businesslife.co Issue 34 September/October 2014

bu

sine

sslife.CO

bitCOin • the internet Of things • finteCh • big Data • Disruptive teCh physiCal vs virtual • Cyber DefenCe • healthCare • e-marketing • gaDgets

business news . views . comment . lifestyle issue 34: september/October 2014

issue 34: september/O

ctober 2014

The

Technology Issue

September/October 2014 businesslife.co 3

Welcome

There was a time when the word ‘geek’ was something thrown around by schoolyard bullies the world over – but the misfits and outcasts who

used to hide in their bedrooms, coding and building software systems and apps, are now running multi-billion-dollar corporations and asking: ‘who’s laughing now?’

well, in truth, they’ve been doing that for quite some time. But the advance of technology in recent years has been nothing short of stunning, and it continues to accelerate at such an astonishing pace that no one knows quite where we are going to end up.

Let’s take a quick look at PwC’s Global Top 100 companies of 2014, which illustrates this perfectly. Three of the top four companies in the world by market capitalisation are tech firms – apple, Google and Microsoft are first, third and fourth respectively. while some stalwarts like Intel, IBM, Oracle and Cisco have slipped down the PwC rankings, the 13 tech companies in the top 100 have a combined market cap of more than $2.5 trillion, putting

As technology continues to break boundaries and infiltrate every corner of our lives, there’s increasing pressure on countries – and smaller jurisdictions – to get in on the action, or miss out altogether

eDitOr-in-ChiefNick Kirby

[email protected]

aDvertisingCarl Methven, Director

[email protected]

publisherKirsten Higgins, Director

art DireCtOrAngela Lyons

sub eDitOrNicola Tann

news anD [email protected]

general [email protected]

businesslife.co

© Chameleon Group Limited, all rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Views expressed by our contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of Chameleon Group. While every effort is made to achieve total accuracy, Chameleon Group cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions.

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The geeks shall inherit the earth

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Nick Kirby

Kirsten Higgins

businesslife.co Discussion Forum

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them just behind the 21 companies in the financial sector.

This is an increase of a whopping 149 per cent in just five years – and it would be a brave (or foolish) person who would claim this trend won’t continue in the decades to come. The reality is that technology is such an integral part of our lives now that there’s only one way to go, and that’s forwards, to more connectivity and ubiquity.

as a result, countries around the globe are trying their best to capture their own piece of the technology pie, and the Channel Islands are no exception. This, our first technology issue, not only examines some of the key technological issues of the day, but also looks at where Jersey and Guernsey stand, and whether their ambitions of building digital economies have real merit or are nothing more than pipe dreams.

we hope you enjoy your voyage of discovery! n

The businesslife.co team

4 businesslife.co September/October 2014

6 NewsA round-up of the latest business news from the Channel Islands and beyond

16 AppointmentsRecent key hires in Jersey and Guernsey

18 InterviewAndy Jarrett and Marc Lainé on the state of tech in the Channel Islands

24 Digital islandsHow do Jersey and Guernsey stack up against each other?

32 Smart cities How the Internet of Things could change the way we live

40 E-marketing Choosing the best channels for your business

september/OCtOber 2014

liat ClarkeReporter at wired.co.uk, Liat takes

on the hefty subject of big (and getting bigger) data, and looks at

whether the Channel Islands should take to the technological

wild frontier.

kirsten mOrelOur Technology Editor Kirsten

examines how Jersey and Guernsey match up against each other, and then turns his mind to the future of Bitcoin and the role

that the islands could play.

aDam OxfOrDIt’s a double dose of disruption for

tech writer Adam, as he gets to grips with the advances being

wrought in healthcare, and just what disruptive technology really

means on a global scale.

Dave wallerBusiness writer Dave takes on a tech triple-header – weighing up developments in fintech, getting to grips with cyber defence, and taking a walk around some smart

cities. Busy boy!

44 Physical vs virtual Should businesses choose servers or the cloud? Or both?

48 Big data Making business sense of an information overload

56 FintechWhere is financial technology now, and where is it headed?

60 BitcoinCould the Channel Islands become cryptocurrency centres?

66 Disruptive technologyWhy breaking the mould isn’t necessarily always a good thing

Content s

contributors

The Agenda 83From high fashion and revolutionary beauty products to quaffing pints at the Munich Oktoberfest and taking a spin in the Mazda Mx-5 (obviously not one after the other), this issue’s Agenda is a veritable feast of fabulousness.

44

x

32

56

D E L I V E R I N G A W A R D -W I N N I N G W E A LT H M A N A G E M E N T S O LU T I O N S F R O M

H E R E I N T H E C H A N N E L I S L A N DS F O R OV E R 5 0 Y E A R S .

There’s Wealth in Our Approach.TM

This advertisement is issued by Royal Bank of Canada (Channel Islands) Limited (“the Bank”) on behalf of RBC® companies that comprise RBC Wealth Management in the British Isles The Bank is regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission in the conduct of deposit taking and investment business and to act as a custodian/trustee of collective investment schemes in Guernsey and is also regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission in the conduct of deposit taking, fund services and investment business in Jersey. The Bank’s General Terms and Conditions are updated from time to time and can

be found at www.rbcwminternational.com/terms-and-conditions-British-Isles.html. Registered Office: Canada Court, St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands, GY1 3BQ, registered company number 3295. Deposits made with the offices of the Bank in Guernsey and Jersey are not covered by the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme; however, the Bank is a participant in the respective Deposit Compensation Schemes in Jersey and

Guernsey (“the CI Schemes”). Links to the official websites which provide details of the respective CI Schemes are available on the Jersey and Guernsey pages of our website Copies of the latest audited accounts are available upon request from either the registered office or the Jersey Branch: 19-21 Broad St, St. Helier, Jersey JE1 8PB.

® / TM Trademark(s) of Royal Bank of Canada. Used under licence

BANKING | CREDIT | INVESTMENTS | TRUST | TAX CONSULTANCY | CUSTODY | FUNDS | EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

The value of investments may fall as well as rise. You may not get back the full amount that you originally invested.

CA2001/Aug15

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT ADAM NORRIS IN JERSEY

AT +44 (0) 1534 283496, [email protected], OR DANIEL BISSON

IN GUERNSEY AT +44 (0) 1481 744395, [email protected],

OR VISIT

G LO B A L LY CO N N E C T E D .

I N D I V I D UA L LY TA I LO R E D.

LO C A L LY F O C U S E D .

RBCWEALTHMANAGEMENT.COM

70 Work gadgets Must-have pieces of kit for the coming year

72 Cyber defenceHow companies are increasingly coming under attack

76 Future techShould Jersey and Guernsey go to the technological extreme?

80 HealthcareHow tech is revolutionising the way we manage our health and wellbeing

98 Last word Mark Loane on where technology and risk meet

70

83

D E L I V E R I N G A W A R D -W I N N I N G W E A LT H M A N A G E M E N T S O LU T I O N S F R O M

H E R E I N T H E C H A N N E L I S L A N DS F O R OV E R 5 0 Y E A R S .

There’s Wealth in Our Approach.TM

This advertisement is issued by Royal Bank of Canada (Channel Islands) Limited (“the Bank”) on behalf of RBC® companies that comprise RBC Wealth Management in the British Isles The Bank is regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission in the conduct of deposit taking and investment business and to act as a custodian/trustee of collective investment schemes in Guernsey and is also regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission in the conduct of deposit taking, fund services and investment business in Jersey. The Bank’s General Terms and Conditions are updated from time to time and can

be found at www.rbcwminternational.com/terms-and-conditions-British-Isles.html. Registered Office: Canada Court, St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands, GY1 3BQ, registered company number 3295. Deposits made with the offices of the Bank in Guernsey and Jersey are not covered by the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme; however, the Bank is a participant in the respective Deposit Compensation Schemes in Jersey and

Guernsey (“the CI Schemes”). Links to the official websites which provide details of the respective CI Schemes are available on the Jersey and Guernsey pages of our website Copies of the latest audited accounts are available upon request from either the registered office or the Jersey Branch: 19-21 Broad St, St. Helier, Jersey JE1 8PB.

® / TM Trademark(s) of Royal Bank of Canada. Used under licence

BANKING | CREDIT | INVESTMENTS | TRUST | TAX CONSULTANCY | CUSTODY | FUNDS | EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

The value of investments may fall as well as rise. You may not get back the full amount that you originally invested.

CA2001/Aug15

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT ADAM NORRIS IN JERSEY

AT +44 (0) 1534 283496, [email protected], OR DANIEL BISSON

IN GUERNSEY AT +44 (0) 1481 744395, [email protected],

OR VISIT

G LO B A L LY CO N N E C T E D .

I N D I V I D UA L LY TA I LO R E D.

LO C A L LY F O C U S E D .

RBCWEALTHMANAGEMENT.COM

News


➔

In the news...

Sign up for our daily Channel Islands’ business news email updates at www.businesslife.co

THE MINISTER for Treasury and Resources at the States of Jersey, Senator Philip Ozouf (pictured), and the Director General of the Jersey Financial Services Commission, John Harris, are the latest big names to confirm they’ll be speaking at the businesslife.co Jersey Funds Forum 2014: The Global Perspective. They will both take part in the day’s closing panel session: ‘Has Jersey got it right?’

