Commenting on the latest inflation figures, published by the ONS today, Ian Stewart, chief economist at Deloitte, said:
“Set against inflation of over 9.0%, base interest rates of 1.25% remain by historic standards very low. Significant rate rises lie ahead we expect base rates to more than double in the next six months.
“The Bank of England is presiding over what seems likely to be the sharpest tightening of monetary policy since the 1980s. It is touch and go as to whether the Bank will be able to curb inflation without triggering a recession.”
Scottish AI company Aveni.ai has secured an investment of £2.75 million to deliver the expansion of its Aveni Detect platform to the financial services and utility markets across the UK. Its ground-breaking conversational intelligence technology is set to lead the way in a new era of speech automation for regulated industries.
Aveni Detect uses the latest advances in AI and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to draw intelligence and automate processes directly from the customer voice and other communications channels. This allows companies to achieve greater efficiencies in quality assurance (QA) while significantly improving client experience, sales performance, staff training, and the ability to identify vulnerable customers.
The funding round was led by The TRICAPITAL Syndicate LLP and Par Equity supported by Scottish Enterprise. Anderson Strathern advised Aveni on the legal aspects of the investment. The investment will accelerate Aveni’s growth and see it move beyond financial services into other regulated industries such as utilities, while building a team to support rapid UK expansion.
Joseph Twigg, CEO, Aveni explains, “Consumer Duty will fundamentally change the regulatory landscape across the Financial Services. The FCA is shifting from human-centric supervision to an emphasis on data-first evidentiary requirements. As executive teams are asked to supply increasingly large datasets to the regulator, with growing frequency, Boards will be asking themselves ‘do we know exactly what’s in that data?’. The answer to that will be a resounding ‘no’.
“Monitoring and assurance teams today typically assess 1-2% of customer interactions through highly manual processes. This will have to fundamentally change. Aveni uses cutting edge machine learning to introduce a paradigm shift in Risk Assurance. Our ‘Machine Line of Defence’ allows companies to monitor 100% of customer interactions, triaging high risk cases for human review and transforming the management of regulatory and reputational risk.”
The development of Aveni’s platform is timely as it coincides with significant moves from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to considerably increase its regulatory control over companies’ actions as it relates to consumer duty of care. It is unclear how companies will be able to meet these expansive regulatory changes without the sort of comprehensive monitoring and analytics capabilities that technology such as Aveni’s platform provides.
Alastair Moore, Investment Manager at Par Equity comments, “We are hugely excited to be partnering with Aveni through this funding round. The technology that the team has developed is truly game changing for regulated firms in Financial Services and Utilities and
will deliver a step change in how service and advice is delivered and reported, all benefiting the end customer. It was evident from speaking to customers and partners that they love Aveni’s Detect platform and were impressed at how quick it was to deploy. With this further funding, the company has a fantastic opportunity to establish itself as a category leader in automated conversational intelligence and we’re looking forward to supporting Joseph and the team along the way.”
Moray Martin, TRICAPITAL’s Managing Partner, adds, “We are delighted to be able to continue supporting the Aveni team and also to welcome Par Equity to the co-investment panel. The next chapter in Aveni’s evolution looks particularly exciting as it drives to scale. We are confident, having nurtured the business from seed to pre-Series A, that the fundamentals are firmly in place to deliver the success the business is looking for and deserves.”
Joseph Twigg concludes, “The funding we have secured is a testament to the belief our investors have in Aveni’s vision and the team that will deliver it. It’ll allow us to significantly broaden our distribution footprint as we expand nationally and continue developing our
platform that will fundamentally change the way companies serve their customers. It’s a pivotal time for the business, and I’m proud of what we’ve done to date and excited for what this funding will now enable us to achieve.”
Reacting to the launch of negotiations, William Bain, Head of Trade Policy at the BCC, said:
“These negotiations are likely to be more complex than the others recently undertaken by the UK Government. But they also have the potential for a greater uplift for exporters across the UK, particularly in services and emerging technology.
“The six Gulf states together, represent the fifth largest market for UK exporters after the EU, US, China and Switzerland.
“If the negotiations yield a comprehensive free trade agreement covering all six Gulf states, total trade with the UK could rise by an additional £7bn by 2035, with new opportunities for investment flows being created.
“Stronger foundations for access to Gulf product markets, more predictable regulatory practices, and lower tariffs would also benefit UK machinery, automotive and food exporters.”
