News Archives - Page 39 of 53

The best marketing routes for your business

Posted on February 22, 2019 | by root

You may be starting a new business and need to get noticed, or maybe you’re a long establish company looking to grow. Whatever your situation, one thing is clear — you need to market your business. But what are the best marketing options available to you?

Driving sales
You’ve probably seen a fair few trusty Ford Transit Connects rolling on by with company logos emblazoned on the side. This is because it can turn your transport into an all-year-round marketing machine. Even if you’re parked up, members of the public can still engage with your brand. It doesn’t matter how big the company is either, as all sizes can benefit from this, although for smaller businesses this would be a relatively cheap way to get their brand or product noticed every day.

As an added bonus, using a vehicle wrap has been stated by the Outdoor Advertising Association as being the most cost-effective cost-per-impression advertising method of them all! Radio is cheaper, but can still cost in the region of £10 per thousand impressions for a 30 second slot. Vehicle wrap, however, can cost as little as 30p per thousand impressions and has a much longer shelf life.

Using the influence of social media
Don’t focus too much on money-spending in marketing; take a look at free avenues, like social media. In January 2018, the UK had 44 million active social media users, representing 66% of the population. Of course, not all users will be potential customers or clients, but that is a phenomenal outreach for a free service. This is why a company, no matter what the size, should fully utilise this tool.

An easy way to utilise social media is to host a competition or giveaway. Clothing retailers QUIZ conducted a ’12 Days of QUIZMAS‘ which offered Instagram, Facebook and Twitter followers the chance to win prizes in the run up to Christmas. The requirements were to share the post and tag your ‘bestie’. This enabled the brand to reach larger audiences with little outlay.

Traditional leafleting
Leaflets are a relatively cheap way to market your business, so they can be a fantastic option for start-up companies in particular. Leaflet distribution, according to research, is a much more memorable form of advertising, with nine out of 10 people remembering door-drop mail they’ve received. This form of marketing can send your customers the message you’re intending to get across from as little as 5p per household. It also enables you to get customers engaging with your business.

Be selective in what needs to go on your leaflet design. By keeping your design simple, including your business’s name, logo, telephone number, email address and the service(s) you are offering, potential customers or clients are more likely to keep a hold of your leaflet, thus meaning they’ll always have a hard copy on hand.

Offering a discount or coupon with the leaflet is a clever way to gain potential engagement with your customers too.

Unroll the banners
If you have the space to show them off, outdoor banners are a smart investment. Doing so can help direct the attention of passers-by to your business in a relatively cheap manner. Research has found that the majority of a local business’s regular customers live within a five-mile radius of where you are based, so your banner could possibly be viewed by a single customer 60 times in a week.

There are so many ways to market your business, and the above is just a headful of potential routes. Realistically it all comes down to your budget, but you certainly shouldn’t scrimp on how much you set aside as its worth could be crucial to your business succeeding and growing. The above options should definitely help with your quest if you deliver it correctly.

Ensuring You Hire the Right Team when You Don’t Understand the Technology

Posted on February 21, 2019 | by root

Martyn Hurricks – Director and Cofounder of Talent Locker explores the importance of hiring the right team in markets you are not experienced in.

Introduction

The technology choices we make as businesses can have a huge influence on our capabilities as a business. We need to ensure that we pick the right technology, partner with the right people and put the systems in place to allow us and our employees to do our best work.

If you’re a manager or c-level exec and you don’t understand technology (or even an element of technology) what do you do when it comes to making significant choices about the team that looks after it for you? What do you do when this happens? How do you ensure you pick the right person to lead your team, or even the right partners to trust with such crucial decisions?

Start with The ‘Known Knowns’

At this point, it is important that you take a little time to outline what you have and what you need in the simplest way possible. The kind of questions you want to ask yourself are:

– What technology/solution do you have in place?

– Who is responsible for this technology?

– Why do you need somebody new now?

– Have any technology decisions been made?

– What will change as a result of those decisions?

– Why do you need somebody new now?

The key things to understand at this point is what you currently have in place – the people, the processes and the technology – and how these need to be improved or changed. This will provide you with the information you need about who your team are and what you require from them.

A common move is to attempt to remove a high cost (but also a highly expert) contract with a partner/supplier. The intention is that the expertise will be brought in-house and they will start supporting significant parts of their system themselves, improving productivity and reducing costs at the same time. Whilst this can lead to increased in-house expertise and direct access to a specialist, it can be a difficult process to manage.

The reason these partnerships come at a cost is because these companies add a lot of value to your business. Whilst arguably the very best partners may be able to help you gain a full understanding of who you need to require and take you to the next step, they may also be wary as they will see that they are effectively being replaced by your new hire. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start out by asking them for advice though, provided you have a good relationship with them.

