CFI.co Blogger, Author at CFI.co Blog

6 November 2019 Leading employee benefits provider, Unum, hosted an event yesterday (5^th November) to highlight how important it is for employers to provide the right support for employees impacted by cancer throughout their journey from diagnosis through treatment to recovery and possible return to work.

Employers play a vital role in supporting employees with cancer, says Unum

Guest speakers included former BBC presenter, and current Classic FM host, Bill Turnbull. Bill talked openly about his ongoing battle with prostate cancer, after being diagnosed in 2017, and how it has affected him both personally and professionally.

It is an accepted fact that now one in two people in the UK will get cancer in their lifetime[1]. In the context of an ageing work force, 125,000 of working age adults are diagnosed with cancer annually[2], meaning that cancer is becoming an issue which will impact most businesses whatever the size.

In 2018 cancer was the top cause of long-term sickness absence claims paid by Unum.

Upon returning to work, Unum’s research found that 28% of workers with cancer, or who have had cancer, said they didn’t receive any support, or the support they did receive fell below their expectations when they were at work following their diagnosis.

84% agreed their loyalty towards employers could have been influenced by the amount of support they received, and 3 out of 4 workers worried about the cost of cancer and how their families would cope with loss of income if they had to give up work.

A panel of corporate wellbeing and cancer care specialists, moderated by Unum’s HR Director Liz Walker, discussed that the key issues affecting employees include dealing with the feeling of fear that comes after a cancer diagnosis; fear of losing their job and fear of not being able to support themselves. Employees can also struggle with the lasting physical effects of cancer treatment after returning to work, including fatigue, as well as lack of confidence from being out of the workplace for a period of time.

The panel also highlighted that what can affect employers and line managers the most is speaking about a cancer diagnosis with an employee. This can be a sensitive and challenging conversation and one which they have not always been trained for, which could mean they struggle to provide the support needed.

Employers can help by ensuring that the right support is put in place to help the employee throughout their treatment and possible return to work. The panel agreed that one effective way of doing this is to ensure all guidelines and advice relating to cancer are available in one place, easily accessible to both employees and employers.

Unum is enhancing the cancer support it offers through its Critical Illness cover, including the introduction of Unum’s ‘Cancer Pathway’, which provides consultation assistance to patients, helps with managing symptoms, a medical concierge, and psychological and post-treatment support.

Vocational Rehabilitation Consultants (VRCs) are also available to work closely with employers to put together a plan to help recovering employees return to work when they’re ready to do so.

Help@hand, Unum’s new app powered by Square Health, gives employees access to enhanced health support and is available with Unum’s Group Income Protection policies at no additional cost. Four key services are available to employees and their families through Help@hand: a remote GP service, a second opinion, mental health support and physiotherapy. The second opinion service can be particularly important after an initial cancer diagnosis to ensure an employee receives the most effective treatment, tailored to their unique needs. Help@hand provides access to specialist consultants who can offer either a face to face or video consultation.

After the panel discussion, speakers and attendees networked with the Unum team as well as Unum’s support service providers and partners including reframe (formerly HSC), a UK provider of specialist cancer support, and Maggie’s, a charity that offers free emotional and practical help for people with cancer and their families.

Bill Turnbull says: “It’s been two years since my diagnosis and my life has changed forever. While I’ve had my ups and downs, it’s been the support of those around me who have helped me, and this extends beyond my family and friends to include my employer and colleagues at work. I think being able to go back to work is a huge part of being able to feel normal again. It’s vital that employers understand how important the support they provide to their employees with cancer is in helping them cope and live with this disease”.

Peter O’Donnell, CEO of Unum says: “As we live and work longer, the reality is that more and more of us will face a cancer diagnosis at some point in our working lives. Employers play an important role in supporting employees as they face the financial, emotional and professional obstacles a cancer diagnosis can bring. Unum’s enhanced critical Illness product and the unique Cancer Pathway provides quick and easy access for employers and employees to cancer support upon diagnosis, through treatment and recovery – whenever it is needed.”

[1] Cancer Research UK, 1 in 2 people in the UK will get cancer. 2015

[2] Macmillan Cancer Research, Macmillan: Work and Cancer, 2017

Media Enquiries: unum@teamspirit.uk.com 020 7360 7878

About Unum

Unum is a leading employee benefits provider offering financial protection through the workplace including: Income Protection, Life insurance, Critical Illness, and Dental cover.

Our Income Protection customers have access to medical and vocational rehabilitation expertise designed to help people stay in work and return to work following illness and injury. Unum LifeWorks, our Employee Assistance Programme, provides help and advice on a range of work/life issues.

Our Critical Illness customers can access our Cancer Support Service, providing personalised support for employees with a cancer diagnosis.

We are committed to workplace wellbeing for both employees and employers. We have a wide range of tools designed to help businesses create or enhance their employee wellbeing strategy, including our Mental Health Pathway and Wellbeing Calendar.