The trade negotiations will officially start in Riyadh today. Member countries of the Gulf Co-operation Council are The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.
Turner & Townsend Consulting Limited has secured a position on National Highways’ Operational Technology Commercial Framework following a competitive tendering exercise, working in collaboration with our key subcontractor Accenture (UK) Limited.
Through the framework we will have the opportunity to provide National Highways with consultancy support for its operational technology services and programmes – including the successful delivery of roadside systems such as vehicle detection, digital enforcement cameras, CCTV, emergency telephones and variable message signs.
These essential services allow the reliable, safe and resilient operation of the strategic road network.
The framework will help enable National Highways’ digital roads strategy as it oversees a transformation of the network that will support smart assets, connected and electric vehicles and deliver greater environmental sustainability.
The appointment brings together our digital, programme and operational expertise. Working in collaboration with Accenture we will have the opportunity to provide innovative operational technology advisory and delivery programme expertise through the framework. The appointment is for a two-year term, with extension options of up to twenty-four months in total.
Nathan Marsh, Chief Digital Officer for UK Infrastructure and Defence, said: “Operational technology is a vital part of keeping the UK’s extensive road network running smoothly and safely, our team has significant highways experience to deliver on this.
“We look forward to working in collaboration with Accenture on the opportunity to ensure the network remains well-maintained and resilient, providing a fast and reliable way for all our road users to efficiently get to their destinations.
Michael Hart, The Union’s Creative Director, ponders our innate fear of innovation.
“Outwardly, we praise innovation. Inwardly, we harbour a visceral aversion to it.” – Matt Richtel, New York Times
Topic-wise, ‘creativity’ must be the most poisoned of chalices. So many great minds have covered this subject in infinite, erudite detail. I could save you all five minutes and just encourage you to watch the late, great Ken Hutchison’s TED Talk on creativity (what, you haven’t seen it?) or devour the works of Naomi Klein, Dave Trott, David Ogilvy et al. That would be my advice. But then again, you’ll soon forget what they say, because creativity’s first problem is our inability to remember its worth. Any nugget of wisdom gleaned from those giants will only reside temporarily in our craniums. We learn and forget, learn and forget. A cycle that continues in perpetuity because conformity, and as a consequence, mediocrity, is our default setting.
“Creativity causes uncertainty, which in turn causes insecurity. Most people want to avoid that. In fact, they tend to attack things that are new to them. That is why there is so much pressure to conform.” – Robert Evans Wilson
What is it we’re so afraid of? Well, for starters, creativity is an awkward, polarising word. It feels exclusive, nebulous, other. Immediately we’re drawn to one camp or its rival. Are you creative or not? And who’s your favourite player.
As long as we think of creativity as solely big-picture stuff, it will always feel aloof and inaccessible, when in reality it’s all around us and ever-present. Designing a reusable rocket for SpaceX is a creative solution to a problem, but so is positioning your knives blades down so you don’t stab yourself when emptying the dishwasher.
We were all creative as kids but by the time we reach adulthood only 50% of us think we still are. Where did our joy go? What happened along the way?
“The place where our first creative ideas go to die is the place that should be most open to them—school. Studies show that teachers overwhelmingly discriminate against creative students, favouring their satisfier classmates who more readily follow directions and do what they’re told.” – Jessica Olien
Creativity is alien
It can be provocative, challenging, and uncomfortable. Rarely an easy buy, creativity represents a risk. And we’re not very good at that: being non-conformist, raising foreheads above parapets. History is littered with our shunning of the creative option. Van Gogh only sold one painting in his lifetime, yet posters of kittens in brandy glasses were very popular to Athena shoppers in the 80s. But hey, we all love Van Gogh now, because to like him is to conform – yet few actually know what makes his work any good or why. Same with the Mona Lisa. Going to see it is what we all do, because, well, it’s what we’re meant to do. The Mona Lisa was a fairly insignificant painting until it was stolen in 1911, thus making it famous, and creating the tipping point that gave the vast majority permission to like it. I wrote a play about the Mona Lisa. Actually, it was about the paintings that once hung on either side of it in the Louvre – ‘Heroic Battle’ and ‘Rocky Landscape with a Huntsman and Warriors’. Both painted by Salvator Rosa and both forever obscured by the crowds ticking ‘enigmatic woman’ off bucket lists. Unfortunately for Sal, no matter how good his work might have been, no-one was ever interested in finding out.