Building Your Team

Once you have established your current position and what you need, you’ll quickly identify the gaps in your team and that’ll help you establish who you need. Whilst this will present you with the basic requirement, you may need to call on some support to sharpen this up and ensure that you are attracting the right candidates. The best places to start when outlining your requirement are a) the IT leadership in your organization and b) the team leader of the team with the gap.

If neither of these are in place, then those leadership or managerial positions are going to be the first that need to be filled to kickstart your process of change. The new hires should be seen as the lead dominos who will ultimately help define your systems and processes and have a huge role to play in whether or not your projects are a success.

At this point you can then call on a specialist recruitment company to find your lead domino who is going to make everything else possible. If you need someone for a CRM project, call on a CRM recruiter etc; your focus needs to be on finding someone with the technical capacity to help and advise you rather than a generalist agency.

Once you have them working with you, ensure that they are aware that you are looking for team leaders and work with them on the technology side of things. They are going to be able to highlight skills, qualifications and experiences that will make a candidate more or less likely to be capable of the work needed to complete your project. This will allow you to focus on the character, problem solving and leadership skills of the candidates they put forward. It’s a great way to collaborate on such an important decision that will shape how your business works over the coming years.

Getting the Right Person – 1st Time

The lead domino is so important in these projects, that it is crucial that you get this right and highly preferable that it is first time, with no costly mistakes. Your time and attention need to be focused on the leadership skills and character of your leaders, so that you can ensure that you have the right cultural fit for someone who is going to become a vital part of your team.

It is important that you do not underestimate the requirement as part of a cost-cutting exercise or missed key skills off the job description. So, work with a reputable partner who you can trust to get this right. This partner may be a trusted connection, a technology provider or a recruitment company with the technical expertise to help you get that 1st hire right, the first time around.

It really can be as simple as taking stock of what you know, using trusted partners to help you with the unknown aspects of your needs and then putting this combined knowledge to use to ensure you hire a team leader. This team leader can then take the responsibility for sitting within your team and identifying the future needs in line with the strategy of your company.

Oneserve appoints Alistair Hayter as its new Chief Technology Officer

Posted on February 20, 2019 | by root

Exeter based field service management software specialist, Oneserve, is delighted to welcome Alistair Hayter as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO) supporting its ambitious plans for the future.

Alistair brings with him a wealth of experience spanning more than twenty years in senior technology and product delivery roles in the education, healthcare and finance sectors. His knowledge and experience of the architecture and technology behind the development for SaaS solutions will complement Oneserve’s ongoing technology development.

Alistair, a specialist in solution design, team development and strategic alignment, boasts an impressive CV having held a variety of senior industry positions including Head of Engineering for Equiniti Data, Technical Director for Lovell Sports LTD, CTO for Imagine Education LTD and Senior Product Manager for VitalPac

Chris Proctor, CEO at Oneserve said: “This is a key appointment and we are really excited to have Alistair join the team at Oneserve. Our business has grown dramatically over the last few years and Alistair’s skills and expertise will drive forward our exciting development plans for the future.

“Alistair has extensive industry experience which will only serve to enhance our business offering. We are delighted he has chosen to bring this knowledge to Oneserve at a crucial time in our growth and we look forward to product innovations and new launches ahead,” concluded Proctor

“I am really excited about working with Oneserve at such a dynamic time,” said Hayter. “The industry and the general business climate is going through some unprecedented changes and I am excited to rise to the challenge with the Oneserve team.

“I am proud to be part of a forward thinking and innovative organisation that works so closely with its partners to deliver robust solutions while enhancing customer experience. Oneserve has an exceptional team of people coupled with market leading technology; core values which align with my own thinking and interests.”

For further information on Oneserve visit www.oneserve.co.uk

Recruiters need to refocus international efforts as global compliance complexity grows

Posted on February 19, 2019 | by root

As international authorities continue to take action against tax fraud while ongoing economic uncertainty impacts optimism in the UK, 6CATS International has urged recruitment firms to refocus their global efforts in order to thrive in the coming months.

According to the international contractor management specialists, UK firms cannot let fear and uncertainty prevent expansion overseas, particularly given the partly-saturated UK recruitment market.

Michelle Reilly, CEO of 6CATS explains:

“There’s no doubt that economic uncertainty and the global clampdown on tax evasion has created a complex landscape for growing recruitment agencies. With opportunities in the UK market arguably limited and the growth of the gig economy driving demand for contingent workers, there’s no doubt that international markets present lucrative opportunities for agencies.”

“However, we’re increasingly finding that the complex compliance landscape is preventing many agencies from taking this leap. With more countries signing up to the Common Reporting Standard and the Criminal Finances Act exposing recruiters to greater risks, many are choosing to play it safe and stick to the beaten path. Such an approach simply isn’t sustainable in uncertain economic times and now is, in our view, the time to be looking overseas for growth opportunities.”