At the end of 2018, Unum protected 1.4 million people in the UK and paid claims of £314 million – representing in excess of £6 million a week in benefits to our customers – providing security and peace of mind to individuals and their families.

Our parent company, Unum Group, is a provider of employee benefits products and services in the United States, including group and individual disability insurance. Premium income for Unum Group and its subsidiaries totalled $9.0bn in the year ended 31 December 2018, with reported revenues for the group totalling $11.6bn and total assets of $61.9bn.

A.M Best has given all rated Unum Group companies an Excellent rating for Financial Strength, with a stable outlook.

For more information please visit www.unum.co.uk.

Unum Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Unum Dental is a trading name of Unum Limited. Registered in England 983768.

Unum is a leading employee benefits provider offering financial protection through the workplace including: Income Protection, Life insurance, Critical Illness, and Dental cover.

Our Critical Illness customers can access our Cancer Support Service, providing personalised support for employees with a cancer diagnosis.

A.M Best has given all rated Unum Group companies an Excellent rating for Financial Strength, with a stable outlook.

For more information please visit www.unum.co.uk.

Finance

Buy-Now-Pay-Later Schemes Encourage Half of Workers to Spend Money They Don’t Have

ByCFI.co Blogger

The schemes have risen in popularity over recent years with those earning over £100k worse affected, new research finds

London, 6th November 2019 – Buy now pay later schemes are luring people into living beyond their means according to a recent survey by Hastee. Half of respondents said buy now pay later options encourage them to spend money they don’t have and this rises to 59% for millennial respondents (those aged 18-35).

Buy now pay later schemes have become a popular interest bearing option where retailers allow consumers to delay payments on their purchases for a specified period. More than a quarter of respondents (27%) said they have experienced difficulties after using buy now pay later schemes. The same percentage of respondents said they have experienced problems after using payday loans which have come under increased scrutiny in recent years, resulting in the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) stepping in to apply limits on daily borrowing.

Millennials are the worst-hit age group when it comes to experiencing difficulties after using buy now pay later schemes – over a third (36%) said this has been the case. Financial stress has impacted their social lives (50%), relationships (40%), health (39%) and work (38%).

The survey revealed that workers across all salary bands agree that the schemes encourage them to spend money they don’t have. The figure tends to rise in the higher salary bands, highlighting that this issue is not exclusive to lower paid workers:

Up to £20k salary: 45%
£20-30k salary: 49%
£30-40k salary: 52%
£40-50k salary: 43%
£50-27k salary: 50%
£75-100k salary: 59%
Over £100k salary: 77%

“Buy now pay later schemes might seem an attractive option for consumers but they’re proving to be as problematic as more traditional forms of credit,” says Hastee

CEO James Herbert. “While they seem like a good short term solution, they can cause consumers issues in the longer term. Missed payments can impact credit scores, cause longer term debt problems and could create an unhealthy reliance on credit cards and overdrafts as users struggle with repayments.

Our advice for anyone tempted by one of these schemes is to make sure you’ve weighed up the affordability of the purchase and explored all options before making any commitments. If you can’t afford the repayments, consider whether you really need the item or work out another way of paying for it that won’t cause you long term financial difficulty. There are plenty of digital money management tools that work together to help people live comfortably and within their means, such as challenger banks, earnings on demand solutions and budgeting apps.”

About Hastee

Hastee is an award-winning employee benefit which empowers employees to receive their earned pay immediately via our mobile app, increasing their choice and financial wellbeing. Workers can choose to receive up to 50% of their gross pay for the work they have completed; it is income smoothing of their earned pay, not a loan. Companies may choose to restrict the availability for their staff to below 50% should they wish/need. We do not charge interest, just a low and simple fee (subscription and on-demand options).

Companies profit from the improved recruitment, retention, engagement and productivity of their workforce. This is at no cost to the employer (unless they wish to contribute as a paid benefit) and has no impact to company cash flow (we fund the advances, with the company reimbursing us when they pay their staff as normal). Giving access to earned pay only, Hastee is a meaningful benefit that can be made available to all staff, including salaried, temporary, variable and gig workers.

Additionally, we have now launched an employee financial education programme in the form of a series of emails over a period of 7 weeks. Companies can choose to include as many of their staff as they wish in this programme at no cost, or leave to only those who register with our app. Related to this, we have content available on the Financial Education Hub on our website and, obviously, within the app.

