Industry news

Bryn Barlow, formerly a Managing Director at Accenture, has been appointed as Alsbridge Managing Director within the firm’s UK business. Barlow is well known in the outsourcing industry and has considerable outsourcing, robotics and BPO experience. Prior to joining Alsbridge, Bryn Barlow worked at Accenture as a Managing Director for more than three years, focused on BPO, Robotics and other operational efficiency and customer services related technologies. Previously, between 2011 and 2012, Barlow worked at Capita as a Sales Director. Earlier, he worked for Atos Origin in the UK as a General Manager within its Financial Services department, and prior to that as a Strategic Sales Director at the firm (2005 to 2008). Earlier roles include Head of Organisation & Process Development at Electrocomponents; Director at Form Consulting; Head of Global IT Services at British American Tobacco; and IT Manager at Guinness Brewing Worldwide. Barlow holds a Bachelor of Science in Management Science from the University of Manchester.

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Related news: Alsbridge takes its consultancy services to Australia and New Zealand

After the Brexit vote, the pound value fell more than 10% against the euro and dollar. On one hand, this meant that the export market received a boost, but on the other costs for firms have risen significantly. According to a BBC report, following the release of the Purchase Manager’s Index (PMI) research, the pound value jumped by 1% in August. You can read the full report http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37242804.

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Related news: http://www.sourcingfocus.com/site/newsitem/uk_manufacturing_suffers_with_brexit_uncertainty/

Following EU ruling against Apple demanding payment of 13 billion euros in unpaid tax, the company’s CEO has accused the EU of targeting Apple and said that the decision is putting jobs and investment at risk, according to this article.

The Irish government believes the decision would affect the country's ability to attract technology companies and the high-value, well-paid jobs that they bring.

Both Apple and the Irish government will appeal the decision.

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Related news: Apple may be forced to pay billions of euros in back taxes

Dell has finally managed to complete the acquisition of EMC after approval from Chinese competition authorities.

The deal is believed to have cost $67bn and moving forward, the company is expected to improve most strategic areas of next generation IT including digital transformation, software-defined data centre, converged infrastructure, hybrid cloud, mobile and security.

You can read the full report here.

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Related news: Google acquires e-commerce platform Orbitera

According to the Institute of Customer Service, customers are demanding faster and more personalised replies from companies. Reacting to this demand, Intelligent Automation software company Celaton has released its latest artificially intelligent module for its inSTREAM platform, called Personalised Response.

You can read the full report here.

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Related news: Capgemini bets on artificial intelligence to improve customer service

Buckinghamshire County Council has extended its civil enforcement contract valued at £7.5million with NSL for a further five years, with the possibility to extend the contract to 10 years. This will enable authorities to continue with operational services, such as on-street parking enforcement, management of the county’s Pay and Display facilities and processing of around 35,000 Penalty Charge Notices a year (on average).

You can read the full report here.

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Related news: London Borough of Hounslow Extends Contract with Liberata

Under European Union laws, the deal between Republic of Ireland and giant Apple to minimise its tax bill in the country is considered illegal as it enabled Apple to “legally channel international sales through Ireland to take advantage of that tax deal”, according to this BBC report.

European Union competition officials is now demanding billions of euros in back taxes making it Europe’s biggest tax penalty, but the estimate amount has not been yet released.

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Related news: Google follows Apple’s business strategy by outsourcing chunks of work to India

One of the latest pieces of HfS Research, has opined that clients want to see more senior women in leadership roles, more clients telling their stories through real case studies and less robotic process automation hype (since one way or another this has been around for over 10 years).

These findings echo in point the sentiment expressed by the NOA, who has launched an initiative called Women in Outsourcing aimed at raising the profile on women operating in outsourcing and the contribution they make.

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Related news: Accenture ranks highly on Female Executive list for the fifth time

Britain's vote to leave the European Union means many banks and other financial firms will need advice from firms like Deloitte, a global accountant service provider, on whether to relocate business to the continent or stay in the UK.

Having this information first-hand, Deloitte has urged the UK government not to restrict skilled migrants after Brexit, claiming it would have a high impact on the economy by making it more difficult to attract investment. Reuters has the full report.

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Related news: Public sector called in for Brexit negotiations

The European Outsourcing Association's Leadership Summit & Awards conference is shaping up to be its best ever, with more international partners joining the ever-growing line-up to support and participate in what will be the most comprehensive (and far-reaching) outsourcing event to take place in Europe this year. The EOA will announce this week that Pro Progressio, the Foundation located in Poland focused on the development of outsourcing industry, joins the line-up as a key International Partner. In addition, ITOSDA, the Nordic IT and Outsourcing Software Development Association, has also joined up to support the event and will provide insights and perspective from the Nordic region in the form of their CEO, Alexander Reay. The European Outsourcing Association has also attracted additional media support from Outsourcing Portal and Outsourcing & More magazine.

The 2-Day Summit is taking place in Sofia, Bulgaria on 5-6 October and the agenda covers everything from Brexit (the European Partners' perspective), Design Thinking and Digital Disruption, to Global Standards and the Shift from Shared Services to Global Business Services. The Summit, which will be opened by the President of Bulgaria, Rosen Plevneliev, is already attracting contributors and delegates from right across the continent, including central and emerging European countries.