding, a sum totalling £700,000 was allocated to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to help develop synthetic datasets that can support the development of pioneering medical tools and technologies. The datasets were further utilised to deduce innovative apparatus to bolster the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and cardiovascular diseases.

By Kunal Sawhney, CEO, Kalkine Group

News

Experts reveal top tips to beat return to work anxiety

  • Survey shows 45% of those returning to work are experiencing return to work anxiety
  • 41% of Brits reported that their mental health has suffered more this lockdown than last Spring
  • 89% of Brits think it’s important for their mental health to stay connected with others during the pandemic

 

A survey of more than 2,000 people by intranet pioneers, Oak Engage has found that over two thirds (68%) of Brits agree that UK businesses should give workers the choice to work from home or in an office where possible and of those, 41% say that it would improve the population’s mental health. Fifty percent also said people may not feel safe returning to the office.

 

The survey shows 76% of office workers do not wish to return to the office full-time and a third (33%) report that if they had to go back permanently they would look for other roles. Over 23% indicated that if they had to go back to the office permanently, they would consider leaving or resigning.

 

If the pandemic has taught us anything it’s the importance of staying connected and the need to look after our wellbeing. As we come out of a third lockdown and continue to work from home, it’s clear that the past year has definitely taken a toll on our mental health. But with the prospect of returning back to work and the ‘pre-pandemic normal’, many of us are experiencing return to work anxiety.

 

So why are we so worried about going back to work and what can we do about it? Employee wellbeing experts, Oak Engage and Behavioural Psychologist at Durham University, Dr Mario Weick share their top tips on beating that return to work anxiety and above all improving happiness as we start to return to normal.

 

  1. Know what support is available to you

 

It’s important to know what policies and procedures are in place at your company and your rights to working during the pandemic and beyond.

 

Mario comments: “People should familiarise themselves with the latest health and safety measures put in place during the pandemic. Knowing what exactly is happening can increase one’s sense of control, which in turn reduces anxiety.”

 

Will Murray, CEO at Oak Engage adds: “As well as policies and procedures, check what practical advice is being offered by your workplace. We’ve created a wellbeing guide for all companies to help support a healthy work environment. Whether you’re back to work or you’re still working remotely, it’s critical to try and promote wellbeing in the workplace.”

 

  1. Routine, routine, routine

 

The pandemic has meant that everyone isn’t used to their normal routine, including work schedules and sleep patterns. So make sure you get back into the swing of things and give yourself time to adapt.

 

Mario comments: “Routines are powerful devices that help us stay on track. Routines can boost happiness and wellbeing because they make it easier to achieve our goals.

 

During the pandemic, many of us found it difficult to maintain a healthy sleep routine. Disturbances of the circadian rhythm often go hand in hand with feeling down or anxious. Re-establishing our day and night routines can be a way to reset our biological body clock and return to our pre-pandemic self.”

 

  1. Be kind to yourself and others

 

Be kind to your mind and body. Exercise is key for tackling stress and even going for a 15 minute walk can reduce anxiety. But remember to take it easy and don’t put too many expectations on yourself and your exercise routine. Curb those negative thoughts and self-doubt.

 

Mario adds: “Self-compassion is an antidote to anxiety and depression. Self-compassion implies being less self-critical and more kind and understanding toward oneself. People who are self-compassionate reach out to others when they are feeling down or are having a hard time. Taking a moment to reflect and label one’s thoughts as ‘useful’ or ‘not useful’ before letting them go can be a way to beat self-criticism.”

 

On exercising, Mario adds: “There is ample evidence that physical activity boosts wellbeing. Now is a great time to enjoy the outdoors and perhaps explore ways to commute to work that involve cycling or walking.”

 

  1. Focus on the positives

 

Mario comments: “It can also help to focus on the benefits of going back to work. For example, the workplace can provide an opportunity to connect with other people. Being physically present may help others who have struggled with isolation during the pandemic.”

 

“One thing that the pandemic has taught us is the pleasure of simple things such as seeing friends or being outside and enjoying nature. Perhaps the pandemic has also given us new perspectives on work that will ultimately benefit our work/life balance.”

