'Digital change,' 'digital transformation' and 'Industry 4.0' are ongoing topics for German companies - yet engaging them in concrete projects is often difficult. With the Innovation Alliance, Cisco and 11 medium-sized IT companies want to help German SMEs embark on the digitization journey and maintain their competitiveness with simple, concrete steps. The Innovation Alliance is an important component of the Cisco® digitization program 'Deutschland Digital.'

Cisco is partnering with system integrators, software developers, managed service providers, distributors and consultants within the Innovation Alliance in Germany. The alliance brings together a broad range of expertise that can be tailored to the specific challenges of midsize businesses. With 12 companies, over 40 sites across Germany, more than 2,000 employees and over 1,000 digitization projects, the alliance is the largest hub for digitization for small- and medium-sized businesses in Germany.

Those who want to promote digitization must first understand how decision-makers think about it. For this reason, the Innovation Alliance initially surveyed 500 top decision-makers from medium-sized companies in Germany. The resulting study (in German) looks at how digitization affects a company's daily routines. In most cases, the perceived problems are bigger than the actual technical challenges. To share the findings of the study, along with numerous best practice examples, the Innovation Alliance is starting a road show(German) across the country.

'We want to help German businesses remain competitive. That is why we are bundling our expertise in the Innovation Alliance, creating a central point of contact for German midsized companies,' says Carsten Heidbrink, managing director Commercial Sales at Cisco Germany and co-founder of the Innovation Alliance. 'We are convinced that digitization is a huge opportunity, if properly understood and pragmatically implemented. With the Innovation Alliance, we will be showing examples how SMEs can benefit from digitization.'

The Innovation Alliance is a key pillar within the 'Deutschland Digital' program. Within the Deutschland Digital framework, Cisco is planning to invest USD 500 million by 2021, to accelerate digitization in Germany. The program focuses on innovation, security and education.

We Buy Motors, the London based used automotive dealer has introduced simplified procedures for sale of used cars. Owners can get payments for their cars cleared in less than ten minutes, while the whole sale is concluded in 48 hours.

Many owners of cars find it difficult to foreclose a loan and sell a car at the same time. We Buy Motors helps owners to foreclose their outstanding loans at the time of sale of vehicle, which lifts a huge burden off their shoulders.

Offering possibly the best prices for used cars in the industry, this service is a pioneer in terms of overall features. Centric to the growing success of We Buy Motors have been four distinct features – quick closure, highest quotes, clean documentation and unmatched convenience.

With record timings for closure of a sale, We Buy Motors relies on a strong network of affiliates to conclude a deal. No sooner than the decision of the owner accepting the offer is registered, the seamless process kicks in like clockwork. Physical inspection of the vehicle, transfer of payment, collection of vehicle and documentation processes get initiated immediately and get automatically executed with professional precision.

It takes all of two days within which the vehicle is driven away after payment and documentation. This applies to the whole of mainland Britain. The services offered are a huge relief in terms of saving valuable time, in addition to the reasonable offer. Not having to contend with multiple prospects, explaining details and permitting inspection, which may be untimely, are some of the benefits of selling used cars to a reputed and trusted reseller like We Buy Motors.

The attractive pricing is primarily as a result of cutting down on number of middlemen or agents.

About The Company:

We Buy Motors is a renowned used car buying service provider in the UK. They have many years of experience in the automotive business, and they pride themselves in giving satisfactory services to their customers. Along with buying used cars, they also offer free car valuation services in the UK.

Arthritis Care is launching Wake up to Arthritis, a campaign which aims to raise awareness of how painful and debilitating, living with arthritis can be and how people can live well with the condition. The campaign will be launched during Arthritis Care Week which takes place 8-14 May.

Every day millions of people wake up to the excruciating pain and stiffness caused by their arthritis. Gentle exercise is known to be beneficial in alleviating joint pain and improving flexibility, but starting exercise can sometimes be daunting for people who have arthritis. Part of the campaign will focus on encouraging people to try exercise and offering tips on how to exercise when you have arthritis.

Arthritis Care is asking people to get involved and support the campaign using the hashtag #wakeuptoarthritis. The campaign will be promoted on social media and through events run by individuals, nationwide. A free resource pack is available for anyone who wants to get involved and support the campaign.

Judi Rhys, CEO at Arthritis Care, said: “Millions of people across the UK are living with the daily impact of arthritis on their work, relationships, social life and emotional wellbeing. Arthritis Care aims to offer support to everyone affected by the condition. Wake up to Arthritis is an opportunity to reach out to more people and raise awareness of how people can lead full and active lives with arthritis.”

Philip Conaghan, Professor of Musculoskeletal Medicine at University of Leeds, said: “Arthritis affects many people and although there is currently no cure, there are things that can be done to manage pain and make life a little easier. Gentle exercise aimed at getting strong will reduce daily pain and stiffness and help people with their every-day activities.”

For more information on Wake up to Arthritis, visit arthritiscare.org.uk/wakeup

We know the winners of the first stage of the second edition of “MIT Enterprise Forum Poland” acceleration programme, in which PKO Bank Polski is the Strategic Partner. The winners, including six best teams on the path called “Let’s Fintech with PKO Bank Polski!”, will participate in a series of workshops. Acceleration enables acquisition of new knowledge and experience by start-ups selected in the programmes and their contacts with the world of science and business in the sphere of technologies developed by them.

