Monthly Archives: October 2021

Education, Education News, Midlands News, News

Campaign to eradicate asbestos from Birmingham schools launches on World Teachers’ Day

A hard-hitting campaign to protect teachers and children in Birmingham from the deadly substance asbestos has been launched today on World Teachers’ Day.

In recent years, it’s emerged that more than 80 per cent of Birmingham’s schools could contain the hidden killer asbestos which causes a range of serious conditions, including the cancer mesothelioma.

The UK has the highest mesothelioma death rate for teachers in the world and between 200 and 300 people die here each year after being exposed to asbestos as school children.

Birmingham-based asbestos consultancy Acorn Analytical Services is leading the new campaign which calls for greater awareness about the presence of asbestos in school buildings to ensure the hazardous substance is managed safely or removed.

As part of the campaign, Acorn is offering free asbestos audits to all Birmingham schools and is in talks with the city’s MPs to see if they can help the company to lobby for change at government level.

Before joining Acorn, company director Ian Stone ran ATAC – the UK’s leading association for the asbestos testing and consultancy industry – and lobbied the Government about the presence of asbestos in schools and for better asbestos management in schools.

Ian said: “As part of my campaigning, I met ex-RAF pilot Michael Lees who lost his wife Gina at the age of 51 to mesothelioma. Like hundreds of others, Gina was a teacher, as well as a wife and mother to young children. She’d been exposed to asbestos by simply pinning up schoolwork onto display boards with asbestos fibres in them. To see how this family had been torn apart and children left without a mother really affected me and has driven me on to campaign further.

“Other countries are pledging to eradicate asbestos from their schools completely but things are moving a lot more slowly here. Schools are special places and greater transparency over what asbestos is in our schools is needed. In our experience some schools manage their asbestos well, but others are failing and this will have consequences.

“The high numbers of Birmingham schools which could contain asbestos is hugely worrying so we want to see action taken in our great city first before we roll out our campaign nationwide.”

Asbestos was used heavily by the UK’s construction industry in the second half of the 20th century and as a result any building erected before 2000 could contain asbestos. If asbestos is not managed properly it can release fibres into the air and if inhaled they can cause serious diseases.

Headteachers who are worried about whether asbestos is present in their schools can contact Acorn for a free asbestos audit by calling 0844 818 0895.

Anyone who wants to support the campaign should contact Acorn on birmingham@acornasbestos.co.uk

Events, News, Tech

HelpSystems Launches BuildIT EMEA Virtual User Conference

A three-day online event to gather customers for discussion on best practices for a strong, secure IT strategy

HelpSystems today invites EMEA-based customers to attend BuildIT EMEA, a three-day virtual user conference taking place from 5-7 October 2021. During the event, customers will share and gain fresh insight into how they can stay ahead of emerging security threats, reduce IT complexity, and maximise the value of their HelpSystems’ security and automation products.

Following the success of HelpSystems’ BuildIT event in May, which gathered North and Latin America-based customers, BuildIT EMEA lets regional customers explore industry best practices in security and automation and network with peers who share the same challenges. HelpSystems leaders will present the company vision and product roadmap, and technology experts will update customers on the latest product innovations during a dedicated demo and training day.

Conference themes include:

  • Protecting sensitive data with layered security
  • Innovations in secure file transfer
  • Leveraging robotic process automation and workload automation for greater efficiency
  • Proactive cybersecurity
  • IBM i monitoring and automation

Customers who attended BuildIT: The Americas, said:

“The online conference was excellent. It allowed me to concentrate on what’s really important – what are the critical challenges we face and how can we mitigate against them?”

“Your solution to simplify end-to-end security is impressive. I can’t wait to see more.”

“BuildIT EMEA will give our customer community the insight and guidance they need to manage the increasingly challenging task of maintaining data and system security and automating processes in a complex, distributed environment,” said Kate Bolseth, CEO, HelpSystems. “HelpSystems thrives on events like this where we get input from users and customers can network and share tips.”