 

If you feel you need more support, ask your GP or another health professional for support. There are also some charities that can offer help and advice including Mind and Samaritans.

 

Will Murray, CEO at Oak Engage comments: “With the huge changes we’ve seen in the working climate as a result of the pandemic, it’s more crucial than ever to prioritise our mental health and wellbeing. As lockdown restrictions ease and the prospect of returning to the office becomes more of an issue, people need to start to think about their options.

 

“Through our research we wanted to highlight the importance of staying connected and the need for businesses to engage their people and empower them with the choice of whether they want to return to the office full-time or not.  Products like Oak Engage’s intranet can help businesses connect their people, boost employee engagement and promote wellbeing, giving everyone a voice at a time when they need it most.  This will be key now that the majority of people will want some sort of flexible working situation going forwards.”

News

Majority of UK businesses approaching transformation without a plan

The pandemic has accelerated digital transformation but lack of strategy is leading to barriers

99% of businesses in the UK see digitalisation as critical, yet nearly half are lacking a digital transformation strategy, according to the latest research from Pulsant, the UK’s hybrid cloud specialists.

While 84% of IT-decision makers say their businesses has a clear vision for transformation, just 42% have an established plan in place and 11% admit that that transformation is unplanned and ad-hoc. A further 11% have no idea where to start.

Digital transformation strategies appear to be held back by barriers such as accessing the right skills and systems, and problems establishing a company culture that embraces digitalisation. The majority (87%) of business leaders say their location makes it challenging to hire and retain skills. Over half (52%) say integrating new systems and applications with legacy infrastructure is a significant barrier and 40% say their culture or structure doesn’t support or enable digital change.

Concerns about transformation are also holding businesses back from reaching their digital potential. Four in 10 IT decision-makers are worried about managing the complexity that comes with digital transformation. A third (34%) have concerns about the security of business-critical applications and 32% fear they won’t be able to keep the business running around the clock.

Despite these challenges, progress has been made with 65% of IT-decision makers saying their organisation is ‘mostly’ digitalised. Three quarters admit that the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation initiatives with 62% saying transformation has moved ahead by more than six months. However, transformation was not necessarily planned with two-thirds of IT decision-makers admitting they were forced to revisit their infrastructure strategy with the top reasons being security and compliance concerns (54%), the need to transition more workloads to cloud (45%) and better access to infrastructure (40%).

While 89% of IT decision-makers are confident in the resilience of their IT infrastructure, only 68% believe their current IT infrastructure is fit for purpose for their organisation’s future needs which highlights that more robust are strategies are required.

“The pandemic has placed a higher premium on organisational agility over the last 12 months and the deployment of digital technologies and cloud to achieve this,” says Pulsant CTO Simon Michie. “However, by moving so quickly, many organisations can miss out on laying out a clear technology strategy and as a result, critical transformation barriers are emerging. These need to be addressed before organisations can reach their digital potential.”

The research from Pulsant was conducted by independent research provider, Censuswide, amongst 200 IT decision-makers and 200 business leaders in UK mid-sized companies (200 – 2,500 employees).

The full research report, ‘The Digital Divide’, can be downloaded here.

 

News, North of England

Announcing the first B Corp in Leeds

Digital agency Engage has secured its B CorporationTM (B CorpTM) certification and is the first organisation in Leeds to do so.

Certified by B Lab, the not-for-profit behind the B Corp movement, Engage met rigorous social and environmental standards which represent its commitment to goals outside of shareholder profit. 

Engage has joined 3,800 other companies across 75 countries and 150 industries which have achieved B Corp certification, with over 450 in the UK including The Guardian, Innocent Drinks, Patagonia, and The Body Shop.

The process to achieve a B Corporate certification is three fold, requiring assessment, verification, and finally certification by B Lab. As part of the self assessment, Engage had to answer over 100 questions across five categories including governance, team, community, and environment before spending six months addressing areas where improvements could be made. In that time, Engage has developed its staff handbooks, increased financial transparency with the team, formalised ethical supplier and environmental policies, and switched to ethical bank Triodos.