The panel, which will also feature Daniel O’Connor, a Partner at Carey Olsen and Chair of the Legal, Tax and Regulatory sub-committee of the Jersey Funds Association, will examine whether the current funds industry model is sustainable, and whether it will stand up to external pressures. It will also address whether enough is being done by government and the regulator to make sure the industry is as well-positioned as it can be.

The panel will be moderated by Guy Fraser-Sampson, Senior Fellow at Cass Business School, who will also deliver the keynote address on the day.

The event, organised in partnership with KPMG in the Channel Islands, will be held at the Pomme D’Or, St Helier, Jersey from 9am on Thursday 2 October 2014. Delegate places are available for £395.

For more information, a full running order, a list of confirmed speakers, and to book (and guarantee) your place, visit www.businesslife.co/events. n

Ozouf and Harris to speak at Jersey Funds Forum

THE DIGITAL JERSEy Hub will play host to the first ever island-wide ‘hackathon’, which will start at 6pm on Friday 26 September and finish 40 hours later at 10am on Sunday 28 September.

A hackathon typically lasts for several days, and involves a number of skilled attendees who engage in collaborative computer programming with a focus on testing software to its limits or tapping into their creativity to produce something new, such as a new web or mobile service that could benefit the wider community.

Front- and back-end software developers, designers, artists and creatives, mobile developers, hardware hackers, security specialists and those passionate about the digital sector are invited to attend all or part of the event. Participants will work in teams within a specific time frame to develop innovative ideas and create something new and web-based for Jersey.

Andrew Jarrett, Director at Digital Jersey, commented: “The Digital Jersey Hub was designed with a view to providing a platform for large-scale, collaborative events such as this, so it’s great to see it being used to its full potential, and I look forward to seeing industry learn and collaborate in this creative format to benefit the wider community.”

Digital Jersey are partnering with Collaborate.je and TechTribes.je to host the hackathon. Attendance is free, and tickets are available through Eventbrite. Spaces are limited. n

AuRIGNy HAS LAuNCHED its new service between Guernsey and London City, with flights commencing on Monday 8 September. Weekday flights now depart from Guernsey at 7.30am and 5pm, returning at 9.15am and 6.45pm.

Aurigny will be leasing a Fokker 50 to operate on this route for the first four to eight weeks while it sources an additional ATR aircraft to join its fleet.

Aurigny CEO Mark Darby commented: “For some, the ability to get into the heart of the city as early as possible would greatly improve their business opportunities and we are delighted to be able to offer this service.” n

Aurigny launches London City service

Jersey to hold first ‘hackathon’A

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News



JTC GROuP HAS opened a second representative office in the uS, adding New york City to its presence in Miami. The New york office will operate as part of JTC Group Americas, headed up by Managing Director of the North

American region Emilio Miguel, and will serve as a hub for JTC’s growing network of intermediaries in the uS and a further gateway to the fast-growing Latin American market.

JTC Group now offer their suite of private client, corporate, fund and real estate services through their representative offices in the top four global financial centres of New york, London, Hong Kong and Singapore.

JTC Group appointed Paul Mower as Director of the New york office earlier this year. He will be joined by Nydia Deyne, who joins JTC from Citibank. n

JTC Group opens New York office

Speakers confirmed for Guernsey trust eventTHE MAJORITy OF speakers have now been confirmed for businesslife.co’s Guernsey Trust Conference: Trust is only the beginning. The event, which is sponsored by AO Hall, will take place on Wednesday 5 November at the Duke of Richmond Hotel in St Peter Port.

The agenda for the day includes a variety of panel sessions, ‘lightning talks’ and breakout sessions on the following subjects:● The modern face of the trust in the 21st century● Trustees’ investment duties● Should the Channel Islands have a Register of Trusts?● Handover of trusteeships● Trusts and taxation● Outside influences and demands for information● Dealing with attacks on trusts

Confirmed speakers include: Paul Buckle, Group Partner, AO Hall; James Clifford, Barrister, Maitland Chambers; Jonathan Gamble, Director, Asset Risk Consultants; Michael Heyworth, Director, Trust Corporation; Paul Hodgson, Managing Director, Butterfield Trust (Guernsey) and Chairman, STEP Guernsey (pictured); Emma Jordan, Partner, Wragge Lawrence Graham; Geoffrey Kertesz, Associate, Withers; Kerrie Le Tissier, Senior Associate, Bedell Cristin; Rosemary Marr, Senior Director, Nedgroup Trust; Professor Paul Matthews, Kings College London; Mark Stone, Director, Intertrust Reads Private Clients; and Fiona Traolic, Head of Legal and Compliance, Credit Suisse Trust.

For more information, a full running order, and to book your place, visit www.businesslife.co/events. n

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Oi acquires Arcade CreativeMARKETING COMMuNICATIONS AGENCy Oi has acquired award-winning agency Arcade Creative in Jersey.

As part of the deal, Ben Clarke, owner of Arcade Creative, is now the Creative Director of Oi, and will lead the creative and digital teams of the full-service agency that employs 24 staff across offices in Jersey, Guernsey and London.

“This deal has been almost two years in the making, so this is a great day for Oi and Ben,” commented Peter Grange, Oi Managing Director, on the acquisition. nPictured: The new Oi management team (from left): Ben Clarke, Creative Director; Katie Sebire, Guernsey Director; Peter Grange, Managing Director; and Heather Townsend, Jersey Director

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08.30 registration & refreshments

09.00 welCOme nick kirby, Editor-in-Chief, businesslife.co

09.10 frOm the OutsiDe in – keynOte what external forces are shaping the funds landscape? Many elections taking place throughout the world in 2014 and 2015 are going to be the first since the financial

crisis, or since voters have had the chance to assess their government’s fiscal response to the crisis. Could the way the world votes have an effect on global economic policy? What will the knock-on effect be? And what impact will long-term inflationary pressures and the rise of sovereign wealth funds have on the funds industry?

Keynote speaker: guy fraser-sampson, Senior Fellow, Cass Business School

09.40 threats frOm far anD near – panel is the focus too often on eastern jurisdictions? should Jersey look closer to home? Much has been made of the rise of Hong Kong and Singapore and how they are perfectly positioned to exploit

their proximity to growing eastern markets. But this is not the only threat to the funds industry in Jersey. European jurisdictions, the ‘midshore’ element, changes to the uK tax regime, and further regulation make for a complicated landscape, which our panel will explore.

Speakers: lisa Cawley, Partner, Kirkland & Ellis; Charles le Cornu, Director, Ogier Fiduciary Services; tony mancini, Executive Director, KPMG Moderator: ben robins, Chairman, Jersey Funds Association, and Partner, Mourant Ozannes

10.40 break

11.00 breakOut sessiOns – 45 minutes each (repeated twice) sessiOn One: law – the legal landscape An open forum discussion of current legal issues and the challenges faced by law firms operating in the funds

space. Where do the islands’ ‘products’ sit in relation to other jurisdictions? Speakers: Joel hernandez, Partner, Mourant Ozannes; martin paul, Partner, Bedell sessiOn twO: funD aDministratiOn – life at the coalface An exploration of what fund administrators are squaring up to on a day-to-day basis, from reporting and risk

management, legislation and regulation, to the distinct challenges facing custodians and depositaries. Speakers: philip godley, Director, Sanne Group; ana kekovska, Director, Crestbridge; Oli morris, Advisory Director, KPMG; frank roden, Head of Channel Islands, BNP Paribas Securities Services sessiOn three: nOn-exeCutive DireCtOrs – the 21st-century neD The role of NEDs in the funds space; whether that role is changing and needs to be revolutionised in light of ongoing legislative changes; or indeed, if the role of the NED as we know it is obsolete.

Speakers: gregor allan, Independent Director of General Partner Board, Nordic Capital; miguel arraya, Non-executive Chairman, Direct Capital Solutions; richard barnes, Non-executive Chairman, Invesco Property Income Trust. Moderator: rob kirkby, Director, Advisory, KPMG

12.40 has Jersey gOt it right? – panel is enough being done to make the funds industry as strong as possible? Jersey has distinct strengths in funds and is respected the world over, but is the current industry model sustainable

and will it stand up to external pressures? Is it innovative enough? And is enough being done by government and the regulator to make sure the industry is as well-positioned as it can be? Our distinguished panel will close the day with a full and frank discussion of these and other issues.

Speakers: John harris, Director General, Jersey Financial Services Commission; Daniel O’Connor, Partner, Carey Olsen; senator philip Ozouf, Treasury and Resources Minister, States of Jersey Moderator: guy fraser-sampson, Senior Fellow, Cass Business School

13.25 Closing remarks13.30 networking lunch

expert speakers of the highest calibre from the funds industry in Jersey, guernsey and the City will address key subjects driving the industry right now. the schedule for the day is as follows:

further speakers to be confirmed

A businesslife.co event

JERSEY FUNDS FORUM 2014:

In partnership with

the

£395 (Four hours CPD available)For more information and to book your place, visit:

www.businesslife.co/eventsor email [email protected]

globalperspectIve


Thursday 2 October 2014Pomme D’Or Hotel, St Helier, Jersey

9am – 2.30pm

News



THE ADVISORy BOARD to the Jersey Innovation Fund (JIF) has made its first ever investment from the fund into Jersey-based company Stumpydog Innovations, to help support the growth of the company over the next three years.