 

Event details summary:
BuildIT: October 5-7, 2021
Event website and registration: https://info.helpsystems.com/buildit-emea

Watch the video: https://linoma.wistia.com/medias/mivtbytt7f

Appointments

Creative ITC appoints new General Manager

Creative ITC has appointed Steve Patterson as General Manager. In this new role, he will be responsible for all operational aspects of the company and for driving its continued growth as a leading provider of managed cloud services and the premier virtual desktop solution provider in the engineering professional services sector.

Steve brings with him many years’ experience of delivering enterprise technology solutions, most recently as Enterprise Sales General Manager at Exertis and in senior sales roles at Hammer.

“This appointment marks a new era in Creative’s growth,” said Creative Group MD, Keith Ali. “Steve is an extremely capable pair of hands with a rich industry pedigree and I couldn’t be more pleased to have him on board to drive the Creative ITC business forward.”

“This is a really exciting time to be joining an ambitious, focused business with such impressive technical expertise and team culture,” said Steve Patterson. “Creative has continued to go from strength to strength and I’m very much looking forward to taking the business to the next level.”

For further information on Creative ITC please visit https://www.creative-itc.com

News, Pensions

Regulation, Regulation, Regulation … is it all getting too much?

Mounting regulatory requirements for DB pension schemes are taking their toll on many skilled professional trustees and even driving them out of their roles. But if it’s too much for the professional trustees, what does this mean for lay trustees of small schemes?

New research from Charles Stanley Fiduciary Management amongst professional trustees of UK defined benefit pension schemes found that two-thirds (62%) are finding regulations too burdensome and overly complex and so are planning to step down from their role within the next three years – many far sooner.

The survey revealed that 44% said they didn’t have the right knowledge for the job, 41% said the reporting requirements were too onerous and 24% said the role was taking up too much time.

Clearly a reduction of professional trustees available in the market could have a damaging effect on the potential stability and success of schemes, but this report also highlights another worry.

According to the Pensions Regulator, the number of pure defined benefit schemes with professional trustees on their boards stood at 1,538 out of 4,797 in 2020/21, which leaves over 3,200 schemes run by non-professionals, often a scheme member, finance director or company owner.  Most professional trustees work for the largest schemes, and so it is the lay trustees that run the smaller end of the market.

Whilst this group of amazing people do a great job, if professional trustees of large schemes are struggling, the key question becomes how are trustees of smaller schemes coping?

Some of the trustees of smaller pension schemes we speak to have been trustees for 20 years, some have worked for the company running the scheme – they are emotionally invested in their schemes and don’t want to walk away, but clearly now is the time to seek a new type of support as an option for their schemes.

This is where Stoneport can help. The Stoneport Pension Scheme was set up last year to consolidate small schemes and tackle the problems faced by smaller schemes head on.

Being part of Stoneport means that governance headaches and regulatory pressures are completely removed from trustees. However, that doesn’t mean that trustees no longer have to be involved in their schemes. Through the Stoneport Alliance, scheme representatives retain votes on all key decisions.

In addition to this, Stoneport’s unique, purpose-built structure enables it to achieve a significantly higher level of cost savings and improved member benefit security, by bringing different employers’ schemes together to run as it was a much larger and stronger scheme.

With Stoneport we are Stronger Together.

For more information contact joining@stoneport.com

Cybersecurity, News

Before the start of the academic year, the number of DDoS attacks on online retail has increased

Before the start of the new academic year, StormWall specialists have identified a sharp increase in DDoS attacks on the e-commerce sector in August 2021. Online retail is traditionally one of the most attacked industries, and during the preparation for school, the number of attacks on online stores increases significantly. With the help of cyberattacks, online retailers are trying to harm their competitors and cripple their websites. Experts have found that the number of DDoS attacks on online stores increased by 62% in August 2021 compared to August 2020. Data from StormWall customers was used for the study.

As the study shows, most attacks in August this year targeted online clothing and footwear stores (41%) and online electronics stores (35%), as well as online stores for office supplies (5%), sporting goods (11%), furniture (4%), household goods (3%) and others (1%).