WORRLD WE WANT: GAME CHANGING NEW ENTERPRISE LAUNCHES TO REVOLUTIONISE GLOBAL IMPACT SECTOR THROUGH

Posted on February 18, 2019 | by root

193 world leaders adopted The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, an ambitious plan to end global poverty, tackle climate change and reduce inequalities by 2030. In response to the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ warning at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos 2019 that the world’s problems are becoming more ‘integrated’ but its responses more ‘fragmented’ and ‘dysfunctional’, an ambitious new organisation aimed at revolutionising the social impact and advocacy sector through cross-sector collaboration is launching to empower the next generation of leaders, businesses and change-makers to support social good causes.

Worrld We Want (WWW) is a global impact enterprise launched to unlock the collective strength of people, ideas, networks and technologies to accelerate achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

2019 represents a fast-changing world, where the assumptions and rules of old no longer apply, and where new ideas are born every day. As the UN Secretary General highlighted in Davos, issues of climate change and inequalities remain the world’s biggest challenges due to a lack of cooperation. The rise of social justice activism and corporate social responsibility reflects a generation imbued with the desire to do well by doing good. WWW has been launched with the aim of harnessing that sense of purpose to convert into meaningful action, combining revolutionary ideas with responsible goals.

With an international team of experts based in the UK, India, USA, Hong Kong and the UAE, WWW has been co-founded by Teji Singh and Natasha Mudhar, seasoned entrepreneurs and the driving force behind the award-winning global business consultancy Sterling Group.

WWW is powered by “Accelerator” ventures aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals, with a focus on convening leading organisations, corporations, public figures including celebrities, campaigners and thought leaders around the world to awaken social consciousness and drive meaningful change. Ventures include identifying and enabling the change makers of the future through events, indexes, mentorship and incubation initiatives, empowering the world’s citizens through supporting open data policies, harnessing the power of celebrity and pop culture to entertain and inspire audiences and supporting critical impact projects through an ethical investment fund. “Accelerator” ventures include:

· W: More than a consultancy, W will help businesses to turn their social good initiatives into a movement, through storytelling and encouraging cross-sector collaboration. With W’s guidance, more businesses will understand how they can do well by doing good, and how to create clear and compelling narratives that reflect what audiences really care about.

· CHANGE4GOOD: Change4Good will look to the change makers of tomorrow. With the solutions to tackling complex challenges likely to come from creative, idealist, ambitious and energetic minds, Change4Good will showcase young leaders who are already making a difference. This will culminate with the launch of a Globe Shakers index profiling young change makers.

· POWERTOPEOPLE: PowerToPeople will aim to support open data initiatives to empower the world’s citizens and provide solutions to major global issues. Through working together to build a strong data ecosystem, PowerToPeople will create the opportunity for everyone to access the knowledge they need to help to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

· RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS: WWW will also have an expert service that will help companies to craft CSR strategies and become more trustworthy, accountable and responsible. Businesses will be given guidance on how to modify leadership, values and actions to craft a credible Corporate Social Responsibility strategy for today’s corporate world, respecting the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit

· PopularCulture4Good (PC4Good): Pop Culture is a useful tool that can be used to develop national and international communication strategies. PC4Good will help businesses to use the power of celebrities – from artists, musicians and film stars to cultural leaders -to bring attention to social good causes and to create impactful change

· W Impact Investment Fund: The W Impact Investment Fund is a global consortium that has been set up to support critical impact projects, backed by investors seeking sustainable finance and green investment portfolios. Through ethical investment, the fund will help to create action and impact around the world. Supporting critical impact projects around the world through ethical investment.

· Tashan: An ethical lifestyle and wellness retail brand with the core values of creating style with substance, centred around a planet conscious way of life. Tashan will aim to be a noble model for retail – creating a value driven enterprise, sustainably sourced and ethically created for the modern consumer.

Speaking about the launch of Worrld We Want, Co-founder and Chairperson Teji Singh said: “Worrld We Want represents an exciting opportunity to convene changemakers from around the world and help to create new ones, all working to achieve the sustainable development goals. Now is the time to take action, and it will take our collective expertise, resources and willpower to build a better future for the world. We look forward to working with our partners and businesses to create truly effective global impact through cross-sector collaboration.”

Co-founder and CEO Natasha Mudhar said “We are proud at last to unveil Worrld We Want. After years of bringing brands closer to their purpose, with WWW we aim to turn that purpose into action, by supporting new ideas for global impact and social good across sectors. The UN Secretary General is right that a dysfunctional and fragmented response from the world only makes challenges more difficult to overcome. Most of today’s social challenges are too complex for any single individual or institution to solve. And that’s why we believe cross-sector collaboration is the game changer for social change. We believe that by working together, with revolutionary ideas and responsible goals, we can build the best possible world – the worrld we want.”