Creativity
The other thing about conformity is we’re more likely to succumb when in groups. Whenever decisions are being made by a collective it’s even more difficult to champion the outlier. Another reason why agencies are gripped with fear when tipping their ideas into the focus group cauldron or when feedback comes back prefaced with the dreaded ‘we shared it round the office and the consensus is….’ There’s a certain truth in the old chestnut that when you present three routes to a client, the worry is they will pick the weakest, safest option. Of course, it shouldn’t be in the mix in the first place but deep down we expect the client (not in every case) to settle for the comfort of the conventional.
Creativity – why even bother?
It takes more effort, more thought, more time. And it’s lonely. It’s so much easier to be mediocre. In fact, mediocrity doesn’t need to please anyone. We lap it up no matter what clothes it’s sheathed in. Which is creativity’s second problem. It needs to work like a Trojan (can I still say that?) to prove its worth. In marketing, there’s no hiding from the data. If your creative idea doesn’t shift the needle then you’re going to have a hard time arguing for creativity next time around. But creativity does the job, time and time again. Which we all keep forgetting.
“Research reveals a direct correlation between strong advertising creativity and business success, and that high levels of creativity make advertising campaigns some 12 times more efficient at increasing a brand’s market share.” – Thinkbox and the IPA
Despite all these challenges, we need to fight for creativity. Because when it’s missing or ignored, we suffer. Take volume housebuilders. Many of them design and build the same houses no matter where they are in the UK. Catalogue stuff, straight off the shelf, blind to any prevailing style or context. Villages like Elie in Fife or Bicester in Oxfordshire are being slowly engulfed by thick blankets of bland boxes that have very little to do with Elie or Bicester, or creativity or aesthetics. The architectural equivalent of a kitten in a brandy glass. “But that’s what people want” they’ll cry. Is it? Or is that all people are being offered? There’s a deeper societal issue here. About how uncreative we often are when it comes to our built environment and the new world we’re forging. About how low creativity sits on the agenda. Better housing builds better communities. Better designed spaces lead to better mental health and happiness, which ultimately impacts on local economies and productivity. Have we forgotten that too?
West Calder High School was in 108th position in the national school rankings. After completion of the new school building it moved to 12th position, with the design of the new facilities being noted as a factor in this improvement in an early HMie report. Up almost 100 places because of a building. Because the architect and the client knew what kind of spaces would stimulate learning, instil pride, improve performance. That building was commissioned by a client who knew exactly how important the built environment is to the pupils and the teaching staff. A creative space that bred creativity.
“The intention was to create architecture in which young people feel valued; if a young person actually wants to be at school, that is a good start to encourage effective learning.” – Kevin Cooper, architect
That’s the other thing about creativity, it’s infectious. An itch you need to scratch. We need to get more people scratching. And for longer. So how do we do that?
We need to be more creative! Yes, that’s true. But we need to get better at being open to and accepting of the creative solution. Of taking the time to consider that the unexpected and unusual might have us all galloping to meet that objective a darn sight faster.
“For creativity and effectiveness to thrive together, agencies and clients must share and believe that the two are irrefutably linked.”– Suzanne Powers
Be bolder. You hear that a lot in advertising. Does the consumer recognise boldness in an ad? Is bold ever a word they would use to describe a recent interaction? We’re expecting the idea to do all the heavy lifting, and it won’t.
Because it’s not the work that needs to be bold, it’s us.
That’s worth remembering
Commsworld is strengthening its partnership with technology provider 8×8 by expanding the reach of its market leading 8×8 XCaaS™ (eXperience Communications as a Service™) integrated cloud communications and contact centre platform to Commsworld customers across the UK.
The move will allow Commsworld, the UK’s largest independent network provider, to add 8×8’s integrated, cloud native contact centre, voice, team chat and video meeting product to its own solutions.
Commsworld will be able to provide clients across all sectors – public, private and third sector – with a fully mobile service that allows them to collaborate anywhere on any device, through fully-integrated communications tools that cover voice, video and contact centre capabilities within the same core cloud platform.
Commsworld’s resilient, low-latency, high performance network together with 8×8’s enterprise-grade cloud communications will deliver a leading-edge solution that provides customers with both a superior performance and customer experience in today’s connected world.