A formal application was submitted for verification in December.

Chris Turner, Executive Director of B Lab UK commented: “We are delighted to welcome Engage to the B Corp community. This is a movement of companies which are committed to changing how business operates, and believe business really can be a force for good. We know that Engage is going to be a fantastic addition to the community and will continue driving the conversation forward.”

Engage currently works with a number of ethically minded organisations including Bettys & Taylors, and Harrison Spinks.

Dave Wrightson, Co-founder and Director of Engage and leader of the initiative, added: “We’re really proud to be the first company in Leeds to achieve certification, and of course we hope that this will open doors to like minded companies we’d love to partner with. The certification validates our commitment to making a positive impact to our community, society and environment, and we hope this will encourage our clients and peers to also consider applying for the certification.

“Since we founded Engage we’ve always wanted to be a company with strong ethics at its heart. As we grew, we formalised our processes with our elympics initiative which encourages staff to get moving and convert the miles exercised into donations to local causes, and community work with CATCH, a registered charity in Leeds which helps improve opportunities for over 1,000 young people and their communities, however there’s always room for improvement. 

“Being certified as a B Corporation brings a framework which enables us to benchmark Engage against best practice, consider where we’re excelling and where we must improve.”

Engage will take the learnings from its B Corp assessment and certification, and use the platform to build its Sustainable Development Goals, a UN global initiative to improve the world through 17 defined goals.

To learn more about how Engage has achieved the B Corp certification, please visit www.engageinteractive.co.uk/blog/proud-to-be-a-b-corp.

News

Truvox International brings the manufacturing of the Cimex® carpet and hard-floor cleaning range back to the UK

Truvox International has brought the manufacturing of the popular floor-care brand Cimex® back to the UK. Cimex was acquired by Truvox in 2003. In 2007, Truvox became part of the Tacony Corporation and in 2008 manufacturing of Cimex products was moved to the facility in the United States.

“We’ve been working on bringing Cimex carpet and hard-floor cleaners back to the UK for the past three years,” says Gordon McVean, Executive Director of Truvox International, which is based at Hamilton Business Park, Hedge End, Southampton. “Now we are proud to announce that we’ve made a substantial investment to bring the manufacturing of this proven and popular floor-care range back to the UK.

“Due to Covid-19, everyone is now much more aware of hygiene and health and safety, so business owners and facilities managers need to ensure that they’ve achieved a truly deep-clean to reassure both staff and visitors. Shops, shopping centres, hotels and casinos have been closed for months due to the coronavirus pandemic, so efficient and effective Cimex three-brush technology has a hugely important role to play in restoring confidence for employees and visitors.”

Deep-cleaning carpets

Cimex machines provide the perfect solution for hard, heavy-duty cleaning applications, and are not something you would use on a daily basis. High-footfall premises in every sector require a thorough deep-clean around every four to six months, but post-Covid, all premises now need to ensure they’ve achieved a truly deep-clean. As well as creating a more hygienic and measurably cleaner environment, Cimex machines deliver major productivity savings as they can clean large areas with a single pass.

Cimex Encap™ is a high productivity, cost effective, low moisture carpet cleaning system, which is ideal for use in hospitals, nursing homes, leisure centres, schools and hotels. The unique Cimex three-brush system – driven by a contra-rotating planetary drive disc – makes these heavy-duty carpet cleaners simple to operate and extremely efficient. The Cimex Encap process involves scrubbing specialised polymeric cleaning solution into a carpet and allowing it to dry. This process releases sticky soil from carpet fibres and ensures that it does not re-attach. As the Cimex-Encap solution dries, the encapsulated soil can then be vacuumed away.

From hard-floors, to escalators

Available in two sizes, Cimex Cyclone is a powerful and effective multi-purpose scrubber/polisher, suitable for scrubbing, cleaning and polishing virtually every type of floor. Portable and easy to use, Cimex Cyclone is ideal for use in hospitals, nursing homes, leisure centres, schools and hotels. Featuring the Cimex three-brush system, these scrubber/dryers are simple to operate and extremely efficient. Cimex Cyclone is effective on all hard floors and can even deliver deep cleaning on difficulty surfaces such as uneven floors, studded rubber floors, quarry tiles, and safety flooring.