Anderson Zaks launches new service for call centre (MOTO) payments that helps reduce payment risk

Posted on February 11, 2019 | by root

Off the shelf One-stop PCI P2PE solution that helps remove a call centre’s IT infrastructure from PCI DSS scope

Anderson Zaks, a leading omni-channel Payment Service Provider (PSP) based in the UK, has launched a new service offering secure card not present payments (MOTO) for call centres.
In a typical call centre environment, the usual scenario would be to take card payment information on a standard terminal, or a software application located on the IT infrastructure. This infrastructure then requires securing to PCI DSS standard.

The new solution enables card details to be entered directly on to a PINPAD by the operator connected to any PC or terminal. Card details are immediately encrypted in a PCI P2PE compliant manner thus effectively removing your IT infrastructure from PCI DSS scope.

This solution is specifically designed for merchants who must accept verbal card details from their customers, but equally, it can complement an IVR (phone signalling) or ‘pay by link’ solution.
Anderson Zaks and IDTECH SREDKey integrated solution does not require a driver to be installed, but instead works via the Anderson Zaks’s virtual terminal, and with its published API means that bespoke, secure solutions for MOTO payments can be set up within days.

Iain High, CEO at Anderson Zaks commented; “While the regulations for taking card not present transactions continue to grow, so too does the likelihood of a major data breach. Our innovative solution provides additional protection helping contact centres to weigh up the cost of meeting PCI compliance against outsourcing.”

The Changing Face of Business:

Posted on February 8, 2019 | by root

Chris Parnham, Managing Director at Absolute Corporate Events

The discussion of alienated and apathetic young people has continually fuelled the debate on the relationship between said young people and the business landscape around them. To some, young people are seen to be highly motivated and driven individuals, grateful to have begun escaping their looming student debt with a long overdue steady income. On the other side of the ‘coin’, there are those who brand young people as lazy, drifters and entitled – who lack the drive to get to where they want to be. Somewhat ironically, it is those businesses with a negative outlook of young people that struggle to both appeal to a younger audience and, actually retain said employees once they’ve walked through the door.

With a great depth of world-renowned universities, the UK is undeniably a haven for employers’ seeking the most highly-skilled and economically active young people. Naturally, this should lend to employers’ an unbelievable opportunity to ‘cherry pick‘ those individuals most suited to their company culture and future job requirements; from a diverse and well sourced labour pool. In other words, the UK market is primed for businesses recruiting skilled graduates. Therefore, the issue is not the relationship between young people and the business world around them; rather the relationship businesses have with the young people within.

Since acquiring Absolute Corporate Events (ACE) in 2013, I have made it my mission to develop a business strategy based upon people, rather than just numbers. In the knowledge that numbers will always follow the right people. Hence, ACE is now home to some of the UK’s leading event industry professionals and the business has since experienced growth of 400% in the past five years.

Below, I note three vital themes to consider when questioning the relationship your business has with its staff, particularly in helping to recruit and ultimately retain young people while ensuring they actively want to take their career further with your business.

Trust your Investment

Trust is not something to be taken likely, by any means. If you aren’t comfortable trusting your new hire to perform to the standards set by your business, why did you hire them in the first place? Naturally, there is a certain level of training that will be required before a graduate can be client facing or attending new business pitches; whatever it may be within your sector. However, it is absolutely integral they are given opportunities to both prove themselves and have some legitimate responsibility in their working day. Without, they’ll begin to feel undervalued. And once they feel undervalued, the prospect of working somewhere else is more appealing, but not only this, it is also feasible. Too often we see businesses becoming complacent of their workforce – and in turn, this results in businesses being ‘lazy, drifters and entitled’. If you don’t take your staff for granted, they’re not so likely to take their job for granted; as we so often hear about across the media.

Offer Career Progression

As fun as it may be, young people aren’t taking on anywhere upward of £35,000 debt just to be part of a stigma and have a three-plus year party. In fact, for the most part, they are highly ambitious and charismatic people searching for the opportunity to take them to the next level.

Creating a culture of training and opportunity has, in my experience, encouraged our young hires to not only stay within the industry, but to stay at ACE. Young people are not ignorant to the fact that they need training. That university certainly develops social skills and perhaps even public speaking, but the academic subject matter learnt is rarely applicable to the demands of their ‘adult job’.

Therefore, having a clearly defined and invigorated training and promotion scheme can be a valuable asset to employers of young people. Exercise training to develop your staff, offer promotions to incentivise this training and sustain the access to further promotions as a form of intrinsic motivation. Promotions don’t have to be based on an increased salary either, far too often this is seen as the only means of keeping young people. The reality however is that businesses must sell their employees a lifestyle and not just a salary.

Growing responsibilities and job title changes are a highly effective way of rewarding your staff. Not only this, it serves as a valuable indication to clients that you a) trust your staff, b) reward your staff and c) want to keep your staff. The confidence shown by the employee is a useful tool in encouraging your clients to reciprocate said confidence.

