Monthly Archives: February 2024

Business, Charity, Charity News, Driving, News, Transport

Veezu donates £11k to Childline Cymru

VEEZU, Wales’ leading private hire technology platform, has donated £10,989 to NSPCC Cymru following a month’s fundraising activity. 

 

Veezu donated a portion of its margin from more than 100,000 rides in South Wales, booked via its app in December, to cover the expenses of 2,700 calls to Childline during the festive season as part of its Funded by Veezu program. 

 

Funded by Veezu offers residents, charities and sports teams the opportunity to apply for funding and grants to help support them with their local community initiatives. 

 

NSPCC Cymru provides support to children, families and professionals in caring for their children and providing therapeutic assistance to help children move on from abuse. Childline is a free service for children and young people in need of support or advice who delivered an average of 16,300 counselling sessions a month last year. 

 

This is not the first time that Veezu is supporting NSPCC Cymru, as they annually donate to the charity through their Childline Club Cymru membership. 

 

Hywel Peterson, Chairman at NSPCC Cymru, said: “We’re incredibly thankful for Veezu’s generous donation. It will make us make a big difference and help us ensure that our trained volunteer counsellors can be there for every child across Wales, whenever they need us most.  

 

Nathan Bowles, CEO at Veezu, said: “We are delighted to have raised so much for NSPCC Cymru. Their work is of incredible importance and is one that we admire so highly here at Veezu. I feel privileged to be able to contribute to their life-changing work.” 

 

Finance and Banking, News, Sustainability

Paradigm Norton vows to keep pushing for positive ethical change after retaining B Corp status with record score

FINANCIAL planning and tax services expert Paradigm Norton has retained its B Corp certification with a larger improvement in its score than any UK company recertified in the last year.

The 20-year-old company, which has around 90 staff based at its offices in Bristol, London, Exeter and Torquay, first gained B Corp certification in 2019 with an overall score of 85.7. B Corp encourages organisations to make a positive difference by taking an ethical approach in five areas of their operation – Clients and Investment, People, Community, Environment and Governance.

The company was reassessed last year across five areas of its business and given an overall score of 148 – a 72 per cent increase on its previous rating.

Companies bidding to win or retain B Corp status, which is judged every three years, first complete a self-assessment form before a rigorous examination in person by assessors from B Lab, the not-for-profit organisation behind the B Corp movement.

Steve Watters, who joined Paradigm Norton just before it first won the certification but became Head of Impact three years ago, took responsibility for retaining not only the accreditation but improving the way the company operates by ensuring it keeps an ethical approach at the centre of everything it does.

Mr Watters formed a staff team representing relevant departments, dubbed the ‘B-Keepers’, and challenged them to examine each of the five areas of the business and identify how things could be done better.

“We considered what does ‘good’ look like in governance? What about the stewardship of our people? What about our suppliers and our impact on the environment?” he said. “For each of the three years running up to the recertification we planned what we were going to try do in each area and closely monitored our progress.

“This is a company that has really strong values and was already trying to do the right thing, so I was pushing at an open door. It was pretty easy for us to make the case for making changes that impacted positively across the business.

“We thought ‘we’ll do the things we think are right and if we do that, the score will look after itself’ and that’s basically what’s happened. The increase cannot be attributed to any one initiative – instead, it was our progress across the board.”

Despite this he was still taken aback when he received the recertification report. “The minimum overall score required is 80 points and it is hard enough to get above that the first time,” he said. “So then when we had scored 148, we were surprised and delighted to discover how far we had moved forward in three years and to find ourselves being held up as an example to others.”

The company has been invited to take part in a B Corp webinar to discuss its outstanding improvement and is offering advice other companies preparing for their B Corp applications.

In the area concerning its workers, the company increased its rating by 99.7 per cent – which is higher than any other UK score on B Corp’s ‘Best for the World’ list. “During the first certification the company was in the process of becoming employee owned – the employees own around 80 per cent of the shares and are part of an ownership trust board – so that’s a very strong area and the employees have a powerful voice,” said Mr Watters.