Experts were also able to analyze the type of DDoS attacks that hit e-commerce this year. Experts have found that the average attack performance is 50-200 thousand HTTP requests per second, and the maximum recorded performance for online stores was about 600 Gbps. Although hackers already know how to launch DDoS attacks with a capacity of up to 2 Tbit/s, even a much smaller attack can cause great damage, as such an attack can stop the work of the site for several hours. Most of the DDoS attacks on e-commerce in August 2021 were carried out via HTTP protocol (93%), some of the attacks were carried out via TCP protocol (5%), and there were also attacks via UDP protocol (2%).

“Every year it becomes more and more difficult for online retailers to defend against DDoS attacks. Now you can buy a botnet on the Internet that allows you to organize an attack with a capacity of up to 2 Tbit/s, and the online retailer is not able to defend against it independently. During the school preparation period, competition in the e-commerce market is significantly increased, and every online retailer should be prepared for a possible DDoS attack from the competition. Most businesses already use professional protection, but its effectiveness can vary. It is recommended to perform stress tests of your resources at regular intervals to check if the protection is working effectively,” says Ramil Khantimirov, CEO and co-founder of StormWall.

News

North Wales college to host much-anticipated return of business and industry exhibition

THE much-anticipated return of North Wales Business Exhibition will unite industries and lay the foundations for a sustainable economy.

Coleg Cambria Deeside plays host to the event on Wednesday October 27 from 8am-2pm.

Organised by Deeside Business Forum (DBF), the focus is on bringing the private and public sectors together to capitalise on talent and skills in the region, to strengthen relations and build back from the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.

More than 90% of exhibition space has already been taken by companies including Airbus, Toyota, DRB, HYNET, Cambria for Business, and Hanson Cement; Chester, Cardiff, Bangor and Wrexham Glyndwr universities will be among those appearing in a cutting-edge Innovation Zone.

DBF chairman Askar Sheibani says the theme of the day – Business for the New Reality/Innovation – will provide organisations of all sizes with guidance and advice, as well as networking opportunities.

“I am delighted we are able to hold the exhibition after such a tough time for all industries,” he added.

“While we are still cautious there is a lot of room for optimism and this is the time to show confidence, to come together for the economy of north east Wales and surrounding areas.

“We will have companies of all sizes in attendance, and there is so much we can do for each other, from research and development to the supply chain; there is a lot of business to be done, a lot of reasons to feel positive, so I’m really looking forward to this event and hope to see a great response on the day.”

The programme begins with a Mersey Dee Alliance (MDA) business breakfast before a presentation by Lord Barry Jones, President of the DBF and MDA, and various industry speakers.

Forums will take place across the venue on topics such as finance, net zero, international and skills.

Coleg Cambria’s Chief Executive Yana Williams says the college will be pivotal in supporting hard-hit arenas in the years ahead.

“Cambria works closely with industry to forge partnerships in education, business and other areas, so we are privileged to once again be hosting the exhibition and hope it will be of value to those who come along on the day,” she said.

“There will be representatives from some of the country’s leading anchor companies, as well as educators and different organisations across the region and beyond.

“This is an event not to be missed for any enterprise wanting to take the next steps after a challenging period, and to share best practice – we hope to see you there.”

For more information, to exhibit and register for the event, visit: www.deesidebusinessforum.co.uk and www.eventbrite.com/e/dbf-north-wales-business-exhibition-nwbe21-tickets-157071927363

Follow the hashtag #NWBE21 on social media and @DBF_Forum and @colegcambria for more.

Food & Drink, Food and Drink, News

Four in A Row For HAPPi in Top Food Awards

Plant-based oat mi!k chocolate brand, HAPPi, is celebrating after winning four top awards in this year’s hugely competitive Great Taste Awards.

Launched earlier this year as a delicious, vegan alternative to milk chocolate, HAPPi picked up four coveted gold awards for all four of its main flavours: Plain M!lk, Orange, Salted Caramel and Cacao Nibs Crunch and was the only oat milk chocolate brand in the competition. 