Reward and recognition is another often be valued more highly than a promotion or advancement; as carefully positioned meaningful rewards show your staff that you truly care about them and their contribution. This in turn will encourage them to care about your business.

Be Transparent

It is worth taking note, that when businesses make assumptions of what’s appealing to graduates, they make a fool of both themselves and their potential hires. Brightly coloured walls, ping-pong tables and sleeping pods are not always effective forms of enticement… for the ‘top’ employees at least. And by top, I mean those who have come to get the most out of themselves by getting the most out of their work.

By all means, encourage flexible working locations and a glass of fizz with an early finish on a Friday – but being kept as informed as more senior co-workers is a far greater attraction to the most employable young people. It reaffirms the business’ commitment to their employee and emphasises the culture of trust and career progression, as the key themes in the previous sections.

Moreover, actively seeking the council of new hires when making informed decisions is an easy win-win for employers. Incorporate and empower your team – at no extra cost. Not only this, you have no obligation to act upon the recruit’s council, it simply creates a positive perception of the business and encourages growth and career development.

Vulog featured in the 2019 Global Cleantech 100

Posted on February 7, 2019 | by root

The world’s leading mobility platform provider, Vulog, has been recognised by Cleantech Group as one of the best placed companies in the world to solve future clean technology challenges.

The Global Cleantech 100 is an annual guide to the leading companies and themes in sustainable innovation, and this year marks the 10th edition of the list.

As a shared mobility technology leader, Vulog’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model provides an advanced technology platform for shared mobility brands around the world. Car-sharing and scooter-sharing services in cities across five continents – including Vancouver, Sao Paolo, Paris, Stockholm, Melbourne and Wuhan – rely on Vulog to power their mobility solutions.

“We’re very proud to be listed in the Global Cleantech 100,” comments Grégory Ducongé, CEO of Vulog. “Shared mobility improves the efficiency of people’s day-to-day travel and improves the sustainability of personal transport. Our technology is a core part of the solution for greener mobility, helping reduce congestion, pollution and the number of private cars on the road, and promoting the uptake of electric vehicles. It’s a rapidly accelerating industry – we powered 15 million journeys in 2018, and forecast 25 million in 2019 – and our unrivalled expertise is helping service providers to quickly and successfully join the shared mobility movement.”

The Global CleanTech 100 list combines Cleantech Group’s research data with qualitative judgements from nominations and insight from a global 87-member expert panel comprised of leading investors and experts from corporations and industrials active in technology and innovation scouting. From pioneers and veterans to new entrants, the expert panel broadly represents the global cleantech community and results in a list with a powerful base of respect and support from many important players within the cleantech innovation ecosystem. The list is sponsored by Chubb.

“Our tenth edition is dominated by innovations for the future of food and mobility, and a decentralized and digitized future not only for energy, but for the industrial world more generally,” said Richard Youngman, CEO, Cleantech Group. “This is a far cry from the dominance of hardware, solar and biofuels in the inaugural Global Cleantech 100 in 2009.”

The complete list of 100 companies was revealed on 28 January at the 17th annual Cleantech Forum San Francisco.

· For detailed information on Vulog’s outlook as an innovator, visit Cleantech Group’s market intelligence platform i3 and search for Vulog.

· Download the report and meet the companies solving our biggest challenges

Interview with Freedom Finance CEO Brian Brodie

Posted on February 6, 2019 | by root

Freedom Finance is fintech lending platform, which uses proprietary technology to tailor products to specific circumstances for each individual customer. Brian was appointed CEO at Freedom Finance, after a long-standing career at Virgin Money, to develop the loan broker into a more diverse and digitally-focused platform.

Brian believes Freedom Finance’s success is down to the fusion of a digital experience and human warmth, which strengthens and enhances the customer journey. His success comes from understanding how customers respond and react to fintech developments to find tailored loans and mortgages.Since heading up the business, his team have secured various notable partnerships to provide services for household brands like ASDA Money and Purple Bricks – and the number of brand partnerships that use Freedom Finance’s services continues to grow at a massive rate.

Brian is a diverse and creative CEO who passionately believes in responsible lending and the role that the financial services sector has to play in educating customers, so they can make informed decisions about their finances.

We got a chance to sit down with Brian and ask his a few questions:

Please tell me a little about your journey and how you came to be CEO of Freedom Finance?

Throughout my career, I held senior positions at a number of financial services businesses, including sales and marketing director at Virgin Money.

I joined Freedom Finance in 2016 to develop the traditional broker it was then into a digitised lending platform. We could foresee the market was changing alongside the next phase of digital development and I wanted to ensure that Freedom Finance was continuing to move in the right direction to meet customers’ changing demands.

Providing customers with clarity is at the core of our strategy, and sits alongside ease of use and a unique, tailored customer journey. This is something that we are focused on rolling out to other providers and lenders through a white label service.