The company has also placed far stronger emphasis on ethical investment, with more than half of its 1,200 clients now choosing socially responsible options. “That’s been a very big part of the journey over the last few years,” said Mr Watters.

“We’ve gone from developing some really strong ethical investment and impact investment options for our clients to making that the default for any new clients. That’s because research tells us we can expect these investments to perform just as well.”

The retention of B Corp and the scale of its improvement in so short a space of time has only inspired the company to do more, said Mr Watters. “We made a really big leap forward but there is still a lot more we can do,” he said. He said the company is working with suppliers to help them meet high ethical standards and with fund managers to encourage them to influence the companies it invests in on behalf of clients.

Mr Watters believes B Corp status will become increasingly important and valued as clients become more concerned about business striving to work ethically and sustainably. “I think sooner or later the old way of doing things is going to have to die, so the question is, do you want to be a leader in it or do you want to follow behind with the crowd later?” he said. “And why would you not want to do business in this way?”

Find out more about Paradigm Norton’s services and read its B Corp recertification report at paradigmnorton.co.uk.

—

Pictured: Paradigm Norton Head of Impact Steve Watters, right, with some of his ‘B-Keepers. Thanks to their efforts the company retained its B Corp certification with an overall score of 148 – a 72 per cent increase on its previous rating and the largest improvement of any UK company recertified in the last year

Pictured: Paradigm Norton Head of Impact Steve Watters

—

Please note, investing places your capital at risk and the value of investments may fall or rise. You should seek competent advice before taking any action.

Paradigm Norton Financial Planning is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

 

Creative News, Marketing, Marketing & PR, News, PR and SEO

Lucky Number 13!

Written by Jon Kelly, Founder and CEO, Meet and Potato.

Celebrating 13 years as one of the UK’s leading experiential events agencies, Meet and Potato’s Founder and CEO, Jon Kelly looks back on their reign to date and explains why unlucky for some 13 has actually been quite the opposite for this Liverpool powerhouse.

Why did you create Meet & Potato? 

“I originally set up M&P because at the time I hated how agencies were structured. I wanted to create something different, an environment with a relatively flat hierarchy in which everybody had an equal voice. Thirteen years ago, this was a relatively new approach, these days it’s more common and that’s a good thing. M&P has always been a safe space, encouraging personal growth and a place for people to thrive. The bottom line was never my focus, the team was because I firmly believe if you take care of your people, they will take care of the business.

Why do you feel you have had a great 13 years?
It’s been quite the ride with ups and downs along the way, but I’m pleased to say it’s been mostly ups. The industry has seen many changes over the years, we’ve learned a lot and adapted. We’ve never been what you call a big agency and I think in many ways that’s been our strength. We’re agile and our flat, no-hierarchical structure has meant we can be responsive in ways large agencies can’t. We’ve also had the unwavering support of clients that allows us to take risks.

Is the number 13 unlucky?

I’m not superstitious so the number has no negative connotations for me, quite the opposite. I once put money on number 13 at the roulette wheel in a Maltese casino during a client event wrap party and I won! 13 has been my lucky number ever since.

With 13 in mind, what 13 points would you share with others that have enabled you to drive M&P to success over the years:

