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MetaCompliance creates 70 new jobs in Londonderry expansion

A cyber security firm is creating 70 jobs in Londonderry in a £4.5m investment.

MetaCompliance develops software that firms use to minimise risk from cyber attacks.

It is looking to expand its business into new markets in the US and Europe.

Chief Executive Robert O’Brien said: “We have seen a rapid global increase in the demand of cyber-security products and services, particularly since GDPR has been implemented.”

Invest Northern Ireland has offered £695,000 of support towards the new roles.

It said this expansion will generate £1.9m a year in salaries to the local economy.

Mr O’Brien said InvestNI’s support “has been fundamental to our continued growth” to match the demand for cyber security products.

John Hood of Invest NI, said the new jobs will allow MataCompliance to “build upon its previous success and help the company to expand its presence in the North West, the cybersecurity market, and in new markets”.

Read More – www.bbc.co.uk

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New qualifications to boost teacher career progression

The Department for Education has set up a panel of experts to develop new professional qualifications for teachers in England, to help them progress their careers.

The panel will advise on the scheme, which is to be introduced during the academic year 2020-2021.

The focus is on those who want to progress in non-leadership roles.

But unions said there was a lack of transparency about how the experts were recruited to the advisory panel.

The qualifications form part of the teacher recruitment and retention strategy in England, which was launched in January.

School standards minister Nick Gibb said the new qualifications would provide recognition for those teachers who want to develop their skills and progress their careers.

“Our ambition is for teachers to be able to do so without having to pursue traditional leadership routes, instead expanding their expertise in vital areas such as curriculum or behaviour management,” he said.

 

Richard Gill, chairman of the Teaching Schools Council, said: “There is a need to ensure that the current programme of qualifications meets the needs of the current educational landscape.

“These new bespoke qualifications will provide practitioners with an excellent opportunity to develop and progress their careers, building stronger and more effective classroom practice without the need for them to follow traditional leadership roles.”

But the announcement has drawn criticism from teaching unions.

 

Read More – www.bbc.co.uk

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Finance firms sign code in bid to support women-led start-ups

A host of major banks and venture capital firms have signed up for the Government’s latest initiative to boost funding for female entrepreneurs, the Treasury has said.

The financial institutions signed up on Tuesday to the Investing in Women Code, agreeing to a set of measures aimed at improving equality for small business founders including publishing gender funding data.

The banks putting their name to the plans are Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, Santander, TSB, Metro Bank, the Co-operative Bank and Bank of Ireland UK.

They are joined by venture capital firms Frontline and Episode 1, angel networks UK Business Angel Association and Angel Academe, and institutional investor British Business Bank.

Speaking at the launch of the Investing in Women Code at a reception in Downing Street, the Exchequer Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “Breaking down gender barriers could add billions to the UK economy.

“I’m pleased to see so many of our major banks and venture capital firms support the code, and I call on others to follow suit.

 

“It’s shocking that only one in three entrepreneurs are women and I hope that today’s commitment signals a turning point in attitudes towards investing in female-led businesses.”

It follows the findings of a review led by NatWest’s deputy chief executive Alison Rose earlier this year which showed closing the gap between male and female entrepreneurs could add £250 billion to the UK’s economy.

Challenges facing female founders identified by the report include low access to capital, high risk awareness, disproportionate primary care responsibilities and a lack of relatable role models.

Research commissioned by the Chancellor had previously revealed that female-led start-ups get just a penny for every £1 of venture capital investment in the UK.

Signatories of the new Investing in Women Code pledge to nominate a senior leader to take responsibility for equality, as well as adopt internal practices that will improve access to funding and resources for women-led founder teams.

They will also publish data on funding granted to businesses, showing whether the founding teams are male, female or mixed.

Ms Rose said: “When we began this process, everyone involved was in agreement that raising awareness of the Rose Review’s findings is only one small part of what is needed; what we need is action.

 

Read More – www.msn.com

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EasyJet reassures on outlook, hires Ryanair operations chief

Britain’s easyJet on Thursday reported third quarter trading in line with expectations, boosted by more customers taking optional extra services and enabling it to reiterate its full-year profit forecasts. The budget airline also announced that it had poached Peter Bellew as its chief operating officer from Ryanair.

EasyJet said revenue for the quarter ending June 30 increased by 11.4% to £1.8 billion, driven by more bookings, initiatives to optimise its pricing and more ancillary revenue from additional services such as allocated seating and luggage check-ins.

Shares rose 3.2% after the update.

