Industry news

The UK unemployment rate has remained at 4.7% however inflation is beginning to wipe out wage growth. The ONS said in a statement: "Average weekly earnings for employees increased by 2.3% including bonuses and by 2.2% excluding bonuses, compared with a year earlier. "However, adjusted for inflation, average weekly earnings grew by 0.2% including bonuses and by 0.1% excluding bonuses, over the year, the slowest rate of growth since 2014." You can read more here.

Related news: UK Inflation Holds Steady

Innovate Finance, the fintech industry body backed by the City of London is moving from Canary Wharf to the heart of the City. Innovative technology is at the forefront of the future of London enterprise with plans for faster broadband part of a plan to bring Fintech to the City. Increasingly tech giants are moving to the City as rents in the traditional tech hub of Shoreditch have risen. The GSA is hosting a Future of Work in the Digital Age Conference in Manchester which embraces innovative technology and its impact on work. Click here to learn more.

Related news: London Still Fintech King

City police commissioner Ian Dyson warned firms of the increasing threat of cyber criminals yesterday at the Innovate Finance Global Summit. He reported that estimates suggest only 10% of cyber-crime is reported with many firms worried about the damage to their reputation. Join the GSA at the symposium to hear John McAfee discuss cyber security and it's increasing role in business. Click here to find out more.

Related news: Huge Hack Highlights Security

Carillion have been awarded a contract worth up to £200 million by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation to build soft facilities management services. The contract will see Carillion provide services at 87 defence sites across the South-East region. To learn more, click here.

Related news: Supplier Management and Retaining Talent Key for Procurement Sector

Cognizant announced that it has been selected by ABN AMRO Clearing, a clearing firm, as its strategic partner to cloud-enable its global IT infrastructure and lay the foundation for digital transformation. This will enable AACB to increase operational resilience and application availability, enhance speed and agility in managing market volatility, and lower capital investment and operating costs.

Related news: Cognizant Delivers Strong Underlying Growth

The UK inflation rate remained at 2.3% in March, the highest level since September 2013. The rate was unchanged from February, but much higher from January's rate of 1.8%, partly thanks to the fall in the pound after the Brexit vote, which has raised import prices. To read more on this story, click here.

Related news: Inflation Up to New High

Yet more evidence of the increasing role of cyber security for business as pay day loan company, Wonga, has been hacked with the personal data of 270,000 customers being stolen, both in the UK and Poland. The theft is of personal data such as names, email addresses, phone numbers and bank account numbers. Wonga has been struggling recently, reporting a pre-tax loss of over £80 million for 2015. The Global Sourcing Association (GSA) will be highlighting the importance of cyber security at their Symposium this June featuring John Mcafee, you can book your ticket here.

Related news: UK Firms Warn of Serious Hacking Attempt

London has held off competition to retain its Fintech crown in the recent rankings from Deloitte for the Global Fintech Hubs Federation. Singapore held off competition as well to stay near the top, with new challenges from Chicago and Tokyo. The UK must continue to champion innovation to maintain its fantastic appeal to this emerging industry.

Related news: Fintech Acquisiton Demonstrates Changing Industry

Rating agency AM Best have said that “Brexit and political uncertainty in Europe are likely to depress merger activity among European insurers this year”. More likely will be foreign mergers, especially with weaker currencies inside the Europe and many foreign insurers looking to expand offerings. US insurers in particular may be looking to diversify assets and product offerings.

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Now that Article 50 has been triggered, the countdown to Brexit has officially begun and according to the Financial Times, this has led to the extension of many outsourced contracts within the UK government as staff have to focus on Brexit duties. It is true that the extension of a contract does not always to the cheapest outcome for the taxpayer, who may prefer a new tender, but one key reason the FT may have missed is that many of the extended contracts are examples of successful sourcing. Despite some high publicity failures, sourcing in general is a success and the avoidance of transfer costs can save departments millions. You can read the FT article here for more information.

Related news: Sourcing Market Could Win in Brexit