The enhanced partnership comes as demand for cloud-based platforms continues to grow rapidly across the UK. 8×8 provides a complete, single-vendor cloud communications and contact centre solution which is able to integrate with a business’s existing way of operating, connecting securely and interacting with other internal systems, third party apps and technology.
Through 8×8, businesses can control one solution for cloud phone, messaging, meetings and contact centre, as well as analytics, which are especially useful for those continuing to work from home as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. Benefits include an award-winning integration with Microsoft Teams – connecting Teams to the PSTN network in 48 countries worldwide – and the ability to synchronise presence between systems.
Steve Wood, Group Sales Director at Commsworld, said: “This partnership is excellent news for both Commsworld and Commsworld customers. It perfectly complements our own solutions, helping to further free staff from the constraints of on-premises equipment.
“We very much look forward to working together with 8×8 to deploy and manage this suite of products for our customers.”
Keith Jackson, Vice President of International Channels at 8×8, said: “Our partners, and the strong and trusted long-term relationships they have built with their clients, have been instrumental in guiding organisations along their digital transformation journey as they move off legacy, on-premises communications and customer engagement systems. We look forward to expanding our strong partnership with Commsworld and work together to capitalise on a major growth opportunity for the 8×8 XCaaS integrated cloud communications and contact centre solution.”
CGI together with Commsworld are continuing the successful transformation of the Scottish Borders into the UK’s first Smart Rural Region.
As primary providers of IT services for Scottish Borders Council, CGI tasked its trusted partner, Edinburgh-headquartered Commsworld, with further boosting the network connectivity and reach of all of the region’s secondary schools to enhance the delivery of the local authority’s world-class education programme, Inspire Learning.
Over the past four months, Commsworld undertook one of its most important jobs of the year in Scotland – laying 20km of fibre cabling to overhaul and upgrade the fibre infrastructure, resiliency and capacity to all nine secondaries.
It now means that all 6,296 secondary school pupils in the Scottish Borders, along with their teachers, will benefit from a ‘next generation network’ capable of delivering speeds 500 times faster than the average UK broadband connection.
This is because it is linked to Commsworld’s Optical Core Network built on around 1,500 miles of Dark Fibre. Operating its network exclusively over Dark Fibre allows Commsworld to maintain full control and deliver massively scalable bandwidth.
Using the Optical Core Network brings huge benefits not only to the region’s secondary schools, but also its businesses and organisations – including other Scottish Borders Council offices – located in and around the vicinity of each of the secondary schools.
The move is a further boost to the Council’s Inspire Learning programme, which has quickly become embedded in the core of what learning and teaching looks like in the Borders.
The programme is directly impacting on providing service improvements in the area including providing digital skills, improving employability, and making the Scottish Borders an even more attractive place to live, learn and work. It is creating a world class, sustainable environment in which to learn and teach, and includes equipping staff and pupils with iPad devices.
At the heart of its success has been stronger state-of-the-art, full-fibre networks brought in for both primary and secondary schools, with Commsworld linking them to its Optical Core Network.
Lyndsey Teaz, CGI Vice President, Scottish Business Unit Leader (Interim), said:
“Commsworld is one of our most trusted partners, and works side by side with us, and Scottish Borders Council, to harness technologies and bring practical innovation that can transform, enable, protect and deliver real change to existing systems.
“Thanks to Commsworld, this new, improved and highly resilient network will result in a further massive enhancement of Inspire Learning, and of the Borders’ ambition to create the UK’s first rural Smart Place. By embracing its digital future, it will boost digital skills and learning, connect communities, support innovation and transform services for all citizens, as well as empower a flexible workforce.”
Steve Wood, Group Sales Director for Commsworld, said:
“We are proud to have delivered this work after four months and ahead of schedule. The results will be not only transformative for every secondary school in the Scottish Borders, but also enable the region’s rural towns, its businesses and organisations, and its citizens to access much higher bandwidths with much greater resilience.
“It means that Scottish Borders Council is leading the way in rural connectivity. This is template for success that needs to be replicated throughout other areas of Scotland, and indeed the UK, which are crying out for better digital connectivity.
“Such connectivity in the long term will boost not only education and teaching in schools, but also deliver the capacity for more cutting-edge digital systems and processes in areas such as social care, health, the environment and sustainability as we continue to work towards a net-zero economy by 2045.”