The JIF was awarded £5 million funding by the States of Jersey in May 2013 to invest in local companies seeking to encourage innovation and improve Jersey’s international competitiveness in global markets.

Stumpydog Innovations, founded by designer Catherine Curtis, is a local start-up that’s designed a number of products for global baby-care markets. Its patented new portable travel cot – the BabyHub SleepSpace – will likely be the first product to market, and has already attracted the attention of major uK and international high-street retailers.

JIF Chairman Tim Herbert commented that this initial investment is likely to be followed by others in due course. “I can confirm that the JIF Advisory Board is in advanced discussions with at least three companies seeking to secure significant second-stage investment that could open up exciting global market opportunities,” he said. n

Jersey Innovation Fund makes first investment

Fifth anniversary for Jersey foundationsTHE LATEST FIGuRES for foundations in Jersey show the structure passed its fifth anniversary in style. Figures collated by Jersey Finance show that 33 Jersey foundations were established in the first six months of 2014 – just three fewer than the number formed in the whole of 2013.

July marked the anniversary, and despite the Isle of Man having introduced its version of a foundation in 2012 and Guernsey in 2013, the monthly formation rate of Jersey foundations has increased in 2014 to reach its highest level since 2011 (5.5), outstripping both that of the Isle of Man (1.3) and Guernsey (0.7).

The figures also show that, as at June 2014, a total of 264 Jersey foundations have been formed since their introduction in 2009, more than four times the number of foundation structures in the other Crown Dependencies combined. n

New deals for OgierLAW FIRM OGIER has advised on a number of significant deals recently. In August, the firm provided Guernsey legal advice to Burford Capital on the raising of $150 million through an issue of retail bonds on the London Stock Exchange. This latest capital brings Burford’s asset base above $500 million.

Ogier also acted as Guernsey legal adviser to Mid Europa in the establishment of Mid Europa Fund IV, which closed at €800 million. Mid Europa is a buyout investor focused on the growth markets of Central and Eastern Europe and Turkey.

In July, the firm advised on what is believed to be the largest longevity risk transfer transaction to date, when the Prudential Insurance Company of America entered into a $16bn reinsurance transaction with the Guernsey-based captive insurer of the BT Pension Scheme. n

AS THE TRANSITIONAL period for the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) came to an end in July, the Channel Islands saw strong activity under their respective private placement regimes.

Figures from the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) show that, as at 31 July 2014, a total of 34 Guernsey Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMs) had utilised Guernsey’s National Private Placement regime to market

Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) into Europe.The figures reveal that the 34 managers

promote investment funds into one or more EEA member states. These cover 15 of the 27 jurisdictions with whom Guernsey signed bilateral cooperation agreements in July 2013. The uK remains a key market for Guernsey managers, with 56 AIFs being marketed there.

In Jersey, a strong surge in applications in the lead up to the end of the AIFMD transitional

phase saw the number of funds notifying the Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC) of their intention to privately place into Europe under AIFMD rules break through the 150 mark.

Figures collated by the JFSC show that, as at 22 July, a total of 164 funds had opted to make use of Jersey’s private placement route into Europe. In addition, 57 AIFMs confirmed their authorisation under Jersey’s AIFMD private placement regime. n

Private placements performing well

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08.30 registration & refreshments

09.00 welCOme nick kirby, Editor-in-Chief, businesslife.co

09.10 the mODern faCe Of the trust – panel Leading experts consider the recent history of trusts, and whether statutory developments in Guernsey and elsewhere, designed to attract new business, may run the risk of damaging the image of trusts. They will debate how the trust might develop further, both offshore and onshore, and consider what role the courts might play. Speakers: paul hodgson, Managing Director, Butterfield Trust (Guernsey); geoff kertesz, Associate, Withers Moderator: professor paul matthews, Kings College London

10.00 investment Duties From the practicalities of the obligation to monitor trust investment performance to fiduciary concerns over

diversification risk, our experts will address a range of trustee investment responsibilities. Speakers: Jonathan gamble, Director, Asset Risk Consultants; James Clifford, Barrister, Maitland Chambers 10.30 register Of trusts Should the Channel Islands have a register of trusts, and how would they cope if one were introduced? Speaker: professor paul matthews, Kings College London

10.45 break

11.15 breakOut sessiOns – 45 minutes each (repeated twice) sessiOn One: OutsiDe influenCes Issues that trustees should consider when faced with foreign demands for information. Speaker: kerrie le tissier, Senior Associate, Bedell sessiOn twO: hanDOver Of trusteeships What are the obligations and rights of the outgoing and incoming trustee? Speakers: paul buckle, Group Partner, AO Hall; fiona traolic, Head of Legal & Compliance, Credit Suisse Trust sessiOn three: trusts anD taxatiOn Leading experts give their view on trusts and taxation with up-to-date coverage of recent legislation and its impact.

Speakers: mark stone, Director, Taxation Services, Intertrust Reads; rosemary marr, Senior Director, Nedgroup Trust

12.45 trusts unDer attaCk – panel Hostile claims, divorce, capacity, sham, insolvency, and ‘put up or shut up’ orders are just some of the topics this

expert panel will cover. Just how should you respond when a trust is under attack? And are your responsibilities as a trustee constrained?

Confirmed speakers: michael heyworth, Director, Trust Corporation; emma Jordan, Partner, Wragge Lawrence Graham. Moderator: paul buckle, Group Partner, AO Hall

13.25 Closing remarks

13.30 networking lunch

expert speakers of the highest calibre from the trusts industry in guernsey, Jersey and the City will address key subjects driving the industry right now. the schedule for the day is as follows:

further speakers to be confirmed



TRUSTS

Wednesday 5 November 2014 Duke of Richmond Hotel, St Peter Port, Guernsey9am-2.30pmDelegate rates from £345 (Four hours CPD available)

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News

appointments

kevin keen appOinteD tO Jt grOup bOarDkevin keen has been appointed as a Non-executive Director to the JT Group board. With a career spanning over 40 years, Kevin has held high profile positions across a number of industries, including Managing Director of Jersey Dairy, and most recently Chief Executive of Jersey Post. He’s currently the Interim Transition Director of Visit Jersey, and the Non-executive Chairman of Jersey Water. Kevin has also held honorary roles with a number of Jersey charities and is a past President of the Jersey Chamber of Commerce.

DaviD byrne JOins mOurant OzannesOffshore law firm Mourant Ozannes has recruited David byrne as Global Head of Business Development and Marketing. David has a wealth of experience in the legal and financial services sectors gained in senior international roles at Clifford Chance, Linklaters and Barclays Bank. Before his career in legal services, David spent 10 years in senior business development, product development and marketing roles at Barclays, spanning private equity, private client and offshore sectors.

new Chairman fOr finanCial OmbuDsmanDavid thomas has been appointed as the Chairman of the new office of the Financial Services Ombudsman for the Channel Islands. David is a lawyer who was the uK Banking Ombudsman in 1997, and later a Principal Ombudsman with the statutory uK Financial Ombudsman Service. He retired from that service in 2012, though he continues to advise them part-time. He’s a board member of the uK Legal Ombudsman and advises internationally on financial consumer protection and dispute resolution issues.

new Chairman at Jersey finanCe Jersey Finance has appointed robert Christensen as the new Chairman of its board. Robert, who has over 35 years’ experience in trust and company management services in Jersey, was instrumental in the establishment of Jersey Finance, and served as a Non-executive Director from 2000 until 2008. A member of the Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners, and holding the Trustee Diploma of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, Robert is a long-established specialist advising on trust, company and fund structures.

equiOm’s Jersey OffiCe gains new neDEquiom Group, the trust and corporate services provider with offices in Jersey, Malta and the Isle of Man, has appointed heather bestwick as a Non-executive Director at their Jersey office. Heather was previously Deputy CEO and Technical Director of Jersey Finance, where she led the delivery of the organisation’s technical services, enabling effective consultation and communication between Jersey’s finance industry, government and the Financial Services Commission.

prOmOtiOn at alex piCOt trust COmpanyChris Cotillard has recently been promoted to Director of Alex Picot Trust Company, and will join the four existing Directors on the management team. As both a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser, Chris has a wealth of learning and experience in financial services having worked for the Alex Picot Group for eight years across all areas of the business. Chris will take on a portfolio of clients in addition to fulfilling his existing roles within the business.


Durrell appOints new ChairmanDurrell has appointed local businessman phillip Callow as its new Chairman. Phillip, a Partner at accountancy firm Moore Stephens, has a background as a Chartered Accountant specialising in advising charities. He’s been a Durrell board member since 2010 and is familiar with the many facets of the conservation organisation, which, along with its Wildlife Park HQ in Jersey, also operates 40 projects in 12 countries across the world, and recently established the Durrell Academy in Mauritius.