– Further steps include a series of workshops of start-ups. On the path called “Let’s Fintech with PKO Bank Polski!”, the winners will take part in an adjusted acceleration programme that will help them to create or verify a business model. They can also benefit from support of mentors, advice of experts in subsidies, fiscal provisions and protection of intellectual property. The best ones will participate in a special bootcamp at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology and meetings with foreign investors – saysGrzegorz Pawlicki, manager of the Innovation Office in PKO Bank Polski.

Winners of the patch called “Let’s Fintech with PKO Bank Polski!”

During recruitment to the programme, the representatives of PKO Bank Polski and MITEF participated in a series of 57 meetings with young entrepreneurs, which have been held all over the country, mainly at universities and in scientific centres. In result, much more interesting start-ups joined this stage of the acceleration programme. The path under the Bank’s supervision enjoyed much interest. 26 start-ups applied here and their level was so high that the jury (including representatives of PKO Bank Polski) decided to select six winners instead of five, as they planned earlier.

The winners of the path were: Coinfirm Blockchain Lab, Fenige, IC Solutions, Moneyfriend, Nu Delta and Saas Manager. IC Solutions team convinced the jury, because they invented a pen ensuring automatic digitalisation of paper documents. Start-up Nu Delta generated a solution for automatic recognition of information on invoices by means of a smartphone camera. Fenige company implemented a platform for quick international money transfers, while Moneyfriend worked out a chatbot for Facebook Messenger, dedicated to the segment of young customers. Saas Manager team are the authors of a unique IT platform enabling service creation and integration in the cloud, while Coinfirm Blockchain Lab start-up worked out a document confirmation solution based on blockchain, used to block abuse in online document circulation.

The acceleration programme for technological start-ups

The start-up acceleration programme realized by MIT Enterprise Forum Poland in cooperation with the leading Polish and international organizations, including PKO Bank Polski, is a complex and long-term undertaking aimed at selection of the best Polish technological start-ups that have proper business potential and worked out unique, well developed and mature ideas. Start-ups selected in an open recruitment process may benefit from support of mentors and participate in workshops. Five best team selected at the next stage will participate in the finals of this programme held in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US. Thanks to subsidies financed under the Scale UP programme, selected start-ups will have also a chance to receive financial support up to the amount of PLN 200,000. The best ones may expect commercialisation of their solutions.

The Bank continues its involvement in support of development of Polish start-up

As the undisputable leader of the Polish banking sector, PKO Bank Polski is also a pioneer in corporation and start-up cooperation on the Polish market. It is another time when the Bank supports ideas of young entrepreneurs, whose main capital is the innovative nature of offered solutions and unique way of thinking. In 2016 the Bank was the Major Partner of the first edition of the acceleration program for start-ups, that was operated together with MITEF. Under the programmes, five best teams went to the US to participate in the final acceleration stage in June this year. Last year in August the Bank took the main patronage over Startup Weekend Warsaw devoted to FinTech issues, and since 2015 the Bank has cooperated with D-RAFT in search for unique technological solutions. The project is now carried on within the FinTech programme, in the new centre of corporation and start-up cooperation - The Heart Warsaw. As far as the Bank’s own systems are concerned, the Bank is also open to implementation of non-standard solutions proposed by young scientists and entrepreneurs.

***

PKO Bank Polski is the indisputable leader in the Polish banking sector. In the first three quarters of 2016, its consolidated net profit amounted to PLN 2.3 billion, whereas the balance sheet sum reached PLN 275.6 billion. The bank is the basic supplier of financial services for all client segments and has highest share in the deposit market (17.3%) and loans (17.6%), including mortgage loans; every third mortgage loan is granted by PKO Bank Polski and PKO Bank Hipoteczny. Having 7.5 million pay cards, the Bank is the largest issuer of debit and credit cards in Poland with a share in the market on the level of 21%. Thanks to the development of digital tools, including the IKO app, which was already activated over million times, PKO Bank Polski has become the most mobile bank in Poland. The Bank’s strong position is reinforced by companies from the Capital Group. Dom Maklerski (Brokerage House) of PKO Bank Polski is the leader with respect to the number and the value of IPO and SPO transactions at the capital market. After the take-over of Raiffeisen-Leasing Polska, the Capital Group became a leader at the lease market, with a share on the level of 13%. Efficient implementation of growth strategy made PKO Bank Polski the highest positioned domestic financial company in the Forbes Global 2000 ranking, including largest listed companies in the world. In 2016, The Banker monthly magazine that belongs to Financial Times, awarded PKO Bank Polski with the “Bank of the Year in Poland” prize for the third time.

Buzzoole raises $830K for its influencer marketing platform

Influencer marketing platform Buzzoole today announces that it has raised $830,000 through convertible note funding. The round was led by international venture fund Impulse VC with co-investment from Swiss technology venture firm R301 Capital. The investment has potential to double within 18 months (up to $1.6M) and draw further investors.

Buzzoole’s proprietary, big data-based algorithm works to connect brands to the right influencers. It has almost 200,000 influencers on its platform, defined by criteria beyond follower count. The platform’s international influencer base provides brands with a powerful way to start conversations, reach new audiences and boost their promotional campaigns.