Cimex Cyclone’s big brother is Cimex HD, a heavy-duty three-brush machine for scarifying, industrial cleaning and floor preparation. Ideal for use in industrial units, foundries, cold stores, and in construction, Cimex HD is perfect for the removal of impacted oil, grease and debris from concrete floors, and for the keying of concrete for re-screeding and levelling. It combats rust, paint and soiling from steel chequer plates, and can break down ice build-up in cold stores. The Cimex HD ‘DF’ model is used for preparing and maintaining marble, terrazzo and other stone floors.

Beyond carpet and hard surface cleaning, the Cimex range includes the robust and popular, portable Cimex X46 escalator sweeper – a proven dry system for daily maintenance. The powerful Cimex X46 escalator and travellator cleaner offers powerful cleaning and vacuuming performance, and delivers the prefect vacuuming and dry scrubbing solution for airports, underground stations, shopping centres and hotels. Cimex X46 is easy to use, requires minimum operator training, and does not require a person to handle the machine whilst in operation.

Made in the UK

“Truvox International excels at manufacturing and being able to reinforce British manufacturing by saying ‘made in the UK’ is extremely important to us,” says Gordon McVean. “When we shared that we were bringing the manufacturing of Cimex back to the UK on social media at the start of the year, the reaction was really positive.

“Our customer base for Cimex is already truly international with customers in Japan, North America, Australia, and across Europe. For the time-being we’re keeping the yellow and blue branding for the Cimex range as it is so well-known in the industry. As we now begin the process of further developing and improving these already excellent machines, we can already see new sectors and markets opening for Truvox International and the Cimex range.”

Please visit: https://www.truvox.com/

News

Assisting in the Fight Against Covid-19 through Healthcare Technology (HealthTECH)

Local HealthTECH solutions provider, Alias Innovation Sdn Bhd, part of the EI Content Group, has launched its Electronic Medical Reporting solution or ‘EMR’ to cater to both public and private Clinics and Hospitals, offering a much needed technology system that can help in the monitoring and management of Covid -19 Vaccines, Covid -19 Testing as well as regular Patient Care and Prescription of medication and medical procedures.

Provided as a Stand Alone solution or as part of its Clinic and Hospital Information System, the company’s solution, called, ‘Medikal’ is positioned to assist the Nation in the fight against the Pandemic.

Medikal EMR, is available both as a lite based Cloud version and a heavier Enterprise version, and is poised to Digitally Transform the country’s Healthcare eco-system with an easy to use but Globally compliant software solution, developed by an award winning Malaysian company.

Doctors and Medical practitioners across the country can capitalise on Medikal EMR to help create Lifetime Health Records for patients in a digital and secure manner. The system is also compatible to be used with existing Government solutions and Alias Innovation is opening up its ‘API’ or application protocol interface to Government agencies to ensure integration is smooth and seamless.

According to Ministry of Health data, more than 80% of Government Hospitals do not have a Hospital Information System while more than 90% of Government Clinics do not have a Clinic Information system.

In the face of the ongoing Pandemic, an effective and a holistic digital healthcare solution is very much required, to keep track of patients, tests, procedures, diagnosis, medication among other analysis which is pertinent in optimal healthcare resource utilisation.

Alias Innovation is founded by Gerard Pillai, and recently was accorded a Special Mention Award in the Rising Star category under the Star Outstanding Business Awards (SOBA). It was also a winner in the Healthcare Software category for the Malaysian Technology Excellence Awards. It is also in the running for a few International awards.

The company has carved a track record in implementing its Medikal solutions across the country from Clinics and Hospitals in the Northern state of Perak to East Malaysia. It has also deployed Telemedicine apps in Maldives during the initial Movement Control Order period in 2020.

Through its Medikal Lend A Hand (LAH) platform and initiative, Alias Innovation has also trained and reskilled youth to become part of the Healthcare Technology sector, employed these youth, creating employment opportunities and improving lives along the way.