  1. Have a clear purpose. What are you trying to achieve, who do you want to attract and what do you want to do. This will guide you in the early days and will act as your guiding light.
  2. Do things differently. It’s often a cliche but don’t be afraid to challenge the norm. That doesn’t have to just be in terms of service offering, it can be how you operate your business, what you offer staff, how your business behaves etc.
  3. Invest in your team. Without them, your business does not operate. Pick the gems and treat them properly because it’s their dedication, creativity and hard work that drives your business forward.
  4. Values. Having clear values that you and your team live by is essential and guides all business decisions. At M&P we all care deeply about what we do, always aiming above client expectations, and we embody the agency values:
    We are creative.
    We are passionate.
    We are knowledgeable.
    We are fun!
  5. Pinpoint Your Proposition. Nail what you do and make it clear to potential clients. For us, we create moments of magic that leave a lasting impression. This sits at the heart of everything we do, we want our live events, creative content, and communications campaigns to be remembered for a long time.
  6. Pick Your Clients Wisely. It’s a two-way street with clients and you want to work with brands that are on the same page as you as this will enable long-lasting and successful relationships. Several of our clients have been with M&P for more than a decade. Not many agencies can share those levels of retention, and it makes me super proud as their unwavering support allows us to be bold when proposing creative solutions. Now when we go after new clients, we need to be sure we can bring our M&P magic to them.
  7. Trust Is Intrinsic. Our policy of total honesty and transparency with our clients is part of the reason they keep us around and I really believe every business would benefit from this approach. This enables you to truly understand the brands you work with and allows the client to trust us to challenge their internal teams to step outside their comfort zone and collaborate to deliver something new.
  8. Great Expectations. Push the boundaries and set those sky-high expectations. It’s always great to hear clients ask us at the end of an event how we can possibly top it next year, but somehow, we always do. We love nothing more than to impress an audience with fresh and exciting ideas, introducing new event trends, and immersive experiences. Sometimes we’re managing clients with Gucci aspirations and H&M budgets so it can be a challenge, but it’s always one we embrace.
  9. Measure and Celebrate Your Success. In fast-paced businesses that are constantly busy, it’s easy to just move on to the next project. Make sure you and your teams are constantly keeping a close eye on your successes and celebrate them regularly. Whether that’s looking at the impact you’ve made on clients to demonstrate how successful a project has been, looking back at the quarter or year that has just been completed or rewarding teams through socials, it’s always important to take a moment.
  10. Encourage Recognition. Seeing the team progress and individuals grow in confidence is rewarding for me. It’s great to see them recognised by industry peers too which is why we put our teams forward for several awards. This year, our Senior Producer, Sophie Greatbanks has been nominated for CN Agency Producer of the Year and Content Coordinator, Niki Toth has just been awarded the title, CN Agency 30 Under 30. Amazing achievements for fantastic team members.
  11. Future Focus. As well as having the foundations in place for the business, make sure you’re looking forward. What’s next, who do you want to work with, what is the next best event you want to work on. Always keep an eye on the year ahead.
  12.  Lead as you’d want to be lead – setting an example and getting your hands dirty from the top down
  13. Share your knowledge – for the sake of the future of the industry, share your best practices and learnings whether this is internally with the team, on socials or through industry events or media, educate the next generation of creative event professionals.

Looking forward, what do the next 13 years look like?
I’m stepping away from the day-to-day running of the agency to concentrate on business development. I’ve always been very hands-on so it’s not an easy move to make but it’s the right thing to do with a view to our future growth and the next 13 years. I’m chasing that dream client, Adobe or Google for example with big budgets to allow our creativity to go wild. It’s been an amazing journey so far and I can’t wait for the next chapter.

News, Property

Households urged to act fast on mould to save thousands on repair

Act fast on mould to not get hit in the pocket

Staying on top of home maintenance can be an extra burden on everyday life. With children to look after, meals to make, clothes to wash, all this and much more takes up valuable time when you should be relaxing after a busy day. However your health and your finances can be hit hard if you overlook and neglect the early signs of mould, not to mention the significant health impact.

The UK is experiencing a year on year rise in homes requiring treatment for damp and mould with some areas seeing an unprecedented spike in residential properties experiencing this problem. Overall local authorities have seen a huge 66.67% rise in complaints during 2022/23 compared to the year before and housing associations saw a 70.23% increase during the same time period.(* USwitch Mouldy Nation Report.)

The causes vary from older housing stock and poorly ventilated homes to unresolved leaking plumbing.

The impact of mould on health has been widely reported with the NHS spending £1.4bn (**Building research body bre) a year treating illnesses associated with living in cold or damp conditions.

But if you find mould in your home, when and how should you act?

 

Mould can spread fast, causing expensive structural damage, so start to treat the problem straightaway.  A professional mould removal company will charge you from between  £300-£400 per day to solve the problem and a painter and decorator will cost you another £200-£300 per day to ensure your rooms are permanently mould free. Plumbers prices can vary widely depending on where in the UK you are anywhere up to £500.00 per day.