Founded in 2013 in Naples, the Italian startup has already worked with a range of leading international brands, from Unilever to Mastercard to Toyota, among many others. After opening offices in Rome, Naples and Milan, Buzzoole set up shop in London earlier this year.

Buzzoole’s new funding will be put toward further overseas expansion primarily in Russia, France, Spain and India. It intends to refine its product and form new partnerships by integrating with trading desks as well as retargeting and programmatic activities.

Fabrizio Perrone, CEO of Buzzoole, said: “This latest round of investment is hugely significant for us. 2016 has been a great year, especially with our expansion into the UK. We’ve also seen rapid growth in terms of users, countries and revenue too. The future looks bright – this operation is a bridge to a Series A round expected in the next 12 to 18 months.”

Perrone added: “Moving forward, Buzzoole will continue adding new features to its platform and implementing its proprietary algorithm. Influencer marketing has been a major talking point in 2016, as C2C marketing has become a more attractive prospect. But as more and more companies enter the influencer marketing space, Buzzoole sets itself apart. With its awarded data-driven technology and automated platform based on semantic algorithm, images recognition and Open Graph, Buzzoole is the first end-to-end influencer marketing platform with a media-oriented business model.

Kirill Belov, founder Impulse VC said: “Influencer marketing is the new frontier of word-of-mouth and the new challenge for communications. Marketing professionals are deeply interested in engaging social media opinion leaders, but the industry is lacking a universal tool for managing these kind of campaigns. Buzzoole has the product to fill this gap that will allow brands to effectively expand their social media presence”.

# # #

About Buzzoole

Buzzoole was set up in 2013 and is headquartered in Italy’s growing tech centre Naples. The Buzzoole platform connects brands and influencers for mutual benefit. It uses a proprietary algorithm to identify suitable influencers to help brands take their message beyond traditional marketing channels. The resulting social amplification helps generate word of mouth, engagement, footfall and purchase.

The platform boasts almost 200,000 influencers worldwide and currently works with over 350 brands across a range of sectors, counting Unilever, Tommy Hilfiger, MasterCard, Hilton Hotels, Toyota and many others as clients. The company has experienced impressive growth: the team is now over 50 people strong and expanding rapidly, with a recently-opened London office adding to those already in Rome, Naples and Milan.

Buzzoole has financed growth via a mix of angel and seed round funding from private direct investors, existing contacts and various venture capital funds. This has been followed by bridge funding to support the opening of several new European markets.

https://buzzoole.com

About Impulse VC

Impulse VC is a venture capital fund and incubator of technological online projects. The fund provides seed financing to the companies with the potential to scale business-models and enter international markets. The fund’s focus is on adtech, B2B SaaS.

http://impulsevc.com

About R301 Capital

R301 Capital is an independent technology venture capital firm investing technology start-ups across Europe. The firm founded by experienced tech entrepreneurs Nader Sabbaghian and Alessandro Rivetti combines expertise with cash to best support early stage businesses.

http://www.r301capital.com

_ _ _

Contacts

Buzzoole, PR and Media Relations:

Serena Orizi

serenaorizi@gmail.com

mobile: 3204205558

Website: http://buzzoole.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Buzzoole

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Buzzoole

Impulse VC, PR Department

Viola Serdiukova

Ph: (+7)9778350107

viola@impulsevc.com

Website: www.impulsevc.com

Crunchbase: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/impulsevc

January 12th, 2017

Brad Arnold is appointed Managing Director – UK of Beacon Global Group. Beacon is uniquely positioned at the center of global relationships with banks, accountants, lawyers, tax specialists and financial planners, all with the desire to grow their businesses through serving the unique financial planning needs of Americans living outside the U.S.

Brad brings more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry most latterly as Head of Global Talent Acquisition at S&P Global (formerly McGraw Hill Finanical). Prior to that he held leadership roles with Santander, Genworth Financial and Willis. He also built and led his own recruiting firm, selling to and meeting the needs of senior executives in world class companies.

Robert Rigby-Hall, President - Beacon Global Group said: “We are very fortunate to have Brad join the Beacon team; he brings a wealth of relationships inside the financial industry and outside it in human resources. He has immense drive and will be an outstanding leader for our London office.”

For further press information:

Janice DiazTel: +1 917 971 8881 or +31 6 5773 7717JaniceDiaz@BeaconGlobalGroup.com

About Beacon Global Group

Beacon Global Group is uniquely positioned at the center of global relationships with banks, accountants, lawyers, tax specialists and financial planners, all with the desire to grow their businesses through serving the unique needs of Americans where ever they are in the world. We partner with Independent Financial Advisers in reaching American clients through our network relationships, training, marketing, and social media.

The Beacon Global Group consists of:

www.BeaconGlobalGroup.com

The hugely successful used car dealer We Buy Motors, continued offering spot payment for used cars. With more than 1,70,000 users of the service, We Buy Motors is a leading player in the segment.