The company is currently in discussions with Government agencies on its Medikal EMR and according to Gerard Pillai, Alias Innovation’s Chief Strategy Evangelist and CEO, ‘there are many opportunities in the roadmap of Digital Healthcare Transformation and together, we can fight the pandemic with an effective Healthcare technology to compliment existing infra and systems’.

http://www.alias-innovation.com

http://www.icontent.my

 

News

GOLDEN ABC invests in the Philippines’ largest and most advanced omni-channel shopping experience with Aptos retail technology partnership

Golden ABC Inc., one of the leading fashion retailers in the Philippines and home to brands Penshoppe, OXGN, Regatta, ForMe, Memo, and BOCU – today announced that it will expand its partnership with Aptos, a recognised market leader in retail technology solutions, to cultivate advanced omni channel growth.

The expanded partnership between the two international entities, which was finalised on April 14, is set to carry out the most extensive, progressive, and ambitious strategy for end-to-end retail operations and customer engagement, as GOLDEN ABC continues to strive for its customers’ seamless shopping experience across all of its brands.

“This [partnership] epitomises what has always been our top priority: our customers’ experience. Our service to them is a steadfast commitment, and that entails constantly finding new and innovative ways to ensure that their needs are always met,” said Mr. Bernie Liu, Chief Executive Officer of GOLDEN ABC.

With its latest technology investment, GOLDEN ABC will manage with Aptos nearly every aspect of its retail operations — from merchandise planning across channels, to how orders are collected and fulfilled, to how shoppers are served and engaged.

“GOLDEN ABC is a company that continues to reach new heights in operational excellence as it expands its domestic and international presence,” said Steve Towe, Aptos President and COO. “With Aptos’ modern retail solutions, this award-winning and inspiring retailer will provide its customers with the seamless omni channel experiences they are looking for and create a strong foundation for future growth.”

The partnership expansion comes at a time when consumers’ shopping behaviours have shifted to a more digital pattern, leading to changes in expectations pertaining to convenience, but GOLDEN ABC is no stranger to trying times.

“GOLDEN ABC has always been forged in fire,” Mr. Liu continued. “If you look at the history of GOLDEN ABC, we’ve always taken bold steps during the most difficult of times.”

With Aptos’ advanced omni channel solutions, GOLDEN ABC can constantly meet and exceed shoppers’ expectations and preferences, no matter how ever-changing and unpredictable they are.

“With the onset of the pandemic, consumers have become even more digitally connected, driving an acceleration of online retailing,” GOLDEN ABC Chief Retail Officer Ms. Alice Liu said. “With Aptos Enterprise Order Management, we can offer flexible fulfilment options that increase convenience for our customers.”

In addition to Aptos’ cloud-based order management system, GOLDEN ABC will deploy the Aptos Store point of sale solution and Aptos CRM. With these feature-rich applications, GOLDEN ABC can offer more informed interactions, faster checkouts and individualized customer engagement.

GOLDEN ABC aims to continue to adapt and thrive in the digital age, now more than ever — always moving forward and innovating, all the while remaining true to its promise of greatness.

News

RFID pioneer, Omni-ID, appoints Amir Mobayen as Chief Revenue Officer, prepares to scale global IoT offering

Omni-ID, the pioneer of passive industrial radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, trusted by major global organizations for monitoring the location and identity of assets, has appointed Amir Mobayen as Chief Revenue Officer.

Mobayen brings thirty years’ electronics industry experience and has held senior roles with leading RFID vendors, where he has grown international sales in the retail & consumer and industrial sectors. His most recent role was with Smartrac Technology, where he was President of the Transponder Division, with full profit and loss ownership of the RFID division and responsibility for sales, product management and product marketing, sales operations and technology across the Americas, EMEA and APAC.

Commenting on the appointment, Dr Tony Kington, CEO of Omni-ID said, “We are delighted to welcome Amir Mobayen to Omni-ID. He has a strong track record of building and leading international sales operations and developing go-to-market partnerships with leading corporations. His experience, energy, drive and focus on delivering value to customers matches our own. His appointment represents a new chapter for Omni-ID as we enter a very high growth phase and expand our offer to the markets we serve.”

