The move is expected to help drive Poland’s expanding export economy, which has been growing continuously for several years, by enabling Polish companies to access prospect customers right across Europe.

EuroContactPool will be offered in Poland under the HBI Poland brand, part of the highly respected Bisnode group, the world’s leading pan-European business information provider which employs 3,000 people in 17 countries.  This will enable HBI Poland to combine strong local market knowledge with high-quality pan‑European data.

Bisnode’s decision to expand EuroContactPool into Poland enables it to position high quality international B2B data services against those of other providers, reinforcing its position as a leading business information brand. It forms part of a Europe-wide investment by Bisnode which has already seen EuroContactPool launched in seven European countries this year. 

EuroContactPool has at its heart a world-leading database covering 26 million contacts in 16 countries and expanding.  The data is compiled by selecting the best partner in each market, ensuring its constant freshness and reliability.    

EuroContactPool enables companies to truly understand their marketplace by profiling their best clients and finding more of the same – throughout Europe.  Its sophisticated search metrics, backed by a friendly expert team, enable marketers to devise campaigns that hit their targets first time and really deliver results.

Agnieszka Sawicka, Product Manager Bisnode Poland, says: “I am glad that EuroContactPool is now available for Polish companies because it will help them to expand by understanding who their customers are, estimate the potential and access reliable data across Europe.”

Polish businesses are likely to find the greatest benefit in Data Delivery (data sourcing) and Data Quality (cleaning, enhancing and updating). Both will give Polish companies the necessary tools to run successful marketing and sales campaigns, select and directly contact companies that they would like to work with.

Promoting entrepreneurialism to business minds of the future, Dr Akbar spoke about the challenges of setting up a business and the importance of formulating a unique idea. Ambition and perseverance were also defined as key competencies for any successful entrepreneur, as well as having a sound knowledge of finance.

The School’s popular Careers Talks programme is designed to offer pupils the opportunity to learn about different vocations from leading industry experts.

Dr Rebecca Ashcroft, Deputy Head of Sixth Form said: “Having Dr Akbar speak as part of our Careers Talks programme was a fantastic opportunity. Many of our girls take an active interest in business through enterprise activity and Dr Akbar’s guidance and knowledge will be sure to support them in future endeavours and business ventures.”

From humble beginnings, with just a small restaurant on Bradford’s Great Horton Road, the Mumtaz Food Group now comprises a chain of high-end restaurants as well as Mumtaz baby food, Mumtaz food emporium online and Mumtaz fast food franchise, Jaldi Jaldi.

Dr Akbar, Managing Director of the Mumtaz Food Group said: “It was a pleasure to speak at the Harrogate Ladies’ College Business School. Encouraging entrepreneurialism in young people is a notion I fully support and imparting knowledge to today’s youth encourages exciting things for the future.

Called ‘Poppy’, the system is relevant to all organisations that use linguists but is expected to be of particular interest to the UK’s beleaguered justice system which has seen Court sittings delayed and halted due to a lack of professional interpreters.

Based on a collaborative network of language services providers overseen by a Professional Advisory Panel, Poppy provides seamless access to interpreters from multiple accredited organisations, including small enterprises, charities and the voluntary sector.

This provides a local service at national level and ensures that interpreters are appropriate to the task.  The current issues of interpreters travelling unnecessarily long distances to assignments and not understanding local dialects and geography are overcome by using Poppy. 

“We believe Poppy is the world’s only collaborative and sustainable interpreting solution, with no single point of failure,” says Larry Gould, language business entrepreneur and Head of the Poppy Professional Advisory Panel.  ”It is a fantastic example of driving and sustaining the localism agenda.”

Eighteen months’ work and in excess of £1 million has been invested in developing Poppy to provide a nationwide interpreter resource, streamline booking processes, and reduce administrative costs to its users.  Because Poppy is automated and imposes only a small standard booking charge to its partner organisations, the amount of money available to pay interpreters is significantly increased compared with current models. 

At its heart, Poppy contains data on up to 20,000 interpreters from around 50 partner organisations.   When a booking is received, the system selects the most appropriate interpreters and contacts them automatically. For the end user, the process is seamless, with one single point of contact for bookings, and all management information and invoice documents coming from a single source.

Larry Gould says: “We believe that Poppy is the only way that a single organisation can deliver face to face interpreters on a nationwide basis to a high and consistent standard. The current situation with the Ministry of Justice shows that a single supplier system with no backup simply doesn’t work.”