The procedure of selling used cars offered by We Buy Motors is quite simple, a three-fold process that commences and completes in two days. Offered across mainland Britain, it involves logging onto the website to get an instantaneous quote. On acceptance, the payment is released and the car is picked up from the seller’s location. This does away with the requirement of the seller having to drive around to various resellers or permitting an inspection of the vehicle at residence, at possibly inconvenient timings.

We Buy Motors has a robust network which makes collection of vehicles from doorsteps a lot easier. We Buy Motors arranges collection of vehicles that are fit to be driven around. The service offers an added advantage of documentation. Pursuant to mandatory regulations that call for proper maintenance of V5C records, it is incumbent on the owner to submit details of transfer of ownership. We Buy Motors takes care of all paperwork, thereby releasing the owner from Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) formalities.

With a sizeable market share in the used vehicles business, We Buy Motors aims to ramp up procurements and sales of used cars through improved services and quick turnaround. Pivotal to its operations have been the trust of sellers and buyers in the system and transparent procedures.

About The Company:

We Buy Motors is a renowned used car buying service provider in the UK. They have many years of experience in the automotive business, and they pride themselves in giving satisfactory services to their customers. Along with buying used cars and vans, they also offer free car valuation services in the UK.

Figures released this week show that 6,781 police officers and staff have been cut from the front line in the last year.

Shadow Home Secretary Brian Paddick said these cuts are 'unsustainable'.

Home Office data on the police workforce shows that Tory ministers have cut police officer numbers by 2,326 over the last year. This figure is made worse by cuts to other frontline roles including Special Constables, PCSO's, police staff and designated officers.

There has been a 10.7% decrease in Police Community Support Officers (PCSO's) from 11,809 in 2015 to 10,551 in 2016. PCSOs support the work of police officers and act as a reassuring presence on out streets at a time when traditional street-based crime is on the increase.

Police staff have also been cut by 3.1% going from 62,577 on the 31 September 2015 to 60,815 a year later.

Designated officers, who are skilled police staff (not police officers) employed to exercise specific powers that would otherwise be exercised by police officers have been cut too, falling by 5.9% from 4,239 to 3,990.

The number of Special Constables has fallen by 7.3% to 14,864.

Shadow Home Secretary Brian Paddick said: 'The sheer scale and extent of these cuts is frightening. We are seeing police officers and staff cut from the front line when crimes such as robbery and knife crime are on the rise. This is Theresa May's leaving present as she exchanged control of the Home Office for the keys to No. 10.

'Cuts, like this, year on year to the police are not sustainable if we are to keep crime under control.

'As a former cop, I know the serious implications for public safety and the safeguarding of the most vulnerable of slashing numbers like this.'

IESO DIGITAL HEALTH APPOINTS MICHAEL MCGREAL

Cambridge UK – January 30 2017

Ieso Digital Health is the world’s leading live clinician, synchronous digital mental health delivery platform. Following the appointment of Dan Clark as CEO in July of 2016, significant operational traction has been achieved in the US, rapidly expanding the number of patients and clients served, with strong clinical results seen in treating patients. The Medicaid base has grown in Colorado and the US business is being expanded to support commercial, military and Medicare populations.

Furthermore, Ieso’s largest customer has expanded the relationship and there is a rapidly growing pipeline including large payers, providers and employers who are seeking to improve access, improve outcomes and lower costs for their members across a several markets.

Against this backdrop, Ieso will be expanding into several additional states in 2017, and is pleased to have attracted a truly marquee executive to join the US leadership team and drive operational scaling.

Today, Dan Clark announces the appointment of accomplished US healthcare executive, Mike McGreal to join the senior executive team as Chief Operating Officer.

Mike McGreal is the former COO and EVP at Beacon Health Strategies, which recently merged with Value Options to create Beacon Health Options, a large managed behavioral healthcare leader in the US with 50 million members. As EVP and Chief Operating Officer for the majority of his tenure, he was responsible for business operations including operations strategy development and implementation for the company. Prior to the merger, Mike oversaw the growth from 10 employees in the first office, to 1,200 employees across 18 offices in 12 states. The company became the largest privately-held behavioral-health business, managing health benefits for 12 million members with over half a billion dollars in revenue.

“Our ability to attract talent of this caliber is testament to the significant growth and opportunity in Digital Health therapeutics and analytics”, comments CEO Dan Clark “Pleased that such an accomplished executive has joined Ieso and shares our enthusiasm for the business and collective passion for improving access, quality and cost of behavioral health care across the US.”

Chairman Simon Cartmell adds, “This is an exciting time for Ieso, and growing the leadership team with experienced executives such as Mike is a key step in delivering on the fantastic opportunity presented by expansions in the US.”

ENDS

Notes for Editors:

About Ieso Digital Health:

www.iesohealth.com

For further information please contact:

Simon Merritt

Ieso Digital Health

Tel: 44 7967 251 850

Email: s.merritt@iesohealth.com

Rachel Dalton

Rachel Dalton Communications

Tel: 0035316787990

Mob: 00353 86 3825895

Email: rdalton@rdcommunications.ie

JLL's Hotels and Hospitality Group has advised on the sale of the Holiday Inn Express Edinburgh City Centre, was has been sold for a sum of £17.725 million to International Hotel Properties Limited.

The Grade B listed building, formerly owned by EDC Hotels, consists of 161 limited service hotel rooms and has planning permission granted for a 20 bedroom extension at the rear of the property.