Business

AI Reveals Misrepresentation of Engineers Online

ByCFI.co Blogger

Royal Academy of Engineering and leading consumer brands join forces to change the face of engineering, after AI reveals misrepresentation of the profession online

Major brands, leading businesses and high-profile engineers have come together in a bid to change the online image search results for the word ‘engineer’
Over 100 organisations and counting1 including the BBC, Facebook, ITV, Transport for London, Ocado, Rolls-Royce and National Grid have signed a pledge to address the misrepresentation of engineers and engineering online and in popular culture
The Royal Academy of Engineering employed an Artificial Intelligence algorithm trained on online image search results for ‘engineer’ to generate artificial images of what it learned a typical engineer looked like – the majority of images generated were of a white man wearing a hard hat
6 November is This is Engineering Day – a national awareness day in Tomorrow’s Engineers Week to celebrate the unsung contribution that engineers make to our lives, and to call upon media, image providers, recruiters and advertisers to paint a more representative picture of the profession and those who work in it
Amazon’s Alexa2 will answer questions about engineering and This is Engineering Day

Major brands, leading businesses and high-profile engineers have come together in a bid to change the online image search results for the word ‘engineer’, as an AI programme trained on the results of an online search for images of engineers found that it vastly misrepresents the profession.

The announcement comes on This is Engineering Day, part of a nationwide campaign led by the Royal Academy of Engineering – and supported by a range of brands and engineering companies – to change the misrepresentation of engineering online, celebrate the contribution of engineers, and encourage more young people to consider a career in the profession.

Original AI generated image
Enhanced version

To test the representation of the profession online, an AI machine learning model, otherwise known as a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN), analysed over 1,100 images of engineers sourced online,3 and generated images based on this given dataset. The images generated by the GAN showed how narrowly an engineer is typically portrayed online: the majority of the generated images were of a white male wearing a hard hat. An online search, conducted by the Royal Academy of Engineering on 21 October 2019, found that 63% of images on the first page of the search results were of a person in a hard hat4, despite the fact that only a small minority of professional engineers wear hard hats most of the time.

The Royal Academy of Engineering has created This Is Engineering Day, which takes place in Tomorrow’s Engineers Week, to radically change this narrow stereotype, and celebrate the varied and vital roles that engineers play, from developing medical technologies like brain scanners and clean energy solutions, to powering the social media platforms and smartphones we rely on to keep in touch every day.

Over 100 brands across the UK that depend on engineering – including the BBC, Facebook, ITV, Transport for London, Ocado, Rolls-Royce and National Grid – have signed a pledge5 to increase the public visibility of more representative images of engineers and engineering, and helped create a new library of free to use images of engineers that better represent what engineers and engineering really look like (www.flickr.com/thisisengineering/)6. This has been developed to encourage website owners and image users to deploy a more diverse range of images when showcasing engineers and the industries in which they work.

The campaign’s partners and supporters will also be challenging this misrepresentation on social media and through a range of different activities and events on This is Engineering Day including:

Amazon Alexa2 will answer questions about ‘This is Engineering Day’ and the role of engineers, and Amazon will run engineering-focused tours and STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) workshops in its fulfilment centres on 6th November
Network Rail showcasing real images of engineers on 60 screens across 15 stations in the UK, and across the Virgin train network
Facebook and Ocado creating and promoting new engineering video content featuring its engineers
Google hosting an engineering takeover at its Portsmouth Digital Garage on 6 November

Many of the emerging and in-demand jobs identified by the World Economic Forum7 are engineering jobs, yet every year the UK is short of up to 59,000 engineers, while only 12% of the engineering workforce in the UK are female, and 9% are from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

Research from EngineeringUK8 shows that more needs to be done to raise awareness of engineering careers and encourage young people to consider the profession. Over three quarters (76%) of young people aged 11-19 and 73% of parents do not know a lot about what those working in engineering do.

Dr Hayaatun Sillem, Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Engineering, says:

“Engineers play a profoundly important role in shaping the world around us – from designing our cities and transport systems, to delivering clean energy solutions, enhancing cybersecurity and advancing healthcare – but that’s simply not reflected in online image searches.

That’s why on This is Engineering Day I’m appealing to anyone who uses or promotes images of engineers to join us in challenging outdated and narrow stereotypes of engineering. We want to ensure that engineers are portrayed in a much more representative way, and that we help young people see the fantastic variety of opportunities on offer.

Engineering is everywhere, and This Is Engineering Day gives us an opportunity to shine a light on the people who make possible so many features of modern life that we take for granted. I hope that by inviting the public to discover a different side to engineering, we will be able to inspire more people from all parts of society to choose a profession that shapes our world.”

The This is Engineering free public image library is available now at www.flickr.com/thisisengineering/ for media, photo, advertising agencies and the general public to view and use in projects, articles, campaigns and on social media. The library and This is Engineering Day are part of the This is Engineering campaign, led by the Royal Academy of Engineering to give more young people, from all backgrounds, the opportunity to take up engineering careers. More information on the campaign can be found at www.ThisisEngineering.org.uk, @ThisisEng on Twitter and @ThisisEngineering on Instagram.

1 – Brands involved in the campaign include Google, Amazon, Facebook, Ocado, Ferrari, Anglian Water, Heathrow, Network Rail, TfL, Virgin Media, BBC, ITV, EDF Energy, Science Museum Group, as well as the list of corporate partners below, as well as professional engineering institutions and many UK universities.