To effectively remove mould we recommend you use HG mould remover to deal with the issue head on. HG mould remover is affordable and available at many retailers from B&Q, Tesco’s and on Amazon selling from £5.25. HG mould remover eliminates all mould and is suitable for a  wide range of surfaces including plastered walls, tiles, bathroom seals and more. With a targeted spray action HG mould remover is easy to use directly onto mould or mildew in damp areas.

We do have other organic methods to remove mould, check them out here.  But we recommend that you resolve the issue first so as not to jeopardise your home and family. Homeowners are increasingly turning to HG to help them with their mould problems with a 232% increase in EPOS Sales Units 2023 vs 2021.

 

Prevention is always preferable and once you have solved your damp and mould problems here are some steps you can take to ensure your home is dry and mould free:

  1. open windows regularly
  2. cover pans when you cook
  3. dry clothes outdoors or in a dryer
  4. close internal doors when you cook or shower
  5. use extractor fans in the kitchen and bathroom
  6. leave a gap between furniture and external walls
  7. wipe condensation from window sills each morning

If you have any questions on how to treat mould effectively, please check out https://hg.eu/uk/tips/how-to-get-rid-of-mould for further information.

 

Business Advice

How to Boost the Image of Your Small Business

Small business leaders have faced some challenging times in recent years. The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in 2020, put pressure on many small firms, especially those that operated from physical premises. Shops and other customer-facing premises experienced significant reductions in footfall during the height of the pandemic when lockdowns and movement restrictions dramatically reduced sales.

While the worst effects of the virus have passed, in 2024, there are still other economic factors for small businesses to contend with. Higher-than-normal levels of inflation are increasing the cost of many materials and products, and these increased costs are eventually passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices. This, in turn, can reduce profitability as less sales are made.

Put simply, the current economic climate is challenging for small businesses. In this difficult trading landscape, business owners must seek to increase their market share and become more visible to their target markets to ensure longevity.

One way to achieve this is by boosting the image of your small business. Firms that enjoy a positive brand image and are instantly recognisable in the marketplace will enjoy improved sales and long-term profitability. In this article, some of the key ways in which small businesses can boost their image will be explored.

 

Invest in high-quality signage

In an era when web presence is incredibly important, and social media marketing is an important tool for small businesses, it’s easy to overlook physical forms of promotion that can boost the image of a firm.

For example, professionally designed business signage can speak volumes about the company and help to give it a suitable image that resonates with its target market. In comparison, poorly made or difficult-to-read signage will likely create negative connotations in the eyes of potential customers.

As a small business owner, it’s important to consider, what does your sign say? Does it appeal to your target market in terms of its design and message? Is it easy to read, and do the design and fonts mirror company branding across other parts of the business?

Investing in quality business signage and working with a professional graphics/signage company will ensure that your final design will project the image you seek for your small firm.

 

Encourage staff to post online

While your small business may only have a few staff members, these workers can play a key role in boosting your firm’s image. Encourage your staff to create short but memorable posts on social media channels that illustrate the roles they undertake and the projects that they’re working on.

Actively encouraging staff to use social media to illustrate the culture and working environment of your small business can create an authentic brand image that gives extra credibility to your firm. It can help you to become more visible online and demonstrate the company ethos and values from the perspective of your staff.

 

Create targeted content for your website

Your business website can be a key resource for boosting your company image. Naturally, your site should provide an enjoyable user experience for visitors and returning customers. Still, it can also be used as an outlet for regular informative content relevant to your firm’s niche.

For example, if your small business sells building materials and DIY equipment to the public, consider writing regular blog posts or articles on how to undertake a range of common DIY jobs in the home. By creating helpful, relevant, and informative content that’s of interest to your target market, you’ll be offering more than just your products. Over time, this content will allow your business to gain regular traffic to the website as customers seek information on subjects that are of interest to them.

In addition, well-researched and authoritative content that obeys the best practices of search engine optimization (SEO) will help you rank more highly on search engine results pages. This will boost the visibility of your small business online while helping you to gain increased revenue streams.

