Industry news

The Committee on standards in Public Life has told the prime minister that the same level of ethical standards expected from public services should also be apply when services are delivered by outsourcing providers. It warned that at present ethics were not taken seriously enough by providers. This advice comes from research conducted with polling firm Ipsos MORI which found the public feared providers would cut corners to deliver below par services in order to achieve value for money.

Outsourcing: “a live risk to ethical standards”

Several organisations and reports have illustrated that outsourcing can help alleviate poverty by deploying BPO services overseas.

According to an Outsourcing for Social Good report from Telus International and Impakt, BPOs can play a role to shift social landscapes in emerging economies around the world, which is a view also shared by The Rockefeller Foundation. This foundation has established a project that aims to improve one million lives in six African nations – called Digital Jobs Africa.

Similarly a company called Digital Divide Data (DDD), a New York-based nonprofit that operates for-profit data centers in Cambodia, Laos and Kenya, also advocates the concept of socially-responsible outsourcing. It also uses this approach to help differentiate itself from others in the market.

The Telus report goes on to predict that reputation-conscious brands will ask for more socially-responsible behaviour from outsourcing firms, just as they have from their other suppliers.

Out and Proud

The Department of Transport (DfT) has announced that Virgin Trains has been awarded the contract to continue operating the west coast mainline rail franchise until 2018. Virgin have agreed to providing thousands of extra standard seats, better Wi-Fi and station upgrades as part of this deal. Virgin have run this service since 1997, however nearly lost it in 2012 when the government initially awarded it to FirstGroup before the decision was disputed.

Virgin Trains starts West Coast court action

Amazon’s Chief Exec, Jeff Bezos, has sent smoke signals into the smartphone market with the launch of its new Fire smartphone. The device will be available before the end of June in the US, will cost $199 and will be on AT&T. The Fire will come pre-installed with the Firefly app which identifies over 100 million items, ranging from telephone numbers, songs, artwork to retail products, and is set to revolutionise the retail industry.

Amazon offers up public analytic services

A survey by YouGov for BNP Paribas Securities Services, has revealed that outsourcing back office functions by banks and brokers is now the norm. The survey of 50 senior figures states that price is not the deciding factor when picking an outsourcing provider with service and quality of products being more important. 78% of those that took part in this survey claims they outsource as a long term strategy leaving them to focus on their core activities while only 4% say the reason is cost savings.

Grant Thornton research finds 2 in 5 companies are open to outsourcing

According to a recent report called The Gap Years study, commissioned by Reconnix, 74% of UK business have faced difficulty hiring skilled IT staff. It also goes on to show a gap between graduate optimism and IT employer expectation.

IT leaders are finding it hard to recruit staff with the required skills and experience, the report showed that only 12% of those responsible for hiring technology-related position believed there were ample of surplus candidates skilled enough for the job available. However, the report highlighted that current technology students and graduates remain optimistic despite this.

The report surveyed 100 UK-based IT leaders and compared opinions against a further 200 technology students and graduates to aggregate their thoughts on the issues affecting the current IT job market in the UK.

Mentoring scheme receives backing from technology giants

In a report published by the Reform Think Tank, the NHS is told it should adopt the same thinking that has cut costs and improved quality in retail and car manufacturing. The report warns that the “protectionism and political conservatism” of the NHS is itself a barrier to good patient care. It goes on to argue that the traditional organisations, which have little changed over 50 years, are both out of step with the new healthcare needs and are also bankrupting the service. The authors argue the importance of new entrants and competition and predict that new models of healthcare provided by both public and independent organisations with replace almost 75% of NHS care by 2024.

This Reform Report coincides with nurses calling for a £10 fee to be charged to patients for seeing a GP in an effort to raise £1bn funds – though the Report argues that more funding is not the answer.

Click here for full report from Reform:

SME to drive collaboration in NHS shared service programme

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) have cut the forecasted growth rate of the US from 2.8% to 2% however it expects a 3% growth in 2015. The reduction in growth forecast has been blamed on a “harsh winter” which led to a weak first quarter. The IMF have also urged the US to increase its minimum wage in order to address its 15% poverty rate.

Bank of England steers away from interest raise

Phil Pavitt best known for his role in transforming HMRC’s IT programme and saving them up to £226m has now accepted the role of CIO in Specsavers. Since leaving HMRC, Pavitt was global IT operations and transformation director at Aviva. Pavitt’s new role at Specsavers appears to mean they are looking to dramatically improve their IT & data operations.

HMRC announces specialist recruitment drive

Tech is booming in the UK. London's tech sector alone will contribute an additional £12bn to the UK economy over the next decade, as it grows 5.1 percent per annum - Mayor Boris Johnson said, as he addressed the audience at London Tech Week. According to Bloomberg Philanthropies, London has more people working in financial technology than any other city in the world.

Mentoring scheme receives backing from technology giants