Link, share, join, listen ...
Link, share, join, listen ...
We continue to see mixed messages in the business press in terms of the state of manufacturing in the UK. Recent articles have highlighted UK factory output rising and in the next breath we read that more manufacturing companies are making redundancies than hiring.
The biggest threat to the manufacturing sector’s recovery was the possibility that Greece would default – thankfully the crisis was averted (or postponed!) and the global credit markets sighed with relief, rallying immediately.
Domestic uncertainty with the non-outcome of our General Election continues! The horse trading behind closed doors may dampen activity short term until we know who will govern the country, but the upside is that the uncertainty will continue to depress Sterling the benefits of which are now clearly being felt in increased exports.
Commodities is still a problem, oil continues to hover around $80 a barrel hurting both business and consumers, funnelling more cash away from the manufacturing sector that remains unable to increase prices with demand is still very fragile.
However, on a brighter note, I have definitely seen increased levels of activity with a number of interim managers recently beginning new assignments. Many roles are finance orientated at this point, but project management roles focussing on implanting cost reduction or improvement programmes are also slowly picking up after the extreme quiet we all experienced in Q1.
Summer is coming – and it promises to be better than the last, lets hope the weather is too!
Tom Legard is Head of the Manufacturing Practice of Interim Partners.
The votes are in, deals are currently being struck and we will shortly know what the make up of our new Government looks like. The party leaders talked a good game during the campaign when it came to recognising retail’s role as a generator of jobs and prosperity. David Cameron spoke of postponing the National Insurance rise (or “jobs tax”) and this is essential for the sector to continue to grow. The sector has had its fair share of incremental costs from minimum wage to business rates and it can not keep absorbing them forever.
Maintaining low interest rates and inflation will help the sector but it’s crucial that the new Government thinks long and hard about tax increases because of the knock-on impact on UK shoppers. The public deficit being what it is makes tax rises inevitable but needs to be administered carefully for consumers to keep their nerve at a time when the UK economy is more reliant on the sector than ever.
I would be interested to hear your views on how the new Government can help support growth in the retail sector.
On a personal note, I am undertaking a 174 mile Coast to Coast bike ride over 3 days and aim to raise £1,000 for our Company Charity, St. Michael’s Hospice. If you would like to support me and pledge a donation please do so by following this link www.justgiving.com/Interim-Partners-OnYourBike
Jonathan Flynn is Head of the Retail Practice at Interim Partners.
I would be interested to hear your views on how the new Government can help support growth in the retail sector.
On a personal note, I am undertaking a 174 mile Coast to Coast bike ride over 3 days and aim to raise £1,000 for our Company Charity, St. Michael’s Hospice. If you would like to support me and pledge a donation please do so by following this link www.justgiving.com/Interim-Partners-OnYourBike
Jonathan Flynn is Head of the Retail Practice at Interim Partners.
For those of you that read my blog last month I was talking about the marked increase in activity that I am experiencing across the Support Services industry.
I can now confirm that Interim Partners have just experienced their best ever quarter in terms of revenue, placement of Interim Managers and enquiries. I hope that you are also experiencing similar levels of activity and it marks the end of what has been a difficult recession for Interim Managers.
The one encouraging fact is that my clients are now asking for Professional Interim Managers who have a proven track record of supporting companies that are experiencing planned or forced change. Generally clients are becoming more aware of what to expect from Professional Interim Managers, I am sure that the broadsheets as well as the senior providers are facilitating this positive change in opinion.
I have also seen evidence this quarter of candidates that are new to Interim Management securing work through their own network. I look forward to building a relationship with these Interim Managers who I hope will continue on the Interim Management career path.
If you are new to Interim Management or are a Professional Interim Manager I would like to hear your thoughts on how you are finding the market.
Mark Kitchen is Head of the Support Services Practice at Interim Partners.
I have also seen evidence this quarter of candidates that are new to Interim Management securing work through their own network. I look forward to building a relationship with these Interim Managers who I hope will continue on the Interim Management career path.
If you are new to Interim Management or are a Professional Interim Manager I would like to hear your thoughts on how you are finding the market.