To meet the requirements of its global client base in the logistics, cold chain, pharma, facilities management, distribution, oil & gas and construction sectors, in January 2020 Omni-ID launched its game-changing Sense product range. The Sense Long Range (LoRa) devices include compact batteries lasting for up to five years in harsh and remote environments, transmit signals up to 15km and provide positional accuracy of 3m to 5m when high value assets are moved. The Sense Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices transmit up to 200m and can link to Local Area Network, WiFi, or cellular networks, a cloud, or locally-hosted client application server.  In February 2021 Omni-ID introduced four additional products to its Sense range, including three Quuppa-enabled devices. The company also launched its ‘OmniSphere’ middleware IoT platform, which simplifies data collection, storage and visualization by delivering Sense device data seamlessly to existing corporate systems, or customer applications. This enables rapid technology evaluation and proof-of-concept applications that involve Omni-ID Sense devices.

Commenting on his appointment, Amir Mobayen said, “Omni-ID has methodically built a healthy, profitable business in the industrial RFID space over the last few years and offers a strong solution approach enabling partners to create their own tracking and sensing applications. There is an opportunity to build on the recent launch of the Sense IoT range to create intelligent devices that provide organizations with real-time data to guide business decisions. With a strong management team, and multi-regional talent base, a shared global strategy and the right partnerships, we can scale this early success and deliver significant results for our customers and partners.”

 

About Omni-ID

Omni-ID has developed original, patented technologies for on-metal tagging to enable a broad range of applications to improve asset tracking, inventory management and material flow management. Omni-ID continues to lead the way driving the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution in Manufacturing & Logistics, Oil & Gas, IT Asset Management, Transportation and Government & Defense, utilizing market leading technologies. Omni-ID’s versatile portfolio of award-winning products provides a complete range of tags with unprecedented accuracy in any environment. Omni-ID is a global company with offices in USA, United Kingdom, Europe, India and China. For more information, visit www.omni-id.com.

News

Challenge Packaging Launch Packaging Online, A Sustainable Online Direct to Consumer Packaging Supplier

CHALLENGE PACKAGING FOUNDERS LAUNCH PACKAGING ONLINE; AN ONLINE DIRECT TO CUSTOMER PACKAGING SUPPLIER, OFFERING HASSLE-FREE AND SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING SOLUTIONS

One of the UK’s largest packaging manufacturers, Challenge Packaging, based in East Sussex, are delighted to announce the launch of their sister brand, Packaging Online, an online direct to consumer packaging supplier.

Delivering hassle-free, easy-to-use, and sustainable packaging materials suited for every job needed, Packaging Online aims to dominate the direct-to-consumer market, by offering the most streamlined, convenient, and straightforward shopping solutions on high-quality packaging materials to a wide variety of customers.

Ranging from small e-commerce businesses to homeowners looking for a few robust storage boxes, Packaging Online creates the ultimate end-to-end user experience that is fast, off-the-shelf, and fuss-free.

With more than 100 years of combined industry experience in manufacturing behind them, Packaging Online has designed a range of cutting-edge packaging products that are made for customers who want great value with market leading prices.

Packaging Online offers innovative products such as water-based inks and eco-friendly tape to 100% recyclable boxes that will be completely compostable and ocean-friendly. As a market-leading packaging material supplier, they aim to be one of the first in the industry to become fully sustainable by 2025.

“Over the years, we have identified a gap in the market which is providing a top-class direct to consumer online packaging solution into the modern world of e-commerce. Seeing a shift in what our consumers are looking for, it was clear that being customer first is key. This has led us to develop our online offering, Packaging Online, giving customers old and new the ultimate user experience that is fast, easy to use and accessible from beginning to the end”.  

