Tag Archives: Financial Services

Business, FInance, Finance News, Wellbeing

Quantum launch SME tailored employee benefit solution

Quantum Advisory, the leading independent financial services consultancy, today announced the launch of a new solution designed with small to medium (SMEs) employers in mind.

The service, which has only been available to a handful of existing clients to now, will advise SMEs on group risk, healthcare and wellbeing solutions tailored to them, and to best meet the evolving needs of their employees.

Commenting, principal consultant Graham Yearsley, who leads the employee benefits team at the firm, said: “Although gradually improving, the experience of small to medium employers in the market is generally still poor – they are often overlooked, cannot access the same resources and opportunities as larger organisations, and the quality of advice and consultancy they receive can be lacking. With SMEs by far the majority of the market, the disparity in service levels is unacceptable.

“According to government statistics, in the private sector 5.51 million businesses in the UK have less than 49 employees – this accounts for 99.2% of the total business population. Around 37,000 are medium sized and have 50-249 employees and only around 8,000 are large at 250 employees or more. And it’s growing, in 2023 there was a 0.8% increase of SMEs from 2022.

“Employee benefits programmes are critical attraction and retention tools – meeting employee expectations, ensuring the wellbeing and ongoing loyalty of staff, as well as optimising engagement. Getting it right is important whatever your size, but for SMEs it’s crucial.

“Recruitment is extremely competitive at the best of times and offering ever increasing salaries simply isn’t an affordable option, and neither does it address the overall wellbeing of staff. Frequent staff turnover can also be a real issue for a small employer, and difficult to manage. An expertly executed benefits package can have a big impact on an employment decision and, by proxy, the quality and loyalty of a team.

“It has to include honest investments in employees’ financial security, total health and career growth. As well, of course, as being accessible and affordable for an employer.”

Yearsley continued: “Our independent status means we can act nimbly and innovatively, creating truly bespoke solutions that are fit for purpose. We are able to access new and interesting things and act upon them quickly without the shackles of external shareholders – resulting in direct benefits to our clients and to their employees.”

 

Appointments, Midlands News, News

Q welcomes new partner Dan Harris

A leading financial services group has strengthened its team with the appointment of a new partner. 

 

Dan Harris steps up from his former role as senior mortgage and protection adviser at Shropshire-based Q Financial Services, just two years after joining the company. 

 

Q director Mitch Gough said he was delighted with the appointment, which he said reflected the key role Dan had played with the group since joining as a mortgage adviser in 2020. 

 

“I have known Dan for many years and he brings huge energy and passion to everything that he does. He has made a huge impression at Q over the past two years and we are delighted to be able to offer him this senior role. 

 

“Mortgage and protection is a key part of our business and under Dan’s leadership I look forward to continued success over the coming years.” 

 

Dan, who has 13 years’ experience in the financial sector, said he was thrilled to be taking up the new role at Q, which has offices in Wellington and Telford. 

 

“I started my first business at the age of ten, washing cars with a school friend, and have been passionate about the world of business ever since. At 14 I set up a children’s DJ and party company, and then a mobile bar for weddings and events at 18, so you could say I have always been business minded. 

 

“I love the way Q do business – always working to get the best results for our clients and putting them at the heart of everything we do – and am hugely honoured to have been offered this promotion. 

 

“I want to work to establish Q as one of the largest financial firms in the Midlands – with the best reputation for client satisfaction.” 

 

Outside of work Dan is married to Abi. The couple have a daughter Ariella and a son on the way in November. He is a Leeds supporter and rugby player. 

News

Dufrain secures investment from Phoenix Equity Partners

Dufrain, the market-leading data management services and data analytics consultancy, today announces that it has secured investment from Phoenix Equity Partners (“Phoenix”), a UK growth-focused private equity firm, to fuel the next stage of its growth as part of a management buyout.

Founded in 2010, Dufrain helps its financial services and banking clients discover, manage and optimise their data to gain valuable insights and make better informed business decisions. The business employs more than 170 data experts, providing a comprehensive set of data management solutions from its offices in Edinburgh, Manchester and London. Dufrain’s strategic approach and reputation for service excellence has seen it become a trusted partner to clients of all sizes across the banking and insurance sectors, among others.

Dufrain has delivered year-on-year revenue growth of 40% over the past two years. Phoenix’s investment will allow the business to continue this growth trajectory by expanding its footprint across multiple geographies and sectors as well as investing in its inhouse technology solutions.

 

Joseph George, CEO of Dufrain, commented:

“Every organisation faces challenges in terms of extracting value from the data they have or could have available. This management buyout will enable the leadership team to continue to build and invest in the business as we pursue our ambitious growth plans. We look forward to drawing on Phoenix’s expertise to help us achieve our plans over the coming months and years.”

 

Chris Neale, Partner at Phoenix, said:

“The data services market is large, global and growing quickly. Dufrain is perfectly placed to capitalise on this as the leading independent data solutions provider in the UK. Over the years that we have been following Dufrain we have been impressed by its fantastic culture, strong client relationships and first-class quality of work. We are very excited to have the opportunity to partner with Joseph and the team to help achieve our shared vision.”

FInance, News

Redgate survey identifies key database monitoring challenges businesses should focus on in fast-growing Financial Services sector

A sector analysis of the results from a major database monitoring survey has revealed how and why the growth, complexity, and management of database estates in Financial Services is different to other industry sectors. The results clarify the areas businesses in the sector should consider when including their database estates in digital transformation initiatives.

The global monitoring survey of 2,500 IT professionals and C-level executives was undertaken by Redgate in 2021 to discover the scenarios and challenges organizations face when monitoring their database estates. The large number of responses also provided the opportunity to dig a little deeper and compare the similarities and differences across industry sectors.

Financial Services in particular emerged as an outlier in the newly published sector insights report in four major areas:

  • The size and complexity of database estates is different to other sectors, with a nuanced difference between smaller firms and those with very large database estates.
  • There is a far wider use of monitoring tools and the data gained from those tools is shared with more teams across the business.
  • There is a need to manage people and compliance much more closely, probably prompted by the move to remote working.
  • The sector is ahead of the curve in the requirement to monitor cloud and hybrid database environments.

The insights are even more pertinent, given the recent big increase in investment in the sector. KPMG’s January 2022 Pulse of Fintech report revealed global investment in the fintech market topping $210 billion in 2021, a 173 percent increase on investment activity over 2020. Notable, one of its four trends to watch out for in 2022 is an increasing focus on the modernization of core banking platforms to reduce the reliance legacy infrastructures and facilitate better customer experiences.

While the investment is there, and there is a willingness and an urge to upgrade IT systems and process, issues remain. As Deloitte’s 2022 Banking and Capital Markets Outlook report observes: “Even though digital transformation is going ahead at full speed, these efforts tend to be incremental, localized, and fragmented, resulting in a pervasive and pernicious ‘technology trap.’ This is preventing many banks from realizing the full potential of their investments.”

Hence the value of the Redgate insights report in giving businesses in the sector a deeper understanding of the issues and the challenges they face when monitoring their database estates. By providing a benchmark of results businesses can use to compare their own efforts against those of their peers, future investment in their database estates can be directed more wisely.

Businesses in the sector can gain a full picture by downloading The State of Database Monitoring in Financial Services insights report online.