CiCra appOints miChael byrne as CeOmichael byrne has been appointed Chief Executive of CICRA (the Channel Islands Competition and Regulatory Authorities) after a period as Interim Chief Executive. Michael joined the Guernsey regulator in 2005 and was appointed as Deputy Director General in 2007. He has extensive experience applying regulation and competition law in the broadcasting, telecommunications, postal and energy sectors in the uK and Channel Islands, and has served as Interim Chief Executive since March 2014.

fiOna le pOiDevin tO heaD up Ci exChange The Channel Islands Securities Exchange (CISE) has appointed fiona le poidevin as its new CEO. Fiona has resigned her current position as CEO of Guernsey Finance, and will leave in early 2015 to take up her new role. Last year, the Channel Islands Stock Exchange (CISX) was restructured and created the CISE, which is responsible for the day-to-day administration and marketing operations of the exchange, and is the parent company of the Channel Islands Securities Exchange Authority Limited (CISEA).

twO partner prOmOtiOns at DelOitteDeloitte has made two partner promotions – David becker in the Guernsey office, and helen gale (pictured) in the Jersey office. David joined Deloitte 18 years ago, and is a financial services audit specialist. He also leads the offshore insurance practice and the Guernsey real estate group. Helen will continue to head up the Deloitte offshore private equity group, which provides audit and advisory services. She specialises in the provision of audit and advisory services to the investment management industry.

Digital Jersey gains new OperatiOns DireCtOrCarla harris has been promoted to take on the permanent role of Operations Director at Digital Jersey. She’ll be responsible for developing the Digital Jersey Hub, establishing Digital Jersey’s skills development programme, and launching new membership and sponsorship programmes. Carla has worked as a Project Manager for Digital Jersey for the last five months, coordinating the successful launch of the Coding Programme, a six-month vocational course targeted at the digital sector.

new finanCe DireCtOr at hawksfOrDandrew bennett, a Chartered Accountant with more than 23 years’ experience in financial services in Jersey, joined Hawksford as Finance Director in August. Andrew joins the firm from Nordic Capital, where he was Managing Director of Nordic Capital Limited for six years. Hawksford Chief Executive Maxine Rawlins said: “Andrew brings great experience to Hawksford. He understands the importance of engaging others, and has a thorough understanding of all aspects of private equity ownership.”

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yOu’re in a lift and have 30 seconds to pitch what your island has to offer from a technology standpoint. go! marc lainé: It depends on who I’m in the lift

with! If I was in the lift with people from Porsche, who have the ability to track their vehicles around the globe, I’d be talking to them about the value of anonymising their data and hosting it somewhere like Guernsey, and explaining how they could get a return on it. If you can actually say something that’s relevant to the industry you’re in the lift with and make them think ‘I never thought about that’, that is key.

Generally though, I’d say that in Guernsey the government is accessible and able to change laws faster than national government, so it can be innovative in accommodating new businesses. we have a very mature financial services industry that is international, with huge expertise in funding potential, and a skilled workforce. Our digital industry punches above its weight and is involved in global work to global standards. andrew Jarrett: as Marc says, it largely depends on the audience. But broadly speaking, Jersey’s message would be: an agile environment for new business; access to a 100,000 population as an extended test bed; access to a very supportive government for fast tracking policies; access to telcos at all levels, the type of access you

Talking tech

The Channel Islands want a slice of the very lucrative, global technology pie. But how real are their ambitions to become a digital force? Andrew Jarrett, Director at Digital Jersey, and Marc lainé, Chair of the guernsey Chamber of Commerce ICT sub group, get technical with Nick Kirby

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wouldn’t get in a large country; gigabit connectivity across the island; access to regulators and commissioners; support from people like Digital Jersey, Locate Jersey and Jersey Business; a range of business mentors available across all sorts of skill sets; availability of funding and access to venture capital; and a finance industry steeped in helping businesses set up financially efficient structures.

it’s been argued that businesses both in and outside the islands aren’t aware of what Jersey and guernsey have to offer in the digital space? would you agree?aJ: I don’t agree that people in the island aren’t aware of what’s going on. You only need to look at what is happening in the Digital Jersey hub – we have 78 businesses working out of the hub that are in a massively broad range of sectors. so there’s an awful lot going on and generally I think business knows that.

Outside of the island, it’s partly true. after all, there’s always more you can do to spread the word. we are succeeding to some extent through events such as Island Innovators, which took place earlier this year, where 130 people were handpicked from outside the island because of their specialisms in the tech industry. One of those entrepreneurs alone reached 1.5 million people globally on his Twitter account, so that really raised the profile of Jersey. we’ve also been out to events in La, London, Berlin, Paris and Israel, again building our networks. and we have a whole load of other stuff going on.ml: I think Guernsey suffers from a lack of promotion, so certainly many businesses in other locations aren’t aware of what we’ve got to offer. If you’re sat in the City of London and you’re looking to do a tech piece of work, even if you’ve got a Guernsey office, the likelihood is that you’re going to use someone in London because your perception will be ‘how can this tiny island have anything to offer in skills in comparison to the City?’ The reality is we’ve got skills in some areas that are at least as good and in some cases better than you will see in the City. But, unfortunately, that is naturally how people think.

andy, it’s been a criticism of Digital Jersey that it was slow to get moving and that there aren’t enough people on the board with technical expertise. how do you respond to that? aJ: I think that there are always things you can do better in hindsight, and when you are building foundations it’s never as obvious as when the building work starts to move above ground. so I think some of that criticism is possibly correct, but there is also a lot of work that goes on while the foundations are being built.

as to the board, I would disagree completely. If you look at the people on the board, you have Ivan Nikkhoo, who is a venture capitalist in La with 30 years of experience and an adviser on early-stage investing. we have Ben hammersley who is a British Internet technologist. marc lainé (left) and andrew Jarrett


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and on the IT side we have Mark Loane, the CeO of C5 alliance. so it does perplex me a little bit. I would also argue that we don’t need a technical team of people to help the tech industry. as a board they have a good view of where we should be going, and then we have project managers and people with technical expertise who help deliver that.

marc, guernsey doesn’t seem to be as organised as Jersey right now – is that a fair observation? ml: Jersey is ahead of us, there’s no doubt about that, and I think Digital Jersey is doing some amazing stuff and putting its money where its mouth is. Guernsey’s started to do that by setting money aside for the ‘Digital Greenhouse’ innovation centre, which I support as long as it’s part of a wider strategy.

I would say it probably is. however, I think there’s a danger that people and businesses in Guernsey, to some extent, expect government to do it all, and I think there’s an onus on existing businesses here to do something for themselves. and I think one of the reasons they aren’t perhaps doing as much as they would is because they don’t understand what the opportunities are. as a result there is no sense of direction.

I’m helping put together a separate initiative over here with a working title of Guernsey Business alliance, which is a small group of companies that all have expertise in different areas. Technology doesn’t exist in a bubble, it runs through many other sectors, such as finance, for example. we’re bringing that expertise together, understanding where the low hanging fruit is, and putting together compelling cases as to why businesses should be here.

My view is that in Guernsey we need a hybrid of Digital Jersey and Guernsey Finance. I would argue that Digital Jersey is doing a great job and that Guernsey Finance has been successful in the promotion of the island. This hybrid could be the glue that holds everything together. I think we need a digital champion for sure.

what tech sectors should the islands be targeting, or are they already doing so?aJ: I think what is more important than looking at sectors is making sure that the ground in general is fertile. I don’t think any jurisdiction is clever enough to say whether one sector or another is going to hit the jackpot. so it’s about getting the environment right. That said, there are some obvious ones we’re strong in and so should definitely focus

on, and fintech is one of those. and then mobile is another one because – let’s face it – everything’s going mobile, and here we can put you in touch with people that can give you access to the network and help you with your business. e-health is another one. and there’s quite a bit going on in the e-commerce sector as well. I would love to say greentech – it seems crazy that we have some of the world’s biggest tides and we don’t exploit them with technology!ml: I think there’s an opportunity for one or both of the islands to have a credit card payment hub based here. This is something that’s well known, and there are some key advantages to having it. But ultimately that’s an evolution in financial services. Is that

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Guernsey business address: P.O. Box 62, Royal Bank Place, 1 Glategny Esplanade, St. Peter Port, Guernsey GY1 4BQ. Regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission and licensed under the Insurance Managers and Insurance Intermediaries (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2002 and the Protection of Investors (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 1987, as amended.

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C001165_Around_World_Corner(B_Life_Mag)_230x290_V2indd 1 13/08/2014 16:57

a technology company? No it isn’t, it just happens to sit on tech.

I think this is a key distinction. Technology is all-pervasive and affects almost every kind of business. I don’t necessarily think it’s about bringing tech sectors here as such. The reality is that some of the biggest opportunities are in existing businesses exploiting tech to be more efficient and more profitable.

what are the digital businesses in the islands? I’d argue it’s IT companies, software developers, e-marketing, creative and so on. I think there are some really good models that exist that we have been guilty of missing. There are some e-gaming companies that have based their marketing departments in Guernsey, who are doing global marketing for those companies. There are digital companies doing work for international finance businesses around the world because they’re based here. so getting businesses to strategically place part of their business here can be a real gateway to digital skills.

is there anything to be gained from a pan-island approach?ml: I think there’s definitely something to be gained from working together – bringing the best brains together. we’ve got lots of clever people in the islands, but the cleverest are also very busy and successful. so that involves bringing in skills from the outside.