Tell me about the solutions Freedom Finance offers in more detail. How are these innovative and how do they help your firm stand out from its competitors?

At Freedom Finance, we strongly believe in providing our customers with clarity, not just choice. In the modern market, consumers have access to more financial service products than ever before. Although choice is certainly not a bad thing, having too many options can be overwhelming. In fact, our latest research shows that nearly half of UK adults feel anxious or overwhelmed when making important financial decisions, with 71% of people asking for more clarity from financial service providers about the products they qualify for and the options that are right for their circumstances.

We often see that financial service providers are guilty of providing customers with unnecessary and irrelevant choices, leaving customers frustrated as they misinterpret the best solution for what they are after. Freedom Finance’s proposition is different. With the use of our proprietary technology, we limit the number of choices available to each customer – providing them only with the options that they qualify for. We run soft credit searches and utilise services like open banking to really narrow down tailored mortgage and borrowing solutions. We remove excess choice and provide customers with the clarity to make well-informed decisions.

Our team continuously tests artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions to better understand and develop each customer experience. With the ability to assimilate endless ‘rules’, the system learns the right outcomes and options for each customer journey. Of course, by still giving customers the opportunity to pause and ask questions before they make a final decision.

Alongside all of this, we ensure that our UK-based teams are on-hand to answer any specific questions or respond to unique circumstances throughout the process.

How is Freedom Finance combining human warmth with technology?

It’s important that human warmth isn’t forgotten during the digital process. Our belief is that technology works best when integrated. It helps narrow choice and makes the decision-making process smooth and more efficient.

Recently, we developed and rolled out camera-to-camera appointments, which are really useful for time-poor customers who are unable to book appointments around busy personal or work schedules. We understand this is not for everyone, but we see that different generations are embracing technology – having someone to speak to on the phone (or camera) is helpful for all.

What does the future have in store for both Freedom Finance and the wider fintech space?

We’ve experienced exciting developments in the fintech market over the last decade, particularly with the dominance of digital technology in everyday life. Our platform is being utilised by leading brands that challenge online markets, like ASDA Money and Purplebricks.

Our proprietary technology is also being developed to support aggregator sites who are opting for clarity over lots of choice, and we expect the trend to continue.

As fintech continues to develop and adapt to customer demands, the most interesting next step is likely to come from the convergence of multiple technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and blockchain solutions.

In the next decade, with customer centricity and control continuing to grow, there is an enormous potential in the broker market to continuously develop technologies to best support financial decision-making. It will be interesting to see which players in the market manage to adapt and respond to changing consumer demands. Financial service providers should focus on helping consumers feel empowered, and provide them with knowledge and confidence to make important finance decisions that benefit them.

Brian Brodie – Freedom Finance CEO

What are the problems facing HNWs when seeking a mortgage?

Posted on February 5, 2019 | by root

Applying for mortgages can often pose significant challenges for people who do not neatly comply with the rigid criteria typically employed by mainstream lenders. Banks have become more risk averse in their approach, and this often means those with non-traditional incomes face delays, and in some cases, declines.

While this is something most people are aware of, it may come as a surprise to note that high net-worth (HNW) individuals can find it particularly difficult to acquire credit. At first glance, this seems like a paradox; why would HNWs who own millions of pounds worth of assets face challenges when applying for mortgages?

There is no simple answer to this question. Nonetheless, to fully understand the issue one must take into account the current trends shaping the UK mortgage industry; there are a number of identifiable factors that explain why conventional mortgage providers are reticent to lend to HNW individuals.

Handling complex financial portfolios

When considering mortgage applications, conventional lenders look to a number of financial indicators to assess the risk involved. And to determine risk, lenders will revert to the traditional metrics such as credit scores, income, employment history and an applicant’s existing debt. For the majority of applicants, these indicators will be inputted into an equation that will establish if he or she is a suitable candidate.

For the many borrowers, this “tick box” approach offers a straightforward path to a mortgage. Yet, when it comes to the complex nature of HNWs and their unique financial profiles, conventional lenders can be overwhelmed. For example, HNW individuals often do not have regular incomes and so, despite owning multiple assets, can be denied mortgages.

Typically, the wealthier an individual is, the more complicated his or her finances become, and for many banks, undertaking the due diligence on HNWs can prove a time-consuming and complicated process. Indeed, some lenders lack the resources and expertise to assess applications from HNWs, which means they cannot serve this particular market.

Knowing the client

One question often asked by lenders is why HNW individuals should need mortgages. One may assume that they should already have access to capital because of their investments and assets. While this may seem like a valid question, the ability to transform such assets into cash can often be a very complex process. Moreover, others might not want to use all their liquid capital to finance a property investment.