2 – Amazon’s Alexa, will answer the below engineering and This is Engineering Day questions:

‘Alexa, Tell me about This is Engineering Day?’
‘Alexa, How can I get involved with This is Engineering Day?’
‘Alexa, When is This is Engineering Day?’
‘Alexa, What does an engineer look like?’
‘Alexa, Tell me a fact about engineering’
‘Alexa, What is This Is Engineering?’

3 – The Generative Adversarial Network was trained by Stylianos Moschoglou, a PhD student in Machine Learning at Imperial College London and Machine Learning Scientist at Facesoft.io. Due to the GAN image being too low res and pixilated for print purposes, a digital artist has retouched the image, without changing the likeness.

4 – Researchers at the Royal Academy of Engineering analysed the search engine image results for “engineer” to assess what is being shown as representative images of engineers and engineering. The assessment took place on 21st October 2019 using Chrome extension “Fatkun” to search for the term ‘engineer’ on Google. Accepting that statistically the vast majority (as much as 95%) of online visitors rarely search beyond the first page in Google searches, only the first results page of 452 images was assessed. The results were downloaded to a library and counted manually. The results revealed most images (63%) featured hard hats.

5 – Please click here to see the pledge – https://bit.ly/2JBv1bj

6 – The new public photo library, which has been contributed to by some of the biggest brands in the world, will be sent to stock image providers, website owners, media, advertisers, and recruiters to encourage them to use these real images of engineers to help increase visibility around the profession – www.flickr.com/thisisengineering/

7 – The Future of Jobs Report 2018, World Economic Forum http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs_2018.pdf. Please see notes to eds for more information.

8 – Research carried out by EngineeringUK. Data from the 2019 Engineering Brand Monitor captured in Jan – Feb 2019, based on a sample of 2,514 pupils aged 7-19, 1,023 educators, and 1,810 members of the public

About This is Engineering

This is Engineering is a campaign to raise awareness of the breadth of careers in engineering and help address the significant engineering skills and diversity shortfall that is holding back growth and productivity across the UK economy. The campaign aims to give more young people, from the broadest possible backgrounds, the opportunity to take up an exciting, engaging, rewarding and in demand career.

This is Engineering is led by the Royal Academy of Engineering, in collaboration with EngineeringUK. The campaign has been made possible thanks to the generous support of the Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering and our corporate partners. More information about the campaign is available at www.thisisengineering.org.uk and @ThisIsEng on Twitter

Strategic partner

EngineeringUK

Founding Principal partners

BAE Systems

National Grid

Principal partners

Major partners

Facebook

Sponsors

Principal university partners

University of Leeds

University of Oxford

Major university partners

Anglia Ruskin University

Aston University

Heriot-Watt University

Imperial College London

University partners

Cranfield University

University of Exeter

University of Southampton

University of Glasgow

About the Royal Academy of Engineering

As the UK’s national academy for engineering and technology, we bring together the most successful and talented engineers from academia and business – our Fellows – to advance and promote excellence in engineering for the benefit of society.

We harness their experience and expertise to provide independent advice to government, to deliver programmes that help exceptional engineering researchers and innovators realise their potential, to engage the public with engineering and to provide leadership for the profession.

We have three strategic priorities:

Make the UK the leading nation for engineering innovation and businesses
Address the engineering skills and diversity challenge
Position engineering at the heart of society

We bring together engineers, policy makers, entrepreneurs, business leaders, academics, educators and the public in pursuit of these goals.

Engineering is a global profession, so we work with partners across the world to advance engineering’s contribution to society on an international, as well as a national scale.

About EngineeringUK

EngineeringUK is a not-for-profit organisation, which works in partnership with the engineering community to inspire tomorrow’s engineers and increase the talent pipeline into engineering. EngineeringUK leads engagement programmes The Big Bang and Tomorrow’s Engineers, creates inspiring engineering careers resources and produces a body of research including the flagship State of Engineering report.

About Tomorrow’s Engineers Week

Tomorrow’s Engineers Week (#TEWeek19) takes place from 4-8 November 2019 and aims to change perceptions of engineering among young people, their parents and teachers and to inspire future engineers. Tomorrow’s Engineers Week is led by EngineeringUK, a not-for-profit organisation which works with the engineering community – employers and professional institutions – to inspire tomorrow’s engineers. To find out how to get involved, visit www.tomorrowsengineers.org.uk/teweek

Politics

SME investment is the elephant in the general election war-rooms

ByCFI.co Blogger

Political uncertainty has caused a reduction of business investment in the UK by 11%

Jenny Tooth OBE, CEO of the UK Business Angels Association, calls for an end to “deafening silence” of politicians regarding SME investment

Now that the majority of the party leaders have launched their general election campaigns, there will now be five weeks of battling to decide which prospective vision for Britain captures the imagination of British voters best. However, the elephant in the room still remains the sustainability of the British economy post-Brexit, and how to reinvigorate investment that has dried up throughout the three and half years of political limbo and chaos.