Look at how the finance industry evolved – it brought in a lot of outside expertise and talent in the first 15 years. Over a long period, it educated the workforce, bringing in training programmes, and somewhere along the line, the two approaches joined up.aJ: I agree with Marc. somebody far cleverer than me said the only thing Jersey and Guernsey should be competing on is the sports field, and I entirely agree with that. we face all the common enemies and the same pressures, and we ought to work together on as many levels as we can. we have invited people from Guernsey over to some of the things we are working on, but I think there’s a lot more both islands could be doing to leverage our intellectual capital.

so would you say skills are a priority for the islands to build a viable digital economy? aJ: Our number one issue is skills, number two issue is skills, and number three issue is skills. we absolutely have to recognise the vital importance that skills have to play. But what can we do about it? we have to import the skills, but there’s the population question.

“I think Guernsey suffers

from a lack of promotion, so

many businesses in other locations

aren’t aware of what we’ve got

to offer”

➔

With unrivalled local knowledge and experience, no-one understands the needs of the local market like we do.

To speak to our Channel Islands team, call (01534) 282434.

WE HAVE EXPERTS IN YOUR AREA, IN YOUR AREA.

The Royal Bank of Scotland International Limited trades in Jersey and Guernsey as Coutts & Co Channel Islands and as Coutts.

The Royal Bank of Scotland International Limited. Registered Office: P.O. Box 64, Royal Bank House, 71 Bath Street, St. Helier, Jersey JE4 8PJ. Business address: 23-25 Broad Street, St. Helier, Jersey JE4 8ND. Regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission.

Guernsey business address: P.O. Box 62, Royal Bank Place, 1 Glategny Esplanade, St. Peter Port, Guernsey GY1 4BQ. Regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission and licensed under the Insurance Managers and Insurance Intermediaries (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2002 and the Protection of Investors (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 1987, as amended.

Calls may be recorded.

C001165_Around_World_Corner(B_Life_Mag)_230x290_V2indd 1 13/08/2014 16:57


we’re looking at a number of options – there are entrepreneurial visas, and we’re looking at an equivalent of the UK sirius programme, which looks for talent globally and provides them with a stipend and a mentoring programme. we’re also looking at ways of bringing companies to the island to develop skills for their own needs and to train locals.

Population is a big issue but we need to support businesses that are in the island or coming to the island, helping educate the population officers as to why the skills aren’t here, why they’re needed and what people will bring to the island. ml: andy’s right. as an island, we need more people with computer science degrees, maths degrees, physics degrees, some real key skills. and we need them now. what’s more, we don’t need them in their thousands, we need them in their hundreds. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not going to have a massive impact on population in the short term. If we don’t bring in additional talent, some of the educational programmes – such as coding – that are going to take 10 years to bear fruit will be for nothing.

If anything, we need to go out there and say ‘if you’ve got the knowledge then the doors are open’. and that means automatic licenses, no fees – making it part of government policy that if you have those skills then the doors are wide open.

fintech and cryptocurrencies seem to be a key focus across the globe. what’s your take on the Channel islands’ position? ml: I think that both are an opportunity, and whether people like it or not at some point in the future cash probably won’t exist. Payment mechanisms are a big issue right now, and I think there’s a real opportunity for the islands to become some kind of payment/currency/exchange hub. I know there have been some big failures around cryptocurrencies, but that is generally because they are poorly regulated and have been run by cowboys. There are some great, innovative things going on with blockchain, particularly in Jersey, and if they can do it right, we could really steal a march on our competitors. aJ: If we talk about cryptocurrencies, there are some key things a jurisdiction needs to provide in order for it to take off, and a major step is to have a bank that accepts cryptocurrencies. right now, Jersey and Guernsey doesn’t have that – then again neither does the Isle of Man or any other jurisdiction that I can think of. what you

need for cryptocurrencies to succeed is a local reputable bank and an appropriate level of regulation. If those two things can be found in one place, then businesses will naturally gravitate there.

we’ve done quite a lot of work in that space. Our government has come out with a very positive stance, and the Jersey Financial services Commission are also leaning into this and they’ve approved the first-ever Bitcoin fund. Cryptocurrency exchanges require a different level of regulation to the fund and we’re working very hard to get the foundations right so that exchanges are welcome, together with the banking, which will be a driver for more activity.

Do you think people have been too keen to criticise when they should really throw their support behind digital? ml: I just think there are very few people out there that actually ‘get’ it. and that includes some of the people who are quite proactive at making things happen. You’ll struggle to find anyone who can define what the digital industry is, but they’ll know it when they see it. But that’s because they’re not necessarily seeing some of the opportunities that are here right now.

Companies really need to get smart and understand what those businesses might look like. Most likely they’re not going to be what you consider a digital business, they could be in financial services or an existing business model that could be transformed with the use of technology that just happens to be located in a jurisdiction such as ours.aJ: I think it’s easy to criticise from the sidelines, or you can be part of the solution and the success – and fundamentally that’s why I joined Digital Jersey. I think the other thing, and one of the successes of Digital Jersey, is while there is relatively a small team here, there are more than 50 people from the industry who lend us their time and support. I think in the early days there was a lot of expectation and maybe the right timelines weren’t given. But now we’ve got the hub and a number of eGov projects kicking off, people can really start to see some of the things that are beginning to manifest out of the work we’ve been doing, and the feeling is that people are getting behind Digital Jersey now.

what success stories can you tell us about? ml. There are some great success stories from a Guernsey perspective. Take software development as an example. There are firms, such as C5, that have written software that’s used globally, be that for institutions or the public or private sector. we’ve got the e-gaming industry and the whole data centre market, which have been successful. The trend of marketing departments being based in Guernsey but operating globally is really interesting. There are a number of digital creative firms doing global business for global firms because they set up their offices here.aJ: Like Guernsey, we’ve had our fair share of success stories. some of the businesses that have been funded from here or helped to be started from here include massive names such as skype, spotify and worldpay. More recently, Danny Bannister at Total solutions Group has just received some Jersey

“Population in Jersey is a big

issue but we need to support

businesses that are in the island

or coming to the island”


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IntervIew

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Innovation Fund funding, which will allow him to export the work he has been doing off-island in the healthcare area. There’s Prosperity 24.7 – Microsoft were so impressed with their eGov work that they’ve asked them to go into the UK and the Nordics to talk to government there about it. On the fintech start-up side, there’s a company called Pollen Velocity Capital, which received a sizeable level of seed funding, the first round of which came out of Jersey. and these are just the tip of the iceberg.

what’s the measure of success going to be for digital – volume of gDp, tax take, jobs?ml: I think that’s oversimplifying it a little. The island’s economic and social wellbeing depends on the exploitation of tech. It’s as simple as that. Tech is everywhere – there’s hardly a business that it doesn’t touch. It affects their competitiveness and their success, their ability to stay in business, pay staff and contribute to the economy. without

exploiting tech, companies will absolutely fail, so part of the success is maintaining a vibrant and successful economy. aJ: I agree with Marc that there are many factors that will act as a measure. In our business plan it’s about job creation, school leavers in the sector, GVa, it’s about having an eGov platform, VC-funded companies and new jobs in the sector. These are all measures we’re working towards.

so, just what is the outlook for digital in the islands.aJ: In truth, we’re at the beginning of the journey here. In PwC’s annual global survey, 81 per cent of CeOs said they believe tech will transform their business in the next three years – so that’s proof there’s a fantastic opportunity in the digital space. Jersey is here to help – we want people to come and talk to us, that’s local people or external people.

That said, we recognise the challenges that we face in terms of immigration and skills,

and we’re looking at ways of addressing those challenges, and then looking at incentives to make sure we’re a good place for VCs to invest in. I think all of this – along with the incredible success of the Digital Jersey hub in such a short time – points to there being a good outlook for digital in the Channel Islands.ml: I think there are two sides to it. There’s the economic community success and then there’s the success for the sectors. The current shortage of skills means that digital firms are very busy and working at capacity, but if they want to grow and be able to reach out and work beyond our shores, that’s where the whole recruiting, getting people with the right skills now as well as bringing our own along comes in.

But I think that if Guernsey and Jersey don’t invest in skills and open the door, then we won’t be as successful as we could be. n

NICk kIrbY is Editor-in-Chief of businesslife.co


With the Channel Islands both hoping to build a strong digital future, Kirsten Morel takes a look at how the islands compare to each other, where their strengths and weaknesses lie, and how they match up to the rest of the world

ACross the

IT’s TwO Years since Jersey announced with some fanfare that it would set up an agency, Digital Jersey, to champion the island as a digital centre. It aims to do this by developing on-island digital capabilities and attracting foreign businesses to its shores. The move is part of the island’s push for greater

economic diversification as it seeks to reduce its reliance on the financial services sector.