“Overall, our mission is to make it easy for anyone to find and buy the right type of packaging for any job, anywhere!” – Tom Woods, General Manager at Challenge Packaging

To find out more about Packaging Online click here: https://www.packagingonline.co.uk/

News

Secrets of animation and games industry to be shared at annual Animex festival

Some of the biggest names in animation and computer games will share their industry knowledge at Teesside University’s internationally-renowned Animex festival.

Animex is one of the world’s longest running festivals of animation and computer games, which last year was held online for the first time due to the ongoing pandemic.

This year’s event will once again be held online, when a variety of names in animation, gaming and visual effects will provide insight and expertise on the latest releases when they share the event’s digital stage on 2nd June.

Speakers this year include Juan Guiraldes, senior animator with Industrial Light & Magic, who has worked on the likes of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, X-men, the Planet of the Apes, The Hobbit trilogy, Man of Steel, Iron man, Avengers and Jurassic World. Mandy Mok, animation lead with Industrial Light & Magic, who has worked a wide range of projects, from Marvel to Jim Henson, will also be providing industry insight.

Oscar and Bafta nominated animator and director Will Becher, of Aardman Animations, will be talking about his work, while Tomm Moore, from Cartoon Saloon, will provide insight into the making of animated fantasy adventure Wolfmakers. The Framestore team who worked on the recent Tom & Jerry film will share an insider view on its creation.

Also speaking is Teesside University digital animation graduate India Barnardo, who is currently working in Vancouver on a Netflix project with Sony Pictures Imageworks. In her spare time, she has been directing her own short film Cat and Moth, which she is bringing to Animex to share how she and the team collaborated across the world to bring it to reality.

From the gaming world, speakers include Teesside University graduate Corey Smyth and Moses Attah, from Coconut Lizard, who have both worked on BAFTA award winning Sea of Thieves.

Lindsay Thompson and Stephanie Aharonian will talk about their work as animators with Insomniac Games. Also speaking is Dave Paget, of Sumo Digital, who has worked on projects including Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War, Spider-Man, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Bloodshot.

Along with the wide range of guest speakers and talks, the event also includes masterclasses, live Q&As and networking opportunities all taking place live on the day and then available on-demand for 30 days following the event.

A first this year for Animex is a Diversity and Inclusivity Showcase programme of talks and discussion, which aims to showcase projects to highlight diversity and inclusivity within the industry. The showcase has been organised in partnership with event partners UKIE #RaiseTheGame.

This year’s Animex mascot Hope has been created by Teesside University graduate Nathan Chandler-Gibson. Nathan, who works as a Technical Game Designer at Sumo Digital in Newcastle, graduated from the BA (Hons) Games Design in 2019.

He said: “The main inspiration in creating Hope was the drive and energy which gathers people from all walks of life together in places like Animex. It’s amazing when you hear of all the locations people travel from to connect at a single location to make their dreams a reality. It’s this spark that inspired me with the theme Hopes and Dreams.”

In creating Hope, Nathan said: “I didn’t want their background to overshadow what Hope aims to be – a magician. I took time to think about creatives like myself with invisible illnesses and disabilities that shouldn’t be an individual’s only feature; while still celebrating subtle traits such as hand tones due to melanin.”

“It’s always been difficult when getting more people in the industry across different ages, races, and other barriers. With the industry growing and these barriers being torn down, I hope someday a kid sees Hope and thinks ‘they look like me!’ and is inspired to dive into such a creative industry.”

Jo Noble, Principal Lecturer in Teesside University’s School of Computing, Engineering & Digital Technologies, is one of the organisers behind the Animex festival. She said: “There really is something for everyone to enjoy at Animex, from fans of the many genres of animated films to serious gamers. The event also offers a unique opportunity to hear from industry experts and get behind the scenes insight.”

Since its launch in more than two decades ago, Animex has attracted visitors from across the globe, along with guest speakers from industry names such as Pixar, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Industrial Light and Magic and Rockstar Games who have provided insight and expertise on the latest releases. Event partners for this year are TVCA (Tees Valley Combined Authority) and UKIE.

Find more details about this year’s Animex at www.animex.tees.ac.uk.

Study at the University’s School of Computing, Engineering & Digital Technologies https://www.tees.ac.uk/schools/scedt/