The robust trading, at a time when many the industry are struggling, comes despite a general softening of demand due to tougher economic conditions across Europe as well as Brexit-related consumer uncertainty in Britain, it said.

“Make no mistake – it is still tough out of there. It is still a challenging environment… but I think what we are seeing is that the actions we are taking ourselves is having a positive effect,” Chief Executive Johan Lundgren told reporters on Thursday.

“We’ve been pleased with how the late trading has come in, which has been supported by these initiatives.”

The airline said it expected to deliver a profit before tax of between £400 million and £440 million, in line with market expectations, and Lundgren said that second-half forward bookings were at 78%, giving the airline better visibility.

The group added that it had hired Bellew who is stepping down from his role at Ryanair at the end of the year, according to a memo to staff seen by Reuters.

The former chief executive of Malaysian Airlines re-joined the Irish carrier in December 2017.

Ryanair on Tuesday said it had cut its forecast for growth in traveller numbers for summer 2020 to provide for the possibility of further delays in deliveries of the grounded Boeing 737 MAX.

Lundgren said that easyJet’s strategy on capacity wouldn’t change with anything a competitor was doing.

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Brexit Strikes: Panasonic To Move Europe Headquarters From UK To Amsterdam

In the run-up to March 2019, a number of multinational firms have said they plan to move jobs out of the UK, including several Japanese financial companies who intend to move their main EU bases away from London.

Panasonic’s decision was driven by a fear that Japan could start considering the UK a tax haven if it cuts corporate tax rates to attract business said Laurent Abadie, Panasonic Europe’s Chief Executive.

If Panasonic ends up paying less tax in the UK, that could in turn make the firm liable for a bigger tax bill in Japan.

Mr Abadie told the Nikkei Asian Review that Panasonic had been considering the move for 15 months, because of Brexit-related concerns such as access to free flow of goods and people.

Panasonic Europe later issued an official statement confirming that it was transferring its regional headquarters from Bracknell in the UK to Amsterdam from 1 October.

The reasons for the move include “improved efficiency and cost competitiveness”.

It said “fewer than approximately 10” people would be affected out of a staff of 30.

“No Panasonic UK business operations will be affected by the EU headquarters move,” the statement added.

Britain voted to leave the EU in 2016, but with less than a year to go, the UK and the EU are struggling to reach consensus on the terms of the exit.

Japan is a major investor in the UK, with over 800 Japanese companies employing more than 100,000 people.

However, financial firms including Nomura, Sumitomo Mitsui and Daiwa have already said they will no longer maintain their EU headquarters in London.

Read More – www.recruitingtimes.org


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Employers should implement a 4-day work week – and staff should be paid more too

TUC argues that employees – not just bosses and shareholders – should benefit from technological advances in the workplace.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady is urging that the working week should be cut to four days as new technology continues to make our jobs more efficient. O’Grady says employees across the country are deserving of a longer weekend and higher pay because too many firms are using technological advances to treat people unfairly. She stresses that bosses and shareholders “must not be allowed to hoover up all the gains from new tech”, and that the benefits should instead allow companies to increase wages and give workers more time with their families.

Research by the TUC, which represents most UK trade unions, shows that most workers expect managers and shareholders will reap the benefits of new technology.

Ms O’Grady will tell the TUC Congress in Manchester today that the results of the survey show that change is needed to ensure workers remain motivated.

“In the 19th century, unions campaigned for an eight-hour day. In the 20th century, we won the right to a two-day weekend and paid holidays,” she will say.

“So, for the 21st century, let’s lift our ambition again. I believe that in this century we can win a four-day working week, with decent pay for everyone.

“It’s time to share the wealth from new technology. Not allow those at the top to grab it for themselves. We need strong unions with the right to go into every workplace – starting with Amazon’s warehouses here in the UK.”

Amazon – which recently became only the second company to reach a market value of $1trn (£779.3bn) – is among the firms to have been accused by the TUC of using technology to take advantage of employees.

The ‘always on’ culture is partly to blame as employers are alleged to be making staff work unpredictable hours. Over 1.4 million people are working on seven days of the week and 3.3 million working more than 45 hours a week.

Stress and long hours were identified by the TUC as workers’ biggest concerns after pay, although more and more jobs are feared to be at risk as artificial intelligence improves.

Experts are worried about a “big bang” moment, where a large number of jobs are automated within a short space of time, with manufacturing, transportation, retail and wholesale the industries thought to be most at risk.

Read More – www.recruitingtimes.com