 

Support local good causes

Finally, it’s important to understand that supporting local good causes can be a key way to improve the image and visibility of your small business. Consider supporting a local sports team in your community and supplying funds to kit them out with apparel and equipment. You may even be able to advertise your firm on their team kits to further boost your image in the local area.

Other options to consider when supporting good causes are working with local charitable foundations, non-profit organisations, or grassroots foundations that help to improve the lives of local people.

HR, HR Software, News, Technology

Personio appoints ex-Google and Twitch executive Lenke Taylor as Chief People Officer

Munich, 22 February, 2024: Personio, Europe’s leading HR software company for small and mid-sized organizations, welcomes Lenke Taylor as Chief People Officer (CPO). Lenke joins to lead Personio’s people strategy as the company enters its next phase of growth as well as support its product teams in building market leading solutions for HR leaders like herself.

 

Hanno Renner, co-founder and CEO of Personio: “The success of any organization is built on its people. As an HR-innovation focused company, we know the critical and strategic role that people leaders play in shaping employee experience and unlocking organizational success. That’s why hiring the right Chief People Officer is fundamental to our future goals. Lenke will not only help build a best-in-class HR function but also help shape our company strategy and drive business growth across Europe.”

 

Lenke brings more than 25 years of experience in human resources across notable technology companies including senior leadership positions at Google and Chief People Officer roles at BuzzFeed and Twitch. Throughout this time, she has led global teams to build business and culture at scale and has driven employee engagement across multiple functions. Currently based in the US, Lenke will be relocating to Europe during the summer along with her family.

Lenke Taylor, CPO, Personio

Lenke Taylor, incoming Chief People Officer, Personio: “It’s an incredible gift to work for an organization where the product is designed to help people like me, HR professionals, be even better at our jobs. It’s a really exciting time to be joining Personio, which is already helping 10,000 European HR teams to unlock the power of their people. I look forward to not only working with our talented team to nurture our people strategy, but also to support our product teams in delivering the best software for HR teams in SMEs across Europe.”

 

Lenke joins Geraldine MacCarthy (CRO), Jonas Rieke (COO), Maria Angelidou-Smith (CPTO), Birgit Haderer (CFO) and Naman Khan (CMO) to complete Personio’s Executive Team, reporting to Hanno Renner. “Meeting members of the executive team through my interview process reinforced my positive views of the company. In particular it was inspiring to meet other executive leaders who are women, and I’m proud to join a forward-looking company with industry leading gender representation at the C-Level” continued Taylor.

—

About Personio

Personio is the all-in-one HR platform that unlocks the power of people for small and medium-sized organizations with 10 to 2,000 employees. Trusted by over 10,000 organizations that together manage more than 1 million employees, Personio drives productivity for HR teams, managers and employees by improving HR processes and boosting employee experience. Our ever-evolving product makes Personio a clear choice for organizations looking to upgrade their people platform for now and the future.

Learn more about our product, or how to join our teams in Munich, London, Madrid, Dublin, Berlin, Barcelona, New York, Amsterdam and remotely, here: www.personio.com

 

News, Technology, Transport

Game-changing Public Transport: HOLON and Valtech Mobility join Forces

  • Long-term strategic partnership
  • Collaboration on fully autonomous, comfortable, inclusive and sustainable public transport
  • Joint development of cloud platform for HOLON Mover

The Germany-based mobility experts HOLON and Valtech Mobility announced their strategic partnership today.

The common objective of HOLON, a subsidiary of the BENTELER Group specializing in the development and industrialization of autonomous movers, and Valtech Mobility, a leading provider of digital solutions for the mobility industry, is to significantly advance the digital transformation of public transport.

The initial focus of this partnership is the development of the cloud platform for the HOLON Mover, a fully autonomous vehicle for use in public transport. The collaboratively developed platform serves as the central hub for vehicle operations, facilitating communication between various stakeholders such as infotainment systems, real-time tracking for operators, and passenger interactions with the HOLON Mover.

By offering an on-demand service model alongside traditional line traffic, users can summon the Mover to meet their transportation needs. This not only enhances the convenience of public transport but also contributes to sustainability by operating on electric power, ensuring (local) emissions-free journeys within local communities.