Mark Kitchen is Head of the Support Services Practice at Interim Partners.
Welcome to my Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) blog. I hope you will find interesting material worthy of comment. I hope to stimulate discussion regarding a number of topics across the TMT sector and hope also that you will add comments of your own and become involved.
It’s been a fantastic start to 2010 with Interim Partners reporting a record first quarter added to a strong forward book indicating signs of continued growth. My question today centres on the telecoms sector and I wonder how is this growth manifesting itself, if at all, in this key market. I see demergers in the shape of Cable & Wireless and Carphone Warehouse/TalkTalk Group. I see acquisitions for example Bharti Airtel buying Zain’s African interests. Will this stimulate long term and healthy growth or do we need to see diversification and/or new product offerings to really grow the sector?
Conversations I’ve had recently seem to indicate that certain telecoms companies have a war chest which they are keen to utilise when the relevant acquisition is identified. Even those heavily indebted still view acquisitions essential to shut out the competition and play the long game to pay off mountains of debt.
It seems likely that M&A activity will continue to reshape the industry however should differentiation and innovation around the product portfolio be at the forefront of business strategy thereby securing market share and continued growth of revenue?
I welcome your thoughts regarding how the sector will develop this year.
Steve Blake, Head of Technology, Media and Telecommunications
For those people I haven’t had a chance to speak to, allow me to introduce myself as the new lead on the Healthcare practice at Interim Partners.
My background is nearly 10 years in recruitment, placing professionals of varied disciplines into a predominantly public sector client base, and now I am looking forward to focusing specifically in health.
The NHS has been a solid growth market for recruitment businesses since Labour came into power in 1997, not surprising when you consider NHS spending has tripled from £37 billion in 1997 to nearly £120 billion today, with the payroll representing 60-70% of that spend, and the fact that there has been disproportionate growth in general management staff compared to front line medical and clinical staff.
But challenging times are undoubtedly ahead, and on the face of it, it is hard to reconcile anticipated savings targets of up to £15-£20 billion by 2014 with continued and growing demand for interim managers whose services generally come at a premium. However the key challenge in the NHS will be the QIPP agenda, quality, innovation, productivity and prevention.
How can it be that for all the growth in NHS spending, the FT last month reported that productivity in the NHS has actually declined year on year since 2001? The general public need to see a return on that investment, and if spending is going to be cut in real terms over the next government spending review, we need to be getting more bang for our buck.
A more austere future in the NHS will include some unpalatable changes around rationalization, organization mergers and of course hospitals closures, which always make good front page news in the local media. The HSJ reported only last week that the drive towards new commissioning clusters designed to achieve economies and pool buying power could halve the numbers of PCTs in England.
Such large scale organizational change will certainly create demand for interim resource, and interim managers with key skill sets around project and programme management and driving through change could well find themselves in demand.
Steven Melber - Senior Consultant, Healthcare
With the most important and closest run general election for decades only a week away, one must assume that the UK’s 1.4 million contractors would have a significant voice now more than ever. Surely now is the time for lobbyists on behalf of contractors and interim managers to up the tempo against legislation such as IR35, which is widely viewed by the sector as nothing more than unnecessary bureaucracy.
In order to generate greater visibility on the issue, the Professional Contractors Group have taken large advertisements in the Times and the Sunday Times lobbying support for contractors to wage war on IR35 and taxation rules for small businesses.
The PCG has held a number of meetings with the major parties, however, in a letter to PCG Chairman Chris Bryce, the Shadow Business Minister, Mark Prisk MP has committed that “a Conservative Government would undertake a fundamental review of small business taxation matters, including IR35.”
The letter further went on to say ”… we want to deal with this problem comprehensively, in a way which provides us all with a lasting solution, not a short term fix.” The PCG state that the Conservatives would set IR35 as a priority for a newly established Office of Tax Simplification.
Regardless of who wins the election, given that contractors contribute £21bn to the economy, the new government would be wise not to ignore the voice of the sector and deliver a long term resolution to IR35
Andrew McIntee is a Director and Head of Financial Services Practice.