Uncertainty in the British economy due to an inability to find a Brexit resolution has seen business investment into the UK cut by 11 percent, or the equivalent of £20bn. Just last month, the Office for National Statistics announced that labour productivity in the second quarter of 2019 fell by half a percent, the worst performance since 2014. Now, with an election looming and no guarantee that a majority will be secured, British businesses have been thrown further into the lurch regarding investment opportunities for growth.

Jenny Tooth OBE, CEO of the UK Business Angels Association, has called on leading ministers at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to speak up for SMEs to provide much needed confidence and stability.

“The silence from the ministers at the Department for (BEIS) has been deafening. Just a month ago we had a proposed Withdrawal Agreement that at the very least, gave businesses an idea of what the future looked liked, and how they needed to plan ahead. Now, we are in an election cycle, and we are back to square one.

There are 5.9 million SMEs in the UK. In other words, 99.9% of the businesses in the UK are SMEs. How can an economy be galvanised and strengthen if its very lifeblood is left in the precarious position of not knowing what is on the horizon. 60% of the British workforce works within an SME, with SMEs accounting for 52% of all turnover in the British economy. I find it quite remarkable that nothing is being said in defence of SMEs and their importance to the British economy.

I call on Andrea Leadsom at the Department for BEIS to speak up for small businesses on the election trail, and shadow secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey along with the other parties spokespeople to provide a clear vision as to how they will guarantee the longevity of SMEs in the UK to ensure that their dynamic input to the British economy will be maintained.”

Conferences

Bilateral ties to play key role in meeting India’s $5t economy target: Al Saleh at UAE-India Economic Forum 2019

ByCFI.co Blogger

UAE-India Economic Forum 2019 wraps up the 5^th edition gracefully.

Dubai, 5^th November, 2019: The 5^th Edition of UAE India Economic Forum observed a grand opening at Waldorf Astoria, Dubai International Financial Centre on Monday, 4^th November with the participation of High Dignitaries and Officials, leading experts and leaders from the two nations.

India’s partnership with the UAE is set to play a key role in its march towards the ambitious goal of becoming a $5-trillion economy by 2022, Abdullah Ahmed Al Saleh, Undersecretary for Foreign Trade and Industry, Ministry of Economy, said on Monday.

Addressing the opening session of the UAE-India Economic Forum organized by BusinessLive Middle East, Al Saleh said the strong bilateral ties are the result of :the political will articulated by both governments,” and their sustained efforts to work together for the mutual benefit.

Al Saleh said the recent meeting of the UAE-India High Level Joint Task Force on Investments, which is a platform to communicate mutual requirements and vision for the future, has played a key role in boosting bilateral investments and cooperation.

“With Expo 2020 around the corner, we will witness India’s commitment with one of the largest pavilions, which is a testament to the value the country puts to promoting bilateral economic relations,” he said.

Al Saleh said the UAE is the largest Arab investor country in India, accounting for 81.2 per cent of total Arab investments. The UAE investments into India’s $2.8 trillion economy are estimated to be around $10 billion including foreign direct investment of almost $5 billion.

“The UAE hosts the largest Indian community overseas and their annual remittances are estimated to be more than $17 billion, which is 38 per cent of the total outflow,” he said.

“As both countries remain keen as ever to strengthen the trade dialogue, recently, an ambitious project – the India -UAE food corridor – was launched with the plan to benefit two million farmers and create an additional 200,000 jobs across India, due to cumulative investments of more than $7 billion by the UAE in the next three years,” said Al Saleh.

Among the dignitaries present at the day-longs sessions were Vipul, Consul General of India in Dubai; Fahad Al Gergawi; Chief Executive Officer; Dubai FDI; and Jamal Al Jarwan; Secretary-General; UAE International Investors Council; and Ali Ibrahim; Deputy Director-General; Dubai Economic Development, according to Poonam Chawla, Associate Publisher, BusinessLive Middle East.

Poonam Chawla said the UAE-India Economic Forum 2019 was a great success as it highlighted the areas of cooperation between the UAE and India. “It helped to throw light on how this historic bilateral relationship has been elevated to a strategic partnership while creating new opportunities in various fields like IT, trade, food, smart cities, banking and fin-techs, renewable energy and startups,” Poonam said.

According to the UN Conference on Trade and Development, the FDI to the UAE rose by eight per cent to $10.4 billion in part due to rising cross-border mergers and acquisitions sales, making the country the largest source of FDI in 2017 for the Arab region (at 36 per cent of total FDI inflow). India is UAE’s second-largest trade partner today and the UAE has become India’s third-largest trading partner, with the total non-oil trade between the two countries recorded at $35.9 billion in 2018.