The reality is that the initiative is not dissimilar to those seen in other jurisdictions and cities around the world, as they look to adjust their economies in the face of an ever-expanding digital culture. But it is seen by those in Jersey as a definitive first step on the road to a bright digital future.

Ten miles across the water, Guernsey already has a thriving e-gaming industry, having worked with its sister island alderney to provide facilities and a legislative framework that are attractive to online gaming businesses.

There’s no doubt Guernsey stole a march on Jersey, having moved over a decade ago to bring e-gaming business to the island. Jersey was slow to react, only changing its gambling legislation in 2012,


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Channel Islands teChnology

ACross the dIGItAl dIvIdesince which time, little business has been forthcoming. however, despite this success, many feel Guernsey has lost its way a little since then and fallen behind Jersey in the digital race.

The islands may be neighbours, but they are both at different stages of their digital development. here we analyse how they are faring as they try to gain fitness for the digital age.

the IslaNds as dIgItal ceNtresThe creation of Digital Jersey may, in part, be a sign that Jersey learnt from its salutary e-gaming lesson. Like the daily ins and outs of the islands’ tides, progress in digital technology waits for nobody and while there’s realism about how quickly the island can catch up with the rest of the world, Paul Masterton, executive Chairman of Digital Jersey, is in no doubt that this is possible.

“what we’re seeing now is good momentum in creating the necessary conditions that will support growth,” he explains. as an example, he cites the importance of the skills pipeline that’s being developed in conjunction with a range of coding programmes and classes, as well as community building, which has been helped by

a range of events and regular meet-ups, a business incubator, and Digital Jersey’s role as a facilitator between business, society and government. according to Masterton, all of these are crucial when developing a ‘technology ecosystem’.

as well as skills development and its exploration of the e-health, financial technology and cryptocurrency sectors, Digital Jersey also launched its hub earlier this year. This is a space open to anybody in the sector to use for developing their business and holding meetings and workshops. Importantly, the hub includes a co-working space, which enables start-ups to help each other through collaboration, and the first signs are very positive, with, at the time of writing, 78 businesses having used the centre since it opened.

It’s a pretty impressive statistic for a facility that is only a few months old, and it shows the importance of the hub as a focal point for the community.

These early initiatives are part of Digital Jersey’s attempts to build a digital ecosystem for the island, something that’s crucial if the Channel Islands are to succeed in the digital sector. while Guernsey has yet to create a central agency in the mould of Digital Jersey, there



are already a number of initiatives and groups working to develop such an ecosystem.

“we have startup Guernsey, which is more focused on the start-up ecosystem,” says sasha Kazatsaneva, Director of the organisation. “we also have the Chamber of Commerce technology and digital sub group, and Creative Guernsey, which is a committee representing the creative professions. There’s also BeerCodeDesign [a regular get-together].”

The range of groups is important because, according to Kazatsaneva, only an effort across both the public and private sectors will work. “I think it’s these initiatives, which are privately led and bring together the developers, agencies and people working from their bedrooms that will make the most difference. It can’t be just government.” It’s a theory echoed by Marc Lainé, Managing Director of C5 alliance Guernsey, in our interview on page 18.

at the moment, Guernsey lacks the central space that Jersey has created with the hub – however a similar area is likely. Indeed, the island is currently in the process of trying to raise funding for an innovation centre, currently known as ‘The Digital Greenhouse’. The intention is to go further than the Digital Jersey hub and incorporate start-ups, the GTa University Centre, and the coding academy, while hosting meetings, seminars and co-working – and also be a home to startup Guernsey.

while the central space may currently be lacking, one private initiative from Channel Island IT consultancy C5 alliance has created a low-cost incubator for aspiring businesses – although there is definitely space for more. “The lack of such a facility was holding back the island, and the reasons for basing it here were compelling,” explains Lainé. “You’re removing barriers to things such as access to IT people and decent bandwidth.”

whether it’s a business incubator or a multipurpose hub, one of the key reasons that both islands see for creating these spaces is to bring people with an interest in the industry together – particularly those with skills, because it’s readily acknowledged in the islands that there’s a digital skills shortage. however, no number of coding classes will

“Privately led initiatives that bring together the developers, agencies and people working from their bedrooms will make the most difference”

turn all islanders into developers, which is something Lainé is keen for people to understand.

“There’s a lot of media hype around skills. There’s this myth that’s been generated that everyone needs to code, but that’s not true,” he says. “Yes, we need developers, but software development is a science.”

Chris Clark, CeO of Channel Island IT consultancy Prosperity 24.7, goes further, suggesting that islanders need to change their culture as much as their skills. “Islanders need a willingness to engage, take risks and embrace the opportunities that technology can provide. This isn’t about technical skills, but about a change in mindset,” he explains.

WhIch IslaNd to choose?There can be no question that the islands are still young in their development as digital centres, although Jersey appears to be slightly ahead of Guernsey, if only because Digital Jersey has, through the hub, been able to effectively take on the role of facilitator and coordinator for all kinds of public and private initiatives.

however, that doesn’t mean Guernsey isn’t stronger than Jersey in a number of areas. e-gaming has already been mentioned, and andrew scott-Miller, Founder of Jersey start-up race Nation, believes Guernsey could be better placed to help new companies develop.

“Guernsey has a bit of an advantage because they have some big, world-class companies operating there. Those names are eyebrow raisers, and this gives Guernsey a marketplace advantage in the investment world,” he says.

e-gaming is one reason for this, with big names like sky and Genting registered via the alderney Gambling Commission, and they have well known e-commerce firms such as specsavers and healthspan operating there. There are also venture capitalists and investors such as Jon Moulton and Guy hands. all of this helps to give Guernsey an advantage should it seek to provide a platform for business investment.

Of course, you’d expect there to be natural parallels between the islands’ existing financial services industries ➔


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and a digital sector hungry for investment, but it’s not as simple as that. scott-Miller isn’t sure Jersey is quite ready to become a hub for start-up investment.

“Jersey’s investors, even the entrepreneurial ones, have a Jersey perspective, and the game of investing in start-ups requires a completely different profile. The Jersey mentality is very much to stay in that safer, middle ground, but if we’re serious about being a tech island, then we’ve got to break out of that.”

scott-Miller should know – he has successfully secured initial investments in race Nation, but found it difficult on-island, and had to look elsewhere.

One man who’s chosen Jersey is Mike ross, Founder of Tap Tap Boom, a creator of gaming apps, for whom the tax environment was just one reason among many that he brought his company to the island in september 2012.

“The fact that Digital Jersey was being talked about and the recognition that technology was becoming increasingly important, as well as the wider environment, were key factors in my decision to relocate to Jersey,” he says. and while he believes that “overall, the business environment is good and has a high standard of professional services,” he feels the main downside is regulation, which can slow down business.

with a combined population of just 160,000, the Channel Islands will always struggle to make their case against larger, better known jurisdictions. scott-Miller and ross do, however, show that both Jersey and Guernsey have something to offer both home-grown start-ups and companies looking for somewhere to flourish.

traNsForMINg goverNMeNtBusiness may form a key part of the Channel Islands’ move to develop their digital capabilities, but it’s about much more than that. The digital revolution is transforming societies, and the islands’ governments have been quick to see that there are opportunities to offer more services more quickly, more cheaply and in a more individualised manner by moving public services onto a digital footing.

“e-government is the opportunity for the states of Jersey to provide its services to island residents digitally

rather than over the phone, on paper or face to face,” explains Digital Jersey’s Masterton.

Naturally, the island’s government has to take the lead in moving to a mainly digital interface with its people, but Digital Jersey has a facilitating role to play, particularly in bringing business and government together.

although Jersey has not moved too far down the road to e-government, it has been clear about its aspirations. “Jersey has a good vision of what e-government could be and how to get us there, including aspirational but achievable targets, such as having 75 per cent of government interaction online by 2018,” says Masterton.

Jersey has opened consultation with local businesses about their plans for e-government and is encouraging local suppliers to work with them, something Masterton believes is critically important. “everywhere else we’ve seen the move to e-government, it’s been an important catalyst for the local technology industry.” however, it’s not simply a case of handing out contracts for local businesses to fulfil – the private sector also has to step up.

Jersey may be just starting to look towards e-government, a programme that will take the best part of a decade, but Guernsey is farther behind.

“Jersey’s ahead of Guernsey in e-government,” says Lainé. “however, the Guernsey Government, driven by Deputy Kevin stewart and [Chief executive] Paul whitfield, is changing that. But don’t underestimate the size of the task.”

Chris Clark agrees Jersey is leading the way, but sees the journey to e-government being a long one for both islands. “Jersey is further ahead regarding a single citizenship record. historically, if you look at where they’ve come from, the states of Jersey had about 40 different websites. The aim is to get them all onto a single platform.”

Of course, public administrations developed over centuries can’t be changed overnight, and the cost will be considerable. “There’s a lot of commitment and planning, and it will cost tens of millions over a period of time, but as things are automated, the cost of running government will be a lot lower,” adds Lainé who also sees ways for those costs to be reduced.