The implementation of Solvency II in 2012 will set new requirements within the insurance sector around eligible capital and introduce additional types of solvency capital.
Solvency II will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the shape of the global insurance market. Market consolidation and the restructuring of business operating models are widely expected.
Solvency II will require all insurers to develop new and improved modeling capabilities and integrate such models into core business processes. Currently being reviewed by many insurers are a range of legal entity structures and capital options for their underwriting platforms and holding entities.
What will differentiate the winners and the losers in the new regime will be those who can go beyond mere compliance and use this period of significant change to generate greater performance through increased efficiencies.
All of this adds up to a classic recipe for the use of specialist interim managers within the sector. Solvency II will cascade throughout insurance companies and elicit change in systems architecture, financial controls, risk framework development, Target Operating Model reviews and people strategy.
As with any new regulations, candidates with actual hands on experience of delivery are scarce at the moment therefore interim managers with expertise within the insurance sector will be best placed to take advantage of the demand. Individuals who gained expertise delivering Basel II within the banking sector in the recent past could also be well suited to Solvency II projects.
I would be particularly interested to hear from interim managers with the above experience and I hope that my predictions for the insurance sector prove accurate!
Andrew McIntee is a Director and Head of the Financial Services practice of Interim Partners.
Following on from my blog entry in the New Year which stated (optimistically!) that early indications of a busy year were strong, fortunately this has proven to be accurate and the interim market within financial services has returned robustly. Although I have been in the recruitment sector for 12 years I posted the best ever performance figures of my career in February.
Retail banking, life and pensions and general insurance are the primary markets leading the charge. I would be especially interested in referrals of interims with Business Analysis, Project Management, Solvency II and Risk experience.
I am responsible for delivering an ambitious business plan to expand the financial services practice this year. I am actively considering launching a new front in our Brightpool business focusing on the Compliance market to assist with issues such as complaints reviews and regulatory investigations. I have also made an offer to a highly experienced individual within Brightpool to help cope with existing demand for contractors from our own interim managers.
My wife gave birth to our third daughter, Rose Elizabeth, 5 weeks ago. It’s been 4 years since we had a last baby so I am currently relearning the art of functioning with sleep deprivation. I am spending a little more time working from our London office at the moment, both to spend valuable time with clients and to ensure I get a good nights sleep!
Andrew McIntee is a Director and Head of Financial Services.
My gut feeling that the Manufacturing sector was taking a battering have sadly been confirmed with publication of the latest figures from the ONS.
The Times reports today: “Sterling plunged further against the dollar after official figures revealed British manufacturing output unexpectedly fell in January at its sharpest monthly rate since last August. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said output had declined by 0.9 per cent at the beginning of the year, compared to December, marking the biggest drop since last August and falling far below analysts’ expectations for a rise of 0.3 per cent. However, comparing January to the same month last year, output rose by 0.2 per cent.”
There is speculation that poor weather played a part in this, but there’s also speculation that the Q4 improvement last year was solely due to restocking. I fear it was the latter, in which case prepare for the inevitable political invective as Gordon will have to run very hard for his money! Time will shortly tell if it is, however, I’m very keen for readers to share their thoughts on the possible causes – and possible cures.
We’ve been through the toughest recession most people can remember, but UK retailing has proved its resilience and emerged in good shape. It’s not been easy, but by focussing relentlessly on the customer and continuing to innovate, the majority of the UK’s retailers have come out the other side stronger.
The winners at this weeks Retail Week Awards in London were businesses who have focussed on investing on improving the customer experience – often across multi-channels – and going further than ever before to meet the ever-increasing expectation of today’s shopper.
There is a feeling of quiet confidence in the network of retail interim managers I regularly update with and although we’re not out of the woods of uncertainty (a possible double dip recession or hung-parliament) it’s time for retail businesses to continue to innovate and invest in change. There is still going to be a demand for interim managers that can value engineer – those who can identify opportunity in a business and by returning a significant return on investment can show that a retailer can get a lot back from not a lot of financial commitment. So, lets look forward to a more buoyant few months as the recovery continues.