A special mention to the UAE-India Economic Forum 2019 sponsors “Ajman Free Zone” and “Galadari Advocates and Legal Consultants”. In the 5th Edition of the UIEF delegates brainstormed on new opportunities for partnerships with sessions on infrastructure, banking and finance, fin-tech, healthcare, food corridors, smart cities and start-ups. The UAE-India Economic Forum also felicitated government and industry leaders, who have worked towards nurturing ties between the two nations, with the Qadat Al Tagheer Awards.

Business

Volvo receives Europe’s largest order for electric buses

ByCFI.co Blogger

Volvo Buses has received the largest single order for electric buses in Europe. Volvo Buses will deliver 157 electric articulated buses to Transdev starting in 2020. The buses will operate on a number of routes in Gothenburg. With their introduction, emissions and noise will be significantly reduced, and the electric buses will be able to operate in sensitive areas or zones with special restrictions.

“It is immensely gratifying that we have secured Europe’s largest ever single order for electric buses – no less than 157 buses. Volvo is a pioneer in electromobility and sustainable public transport. We have a holistic system perspective for cities that encompasses vehicles, services and charging infrastructure. We focus on solutions that offer high reliability and high service levels for route operators and passengers. This large order confirms that electric buses are already recognised as a sustainable and financially viable solution for demanding high-capacity public transport needs,” says Håkan Agnevall, President of Volvo Buses.

“Transdev is today Europe’s leading operator of electric buses and we know what challenges there are with the transition to electric propulsion. We’ve therefore been extremely thorough in choosing a partner with a holistic approach, a partner that will be able to deliver both buses and charging infrastructure on time and with excellent uptime. Being able to announce that we have chosen Volvo as our partner for city bus operations in Volvo’s home city of Gothenburg is of course particularly satisfying,” says Gunnar Schön, CEO of Transdev Sweden.

All of the buses will be of the recently launched 7900 Volvo Electric Articulated model. The Volvo Electric Articulated can carry 150 passengers with an energy consumption that is 80 per cent lower than that of a corresponding diesel bus. The Volvo Electric Articulated combines high passenger capacity with low operating costs. The buses will be charged at quick-charge stations along the route, using the industry common charging interface OppChargeTM, in order to ensure the most efficient operation possible. In addition to the electric buses, the order includes 27 Euro VI buses for regional operations, running on biodiesel.

“For us as a mobility supplier, it is vital to always be able to offer passengers good service and functional vehicles, but it is also important that our drivers have a good working climate. New buses, in particular quiet electric buses, not only result in cleaner cities – they also improve the everyday working environment,” explains Gunnar Schön.

“Electromobility creates new exiting opportunities for urban planning since we now get emission-free and quiet public transport that can operate closer to the city’s residents. Volvo aims to be a leader in increased electrification and to be a partner for cities that wish to implement long-term sustainable public transport solutions for their inhabitants,” concludes Håkan Agnevall.

Gothenburg, November 5, 2019
For further information, please contact:
Joakim Kenndal, Manager Media Relations, Volvo Bus Corporation,
Phone +46 739-02 51 50 or e-mail joakim.kenndal@volvo.com

Lifestyle

Unikrn Offers the Best Job in Gaming: A $50,000 Salary for New Streaming Talent

ByCFI.co Blogger

One gamer will kickstart a lifelong gaming career with one of esports’ oldest teams.

Unikrn Offers the Best Job in Gaming A USD50,000 Salary for New Streaming Talent

November 5, 2019 — Unikrn, the world’s longest-operating esports-first betting operator, is seeking an ambitious gamer to help build an audience in 2020. The winning streamer will be given a 6-month partnership with Unikrn and $50,000 to stream full-time and build an audience. Anybody can apply for the unprecedented opportunity at unikrn.com/best-job.

Streaming is one of Earth’s fastest-growing entertainment sectors, but more than 99% of Twitch streamers are unpartnered and have no way to monetize their passion. Nearly 4,000,000 broadcasters have streamed every month in 2019, with only about 35,000 partnered broadcasters. With over 50,000 average live channels in any given moment, breaking into the industry is harder than ever before.

“Becoming a professional streamer requires a lot of luck,” said Mike Dalton, VP Marketing for Unikrn, “We believe that for every streamer who builds an audience, there’s three gamers with amazing potential to offer the community something fresh who just never get an opportunity to be noticed.”

The awarded contract will include a 6-month period to represent Unikrn as an official streamer for Unicorns of Love, one of gaming’s most beloved fan-focused esports franchises, and a $50,000 stipend.

Unikrn was awarded as the best Esports Bookmaker of the Year for 2019, its first full year of operation with its own wagering licenses, and has options for fans to enjoy gaming both with and without gambling. Its wagering options include Unikrn UMode, the world’s only way to bet on your own success in online matchmaking games.

This could be the best opportunity in esports for 2019, and it’s open for any esports fan to enter.