Equipped with features such as an automatic ramp, securing systems, Braille and audiovisual communication options, the HOLON Mover is designed to provide inclusive access to mobility solutions for everyone. With a total capacity of up to 15 passengers, including seating for ten individuals, the vehicle can accommodate diverse passenger needs, including those requiring wheelchair or stroller access.

Valtech Mobility will play a key role as the software partner for cloud development, service creation, and integration support for third-party entities. The Munich-based company will be involved in every stage of the process – from conceptualization to product deployment and ongoing software updates – ensuring a seamless, safe and future-proof outcome.

Interview: HOLON and Valtech Mobility on their joint work on the HOLON Mover:

“We are delighted to announce our new long-term partnership with such a visionary partner like HOLON and hope that with our digital expertise, we can contribute to improving sustainable urban mobility, enhancing customer experience, and discovering new ways to navigate urban spaces,” said Norman Palmhof, Management Board Valtech Mobility.

“The partnership with Valtech is of strategic importance to us. The specific know-how that Valtech contributes in the areas of cloud and backend systems offers significant added value – both for the product design and, above all, for the passenger, who receives a comfortable and intuitive mobility solution. We look forward to working together with our partner to further drive the series development and industrialization of our Mover,” said Dr. Henning von Watzdorf, CEO HOLON.

For more information please visit:

https://www.driveholon.com

Technology

Noname Security Secures Coveted Position on CRN’s 2024 Security 100 List

Noname Security, provider of the most complete API security platform, today announced that CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Noname Security to its Security 100 list. The list recognises leading IT security vendors committed to working hand-in-hand with channel partners to protect businesses from cybersecurity threats.   

This 9th annual list honors channel-focused security vendors across five technology categories: Endpoint and Managed Security; Identity, Access and Data Security; Network Security; Security Operations, Risk and Threat Intelligence; and Web, Email and Application Security. 

The distinguished Security 100 awardees offer a blend of advanced technology and services in the evolving cybersecurity market for both partners and customers. As security remains a critical concern for businesses big and small, this list is a vital resource for solution providers. It highlights top security vendors, promoting collaboration with channel partners to bring innovative solutions to clients. 

Noname Security launched its API Security Platform in 2019, adopting a channel-first approach to leverage the partner community’s influence on CISOs. As API security becomes increasingly crucial for companies, Noname Security remains dedicated to closely collaborating with partners. This effort is aimed at educating and empowering them to demonstrate strategic value to their customers in the ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape. 

“Being named on CRN’s Security 100 list is a tremendous accolade,” said Oz Golan, Co-Founder and CEO of Noname Security. “As the API security threat landscape continually evolves, our commitment to arm our channel partners and their clients with cutting-edge technologies for dynamic API defense is unwavering. Together, we’re setting new standards in proactive API protection to ensure they are staying ahead of threats.” 

In a recent survey, Noname Security found that while 94% were confident in their current application testing tools, 78% have experienced an API security incident in the last 12 months. With this disconnect, the need for API security tools is more apparent than ever as organisations experience security incidents that take advantage of unprotected APIs.  

“CRN’s Security 100 list recognises top-tier companies that provide the IT channel with groundbreaking offerings in a number of security areas that stand up to a wide range of threats and risks,” said Jennifer Follett, Vice President, U.S. Content and Executive Editor, CRN, at The Channel Company. “As security becomes ever more important to every business, these companies are laying the foundation for cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions.” 

The 2024 Security 100 list will be featured in the February 2024 issue of CRN and online at www.crn.com/security100.  

About Noname Security 

Noname Security is the only company taking a complete, proactive approach to API Security. Noname works with 20% of the Fortune 500 and covers the entire API security scope across four pillars — Discovery, Posture Management, Runtime Security, and API Security Testing. Noname Security is privately held, remote-first with headquarters in Silicon Valley, California, and offices in London. 

