FirstCarbon Solutions Completes Carbon Footprint Assessments for First Title
FirstCarbon Solutions Completes Carbon Footprint Assessments for First Title
PR Newswire — May 22, 2012
– UK-Based First Title Limited, a leading property service provider, uses FirstCarbon Solution’s ghgTrack(TM) Web-Based Solution to Analyse Emissions and Provide Dynamic Sustainability Metrics & Reporting for Clients
DEPOSIT, New York and LONDON, May 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — FirstCarbon Solutions, a pioneer and industry leader in environmental sustainability solutions [http://www.firstcarbonsolutions.com/solutions/sustainability] for business, today announced a services agreement with UK-based First Title to benchmark and actively monitor First Title’s greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint and energy usage with FirstCarbon’s ghgTrack(TM) carbon management software [http://www.firstcarbonsolutions.com/services/software/ghgtrack]. Services have been deployed within enact, the property services division of First Title that is one of the largest direct conveyancing companies in the United Kingdom.
enact’s current and prospective clients, who are typically financial services institutions, are requesting information about the company’s sustainability initiatives and progress in actively reducing its carbon footprint. As a result, enact needed to accurately measure and monitor its carbon footprint in order to reduce emissions and also ensure the company was able to quickly and comprehensively respond to business inquiries. While enact has in place an environmental policy with a goal of reducing electrical and natural resources usage, they needed to improve their data collection, analysis and transparency to set and meet specific goals.
“Our existing and prospective clients are increasingly asking that we report sustainability information as part of their information gathering procedures,” said Helen Pullin, Organisation Improvement Manager at First Title. “Working with FirstCarbon Solutions and their innovative ghgTrack(TM) software gives us the ability to answer clients’ questions more directly, making us a better partner and putting us in an improved position to retain their business.”
ghgTrack(TM) [http://www.firstcarbonsolutions.com/component/content/article/26-brochures/171-firstcarbon-solutions-ghgtrack] is an Internet-based software suite that features an intuitive dashboard which provides First Title and enact management with clear graphical summaries of their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and carbon footprints. It features baseline data and year-over-year information that allows them to closely view and manage their progress in meeting emissions goals. Custom metrics can be defined and imported in order to manage other environmentally-focused goals such as recycling or improved water usage.
“At enact, we expect to see a containment of our carbon-related costs during 2012 as we review the ghgTrack-supplied data and implement some changes to our practices,” said Bev Mayo, Managing Director of enact. “In 2013 we will be proactively measuring our carbon performance metrics to ensure we are on the right track for sustainability.”
“We look forward to guiding First Title towards improved environmental sustainability, which also results in considerable cost savings,” said James Donovan, CEO of ADEC Group and FirstCarbon Solutions. “Companies in various industries are now confronted with potential clients that demand accurate, complete sustainability data. This is a significant task for most companies to manage internally, and FirstCarbon Solutions provides a versatile, no-hassle environmental data management [http://www.firstcarbonsolutions.com/services/data-processing-overview] solution that is cost effective and presents large amounts of data in a way that enables actionable decisions.”
As a member of ADEC Group, a global enterprise with more than 5,000 employees and operations in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, FirstCarbon Solutions is the only company to have environmental expertise combined with sustainability software [http://www.firstcarbonsolutions.com/services/software] and extensive back office processing capabilities that can be rapidly mobilised to augment or free-up internal resources, allowing organisations to focus on their core activities and more strategic initiatives.
About First Title
First Title is part of the First American Financial Corporation, which is a leading global provider of title insurance for residential and commercial real estate transactions. First American Financial Corporation (NYSE: FAF) is a leading provider of title insurance to the real estate and mortgage industries, and traces its heritage back to 1889. First American and its affiliated companies also provide title and other real property records and images; valuation products and services; home warranty products; property and casualty insurance; and banking, trust, and investment advisory services. With revenues of approximately $3.9 billion in 2010, the company offers its products and services directly and through its agents and partners in all 50 states and abroad.
About FirstCarbon Solutions
FirstCarbon Solutions is a global provider of comprehensive environmental and sustainability solutions for enterprise and government clients that are increasingly under pressure to minimize resource use and environmental impacts while achieving profit and budget objectives. The company is the first to fully integrate consulting and software with deep expertise in back office data processing to deliver integrated energy and sustainability solutions that drive better decision making by understanding how improved environmental practices affect all areas of the business. FirstCarbon Solutions is an ADEC Group company with 14 years in the industry serving customers around the world, and has offices throughout Asia, Europe, Australia and North America. For more information visit www.firstcarbonsolutions.com [http://www.firstcarbonsolutions.com/].