“The Unicorns of Love family is changing today,” said Jos Mallant, UOL’s Owner, “We can’t wait to welcome a fan into our clan to stream or compete in 2020.”

Streamers may enter the search until Nov 30, 2019.

ABOUT UNIKRN

Established in 2014, Unikrn is one of the world’s leading esports companies, building extensive crossroads through betting, content and gaming. Unikrn began operations with its fully-owned IOM licenses in November, 2018 and was awarded EGM Esports Bookmaker of the Year 2019. Unikrn has been a leading endemic bookmaker in esports and video games for years and has patent-pending technologies and completely unique gaming experiences.

Those unique experiences include Virtual CS:GO & SFV, skill-based betting on online matchmaking, streamer better, esports and sports bookmaking, daily gaming giveaways and an online casino, each available as regulator approved.

Corporate Finance

Flarin Holdings completes first round of fundraising for revolutionary drug

ByCFI.co Blogger

Investment from IW Capital to drive rapid commercialisation of world’s first lipid formulated ibuprofen

Flarin Holdings Limited today announces the completion of its first round of fund-raising by IW Capital. Flarin Holdings was recently demerged from Infirst Healthcare Limited in order to provide greater focus on the rapid commercialisation of Flarin.

Flarin is a unique and patent protected lipid formulated ibuprofen which at a dose of 1200 mg/day has shown to be as effective as 2400mg/day of standard liquid ibuprofen capsules in patients with acute joint pain ¹. Flarin’s unique lipid formulation also helps to shield the stomach from damage ².

“The very positive response we have had from presenting Flarin to new investors has given us great confidence in taking Flarin to the next stage of its commercial development,” says Andrew Macmillen, Managing Director. “These new funds give Flarin greater ability to increase investment in marketing in the UK as well as building a network of distributors and licensing partners in other countries.”

Luke Davis, IW Capital chief executive, said:

“We are hugely excited to be involved with this innovative pharmaceutical product at an early stage in its commercial development. It is also key to be able to work with such an experienced management team in the pharmaceutical and healthcare arena.

“Our research shows that around 20% of private investors are looking to invest within Pharma and Biotech while half of this group is put off by Big Pharma. With this in mind we were not surprised that the initial investment target for Flarin was over-subscribed by IW capital’s network of net-worth individuals and independent financial advisors.

There is a fantastic exit opportunity here with the product already fully developed and on sale in UK pharmacies, meaning there is already an established sales infrastructure in place.”

If you have any questions about the release or would like to speak to Luke please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

About Flarin Holdings
Flarin Holdings is a new company demerged from Infirst Healthcare Limited in order to focus on commercialising Flarin’s unique lipid formulation of ibuprofen.

About Flarin Lipid Formulation Technology
Flarin is a unique and patent protected lipid formulated ibuprofen which at a dose of 1200 mg/day has shown to be as effective as 2400mg/day of standard liquid ibuprofen capsules in patients with acute joint pain¹. Flarin’s unique lipid formulation also helps to shield the stomach from damage².

About IW Capital
IW Capital is a leading SME investment provider specialising in private equity and debt financing, having facilitated well over c.£100m in development capital investment in UK companies.

¹Bierma- Zeinstra SMA, Conaghan PG, Brew J et al. Osteoarthr Cartil: 2017 25; 12: 1942-1951 Open Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.joca.2017.09.002 Accessed at: http://www.oarsijournal.com/article/S1063-4584(17)31197-4/fulltext
² Data on file, Infirst Healthcare Limited.

www.flarin.co.uk
https://www.linkedin.com/company/flarin/

Conferences

UK and Indian leaders to come together for green growth at new Sustainable Investing Partnership Forum

ByCFI.co Blogger

Over 150 business and finance leaders from the UK and India are to attend the first meeting of the new UK-India Sustainable Investing Forum at London’s Guildhall on Thursday 7^th November.

Dr Mohan Kaul, President of the Indian Professionals Forum

The event, convened by the India Professionals Forum, the City of London, and the High Commission of India, will bring together leaders in the field of sustainable investment from the UK and India to work together to advance and scale the sustainable finance market in India.

For India, the Forum provides an opportunity for a rapidly emerging nation to increase the green investment it needs to achieve sustainable growth. For the UK it represents a further opportunity to deepen ties with friends and economic partners outside Europe in a post-Brexit world and an opportunity to help tackle another of the UK’s biggest priorities – the global green agenda.

Speakers at the first Forum will include Lord Mayor of London Peter Estlin; High Commissioner of India Her Excellency Mrs Ruchi Ghanashyam and Lord Ahmad, Minister of State for the Commonwealth, the United Nations and South Asia.

Sir Roger Gifford, Chair of the Green Finance Institute, will deliver a keynote on the City of London as a global centre for sustainable and green finance, focusing on building a global approach and leveraging synergies between global public and private networks. Lord Gadhia, Director of UK Government Investments, will chair a session on sustainable investing standards and practices with a view to engaging global stakeholders.