“There are opportunities to collaborate and save money in the design and support of digital services. at the moment,

“Jersey’s mentality is to stay in that safe middle ground, but if we’re serious about being a tech island, we’ve got to break out of that”

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Understanding your local Channel Islands’ business landscape. It’s in our nature.The qualities you need in a local law firm come naturally to us. We provide a broad range of integrated pan-island legal services, with a pragmatic, commercial approach, and we are focused on delivering outstanding client service.

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Jersey Jonathan Hughes T +44 1534 504336 E [email protected]

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ChaNNel IslaNds teChNology

we’ve got both islands doing things separately, whereas we should be writing it once and branding it differently so we effectively get it for half the cost.”

the IslaNds vs the WorldLainé is not alone in his calls for more collaboration. Kazatsaneva reflects the thoughts of all the commentators when she says: “we’re not competing against each other, we’re competing against the world.”

The islands don’t have to look far to see how similar jurisdictions are doing. The Isle of Man, like Guernsey, has developed a healthy e-gaming industry, which in 2010 contributed eight per cent of the island’s economy and has been used as a platform to push further into the digital sector.

The island has learned to be quick to say the right things to attract the world’s attention, as was seen recently in the cryptocurrency sector, an area of interest to both Channel Islands. Manx regulators and government all issued pronouncements stating their attitude, which is welcoming to digital currencies. They’ve even laid

out a time frame for enacting cryptocurrency legislation.

similarly to the Channel Islands, the Manx Government sees diversification as key to its economic future, and digital technology is at the heart of its plans. It does however, share one major problem with Jersey and Guernsey – the lack of skills.

One country that’s spent the last 15 years addressing the skills problem is Malta. also an island, it’s considerably larger than the Channel Islands with a population of over 400,000. having identified the

digital sector as one of five industries it wanted to develop for the new millennium, Malta set about building its educational capabilities.

Today, Malta’s education system delivers 700 IT graduates per year, and even this isn’t enough to feed industries such as e-gaming, which delivers double-digit growth to the island’s economy, or software development, which is being actively encouraged.

Malta has also sought external investment to fund infrastructure developments such as smart City Malta, which it is hoped will create 5,000 jobs.

The Channel Islands have a lot to learn from similar jurisdictions, and they’re very open to this, as was shown by the recent Digital Jersey visit to estonia to examine their advanced approach to e-government.

The Channel Islands’ basic infrastructures are in good shape and being improved – both islands are set to see 4G delivered within the next 18 months and Jersey is rolling out fibre to the home, which will also enable companies to use the island as a test bed before rolling out products and services on a global scale. This should help raise the island’s profile, particularly in areas such as e-health.

There are, however, limits to just what the islands can do right now, and the biggest handicap is the lack of skills, something which can only be expected with such small populations. however, things are moving, and in perhaps the first sign of inter-island collaboration, Jersey’s slowly building momentum seems to be helping to move things in Guernsey.

Mike ross neatly sums up the need for a collaborative attitude between the islands: “The spirit of the tech industry is about collaborating, and I don’t see why Jersey and Guernsey can’t work together.” n

kIrSTEN MOrEL is businesslife.co’s Technology Editor

“The Channel Islands aren’t competing against each other, we’re competing against the world”


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To learn more about how C5 Alliance can help improve your business:

■ Visit www.c5alliance.com■ Call our client relationship team in Jersey 01534 785400 or Guernsey 01481 722575■ Email [email protected]

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J004714_BUS_LIFE_FULL_PAGE_V5.indd 1 22/04/2014 16:21


Internet of thIngs

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FrOM CharLIe ChaPLIN’s Modern Times to wallace and Gromit’s The Wrong Trousers, a life of connected automation has long caught the imagination – whether it’s meals being brought to diners’ mouths by a mechanical ‘feeding machine’, as in the Chaplin classic, or an alarm

clock that triggers a system to tip you out of bed and into your clothes and then fire Plasticine toast at your head.

somehow neither of these technologies found a market in our mechanised age (otherwise Dyson would have been all over them). But with digital technology now becoming ubiquitous and sparking a data revolution, the concept of intelligent kit is suddenly getting very real. In the not-too-distant future, the typical daily commute may run as follows: leave the house, which turns off the lights and heating behind you; get in the car, which checks it’s you behind the wheel before letting you set off, and then takes over the driving itself once you’re on the motorway; and then get sent on a diversion by the traffic lights, which have heard from the fire station that there’s a blaze ahead and they need to keep the road clear for the emergency services.

welcome to the ‘smart city’, an urban environment powered by the interaction of the internet and the physical world, where vast networks of computers, sensors, cameras and apps gather data on all aspects of citizens’ lives and share it among themselves to function more intelligently. This network is known as the Internet of Things (IoT), a system that, with the necessary devices now available at affordable prices, isn’t merely some distant figment of the imagination. In fact, it’s being touted as the next industrial revolution. Think-tank IDC reckons we’ll be surrounded by 50 billion connected devices, generating a staggering $7.1 trillion in sales, by 2020.

The fact is we’re already hooked up. Take the NesT Learning Thermostat, for example, launched in 2011. This is a smart system that not only senses when you’ve left the house and regulates the heating accordingly, but lets you monitor your property remotely. In other developments, fridges can now talk to smartphones to tell them you’re running out of milk. soon it may be normal for your fridge to relay your shopping list to Tesco. From there, merely a small leap to the dentist getting a call from a toothbrush saying it’s time to book an appointment.

everything everywhere while that last example is a touch far-fetched, health is earmarked as a key beneficiary of the IoT. For wider society, it’s about more efficient use of resources, a reduced environmental footprint, and a more efficient running of everything from utilities and transport to law enforcement and rubbish collection.

as well as several pioneering attempts to build a fully smart city from scratch (see box on page 36), existing cities are being smartened up too. ➔


Internet of thIngs

Gettingthe Internet of things promises to make

our lives more organised, cost-effective and environmentally friendly. they say it’s the future. But is all this ‘connectedness’ really

a good thing? dave Waller investigates

connected


Internet of thIngs

exist all at once in a conscious informational ecosystem, and each element is able to feed on the data produced by every other one.”

One touted benefit is that with the channels of communication opening up between government and citizens, everything suddenly becomes more trusting. at least that’s the theory. “what we wind up with, when every object and surface and transaction in the city is made visible to the network, is an extraordinarily detailed picture of our movements, our behaviours and our patterns of association,” says Greenfield. “There’s obviously an enormous amount of value locked up in that picture, value that will yield readily to the application of advanced analytics – but I’m not sure any of us as individuals, let alone any human society, is quite ready to face up to total transparency, or will quite like what we see in the mirror these technologies hold up to us.”

If you’re seeking a clearer idea of what that reflection may entail, look at law enforcement, one area where the data raises unprecedented questions. earlier this year, an executive at Ford commented: “we know everyone who breaks the law, we know when you’re doing it. we have GPs in your car, so we know what you’re doing. By the way, we don’t supply that data to anyone.” he later retracted the comment. But it’s worth noting that european officials have considered requiring all cars entering the european market to feature a mechanism that allows the police to stop vehicles remotely.

From small acorns…whatever the moral questions – and distinctly dystopian overtones – in all this, the money is certainly flowing. according to Gartner, apps, services and analytics capture 80 per cent of the value created, while $1.1bn was deployed into relevant start-ups globally in 2013. The UK has seen £95 million of research through research Councils UK, a £50 million investment over 10 years in the London-based Future Cities Catapult centre, and £33 million awarded to Future City Demonstrator projects in 2013. Transportation and public safety are the ‘low-hanging fruit’ that will see significant investment in the near future. energy and natural resource utilisation will also potentially benefit rapidly, as will the ability of cities to respond to natural disasters.

at this point it’s worth asking how viable this is for a place like the Channel Islands, which aren’t necessarily known for putting tech at the centre of everyday life. There’s a measurable return on investment

since 2011, Chicago has been developing its ‘city as a platform’, which has already charted, for example, the correlation between the timing of alley lighting and the theft of rubbish bins. In rio’s smart Centre of Operations, built in partnership with IBM and Oracle, rubbish trucks are coordinated through GPs, and can be repurposed for other tasks in an emergency. Meanwhile, Boston has launched several smart city projects, allowing citizens to report civic issues via their smartphones. Take street Bump, a mobile app that uses phones to monitor the smoothness of vehicle rides, and inform the city that roads need repairing.

“we’re just beginning to discover the potential that waits for us at the intersection of networked information technology and everyday urban experience,” says adam Greenfield, senior Urban Fellow at the London school of economics. “But what I see so far, just about everywhere, is partial, tactical, disarticulated propositions. Very few places on earth have yet quite grasped the potential that arises when all of these things

“we’re just beginning to discover the potential that waits for us at the

intersection of networked information technology

and everyday urban experience”

➔

Barclays offers wealth and investment management products and services to its clients through Barclays Bank PLC and its subsidiary companies. Barclays Private Clients International Limited, part of Barclays, is registered in the Isle of Man. Registered Number: 005619C. Registered Office: Barclays House, Victoria Street, Douglas, Isle of Man IM99 1AJ. Barclays Private Clients International Limited is licensed by the Isle of Man Financial Supervision Commission, registered with the Insurance and Pensions Authority in respect of General Business, and authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK in relation to UK regulated mortgage activities. Barclays Private Clients International Limited, Jersey Branch, is regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission. Barclays Private Clients International Limited, Jersey Branch, has its principal business address in Jersey at 13 Library Place, St. Helier, Jersey JE4 8NE, Channel Islands. Barclays Bank PLC, Isle of Man Branch, has its principal business address in the Isle of Man at Barclays House, Victoria Street, Douglas, Isle of Man IM99 1AJ. Barclays Private Clients International Limited, Guernsey Branch, is licensed by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission under the Banking Supervision (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 1994, as amended, and the Protection of Investors (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 1987, as amended. Barclays Private Clients International Limited, Guernsey Branch, has its principal place of business at Le Marchant House, St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands GY1 3BE.