International Hotel Properties Limited's purchase marks IHL's continued growth and investment into the European hotel sector and is the business's ninth hotel purchase since August 2015. This property adds a further 161 hotel bedrooms and takes IHL's portfolio to nine hotels with a total of 1,135 bedrooms.

IHL's CEO, Jon Colley commented 'This is a high quality asset in the most stable hotel market in the UK, outside of London, and is an excellent addition to IHL's growing portfolio. The hotel consistently trades at a very high occupancy and is a mature stable business having been open for over 12 years. The hotel also has the potential for the addition of more hotel rooms, which management are exploring.'

'The purchase underpins our investment strategy and business plan of investing in good quality hotels in strong locations with international brands that have the potential to deliver consistent cash returns to shareholders'.

IHL's CFO, David Hart added 'The acquisition is value accretive to IHL and will result in a positive impact on our distributable earnings. IHL is well on course to meet its strategic investment objectives as set out in our pre-listing statement.'

Kerr Young, Director, JLL's Hotels and Hospitality Group said: 'This was an excellent opportunity to acquire an established hotel in a strong market. We are delighted to have worked with FRP Advisory on the sale of the business.'

Iain Fraser, Partner, FRP Advisory and joint administrator of European Development Company (EDC), said: 'We are delighted to have secured the sale of the Edinburgh Holiday Inn Express to IHL, and wish the company every success with the addition of this busy hotel to their portfolio. The deal secures the future of an important hotel in the Edinburgh hospitality market, together with a significant number of jobs. There is also the prospect of further investment and extra rooms being added, which is also encouraging.

He added: 'We are continuing to operate the two hotels in Aberdeen (Holiday Inn, Westhill and Holiday Inn Express, Chapel Street), and will shortly be marketing these businesses for sale. Trade has been firm over the festive period and the administration of EDC represents a rare opportunity to acquire high quality branded hotels in Aberdeen close to numerous demand generators. We would therefore encourage interested parties to contact the Aberdeen office of FRP Advisory as soon as possible.'

Car owners in the United Kingdom intending to sell their vehicles have a reason to be re-assured. The accuracy of We Buy Motors’ free online car valuation services helps in knowing the sale value of used cars.

The London based service with an extensive network straddling the whole of mainland Britain has been offering its services for the last seven years.

The free service requires the input of just the registration number of the vehicle and the mileage. The software instantaneously comes up with a sale value. This is arrived through various advanced metrics such as make, model, year of purchase, history etc. The mined data is then used in conjunction with prevailing market prices to arrive at an accurate and highly reasonable sale value. This could serve as an index when a car owner plans to sell a used vehicle. Rather than stumbling around for the right index, or grappling with unknown figures, the service helps sellers to know a price from where negotiations can start.

Touted as one of the most reliable and the best in the business, We Buy Motors offers a clean and quick transaction. Within 48 hours of accepting a sale value, the payment is released and the car picked up from doorstep. The documentation team takes care of all post-sale formalities and mandatory V5C submissions. These procedures aimed at reducing a seller’s difficulties in disposing a vehicle have made We Buy Motors a trusted and popular service. With around 1,70,000 deals in its records, it is aiming to redefine the market with more transparent and accurate processes, that are dynamic and intuitive.

The market has seen a healthy demand for a second hand car and resellers with extensive networks are better positioned to offer the best prices, pitching We Buy Motors as a service that offers the best value.

About The Company:

We Buy Motors is a renowned used car buying service provider in the UK. They have many years of experience in the automotive business, and they pride themselves in giving satisfactory services to their customers. Along with buying used cars and vans, they also offer free car valuation services in the UK.

Construction is routinely looked to as a marker for the economic health of a city or region. Our Real Estate Regional Crane Surveys highlight this link between development and prosperity, examining the external influences and key market drivers of city centre construction.

The latest reports monitor construction activity across Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Belfast. Spurred on by an upturn in sentiment, how has this translated across the sectors and geographies?

The Belfast Crane Survey

Belfast is certainly on an upward trajectory, as evidenced by the rapidly increasing number of cranes which are dotting the city's skyline. Investment in the city is coming forward despite uncertain economic currents both nationally and internationally.

The Birmingham Crane Survey

Birmingham city centre is expanding. Throughout last year we've seen a record number of cranes on the skyline and developers are busy forging ahead with new schemes in every sector. Financial and professional service firms are growing and with mounting activity around HS2 the city centre is stretching upwards and outwards to meet demand.

The Leeds Crane Survey

2016 has been the year that a number of longstanding and high-profile developments have completed boosting the provision of commercial space on offer in Leeds. Whilst the city is coming to the end of a development cycle, our research shows that 16 new developments started in 2016, equal to that of 2015, highlighting continued developer and investor interest in the city.

The Manchester Crane Survey

2016 presented major opportunities for the future prosperity and growth of the city region. The handover of the devolved health budget, HS2 commitments and a formal remit for Transport for the North have formed the basis of a renewed regional optimism. But how has this sentiment materialised and driven delivery on the ground into 2017?