About The Channel Company  

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers, and end users. Backed by more than 40 years of unequaled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. thechannelcompany.com 

Energy, News

British Hydropower Association highlights Government’s hydro policy ‘blind spots’

Government’s drive for the cheapest kWh fails to provide ‘best value’ to cash-strapped consumers and misses a golden opportunity to replace fossil fuels with climate-friendly hydropower, says BHA

The British Hydropower Association (BHA) is today urging MPs of all parties to stop overlooking hydropower in order to provide a broader UK energy mix and a better deal for cash-strapped households.

The BHA has published a new manifesto “Flying the Flag for British Hydropower” which is being sent to ministers and MPs ahead of the UK general election.

A report by Birmingham University suggests that with a price stabilisation mechanism of £140-£180/MWh, the Hydropower industry can deliver a further 1GW of reliable, winter baseload low carbon energy generation.

Kate Gilmartin, CEO of the British Hydropower Association, who recently gave evidence to both the Environmental Audit and Energy Security and Net Zero select committees, said: “Low carbon energy technology diversity is key to a stable, operable, decarbonised grid – alongside delivering national energy security and insulating the UK from the wider volatile global fossil fuel market.

“The lack of technology diversity is largely down to the Government’s drive for the cheapest kilowatt-hour (kWh). But lowest cost does not always translate to ‘best value’ to consumers who can’t afford to pay their sky-high bills.

“The BHA’s new manifesto highlights a number of surprising policy blind spots when it comes to the benefits of Hydropower. Hydropower, Pumped Storage Hydro and Tidal Range are all proven, reliable, renewable sources of power generation which can assist the UK in achieving its climate targets. The big question is why so many politicians still can’t see the importance of Hydropower and Tidal Range technology to our energy security and in providing lower energy bills for consumers.”

The BHA says the true value of Hydropower to the consumer is replacing high cost and high carbon fuels, including  gas peaking plants which are fired up only when demand is high.

The BHA is calling for:

 

  • Policy support that will allow 1GW Hydropower deployment through changes to the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme, including a strike price of £160MWh.
  • A Hydropower CfD ring-fenced pot, in order to replace gas peaking plant.
  • An approach that moves to “Enhanced” Levelised Cost of Energy, which considers wider whole systems benefits.
  • A ‘Cap and Floor’ price stabilisation mechanism to bring forward the pipeline of Pumped Storage Hydropower projects.
  • A new Government industry partnership approach for Tidal Range, that mirrors the framework set out to catalyse the offshore wind industry 15 years ago.

The BHA has also today unveiled a new logo and website which highlights both the historic importance of hydropower and the future it can provide as a low carbon, renewable, predictable and sustainable source of energy for the UK.

Gilmartin added: “There’s nothing in current government policy which brings forward renewable generation at anything less than five megawatts. Everything ministers are looking at is large scale generation connected at the transmission grid which doesn’t resolve local grid issues or enable local energy solutions that can really help enable energy affordability for consumers.

“You can install offshore wind farms which generate 50 gigawatts out in the North Sea, but without the transmission upgrades, this is not going to bring people’s household bills down in the next 10 years. We need more focus on local energy solutions, supported by local generation like robust, reliable, renewable Hydropower.”

You can read the British Hydropower Association’s manifesto in full on the BHA’s new website, here.

News

Leveraging Threat Intelligence for Regulatory Compliance

Written by Cyrille Badeau, Vice-President International Sales, ThreatQuotient

The US Government recently announced that state-sponsored Chinese cyber group Volt Typhoon has compromised multiple critical infrastructure organisations’ IT networks in the US and is preparing “disruptive or destructive cyber attacks” against communications, energy, transport, water and waste water systems. The announcement, which was supported by national cybersecurity agencies in Australia, Canada, UK, and New Zealand, is a sobering reminder that modern life relies on digital networks. From healthcare, banking, and socialising, to energy, water, local and national government – everything has a digital aspect. But while digitisation has delivered great leaps forward in convenience, speed, and efficiency, it has also introduced risk. Malicious forces wanting to disrupt economies, governments, and people, know that targeting digital networks is the quickest route to maximum cross-border disruption.