Press Contact Steve Fiore SS|PR Ph: +1-847-415-9329 email: sfiore@sspr.com [mailto:sfiore@sspr.com]
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Company Codes: NYSE:FAF
Guide to Spread Betting the FTSE 100 Using a Mobile Trading App
Guide to Spread Betting the FTSE 100 Using a Mobile Trading App
PR Newswire — May 22, 2012
LONDON, May 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ –
Spread betting indices such as the FTSE 100 can be easy to do with a mobile trading app, which allows you full and secure access from virtually anywhere; helping you to avoid missing that all important trading opportunity.
Highly accessible and easy-to-navigate, trade from wherever you are, whenever you want with spread betting provider City Index.
Spread Bet the FTSE 100 on the Go
Trade the FTSE 100 on-the-go from the professional mobile trading platform, City Trading(TM); the first live spread betting and CFD trading app for Android, Blackberry and iPhone devices. Gain access to trade via Java and Windows Mobiles also via City Index.
The City Trading(TM) application was launched in 2009 and provides users with full, secure access to their City Index trading account [http://www.cityindex.co.uk ], at a time to suit them.
What was once considered something of the future is now a reality for many traders with mobile trading offering them the potential to trade the opportunity as you they it and ultimately providing an upper hand over other traders in the market.
After all, having instant access to your spread betting account when you’re on-the-move can be the difference between netting a profitable trade or a losing one.
With this in mind, here we offer tips for spread betting using a mobile trading platform [http://www.cityindex.co.uk/trading-platform/mobile-trading-platform.aspx ] to help you make the most of your spread betting account.
Risk Management
As we know from above, mobile trading platforms offer heightened accessibility and instant access to your spread betting account and trades.
However, this increase may lead to a false sense of confidence and you may be drawn to trading on impulse.
As is with the online trading platform, when spread betting it is imperative that you follow a solid trading strategy with extensive risk management [http://www.cityindex.co.uk/spread-betting/how-to-manage-risk.aspx ] in place.
Thorough analysis and learning about your chosen market and price trends prior to placing a trade is the first step in a comprehensive trading strategy.
Summary
Planning before you start spread betting [http://www.cityindex.co.uk/spread-betting/start-spread-betting.aspx ] on a market provides you with clear guidelines to take you through trading with the aim of limiting your losses. It also leaves valuable time to focus and react to market movements, which is where a mobile trading platform can be an ideal tool.
About City Index:
Today more and more individual traders are discovering the benefits of derivatives, and many of them are discovering them through a City Index trading platform.
As a group, we transact in excess of 1.5 million trades every month in over 50 countries. We provide access to a wide range of instruments including margined foreign exchange, CFDs and, in the UK, financial spread betting [http://www.cityindex.co.uk ].
We constantly look to improve the performance of our platforms and expand our range of services. The result is our customers benefit from innovative trading tools with transparent pricing, competitive spreads, and a high standard of customer support.
Visit http://www.cityindex.co.uk for details.
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BATS Chi-X Europe Names Guy Simpkin Head Of Business Development
BATS Chi-X Europe Names Guy Simpkin Head Of Business Development
PR Newswire — May 22, 2012
LONDON and KANSAS CITY, Missouri, May 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — BATS Chi-X Europe, a division of BATS Global Markets (BATS), today announced the appointment of Guy Simpkin as head of business development.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120109/CG31847LOGO [http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120109/CG31847LOGO])
Mr. Simpkin, who will initially focus on opportunities in European indexes and derivatives, joins the BATS Chi-X Europe executive committee and reports to Mark Hemsley, chief executive officer of BATS Chi-X Europe.
“Guy was deeply involved in all areas of business development for Chi-X Europe and it is a natural progression for him to lead our efforts in this area,” said Mr. Hemsley.
Mr. Simpkin is a 27-year industry veteran who has held senior business development roles at LIFFE (now NYSE Liffe) and in equity and equity derivatives clearing at LCH.Clearnet. He joined Chi-X Europe in May 2010 in a business development role focusing on a derivatives business strategy.