For example, a HNW individual’s assets could be spread across a variety of different classes, ranging from trusts and bonds to stocks and shares. What’s more, some of these assets could be illiquid in nature, meaning that the security cannot be easily sold or exchanged without risk of losing substantial value. Rather than venture down this route, it makes more sense for the HNW individual to leave his or her securities, and instead leverage them to access a mortgage.

There are other circumstances that can be even more nuanced, and this is particularly true when considering London’s prime property market. International borrowers seeking a loan above £1 million to purchase a house in the UK can face extreme difficulties, with conventional lenders not taking into account their credit histories in their local jurisdictions. This can mean that wealthier international borrowers miss out on acquiring homes due to delays or declined mortgage applications.

Conventional lenders take a step back

It would be wrong to believe that the barriers typically encountered by HNWs are solely the result of their complicated financial circumstances; the lenders are also responsible, with new mortgage regulations making the process of securing capital more difficult.

In response to the global financial crisis, the mortgage industry has witnessed a wave of new regulatory measures. This has included the “Mortgage Market Review” in 2014 and “Mortgage Credit Directive” in 2016. The result has been a more stringent and rigid banking environment, making it difficult for lenders to adopt a creative and flexible approach when considering mortgage applications.

Of all the contributing factors, it is important to recognise that when it comes to HNW individuals, no two cases are ever the same. The very structure of a financial portfolio is made more complicated by the number of variables that need to be considered by the lender, which can extend across international jurisdictions and asset classes. Conventional lenders more often than not, do not possess the capabilities, expertise or knowledge to deal with such cases.

Catering to the demand of HNWs, lenders who are well versed in addressing the financial circumstances of wealthy borrowers have become increasingly important. By applying their experience and specialist knowledge, the ability of such mortgage providers to understand the needs of HNWs means they are positioned to issue mortgages in a timely manner.

The UK finds itself in an interesting position. The lack of clarity surrounding Brexit has resulted in some lenders taking an ever-more risk-averse approach. And despite the rise of challenger banks and new fintech solutions, HNW individuals seeking mortgages for property acquisitions in the UK face being turned away for credit.

For this reason, it is vital that brokers and HNWs are aware of the mortgage providers who understand the needs of the wealthy and, in turn, are able to provide bespoke loans tailored to his or her nuanced circumstances.

Alpa Bhakta, CEO, Butterfield Mortgages Limited

Alpa Bhakta is the CEO of Butterfield Mortgages Limited. Part of the Butterfield Group and a subsidiary of The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited, Butterfield Mortgages Limited is a London‐based prime property mortgage provider with a particular focus on the needs of UK and international HNW individuals.

CEO’s still risk being the weakest link as security measures struggle to keep pace with innovation,

Posted on February 1, 2019 | by root

New report sets out awareness of vulnerability as a major problem amongst senior executives

A new report from The Bunker, the UK’s most secure cloud, managed services and data centre provider, has highlighted that senior executives are still often the weakest link in the corporate cybersecurity chain and that cybercriminals target this vulnerability to commit serious data breaches.

According to the white paper, Are You the Weakest Link? How Senior Executives Can Avoid Breaking the Cybersecurity Chain, many senior executives ignore the threat from hackers and cybercriminals and often feel that security policies in their respective organisations do not apply to their unique position. However, in reality, their often privileged access to company information make their personal accounts extremely valuable to exploit and heightens the need for extra care. In addition to highlighting the common mistakes made by senior executives, the white paper lists the top security areas that should be prioritised to ensure cybersecurity resilience.

Phil Bindley, Managing Director, The Bunker said:

“In tackling and mitigating the security threat, a critical issue is a failure to securely back up email data. Many businesses assume that a cloud-hosted service, such as Office 365, comes with automatic back-up and security provisions. Unfortunately, it does not.

“Unless stated and agreed, vendors do not guarantee complete system security or data backup as standard, so organisations need to be careful and have a full understanding of the SLAs in place. We advise people to replace the word ‘cloud’ with ‘someone else’s computer’, to get a better perspective of the risks that need to be mitigated when deploying a cloud-based service”.

All employees -especially those at the top of the corporate ladder- need to realise that cybercriminals use social engineering, email phishing and malware to access personal accounts, and C-level staff especially need to avoid becoming the weakest link in the cybersecurity chain by adhering to regularly updated, company-wide security policies regarding data sharing and backup.

He continued: “Cloud offers a highly secure and cost-effective platform to defend against threats and malicious attacks. However, data stored in a public cloud typically resides outside the protection of an organisation’s internal systems and many vendors do not automatically back-up data or implement security and privacy controls as standard, making it a perfect entry-point for cybercriminals to exploit.

“Reviewing corporate policies, with a focus on people, premises, processes, systems and suppliers will provide valuable insights into which areas to improve, and by championing a ‘security first’ corporate culture, organisations and their senior executives will be well positioned to avoid the high financial costs, reputational damage and unexpected downtime that could result from a cyberattack or data breach,” he concluded.