As a result, the collective improvement of cybersecurity is a high international priority. There’s a wealth of EU legislation in the pipeline designed to tackle cybersecurity risk in critical sectors. The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) focuses on cybersecurity in the finance sector and the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) concentrates on reducing risk within hardware and software products.  The NIS2 Directive, which comes into force in October 2024, seeks to raise cybersecurity standards and incident response capabilities in a wide range of critical industries such as energy, communications, water, banking, health, and transport. Crucially, the directive applies to their supply chains, too. We believe threat intelligence will play a central role in organisations’ efforts to comply with these regulations, particularly the NIS2 Directive, which has risk visibility, information-sharing, and collaboration at its heart.  

The role of threat intelligence  

As every CISO knows, cybersecurity is a multi-aspect, multidisciplinary activity and you’ll never succeed in entirely preventing attacks and breaches. What you can do — and what the regulations require — is to implement programmes to manage and minimise risk and demonstrate that they are effective. Failure to do this has direct implications for senior leaders as, under NIS2, members of management bodies may now be found personally liable for failing to establish and oversee effective cybersecurity risk management programmes.

Getting the assurance required to sign off on the effectiveness of programmes requires a solid understanding of where that risk is coming from, which is where threat intelligence comes into its own.

Threat intelligence can be collected from a diverse range of sources including official bulletins from government agencies – like the recent US announcement – private sector threat feeds, intelligence-sharing communities and open source information, as well as from monitoring and analysis of dark web communications. There is a huge amount of data available and, as with all large datasets, the key is analysing it effectively in the context of your organisation so you can gain a picture of the threats in your environment.

Just knowing about the threats isn’t enough, because there’s a difference between the existence of a threat, the risk of it happening, and the severity of the consequences for your organisation and its stakeholders. Here a threat intelligence platform helps organisations correlate threat data within the context of the business, prioritising the threats with the high likelihood and severity. This allows you to show that you understand risk, and you can establish a prioritised remediation programme to minimise the risk of threats becoming reality.

Accelerating incident response

NIS2 is not just about controlling attack risk, it’s also focused on improving the quality of response to incidents when they occur. Previously, EU authorities noted a lack of consistency in the speed and detail of major incident reporting, so the new directive tightens up both the time frame and level of information that organisations must provide.

Significant incidents must be reported to authorities within 24 hours with an early warning including a description of the incident, whether the organisation believes it was caused by unlawful or malicious activity, and whether it could cause cross-border impact. Within 72 hours the organisation must provide an update providing information about its severity and impact, plus relevant indicators of compromise. One month after the initial notification a full report must be provided.

Threat Intelligence Platforms and/or Security Orchestration Automation and Response Platforms can provide the foundations of effective reporting by gathering real-time intelligence when an incident occurs, initiating an automated incident response plan including notifying the relevant authorities, and powering investigation and evidence collection so the reports contain all the documentation needed.

Collaboration and cooperation across nations and supply chains

Another issue that NIS2 seeks to address is the lack of cybersecurity information-sharing that has obstructed efforts at cross-border risk management and incident response in the past. The directive will establish an international cooperation group, a network of national CSIRTs, and the EU-CyCLONe cross-border incident management and response network. It also creates a system of coordinated vulnerability disclosures and a European vulnerability database that will be managed by ENISA.

Threat intelligence sharing will form a key aspect of the success of these initiatives. A threat intelligence platform and participation in industry-specific threat intelligence communities can help organisations stay informed, share best practices, and embrace the ethos of the directive, while also contributing proactively to the rising tide of cybersecurity performance that it seeks to deliver.

Proactive information-sharing will also be crucial to gaining visibility over threats in the organisation’s supply chain. This is a central tenet of NIS2, with in-scope companies required to take a risk management approach to monitoring cybersecurity standards in supplier organisations. By fostering a collaborative approach to cyber risk and sharing threat intelligence with suppliers, companies can build a culture of cybersecurity collaboration that will benefit all parties.

Compliance with regulations such as NIS2 will rest on the ability to demonstrate clear understanding of risk and a robust incident response and reporting framework. Collecting, analysing, and sharing threat intelligence should be a priority for in-scope organisations as they build their compliance capabilities.