Mr. Simpkin said: “I am excited to lead BATS Chi-X Europe’s business development initiatives to bring more competition to the European index and derivatives area, among others, as the company has successfully done in the equities market. I look forward to continuing to work with the BATS Chi-X Europe team to execute this vision and remain at the forefront of innovation.”
BATS Chi-X Europe reported 24.6% overall European market share in April 2012, which was the fifth consecutive month that the firm ranked as the largest European equities market operator by market share and notional value traded.
About BATS Global Markets, Inc. BATS Global Markets, Inc. (BATS) is a leading operator of securities markets in the U.S. and Europe. BATS develops and operates electronic markets for the trading of listed cash equity securities in the U.S. and Europe and listed equity options in the U.S. BATS operates two stock exchanges in the U.S., the BATS BZX Exchange and BYX Exchange; BATS Options, a U.S. equity options market; and BATS Chi-X Europe, which operates a FSA-authorized multilateral trading facility. BATS’ innovative and proprietary technology was developed by a dedicated core team of market and technology professionals, catering to the needs of the broker-dealer and trading community. The company is headquartered in the Kansas City, Mo., area with additional offices in New York and London. For more information, visit www.batsglobalmarkets.com [http://www.batsglobalmarkets.com/].
BATS … Making Markets Better.
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New Report From 112 Business Leaders Calls for Government to Pick Winning Technologies and Sectors to Drive Innovation-led Growth in the UK
New Report From 112 Business Leaders Calls for Government to Pick Winning Technologies and Sectors to Drive Innovation-led Growth in the UK
PR Newswire — May 22, 2012
LONDON, May 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ –
PA Consulting Group publishes major report on the views of 112 UK business leaders from the fastest growing technology and innovation sectors: advanced manufacturing, life sciences and healthcare, consumer products, ICT and electronics, agri-science and high growth SMEs.
Government should actively embrace and support a modern ‘Industrial Strategy’ for innovation-led growth to secure economic recovery, say UK business leaders. This is not a call for a return to the 1970s’ ‘Industry Policy’ of picking winners at a company level. It is about identifying and supporting winning technologies and sectors.
Over the last six months PA’s Martin Smith and George Freeman MP have hosted a series of roundtable meetings with leading entrepreneurs, investors, academics and CEOs from organisations such as Procter & Gamble, Nokia UK Limited, Kraft Foods and Nestle. The consensus is clear – to secure the UK’s economic recovery, the Government must support an active business-led strategy of identifying and supporting key technologies and sectors. There was a clear desire to see more active collaboration between government, industry, academia and finance to expand the UK’s economy effectively.
Martin Smith, technology and innovation expert at PA Consulting Group, said: ‘Across each of these sectors there was a clear message: businesses want Government to embrace a new partnership to support innovation-led growth. It means playing a key role in supporting our science base and creating incentives for near-market research and technology transfer. Government must invest in the skills and infrastructure to build integrated supply chains and promote a culture supportive of entrepreneurship and engineering. The clear message from these business leaders is that they are optimistic about the future and committed to growing their business in the UK. We now need to build the most supportive environment possible for them to achieve this.”
Co- chair George Freeman MP, newly elected to Parliament after a 15 year career in technology venture capital, said: “This is not a call for a return to 1970s’ ‘Industrial Policy’ of ‘picking winners’ at a company level, subsidies or protectionism. It is about a new partnership approach with Government supporting business led, sector-specific strategies for key sectors and technologies in which Britain is globally competitive.”
There was clear consensus from business around four key actions:
1. Picking winning technologies and sectors
This is not a return to the 1970s’ ‘Industrial Policy’ of ‘picking winners’ at a company level, but backing technologies and sectors with the greatest potential to unlock sustainable UK growth. Other countries have done this to achieve world domination in key areas such as South Korea in memory chips and Germany in areas of alternative energy.
A modern industrial strategy should be led by industry and supported by Government. The targeted areas might be sectors such as automotive or aerospace or technologies such as lightweight vehicles or intelligent highway systems.
2. Aligning organisations active in targeted areas
Business must be empowered to lead change. The work done to rebuild a highly competitive UK automotive sector since the 1970s, most recently through the Automotive Council, is seen as a successful case study of what can be done. The UK motor industry is the sixth largest industry and produces 1.7 million vehicles a year. With the right support we can, for example, capitalise on Britain’s outstanding record in drug development. Innovation and investment is needed to ensure the related economic benefits are realised.