Lord Mayor of London Peter Estlin said:

“The UK and India are pioneers in green finance and responsible business best practices. We are excited about the launch of the UK-India Sustainable Investing Forum to support the greening of India’s economic growth story and drive forward our partnership for years to come.”

India Professionals Forum President Dr Mohan Kaul said:

“India’s sheer size and rapid growth provides challenges to delivering sustainable economic solutions. Yet despite these challenges, India’s policy makers and industry leaders vie to show leadership in combating climate change and meeting UN Sustainable Developmental Goals in many of their developmental schemes.

Meanwhile, the City of London – at the heart of delivering financial solutions for strong, sustainable and balanced growth – aims to have a comprehensive approach to greening financial systems, and mobilising finance for clean and resilient growth.

By bringing leaders from the UK and London together we hope to open up new opportunities for green investment.”

Other prominent business leaders and investment experts speaking at the Forum include Howard Sherman, Executive Director of MSCI ESG Research; Tatiana Boroditskaya, Director Emerging Market Credit, UBS; Loknath Mishra, Managing Director and CEO, ICICI Bank UK; Srini Sundaram, Founder and CEO, Agvesto; and Manish Malhotra, AVP and Head FinTechs, Infosys.

Among topics to be discussed at the Forum are sustainable investing in India’s emerging environmental, social and governance (ESG) asset class; partnering to achieve sustainable goals; sustainability strategies for Indian trade and infrastructure investment; India’s Clean Ganges Sustainable Infrastructure Programme; and the regulatory, market and fintech developments required to catalyse sustainable investing solutions, unlock market efficiencies and drive scale for the next generation.

The Sustainable Investing Forum is free to attend for members of the Indian Professionals Forum and by invitation only by registering here: https://www.ipforum.net/

For further information, or to attend, please contact: Alan Wheeler alan.wheeler@apollostrategiccomms.com

1. Journalists wishing to attend the launch can register here: https://www.ipforum.net/

2. The Indian Professional Forum (IPF) is a non-profit think tank for diaspora related policy advocacy and a member’s club that promotes networking and professional development for Indian Professionals. Set up with the support of the High Commission of India, members are invited from a cross section of society including academics, artists, scientists, engineers, business and entrepreneurs. IPF provides a collective voice and framework to the contribution they make to the UK economy and strengthen their participation in the mainstream of society as well as help in identifying opportunities to contribute towards the development of their community, India and India-UK relations. IPF will recognise the work of young professionals and encourage members to participate in high level policy advocacy and help in identifying such opportunities. Through its membership IPF aims to focus on creating an interesting, influential and thought provoking think tank that acts as a fount for insightful policy ideas and community leadership. More information at https://www.ipforum.net/

Finance

The Financial World Will Be Completely Reliant on Big Data Within Five Years

ByCFI.co Blogger

Over a third of CFOs see big data as a threat to employment

London, 05 November 2019 – Almost two-thirds (64%) of CFOs expect that within the next five years the financial world will no longer be able to operate without big data, however, 13% of CFOs think this is already the case. Currently, financial directors are mainly using big data to make well-informed decisions (54%), to make predictive analyses (41%) and to analyse large, unstructured databases (29%). Almost one-fifth of CFOs (18%) do not use big data at all, according to the results of the 2019 FinTech Barometer, an annual survey conducted by order-to-cash specialist Onguard.

Impact on employment

More than a third of CFOs (38%) expect big data to have a significant impact within the financial sector, particularly on aspects such as job opportunities, with 36% of CFOs seeing big data as a threat to employment. Trends such as robotisation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are also on the radar of financial directors, with 42% of CFOs expecting AI to have a major impact on employment opportunities and 30% of CFOs seeing robotisation as the biggest threat to jobs.

Marieke Saeij, CEO, Onguard: “I’m not surprised that CFOs expect to be completely dependent on big data within such a short timeframe. Big data can help them, as well as finance professionals within their organisations, with the execution of their work. Finance professionals have a great deal of information from both internal and external sources that is of added value for both the performance of the organisation and customer service. The more information that is available about the market and customers, the better finance professionals can advise customers. Thanks to big data, risks can be assessed more accurately and it is also possible to predict in real-time whether and when customers will start paying so as an organisation, you can properly anticipate this. This development will require finance professionals to develop new skills, such as greater analytical capacity, as a necessity.”

About Onguard
Over the past 25 years, Onguard has grown from a specialist in credit management software to a market leader in innovative solutions in the field of order to cash. The integrated platform ensures that all processes in the order-to-cash chain are optimally linked and that critical data can be shared. Intelligent tools which interface seamlessly combine to provide an overview and control of the payment process and help build lasting customer relationships. Users in over 50 countries worldwide work with the Onguard platform on a daily basis to achieve successful management and tangible results in Order to Cash and Credit Management. Read more at http://onguard.com/