To download a free copy of the white paper, please click here

Why are apprenticeship programmes so successful?

Posted on February 1, 2019 | by root

With over 23,000 apprenticeship opportunities listed on average every month, it comes as no surprise that apprenticeship participation has hit a record high in the last academic year, 2016/17. There was a total of 491,300 apprenticeships that academic year, a sign-up increase of 14.5% on the previous year with 384,500 starts. Many analysts of the figures might attribute the success of apprenticeship programmes to that fact that 89% of apprentices are satisfied with their apprenticeship and 97% of employers said the same. It seems that the programmes have a good reputation across both employers and participants — so is the success expected to continue? Retailer of button badges, Badgemaster, explores.

Apprentice demographics
Apprenticeship programmes are attractive educational programmes to all ages, despite many believing that they are predominantly for school leavers; of the 491,300 apprentice starts in 2016/17, 24.6% of them were under 19 years old. However, in the same academic year, people aged 25 and over dominated apprenticeships with 46% of starts accounted for by the 25 and over population. A figure that isn’t surprising when statistics show that the number of participants in higher or degree apprenticeships have increased significantly, from 740 to 3,880 — and in September 2017, there were 39,000 commitments to apprentices ages 25 and over. The number of starts for people ages 19 to 24 years old, although still higher than under 19s, was the lowest since 2009/10 at just 29%.

However, so far in the 2017/18 academic year, although apprenticeship starts have appeared to drop, the ratio of demographics paints a different picture to 2016/17. So far, under 19s have dominated apprenticeship programmes, with 41% of all apprenticeship starts in the first quarter of 2017/18 started by under 19s. This is a normal trend to be noted, as the higher percentage accounts for young school leavers moving onto further education from school. Starts by those over the age of 15 dropped to just 29%.

Apprenticeship sector trends
If apprenticeship starts are anything to go by, there are clear winners when it comes to the most popular, and successful sectors for apprenticeship programmes, with four subject areas accounting for 86% of all the apprenticeship starts in 2016/17. According to a briefing paper from the House of Commons Library, the Health, Public Services and Care, and the Business Administration and Law sectors hold the joint top spot for the most sign ups — with Business Administration and Law losing single occupancy of the top spot for the first time following 7,000 more starts in the Health, Public Services and Care sector from 2015/16. Both sectors experienced 138,000 starts in 2016/17. In second place, Retail and Commercial Enterprise had 75,000 starts and in fourth, Engineering and Manufacturing experienced 74,000 starts.

But, whilst those sectors remain the most popular for apprenticeship programmes, the choice doesn’t stop there — which could be another reason why programmes are popular amongst all ages. Essentially, there is something for everyone. From Construction, Planning and the Built Environment to ICT, Leisure Travel and Tourism, and Education and Training.

Apprentice attitudes
The majority of apprentices have a relatively positive attitude toward their apprenticeship programme, with nearly all apprentices believing that they acquire and improve their skills as a direct result of the apprenticeship programme they are enrolled on. Furthermore, it offers both young and old to earn a wage whilst learning on the job. According to the Education & Skills Funding Agency, 97% of apprentices said their ability to do their job had improved, whilst a further 92% said their career prospects had improved with more than 90% of apprentices currently going into work or further training following their programme.

In the last academic year, figures showed that 912,200 people were actively participating in an apprenticeship, 12,800 more than in the year before. Figures from the previous academic year revealed that 271,700 people successfully completed an apprenticeship in 2015/16, up 10,800 on the previous year — suggesting that achievement and completion figures could continue to rise as participation rate increases, too.

Employer attitudes
Many employees across the UK from all sectors often experience a shortage of qualified workers, or employees who require further training. Apprenticeship programmes give companies an opportunity to train staff whilst on the job, but usually at a fraction of cost of a fully qualified, full-time employee. And it is not just money-saving benefits that keep employers happy.

With 87% of employers satisfied with the apprenticeship programme that they offer, 76% of them believe the programme has helped improve productivity and a further 75% think it has helped to improve the quality of their product or service. Furthermore, because of the success of the programmes, more than 76% of employers offer their apprentices a full-time job following the programme’s completion — only 24% said they didn’t offer further full-time work.

The benefits are apparent on both sides, with 87% employers also believing their apprenticeships give young adults an advantage when applying for jobs over those who haven’t participated, and 60% saying they are willing to offer a salary between £14,000 and £18,000 per annum to former apprentices.

So, what do you think? Are those figures enough to convince you that apprenticeships deliver continued success for both the apprentice and employer? With so many higher education routes to choose from, it is often difficult for people to choose which road to take. Apprenticeships offer benefits for both parties, with learning on the job a preferred method amongst many industry professionals. Does your company welcome apprentices? If not, maybe it is time to consider the successful education programme.