3. Encouraging entrepreneurism
A stronger culture of promoting and celebrating entrepreneurship across schools, universities, banks, public services and Government is vital. A successful innovation economy needs a high rate of start-up success (and failure) and an environment to support it. The view was more needs to be done to support SMEs in growing to become the medium sized companies (GBP50M – GBP100M) of tomorrow. The UK’s alternative investment market (AIM) provides much less depth and continuity of investment than US markets. Many UK SMEs site R&D offshore in return for funding. Mid-term finance is a particular problem, causing companies with successful early-stage growth to stagnate or sell out before achieving their full potential.
4. Increasing excitement about the manufacturing industry
A technologically-advanced and competitive innovation economy needs investment in key skills across the board. There was a call for more of the UK’s school children to study science, technology, engineering and maths at school or university and greater awareness of the benefits of industrial careers. To unlock growth in our highest-growth sectors we need to rebalance the higher education and further education sectors to support these subjects and develop proven career pathways for a high technology economy. The new ‘Inside Manufacturing’ programme, a joint public-private initiative, is a step in that direction. The scheme invites pupils, teachers and careers professionals to visit some of the UK’s leading facilities to learn about modern manufacturing and the range of jobs available.
For more information, visit http://www.paconsulting.com/our-thinking/uk-technology-growth-report
Notes to the editor
About PA Consulting Group
We are a firm of more than 2,000 people, specialising in management and IT consulting, technology and innovation. Independent and employee-owned, we operate globally from offices across Europe and the Nordics, the United States, the Gulf and Asia Pacific.
We work with businesses and governments to anticipate, understand and meet the challenges they face. We have outstanding technology-development capability and a unique breadth of skills, from strategy to performance improvement, from HR to IT. Our expertise covers energy, financial services, life sciences and healthcare, government and public services, defence and security, transport and logistics, telecommunications, consumer goods and automotive.
About George Freeman MP
George Freeman MP was elected in 2010 after a 15 year career in technology start-ups in Cambridge. Appointed Government Life Science Adviser by the Prime Minister and David Willetts a year ago, he was instrumental in the UK’s Life Science Strategy launched by the PM in December. A founder of the 2020 Group of Conservative MPs in Parliament, he is an active advocate of a new industrial strategy for innovation-led growth. For more details call George on 07855-252-999 or visit http://www.georgefreeman.co.uk/tags/innovation [http://www.georgefreeman.co.uk ]
About the report
Over the last six months, Martin Smith from PA and George Freeman MP have hosted a series of ‘Roundtable’ meetings to draw on the insights and practical experiences of leading scientists, entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders active in these key sectors. Over 100 leaders have come together to explore the key drivers, opportunities and challenges facing their sectors and to identify where they see the greatest opportunities for growth and what they believe needs to be done in their sector to unlock it. The participants represented five of the fastest growing sectors: advanced manufacturing, life sciences and healthcare, consumer products, ICT and electronics, agri-science, small and medium-sized, and enterprises (SMEs). This report summarises the discussions held at each Roundtable and captures the views as they were expressed at each sector meeting.
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Goodman Report Sees Significant Logistics Opportunity from the Rapid Global Growth in e-Retailing
Goodman Report Sees Significant Logistics Opportunity from the Rapid Global Growth in e-Retailing
PR Newswire — May 22, 2012
SYDNEY, May 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — An e-retailing research report commissioned by Goodman Group (Goodman) has highlighted that online shopping now accounts for almost a fifth of all purchases in developed markets and is growing between 15% and 20% per annum. The growth rate in developing economies is far higher, with China for example currently experiencing around 75% growth a year.
The comprehensive research report on the global online shopping market was conducted by Transport Intelligence, one of the leading providers of research on the global logistics industry, and focused on the key areas of:
+ Take-up rates and popularity of online shopping around the world; + The impact of the growth in e-retailing on logistics operations in developed and developing markets; + The warehousing requirements and operations of some of the main e-retailing players; and + Factors that will play a role in the growth of the industry.