Reports attached or read here

One third of Brits ditch the gym soon after joining

A survey conducted by leading beach holiday specialist On the Beach has revealed holidays really are good for your health with more than a quarter of British holidaymakers saying they exercise more on holiday than when they are at home back in the UK.

In the busiest holiday booking period of the year and a month in which many Brits struggle to get back to fitness following an overindulgent festive period, the research reveals holidays are good for your health, with 27% saying they exercise more on holiday than at home.

The survey of 1,000 British holidaymakers also revealed almost one in three Brits (29%) admit to not partaking in any regular exercise when they're at home in the UK.

The research also revealed just one in 10 sun-seeking Brits don't partake in any exercise at all during their beach holiday in the sun.

According to one piece of research*, 12% of all gym members in the UK sign up in January, however in this survey, almost one third (31%) admit to giving up on visiting the gym shortly after joining.

Looking good in the sun is important to many British holidaymakers with almost one in five (19%) saying they start working on their beach bodies around two to three months before jetting off to their beach holiday destination.

The survey revealed many people are determined to look their best whilst on holiday with almost one in 10 (9%) beachgoers getting to work on their beach body between four and six months before heading to the sun.

Alistair Daly, Chief Marketing Officer at On the Beach comments:

“Our survey suggests that booking a holiday early in the year is good for your health as many people try and get fit months before departure.”

“Not only does a beach holiday mean you could get back home with a nice healthy glowing tan but our survey shows that many of us will come back from our holidays feeling much fitter. After a couple of weeks lounging on a beach, catching up on their well-earned sleep, Brits will no doubt return home healthier and more relaxed.”

Further examples of how holidays are good for your health can be found at the On the Beach blog.

-ends-

See REC.VC in action at the ISE 2017 in
Amsterdam, February 7-10

OSLO, NORWAY - January 31, 2017: Media Network Services (MNS), the leader in cloud-based recording & streaming of video meetings, today announced the launch of a REC.VC Site in Frankfurt, Germany.

Enterprises and organisations within EU can with the new REC.VC Site in Frankfurt rest assure that all their REC.VC recorded meetings are securely processed, stored and backed up within EU.

“The EU General Data Protection Regulation is probably one of the hottest potatoes for European CIOs these days,” said Kjell Oksendal, CMO and SVP Global Alliances, MNS. “As a global cloud provider we designed the cloud service so that each REC.VC Site is autonomous and fully redundant with respect to failover and backup. When EU customers select to use the REC.VC Site in Frankfurt, we guarantee that their video recordings never will be processed, stored and backed up outside the Frankfurt Site by MNS.”

“AVI-SPL has a global customer base that requires global solutions. MNS’s newest REC.VC site in Germany ensures a high-quality, and secure, video conferencing experience for our customers locally, throughout Europe, and worldwide, said Johannes Stehr, general manager, AVI-SPL Germany.

“As a video conferencing and calling cloud service provider, we know the importance of full compliance with data protection regulations,” said Kevin Bernitz, VP Product Management, StarLeaf. “With multiple points of presence throughout Europe and the world, we have invested heavily to ensure our customers have the most robust and secure protection for their data. This move by MNS further strengthens our service offering to German and EU customers.”

REC.VC Sites are today available in Ashburn (USA), Frankfurt (Germany) and Oslo (Norway), enabling customers to select the location that best fits their regulatory and compliance requirements. Customers also have the option to leverage multiple REC.VC Sites, which can be ideal for global organisations.

Integrated Systems Events (ISE) 2017

Experience the REC.VC recording & streaming cloud service at the ISE 2017 exhibition in Amsterdam, February 7-10, by visiting one of the following REC.VC partners:

MNS staff will also attend the ISE 2017 in case you want to schedule a meeting.

About MNS

Media Network Services (MNS) is a global provider of value added cloud applications for Visual Collaboration (VC). Products and services include QoS.VC the global network platform for VC, REC.VC Global Recording and Streaming Cloud Service, and IVR.VC Global Video IVR.

A Cornish heating contractor, started by two former British Gas engineers, has formed another 10 year partnership with local social landlord Coastline Housing.

Blue Flame, of Penryn, competed with other providers in a rigorous tender process to win the contract worth an estimated £17million.

Mark England, Head of Technical Services at Coastline Housing, said: “Blue Flame has provided our customers with heating and electrical services for the previous 10-years as part of our former partnership arrangement, but the latest tender process was by no means a foregone conclusion.

“The multi-million-pound opportunity was opened for tender throughout the European Union and several major companies took a keen interest, so this really is a tale of a local company doing incredibly well to compete against others within the industry nationally.”

Under the terms of the partnership, Blue Flame will provide round-the-clock breakdown cover, new installations and servicing for all heating and electrical systems within Coastline’s 4,200 homes across Cornwall.

Blue Flame director, Paul Smith, said: “We’ve enjoyed building a strong relationship with the Coastline team over the last decade. It’s been great to see both organisations grow during that time, and to have an opportunity to build on that over the next 10 years is fantastic.

“We have a team of over 100 people at Blue Flame and they have all played a role in us regaining the contract. Their dedication and expertise is key to our success.

“Our message is simple: we do. And we do like working with clients across Cornwall to provide heating, plumbing and electrical support.”