KeyedIn Solutions, the software and consulting company, has invited former professional gambler and Byker Grove star Caspar Berry to speak at the launch of a new corporate identity following its successful acquisition of Atlantic Global PLC.

At the event, to be held at Leeds’ Alea Casino, the keynote presentation looks at how businesses take calculated risks every day.  How understanding the risks helps managers make better decisions and how timely, concise information is the equivalent of ‘counting cards’ and loads the dice in favour of success.

Delegates will enjoy a lunch prepared by the kitchen of James Martin, Yorkshire-born chef and star of ‘Saturday Kitchen’.

KeyedIn, which has its UK headquarters in Ilkley, West Yorkshire and software development operation in Bradford, develops Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Project Portfolio Management (PPM) and Professional Services Automation (PSA) software.  Its products, which help organisations plan and implement major projects successfully, are delivered on a SaaS (Software as a Service) platform and designed for businesses of all sizes.

A U.S. business based in Minnesota, KeyedIn announced the successful $8M (USD) acquisition of Atlantic Global in January.  Following this, a worldwide sales drive has led to the company’s Bradford-developed products being sold in Silicon Valley California, and employee numbers have already increased from 18 to 25.

Former professional gambler Caspar Berry says his mission in life is to explain that we live in a world of probabilities, not certainties, and that risk is an essential part of everyone’s life.  “The concept of risk is linked with the concept of success,” he says.  “We are decision-making machines and we all take risks every day.  The only question is how much risk and how much do you understand that risk?”

James Waterhouse, MD of KeyedIn Solutions UK, who engineered the Atlantic Global acquisition, will talk about how you can beat the odds in business by effectively managing risk in business-critical projects.

He says: “All human relationships deal with risk and reward – we will look at how this can be used to your advantage (and take a look at the primal instincts which impact how you make decisions), the day will equip delegates with tools, tips and insight into more effective decision making.”

Anyone interested in attending the event should visit: http://www.keyedin.com/lp/a-winning-combination.html

Its success is based on delivering significant savings on Governments’ translation and interpreting costs through huge investment in Training,  IT and telephony backed by ‘real person’ customer service.

thebigword recently announced that it has won a four-year contract to provide face to face interpreting to the Home Office covering more than 250 different languages and dialects through a single point of contact.  This is the first time that the Home Office has outsourced its face to face interpreting needs.

The win is in addition to contracts to provide Telephone Interpreting across a range of Government departments which thebigword already holds.

The company has also been appointed by The London Procurement Programme as the preferred supplier of face to face and telephone interpreters for 12 London NHS Trusts and purchasing consortia.

thebigword is now holder of all three key UK Government approved framework agreements to provide language services: face to face interpreting, telephone interpreting and translation services.

Its U.S. operation, with offices in New York and San Francisco, works with Law Enforcement, Border Controls and the Education sector.

With several contracts in the pipeline including one for this year’s major global sporting event, thebigword is recruiting interpreters and translators and upping its investment in training by partnering with the International School of Linguists.

The company now has a network of 10,000 linguists operating across 77 countries with the ability to translate in more than 1,200 language combinations. 

thebigword’s Group Client Services Director, Bernadette Byrne, says:  “Our work with the public sector is focussed on helping Government departments communicate with all sectors of the population.  It helps people find work, access healthcare, improve their education and contribute to the community.”

Yet even by the standards of the teaching profession, the current pace of change in university admissions is dizzying.  The whole sector is being shaken up in a manner not seen for decades, and it is impossible to tell how it may look even a year from now.  Government, professionals and pupils alike are all watching and trying to interpret the latest evidence to emerge.  The reason for all this uncertainty is simple: tuition fees. 

From the 2012/13 academic year, universities will be allowed to charge £9,000 per year for some of their courses, and most of the more competitive institutions will do just that.  Even though none of this cost will be paid up-front, and is instead only repayable once the student is in employment and earning reasonably well after graduation, the perception is that going to university in this country may no longer be affordable or worthwhile.  The latest data seem to bear that out; according to UCAS, which co-ordinates UK university admissions, applications by this year’s January deadline were down 8.7% on last year.

There is much debate about the significance of this figure.  The sharpest decline in applications appears to be among those aged over 21, with applications from British 18 year olds down only 3.6%.  Ministers are also emphasising that number of applicants from the most deprived areas, to the surprise of many, has hardly dropped at all.  What cannot be denied, however, is the speed with which alternatives to a conventional British university education are emerging.