Highlights from the study are today being published in a White Paper entitled ‘Logistics of Online Shopping – Where the Real Opportunities Lie’. Containing the latest stats and insights gained from canvassing the opinions of e-retailers, logistics companies and developers, the report provides the most comprehensive overview of the sector of its kind. The White Paper is available on Goodman’s website, click here [http://www.goodman.com/~/media/Files/Sites/Global/about us/TI Goodman White Paper May 2012 - final.pdf] to view.
The report showed that at a time when retail sales in many markets have been sluggish, internet retailing has grown rapidly and this shift in consumer attitude has brought enormous benefits to the global logistics market. With growth in excess of 10% per annum in developed economies and more than 30% per annum in many less developed areas, e-retailing is at present in the rapid growth phase, with little sign of leveling off, the report said.
In line with the rapid growth in e-retailing around the world, it has been estimated that the global e-commerce market could be valued as much as US$1 trillion in 2013 and up to US$1.4 trillion by 2015.
In developed markets, the US is currently the largest e-retailing market in the world, with 170 million users spending on average US$1,000 each per annum and according to Forrester Research is estimated to grow to approximately US$279 billion by 2015. Similarly, Europe which is growing at around 16% a year is estimated to be valued at over US$184 billion by 2015.
This compares with emerging markets such as China, which currently has more than 150 million users, each spending on average US$200 to US$250 a year. The increasing number of middle class Chinese, with rising incomes and greater demand for western goods is seen as the main driver for China becoming a major e-commerce market, which Boston Consulting Group has estimated to be worth around US$305 billion by 2015.
Goodman’s Group CEO, Mr Greg Goodman said, “The research has enabled us to better understand the key drivers in the e-retailing market globally and the trends that are shaping the industry, including logistics operators. What is very apparent is that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to optimising distribution efficiency, with e-retailers in different markets adopting very different fulfilment and distribution strategies.”
To highlight this point, in China for example, the lack of infrastructure and limited provision of logistics are key factors as they have not kept pace with the growth in e-retailing, and service gaps are widespread, the report said. Logistics costs in China are in excess of 20% of GDP, more than double that in Europe, and outside of the major cities logistics offerings are almost non-existent. This has led to e-retailers developing a far wider network of facilities, aiming to get ‘closer to the customer’.
By contrast, in developed regions where logistics infrastructure is relatively sophisticated, geographic factors determine the distribution strategies that e-retailers are adopting, ranging from overnight delivery from a single distribution point, to utilising multiple distribution points and duplicating main inventory lines. This highly fragmented situation has led to e-retailers developing their own fulfilment centres rather than relying on logistics operators, and dedicated purpose built facilities are being increasingly demanded.
“The report’s findings confirm that there is strong demand for high quality, built-to-suit warehousing solutions amid the rapid growth in this sector. This presents a range of opportunities for property groups like Goodman, who understand local market dynamics and have the specialist expertise and experience to respond to the specific property needs of individual e-retailers and third party logistics providers,” Mr Goodman added.
As one of the largest global industrial property groups, Goodman has world-class expertise in developing tailored logistics and warehousing solutions, and is a leader in meeting the unique requirements of its e-retailing and logistics customers. To illustrate this, Goodman has delivered more than 581,000 sqm of new warehouse space across nine facilities for Amazon in Europe alone, with a further 225,000 sqm currently being developed across two projects in Germany.
Goodman also recently announced the development of a new 42,410 sqm built-to-suit facility in Tianjin, China for Moonbasa, a major online retailer of ladies fashion and accessories.
“The continued rapid growth in e-retailing is a real game changer for our business. We have undertaken a number of developments for the e-retailing sector over the last two to three years which is reflected across our portfolio, making it one of our largest customer groups,” Mr Goodman concluded.
About Goodman
Goodman Group is an integrated property group with operations throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe and the United Kingdom. Goodman Group, comprised of the stapled entities Goodman International Limited and Goodman Industrial Trust, is the largest industrial property group listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and one of the largest listed specialist fund managers of industrial property and business space globally.
Goodman’s global property expertise, integrated own+develop+manage customer service offering and significant fund management platform ensures it creates innovative property solutions that meet the individual requirements of its customers, while seeking to deliver long-term returns for investors.
For further information, please contact Goodman:
Mathew Werner Group Corporate Communications Manager Tel +61-2-9230-7159
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Company Codes: Australia:GMG, Australia:GMG.AX
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