New benchmark guidelines for the design of spaces for outdoor sport and play have been published by Fields In Trust ‘Guidance for Outdoor Sport and Play: Beyond the Six Acre Standard’, is a crucial tool for local planning authorities, developers, planners, urban designers and landscape architects in the design of outdoor sport, play and informal open space. It is provided as free to use interactive PDF at the Fields in Trust website www.fieldsintrust.org/guidance.

The new guidance has been produced to reflect a new planning policy landscape. Changes to the National Planning Policy Framework, and the introduction of The Localism Act have changed how local planning operates. Additionally the devolved administrations have each determined the detail and operation of their own primary planning legislation. To reflect these different systems the Fields in Trust Guidance for Outdoor Sport and Play has been reconfigured in special editions for Scotland and Wales, and is also available in a Welsh language version.

Speaking at the launch of the new guidance on 25 January at a Green Space Wales Symposium for practitioners Lesley Griffiths AM Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs said: “It is vital we secure sufficient land for outdoor recreation, so I welcome this updated guidance on open space provision from Fields in Trust. The document is referenced as a useful tool by the Welsh Government’s Technical Advice Note (TAN)16 Sport, Recreation and Open Space and is widely adopted by the Local Planning Authorities.”

As part of its work, Fields in Trust has supported practitioners since the 1930s on open space provision and design originally identified as The “Six Acre Standard”. The new editions of the guidance backed up by new research retains the same headline rates of provision, but draws out new recommendations for accessibility, for flexible application of standards and the minimum dimensions of formal outdoor space. This revision of the guidelines introduces benchmarking for informal open space - places for recreation, not involving organised sport and play - and includes parks and gardens, and natural and semi-natural habitats. The guidance also no longer differentiates between urban and rural areas. The updated guidance for England, Scotland and Wales are available as online tools with links to external data and recommendations.

Writing in the foreword of the Welsh document Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson said “To create an active nation one of the things that we need to do is make sure that appropriate outdoor recreational opportunities are available to everyone regardless of age or ability. We also have to recognise the role of play in developing physical literacy in young children. All important things for the future. Without access to grassroots facilities there are many who will lose the chance to identify and hone their skills.

Fields in Trust Chief Executive Helen Griffiths said: “Adopting this guidance will help planners and designers ensure that the provision of outdoor sport, play and informal open space is of sufficient size to enable effective public use, in an accessible location close to local communities. It is important that outdoor space has a design quality which will maintain its longevity and to encourage continued use”

Fields in Trust’s projects and protection programmes operate across the UK. Fields in Trust currently safeguards over 2,600 sites, a total of 30,000 acres of land (12,140ha.) including playgrounds, playing fields, and formal and informal parkland across the UK.

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For media enquiries, please contact Richard McKeever, Fields in Trust Communications Manager, e: richard.mckeever@fieldsintrust.org, t: 0207 427 2117, m: 07940 072832

NOTES TO EDITORS

Fields in Trust is a national charity that operates throughout the UK to safeguard recreational spaces and campaign for better statutory protection for all kinds of outdoor sites.

Founded in 1925 as the National Playing Fields Association by King George V, their mission is the same now and as it was then: to ensure that everyone – young or old, able-bodied or disabled and wherever they live – should have access to free, local outdoor space for sport, play and recreation. These spaces are vital to building happy and healthy communities and sadly continue to be threatened by all kinds of development.

www.fieldsintrust.org

Hope for Children, an international charity is delighted to announce that is has been awarded a grant by St. James’s Place Foundation to help fund its work among disabled children in Kenya. The Foundation is the charitable arm of the St. James’s Place Wealth Management Group and the funds will enable mothers to improve the health, development and quality of life of their children through home-based therapy.

Hope for Children’s work helps those in Africa, Asia and the UK, including orphans and those living on the streets, by improving their access to education and healthcare, whilst empowering families to build a sustainable future for their children. By working closely with local organisations, Hope for Children empowers those communities to increase the ability to give their own children the childhood they deserve. Thanks to the generosity of its supporters, last year it was able to transform the lives of over 37,000 children and their families.

The St. James’s Place Foundation aims to make a significant difference to the lives of children and young people. It gives grants to charities working for the direct benefit of economically disadvantaged or socially marginalised young people, the physically disabled, or those suffering from a mental condition or life-threatening or degenerative illness.

Peter Wild, Partner of St. James’s Place Wealth Management commented “It is our pleasure to support and help Hope for Children obtain a grant of £12,000 from the St. James’s Place Foundation. We are passionate about helping charities which support children with special needs. A key member of my team is a mum to a young person with special needs and having supported a local Chichester charity last year, PACSO, through the Foundation, I have seen with my own eyes the benefit to families that these charities make.”

Murielle Maupoint, Hope for Children’s Chief Executive added “We are so grateful to the St. James’s Place Foundation for making this grant available, which will have a sustainable impact on the lives of many disabled children in Kenya”

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Notes to the editor

About Hope for Children

Hope for Children was founded by Dr Bob Parsons OBE in 1994, to help those children who fell through the gaps left by both society in general and the larger charitable organisations.

Almost half of the world’s children are vulnerable and living in poverty. We are changing this by making a safe and fulfilling childhood a reality for more of the world’s children.