Councillor Mark Rowley, Leader of Scottish Borders Council, said:
“Scottish Borders Council is working with our partners with the aim of making the Scottish Borders the most technologically advanced rural area in the UK, to help support our communities, attract new businesses and ensure we’re best placed to meet future challenges.
“A key part of that is creating and retaining a homegrown, skilled digital workforce. Inspire Learning is a vital part of that, and thanks to CGI and Commsworld we are well on the way to meeting this objective, which will in turn help attract more and new skilled jobs and increased inward investment to the Borders.”
An Edinburgh club that supports grassroots football for children in the capital has thanked Commsworld for donating training clothing and footballs to their youngest team – which features budding stars aged as young as five and six.
Castlevale 2016s coaches and players with their new kit and footballsYoungsters in Castlevale Youth Development Club’s 2016 squad have been provided jackets, tops and hats as well as balls by Commsworld, whose Edinburgh headquarters is close to where Castlevale play in Jewel Park and Cairntow Park, Craigmillar.
The coaches and volunteers of Castlevale, who provide football training sessions and competitive games for more than 200 boys and girls ranging from the ages of five to 13, were delighted with the donation and said the training gear was very welcome.
Neil Hunter, coach of the 2016s team, said: “We are extremely grateful for the support of Commsworld by providing much needed training clothing and balls to our youngest team. The jackets, tops and hats provided not only make our young players look smart but it brings them together as a team.
“We also train outdoors so this new gear will also provide the players some much needed protection from the elements.”
Steve Langmead, chief executive of Commsworld, said: “Castlevale is well known to everyone at Commsworld, their teams play not far from our headquarters in Edinburgh, and we are all really impressed with what they’ve done to encourage more kids into football.
“Commsworld is all about supporting community organisations in the areas where we live and work, so we are delighted to help Castlevale out by providing the training kit and balls for the youngsters, so they’re wrapped up warm.
“It’s so important that youngsters of that age have a really positive experience of sport when they’re starting out, and we’re proud to play a role in helping that happen.”
Castlevale Youth Development Club was founded in 2016 and provide football coaching sessions and competitive games for boys and girls across eight football teams. The club’s aim is to promote sport and fitness in the local community by developing football skills in children and young people at grassroots level, progressing though the stages of development.
They also strive to instil a sense of belief in the kids that they coach, improving their social interactions by working as part of a team, giving them valuable life skills which will serve them well at school, in their wider community, and later in life.
Commsworld, has appointed highly-respected and experienced business leader Andy Leitch as its new Chief Financial Officer.
He joins the Board of Edinburgh-headquartered Commsworld from M247, where he was Chief Financial Officer of the company, based in Manchester.
The appointment represents a ‘homecoming’ for Andy, who hails from Kilmarnock, but has travelled the world in a career spanning more than three decades.
Andy spent 14 years in Semiconductors at Motorola, which subsequently became Freescale Semiconductors. During this period he was based in both Hong Kong, as Asia and Global Manufacturing Controller, and later in Texas as Division Financial Controller.
In 2007 Andy moved into the aerospace industry, where he worked for a decade. His first role was as Europe/International Finance Director for Spirit Aerosystems, with responsibility for its UK, France and Malaysia aircraft structures operations. He then became Group CFO at Bournemouth-based AIM Altitude, which designs and manufactures precision-made lightweight interiors for the aerospace industry.
Well-known for bringing clarity, timely reporting and driving improved profitability and cash performance to his place of work, Andy also held the Group CFO roles at fire safety specialists Angus International Safety Group and international ventilation and smoke control business Colt Group.
For the last 12 years, Andy has operated in privately-owned businesses as a CFO and has been through several successful exits, carves outs and acquisition transactions in the process.
Andy said: “I am delighted to be joining Commsworld at a key point in the company’s growth trajectory, and am looking forward to working with everyone on the team to take Commsworld through the next stage of its development.”
Steve Langmead, Chief Executive of Commsworld, said: “I am delighted that Andy has joined the Board of Commsworld in what is proving to be another excellent year for the company, the highlight of which so far is the securing of a 15-year contract to transform North Lanarkshire Council’s digital infrastructure. His experience and expertise will help guide us to even greater success.”
Andy replaces Graeme St John, who has been Chief Financial Officer for more than 20 years. A key figure in the development and growth of Commsworld, he will be continuing in a new role as an advisor to the company.