These alternatives take many forms.  Government apprenticeships are being heavily promoted, and may well be an attractive option to young people who might otherwise fear a future as ‘checkout graduates’, armed with a degree but precious little prospect of gaining a graduate job in these uncertain times.  Some institutions, such as the College of Law, are offering two-year degree courses, saving their students a year’s fees.  Interestingly, many sought-after graduate employers – including all of the ‘big four’ accountancy firms – are going further, offering their own school leavers’ training programmes, complete with salary and degree equivalence, to those anxious to escape tuition fee debt altogether.

And then there is the overseas option.  Never before has it been easier, or more attractive, to study for a degree abroad.  Cheap flights make Europe as accessible as London, with a fraction of the cost of living once you get there.  Many overseas universities also put ours to shame in terms of graduate employment rates (Hong Kong University’s is currently 99.8%), and virtually all outside the United States charge much less than our £9,000 a year.  Going abroad really is an option worth considering.  

Foreign universities have been quick to identify this potentially rich seam of new recruits.  In Europe, the number of courses taught in English is vast and growing, and some universities (such as Maastricht in the Netherlands) are almost entirely English-speaking.  It is possible to train to be a doctor in Valencia or Milan, and then practise in the UK afterwards, without either the native language or the A level grades that our own medical schools usually require.  There is a well-developed network of American and international universities in almost every country of the EU which are now promoting themselves much more widely.

Many are looking still further afield.  The ‘sticker price’ of university in the USA may be entirely prohibitive for most British families, but very often this is not what is paid, due to the wide variety of scholarships and bursaries available.  Universities in Canada, Australia and New Zealand can offer a very similar undergraduate experience to our own, minus the debt (and with much better weather).  Thinking ahead to what the world of work will be like in twenty years’ time, there are strong arguments in favour of choosing a university in an Asian economic hub such as Hong Kong or Singapore, both of which boast English-medium institutions that rank among the 50 best universities in the world.

Where does all this leave our pupils?  Very confused, if we are not careful.  The situation is immensely complex and in a constant state of flux.  The need for expert higher education advice has never been higher.   Schools and careers advisors now need to step up, opening pupils’ minds to the opportunities around the world whilst keeping up to speed with the latest developments and a multitude of different entry processes.  

Somewhere out there, though, is the right university course for every young person.  It just may be that they have to globe trot to Harlem or Haarlem to find it.

Members of Parliament, together with representatives from Institutes, the media and the wider industry attended the event, in the Palace of Westminster.

They saw a demonstration of how the TIG Brush® successfully cleans the discolouration that welding leaves on metal and simultaneously reduces the risk of future corrosion.

Many attendees expressed concern at the ongoing use of a toxic acid compound, known as ‘pickling paste’ for weld cleaning when the TIG Brush® presents a viable, safe and environmentally-friendly alternative.  Ensitech expects that as a result of its presentation, the issue of safety in the welding industry will be a subject for discussion in the House, focusing on the need for major projects requiring welding to specify the use of the safest possible methods and materials.

Product inventor, Clive White of Ensitech says:  “As an Australian company, it was a great privilege to be able to demonstrate our product to UK policy makers.  We received tremendously positive feedback and questions from our audience as to why unsafe practices continue in the welding industry when the TIG Brush® is now widely available.”

Ensitech has already made rapid inroads into the EU and European markets with the TIG Brush®.  Through its collaborative partnerships with UK businesses, Ensitech is helping drive business growth and safe working practices across the European welding industry. 

The event was hosted by Mr Stuart Andrew MP, who attended a UK product launch the company held in Leeds last year.  Two of the companies involved with the manufacture and distribution of the TIG Brush®, Vickers Laboratories and Engineering Utilities, are in his Constituency.  Members of Parliament attending included those who represent Constituencies or Select Committees involved in manufacturing and engineering.

EuroContactPool, which enables companies worldwide to access data to acquire, keep and manage customers, is Europe’s most comprehensive and accurate business-to-business (B2B) information service.

The decision marks a major Europe-wide investment by EuroContactPool’s highly respected parent group Bisnode, the world’s leading pan-European business information provider which employs 3,000 people in 17 countries.

The expansion of EuroContactPool pitches its high quality international B2B data services against those of other providers, reinforcing its position as a leading business information brand.