“This is a fantastic achievement for HAPPi, which we only launched at the start of 2021,” says Gavin Cox. “When it comes to creating plant-based alternatives, taste is the absolute most important thing so to pick up these awards for flavour alone is a huge pat on the back for the whole team.”

“The flexitarian chocolate market is becoming increasingly competitive so awards like these will really help us stand out from the crowd,” adds Gavin.

The Great Taste Awards is the world’s largest and most trusted food and drink awards, with a panel of expert judges that include chefs, buyers, food writers and retailers. All products are blind tasted and marked accordingly, meaning that the awards are also a positive way to receive honest, impartial feedback on products from the best figures in the food and drink industry.

During vigorous taste testing, the judges described HAPPi as “A very well made chocolate bar. The texture was creamy and velvety, and the cacao content was well balanced with the sweetness,” adding, “The flavour profile is excellent: the chocolate is rich with fruity dark notes with the well judged salted caramel bringing a very well judged further dimension to this tasty, indulgent chocolate bar.”

HAPPi produces a range of oat mi!k chocolate products including its core range of bars, HAPPi nibbles, buttons, HAPPi Oat Drinks and also new this month its advent calendar and selection box. For more information on HAPPi visit www.happifreefrom.com

THE HAPPI FACTS 

  • Happi Free From produces a range of oat milk chocolate bars in six flavours, as well as oat milk chocolate buttons and chocolate Nibbles.
  • Happi Oat Drinks are its newest launch.
  • Happi uses fully sustainable packaging. All Happi packaging is from sustainable sources and is either fully recyclable or compostable.
  • Happi buys its cacao directly from farmers and growers with a full ‘farm-to-bar’ supply chain. This means they know who grows its chocolate and what they get paid. 
  • Happi gives 1% of our annual net sales revenues to youth projects and mental health organisations. 
Marketing, PR and SEO, News

Raptor PR appointed agency of record for Playable Factory

Raptor PR, the hyper-growth digital b2b communications agency for video games, media and tech brands, continues its successful 2021 journey as it has been appointed as the global agency of record for Playable Factory, an intelligent marketing platform that creates playable and interactive ads for mobile games, apps and brands.

Playable Factory’s world-class track record includes boosting user acquisition and return on ad spend for publishers such as Zynga, Voodoo, Dream Games, Rovio and CrazyLabs while it has also created interactive brand playables for Lego and brands in the Unilever family.

Raptor PR will be designing Istanbul-based Playable Factory’s global communications architecture, positioning and content strategy to drive conversations not just within the mobile games industry, but also among premium brands. Raptor PR’s integrated campaign will directly support Playable Factory’s international growth strategy, targeting stakeholders including investors, publishers, developers, brands, agencies and advertisers. 

Can Coskuncan, Growth and Partnership Lead at Playable Factory, commented: “When looking for a partner for our global communication activities we knew that our business area required not just any PR agency, but one with proven and highly specialised expertise across gaming, advertising and tech industries. That’s why we decided to work with Raptor PR and we believe their experience will add a great deal of value and effectiveness both for Playable Factory and our clients’ businesses.”

Rana Rahman, Founder and Managing Director of Raptor PR, commented: “Team Raptor is uber excited to be working with Playable Factory. They’re a perfect compliment to our portfolio of hugely ambitious and successful games industry brands that are looking to ramp up their global fame game. Playable Factory isn’t just a leading creator of playable ads for mobile games campaigns – they’re driving adoption of playable and interactive ads by household-name brands like Unilever and Lego. Turkey is such a vibrant ecosystem of talent, growth and energy. I’m positively delighted that we’re now officially a part of this scene, helping one of its brightest stars go global.”

Awards, IoT, News

Industrial IoT specialist Powerhouse Digital crowned ‘Most Innovative’ in national innovator awards

Powerhouse Digital is delighted to have won the Most Innovative Industrial IoT Company at the 2021 Media Innovator Awards.

Powerhouse Digital was founded by Tim Bennett in 2017, with a vision to help companies reduce their carbon footprint. The Huddersfield-based consultancy works with companies in the IoT space to improve efficiencies in manufacturing and supply chains. It specialises in developing IoT monitoring systems and data visualisation solutions for manufacturing and technical engineering businesses, such as the industrial door and loading bay sector. By identifying areas where efficiencies can be improved or processes changed, energy consumption is reduced, delivering cash and environmental benefits.