We work in Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Kenya, India, Sri Lanka, The Philippines and the UK, improving children’s access to education and healthcare, empowering their families to support themselves whilst developing their confidence and self-esteem. Most importantly we are giving them hope.

About St. James’s Place Foundation

The St. James’s Place Foundation is the charitable arm of the St. James’s Place Wealth Management Group. We’ve been supporting those in need since 1992, making a positive and lasting difference to people’s lives by awarding grants to charities registered in the UK to assist them in the incredible work they do every day. So far we’ve raised and distributed over £54 million to thousands of charities in the UK and overseas.

Images available on request.

Top used car dealer We Buy Motors notches up impressive performance with its instantaneous car valuation service offered free of cost to car owners. The London based service, with pan-Britain footprints has registered a spurt in the number of car owners using their valuation services.

Statistics released by the DVLA, acronym for Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency reveal that on an average, around seven million used cars change ownership in the United Kingdom Annually. The market for used cars has expanded with better options for buying good condition or refurbished cars.

To offer car owners the option of knowing the base price of their cars, the website has a simple and easy interface to ascertain the prevailing sale value of the car. Car owners need only enter the registration number and mileage of the car. The software mines information from closed and public domains to evaluate the value based on make, model, year, history etc. In association with market value which is dynamic and changes as per various metrics, the final value of the car is ascertained and displayed instantaneously on screen for the buyers benefit.

We Buy Motors claims the offer is unrivalled and unmatched by competitors across various parameters, such as pricing, services, post-sale formalities and closure.

Saving owners the hassles of having to meet obligatory requirements of the DVLA such as V5C, the team at We Buy Motors assists in fulfilling legal requirements. Additionally, owners whose vehicles have an outstanding loan amount get the burden of loan relieved by the We Buy Motors team that helps in foreclosure formalities. The seamless and efficient bundled services offered have increased the number of car owners who have availed services of We Buy Motors.

About The Company:

The Poppy Factory’s new CEO, Deirdre Mills, together with 27 disabled veterans welcomed Minister of State for Defence, Earl Howe, to their headquarters in Richmond today.

The Poppy Factory is the country’s leading employability charity for disabled veterans and provides a free employability service across England and Wales, supporting those with a medical condition or impairment back into rewarding and sustainable work. The factory also directly employs 27 disabled veterans in Richmond to produce poppies and wreaths for the Royal Family and The Royal British Legion.

Having helped almost 700 disabled individuals back into work since 2010, the charity won the Ministry of Defence’s Employer Recognition Silver Award last year for demonstrating great support to the Armed Forces community. One of Deirdre’s’ key goals this year is to go for gold.

As part of the Armed Forces Covenant, the annual Defence Employer Recognition Scheme encourages employers to support defence and inspire others to do the same – and The Poppy Factory is certainly doing that.

Defence Minister Earl Howe said:

“From helping veterans across the country overcome adversity and get back into work, to empowering those who have inspired me here in Richmond today to contribute to such an honourable cause, the magnificent work of the Poppy Factory is a credit to the Armed Forces Covenant and I’m thrilled to see Deirdre is driving for even more success.”

Deirdre enjoyed a successful career in the British Army before getting involved in charity work. She said:

“There is a growing need to support our wounded, injured and sick veterans and registrations for our service are increasing substantially. Our support is really making a difference, whether it be providing career advice or meeting the more complex needs of some of the hardest-to-help individuals in society. There is also a growing number of disabled veterans who are being referred to us by other organisations; this is both testament to the quality of our work and indicative of the growing number of military charities that are now working together to produce the best results.

“We are working hard to accommodate and champion the needs of disabled people and a Gold Award will really help us demonstrate this to our donors and the public - we need to secure over £2m in sustainable funding each year to provide our life-changing service.”

Earl Howe spoke with several veterans on his visit, including Gregg Howell, who served in the British Army before being medically discharged in 1988. Gregg said, “I was in a dark place, living on the streets and battling PTSD. Now I have a job, a purpose, and I am training to help others who might find themselves in the same situation. I am forever grateful to The Poppy Factory for helping me get back on my feet again.”

The past two years have been tumultuous ones, with unprecedented numbers of refugees entering the region, further austerity measures and the Brexit vote. With further arrivals from Syria expected soon a way ahead is needed.

On Monday 13th February Ashley Community Housing are holding a Rethinking Refugee Conference at The Birmingham Repertory Theatre. At this Conference they will share their experience of refugee resettlement and reintegration. Presentations and discussions will cover the untapped economic potential of the refugee asset within the region, and how to rethink refugees as assets rather than liabilities.

Warm words are not enough. Practical actions are needed here in Birmingham now. Ashley Community Housing has been working in refugee resettlement since 2008, with a Birmingham team in place since 2012, and believe their combination of understanding, experience and technical knowledge allows them to make a unique contribution.

Some of the points addressed will be:

• Shifting the focus from a humanitarian one to seeing refugees as assets.

• How to deliver 'Collective Impact'.

• The economic impact of migrant entrepreneurs.

By attempting to understand the best ways to resettle refugees the aim is to generate new ideas which can turn current humanitarian challenges into sustainable opportunities.

For more information about the Conference you can visit http://www.ashleyhousing.com/news-events/events/ or register your attendance via Eventbrite.