EuroContactPool has at its heart a world-leading database covering 26 million contacts in 16 countries and expanding.  The data is compiled by selecting the best partner in each market, ensuring its constant freshness and reliability.  Its high level of accuracy – 10,000 adjustments and amendments are made every day – enables marketers to develop and manage business opportunities Europe-wide. 

EuroContactPool enables companies to truly understand their marketplace by profiling their best clients and finding more of the same – right across Europe.  Its sophisticated search metrics, backed by a friendly expert team, enable marketers to devise campaigns that hit their targets first time and really deliver results.

Johan Lindqvist, Business Manager for EuroContactPool, says: “This expansion provides marketers across Europe with an international business-to-business data solution to help them acquire, keep and manage customers.  Increasingly, Europe is a hub for global companies, driving demand for a one-source data solution.”

Businesses across Europe are already showing a strong interest in the range of EuroContactPool services.  These include: Data Delivery (data sourcing), Data Quality (cleaning, enhancing and updating), and Data Intelligence (combining, analysing and appending data).  

Also in demand is Data Integration which provides a seamless link between the powerful EuroContactPool database and industry-standard Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, such as Salesforce, SuperOffice, Lundalogik and Microsoft Dynamics.

Revenue rose by 18 per cent during 2011 to £25.9m (2010: £22.0m) and adjusted profit before tax rose by 30 per cent to £3.946m (2010: £3.046).  Adjusted earnings per share have increased by 35 per cent to 27.5p (2010: 20.3p).

The increases came from organic revenue growth of five per cent plus acquisitions growth of 13 per cent, as the benefits of the 2010 Redstone acquisition and the 2011 Totility acquisition began to bear fruit.

Despite businesses’ reluctance to make capital investments in a challenging economy, Maintel has reported a particularly strong year for equipment sales, showing annual growth of 38 per cent.  The data connectivity element of Network Services Division increased by 11 per cent, and this continues to be an area of focus for future growth and possible acquisition.

The acquisition of Totility in October 2011 added business-to-business mobile communications to Maintel’s service proposition, including 12,000 connections and agreements with Vodafone and O2.  This acquisition added expertise in the increasingly important Fixed Mobile Convergence market as customers look for a unified solution to their telephony. 

Eddie Buxton, CEO, said:  “This has been a year of considerable economic uncertainty but our strong customer service proposition, together with technical expertise and the acquisition of a mobile offering has resonated with our customer base.”

“A new network monitoring service allowing real time proactive monitoring of voice and data networks has enabled us to offer a complete managed service to our customers.”

“As the economy improves, we will be building on the platforms that our home-grown technical development and acquisitions have provided.  The combination of end-to-end solutions and nationwide resources enables us to implement tailored solutions to support our customers’ ambitions.”

The inclusion of data on 100 per cent of Austrian registered companies and 95 per cent of non-registered proprietorships will fuel the growth of EuroContactPool, which now covers 26 million contacts in 16 countries. 

The Austrian data provides details on 630,000 named executives in 615,000 companies.  The in‑depth information includes: contact data, import/export statistics, legal form of company, industry code, turnover, and number of employees. 

Johan Lindqvist, Business Manager for EuroContactPool, believes the data will be a valuable addition to the master database.

“Austria is a trade-driven economy with strong relationships with Germany and Central Europe, and so an important country for any organisation planning a pan-European campaign,” he says.

EuroContactPool has spearheaded the drive towards better and more intelligent use of data as the basis for business growth.  “If you know you’re dealing with accurate information then you can make accurate business decisions,” says Lindqvist.  “You can profile your best clients and find more of them in new markets, and you can devise marketing campaigns that hit the right target first time and really deliver results.”

EuroContactPool has enjoyed spectacular growth in the past two years as recession-hit companies have looked to new growth markets.  The highly accurate data – 10,000 adjustments and amendments are made every day – puts it at the heart of a range of data services.  These include:  Data Delivery (data sourcing), Data Quality (cleaning, enhancing and updating), and Data Intelligence (combining, analysing and appending data). 

Also in demand is Data Integration which provides a seamless link between the powerful EuroContactPool database and industry-standard Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, such as Salesforce, SuperOffice, Lundalogik and Microsoft Dynamics.

The inclusion of Austrian data follows on a recent announcement of EuroContactPool’s European roll out which will see it expand its services right across Europe during 2012.