The business is focused on supporting the supply chain for the warehouse and distribution sector, which has experienced an unprecedented uptake in demand due to the explosion of internet shopping and home delivery needs. This is highlighting the need for better servicing and maintenance for key supply chain equipment such as loading bay doors, to avoid rising costs and a damaging environmental impact.

Tim Bennett said, “Industrial Internet of Things, or IoT, is the concept of bringing together data collected from various sensor devices in connected environments that can be analysed and acted upon to help boost the operational efficiency of machinery and day-to-day activities. IoT is already having a huge impact on everything from domestic kitchens to industrial loading bay doors. But now, with more and more advances across the IoT sector, the capabilities of the concept are growing rapidly.

Industry is one of the worst offenders in terms of carbon footprint, accounting for 23% of total greenhouse gas emissions today. Many businesses operating in the industrial sector are already starting to digitise processes and utilise AI and machine learning. By incorporating IoT into these growth and development strategies, they can help reduce their carbon footprint through more accurate forecasting, preventative maintenance, environmental monitoring, better use of renewable energy and design of energy efficiency policies.

I am delighted that our work has been recognised by this award. I am passionate about using technology to drive future solutions, working smarter for the benefit of our planet. Climate change is a real phenomenon, and, with the right support, industry can start making significant inroads in carbon footprint reduction through the use of smart data today.”

News

Handshake Appoints LinkedIn’s Charles Hardy as University Partnerships Lead

Handshake, the largest early career network, has appointed Charles Hardy to lead on its university partnerships work in the UK.

Following a period of unprecedented growth, Charles will help Handshake further expand its offering in the UK – forging relationships with universities to bring more HE institutes onto the platform in the months and years ahead. His role will also see him consulting with universities to help them understand how all students can best maximise Handshake to build their professional networks and ultimately drive better outcomes early on in their career.

 Charles brings a wealth of knowledge on professional networks and their potential to have a huge impact in improving career prospects, applying this experience to help more institutions benefit from Handshake’s “no network required professional network”. 

In a decade spent at LinkedIn, Charles was instrumental in setting up and maintaining partnerships with HE institutions across the brand’s core businesses. He also served LinkedIn Learning as its Higher Education Client Partner, where his focus was on providing online learning resources to help develop career readiness, employability and professional skills programmes for students. Prior to this, Charles worked in senior recruitment and resourcing roles at IBM and TMP Worldwide.

Commenting on his appointment, Charles Hardy said: “Handshake tackles some of the key issues facing students and graduates in today’s jobs market by providing a network for university careers services to create human to human connections between students and employers. Handshake’s suite of tools can really help universities focus and optimise their value to students. The ability to help recruiters better find student candidates based on aptitude for a role rather than existing connections has the potential to really level the playing field. It’s an exciting time to be joining the team, with huge potential for growth in the UK, and I can’t wait to start exploring all the possibilities with institutions across the UK.”

 

David Shull, UK Country Founder & Head of Operations from Handshake, added: “Having Charles on board is a real win for Handshake in the UK. Charles deeply understands the transformative impact that networks can have on leveling the playing field, and importantly, shares our belief that university careers and employability teams are the best possible partners in leveling the playing field for all students. Charles will be a key part of our efforts to continue to grow in the UK, supporting university careers services in making a real difference to student prospects. We’re delighted to welcome him to the team.”

 

Handshake’s mission is to tear down structural barriers in the UK jobs market and help recruiters proactively engage with candidates based on their potential and aptitude for a role rather than their background or existing connections.

Charles’s appointment is further evidence of the growth underway at Handshake in the UK. The company recently announced that it has been selected as the new career platform of choice by four more UK institutions: Birkbeck, University of London, Kingston University, The University of Bradford, and the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), adding more than 75,000 students to its user base in the UK.

For additional information about Handshake visit joinhandshake.co.uk