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bricks and mortar – with brains

europe’s most eye-catching smart city project is planit valley in portugal. situated outside porto, it’s both a functional smart city and an incubator for tech start-ups that provides a live test bed for their ambitious ideas.

at the core is its patented urban Operating system, powered by 100 million real-time sensors, designed to integrate and control renewable energy production, distribution and storage; waste and water treatment and management; and logistics, transportation, building controls and urban analytics. imagine air conditioners shutting off when everyone leaves the room, apartments telling the fire brigade when they’re on fire, and cars honing in on empty parking spaces – that kind of thing.

similar principles are driving smart city developments around the world, including masdar City near abu Dhabi, kenya’s konza techno City, and songdo, near seoul. Dubbed the ‘city in a box’, the latter is being designed from the ground up with smart technology built into its very fabric. homes, offices and public buildings will be connected by a video conferencing system known as a ‘telepresence’, household rubbish will be taken away by underground tubes, and the city will be full of ev charging stations.

largely up and running, songdo is set for completion by 2015, and while less than 20 per cent of its commercial space is occupied, it’s hoped it will become home to 65,000 people. by comparison, 225,000 people will be living in the $19bn planit valley when it’s finished. having been delayed by portugal’s economic woes, the first phase is due to be operational before the year is out.

in making kit smarter. all it takes is to put sensors on existing infrastructure, like sewer systems or electric grids. sensors lead to data, data to insight, and insight to efficiencies. and let’s not forget that the vast majority of the population are already in possession of the one tool that will drive a huge part of the smart revolution: the mobile phone.

while things have been slow to get off the ground here, it is happening. Take JT’s work with vehicle tracking, part of a package it’s rolling out to the UK where drivers get a lower insurance premium if they fit their vehicle with tracking technology and a gyroscope to monitor acceleration and braking. But, as Dave Newbold, Chief Operations and Technology Officer at JT says: “There’s not a lot going on in the Channel Islands with the IoT. There are some sIMs in containers, some smart homes, some smart meters – but not a lot. You need people on board, and you need someone doing something with all the data when it comes in.”

Yet the IoT could benefit the islands in terms of employment, as it offers a potential opportunity to diversify the economy beyond financial services. “Other regions may suffer employment issues as the machines take over and certain roles are deemed no longer necessary,” says Newbold. “But if we can participate in the smart industry, we can be one of the jurisdictions driving the changes. The IoT would be good for employment if we can get proficient at supplying this business. It’s not an issue of financial investment – you just need the will. a leader needs to step into it and get the islands running.”

as Newbold suggests, the IoT is yet another sector in which the islands can sense a clear opportunity. But they need to switch on to it, and quickly – and that won’t happen automatically. n

INterNet of thINgs


➔

Internet of thIngs

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The value of investments and the income from them can go down as well as up and investors may not get back the amount originally invested.

In the UK, this advert is communicated by Canaccord Genuity Wealth Ltd (CGWL), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. In the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management (CGWM) is a trading name of Canaccord Genuity Wealth (International) Limited (CGWI) which is licensed and regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, the Isle of Man Financial Supervision Commission and the Jersey Financial Services Commission. As CGWIL is not subject to regulation by the FCA any UK investors would not benefit from the FCA investor protection rules, including the Financial Ombudsman Service and Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

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IT’s easY TO understand why many people choose to place their assets into trust – increasingly people are using trusts and foundations for dynastic planning and asset protection purposes, particularly in connection with real estate assets.

whatever the reasons, there should, as the name suggests, be trust in the trust company that takes on responsibility

of the assets. The settlor who’s placed the assets into trust should be confident they’re in safe hands – and this means having faith not only in the trust company but also the firms they do business with.

This is very important when it comes to putting property into trust. as wealth management professionals are aware, the trust effectively becomes the legal owner and adopts the position of landlord of that property – responsible for generating income, maintenance, and ensuring there’s full compliance with all regulatory requirements.

For most trusts, including those in the Channel Islands, the challenge will be to find support in doing this, which is why many trust companies work with a lot of different agents who offer the various ‘landlord services’ they need.

In turn, each of the agents will negotiate their individual service level agreements and fees, and, for the trust, it will be about juggling

Managing property within a trust demands considerable expertise. lsl Property services can handle all trust company requirements, removing the need for multiple agencies

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a lot of contracts for each property, with the potential downside being that the process becomes over complicated and mistakes can occur.

providing a solution But it needn’t be so complicated – and this is where LsL Property services, one of the most respected property services providers in the UK, can help. Their Corporate Client Department (CCD) can take on core responsibilities and ease the operational burden associated with multi-agent portfolio management.

established in 2004, LsL has grown in size and stature within the UK property market and now operates under 19 brands, including estate agents, lettings agents, surveyors and conveyancing.

LsL CCD, which already works with a number of trusts in the Channel Islands, also offers valuation and panel management services, asset management and property management services.

and, if that wasn’t enough, LsL has also established itself as a major industry commentator, producing regular monthly reports and commentary on the UK property market, some of which are referred to within UK Government.

Meeting all your requirementsLsL CCD is already firmly established in the UK for its management of multi-property corporate portfolios. as well as working with trusts, their clients include banks, building societies, mainland local government, investment companies and private landlords.

Their ultimate aim is to provide a centralised solution for all property types, whether it be residential, commercial, mixed use or beneficiary owned, and, in the case of trusts, to help in streamlining administration, protecting wealth and driving the investment of all property holdings for the benefit of their clients.

with the support of a dedicated business unit, LsL CCD can provide tailored solutions for risk management, lettings, valuations, surveying and property sales through their network of more than 500 high-street estate agencies, including the highly respected London agent Marsh and Parsons, also part of LsL.

added to this, they can offer comprehensive support through LsL weblet, which has been designed with landlords and trusts in mind, and which provides a full online overview of the status of individual rental properties. This includes details on rental payment, when the rent was last paid, income and arrears details and any void periods – it’s a great way for trusts to demonstrate their knowledge of an individual property or full property portfolios to their clients.

What makes lsl ccd really different? LsL CCD is vastly experienced in the intricacies of corporate property management, and offers a bespoke Portfolio audit service, which enables trusts to manage risk. as part of the service, specialist teams from LsL CCD prepare in-depth reports on the properties held under trust and rank any risks they associate with the property according to their potential impact on the trust.

‘Business critical’ risks, for example, relate to breaches of statutory or regulatory requirements, which, if the trust is unaware of them, may result in criminal prosecution, material financial loss, or damage to reputation – particularly if any resultant breach be more widely publicised through the media. all of which a trust would find hard to recover from, and which would damage that all-important client confidence.

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conducted. The reports also suggest where business improvement could be made. The core purpose of the Portfolio audit report conducted by LsL CCD on property portfolios for trusts is to ensure all statutory regulations are being adhered to, and that there is documented proof of the requisite certification. Key areas of investigation include ensuring that: ● Full terms and conditions for individual properties are present ● Buildings insurance is in place and fit for purpose● Gas safety certification is legally correct● avoidance of lease expiry with no renewal documents is in place● There is traceable evidence as to whether a deposit was collected This service is uniquely tailored to the industry and allows trusts to confidently demonstrate that the properties are being well managed, thus strengthening their reputation and heightening future business opportunities.

Moving to lsl LsL CCD understands that some trusts may be interested in their proposition but have existing agents working with them and contracts in place. Bearing this in mind, LsL CCD is now offering a risk Mitigation service. This will identify the trust’s existing risks and liabilities on a property/properties, and immediately help manage those through robust management of the existing agent until the end of their contract. at that time LsL CCD will be able to then take on the full management and begin the process of mitigating the associated risks, with the existing agent used for tenant-find services only.

all in all, LsL CCD offers a great one-stop property solution for trusts in Jersey and Guernsey by providing: ● risk mitigation for Trust Directors● Operational efficiencies● Improved transparency● reduced cost and improved revenue opportunities● Optimum asset performance and, of course, confidence not only from the trust in dealing with LsL, but also from the settlor who can ultimately see how well their assets are being managed. n

lsl offers comprehensive support through lsl Weblet, which provides a full online overview of the status of individual rental properties

Digital marketing


Channel hopping

In a world with more channels and devices than ever, how can businesses go about using them in a way that will make a real

difference to their bottom line? rupert Watts makes sense of it all


dIgItal marketINg

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‘likes’ on a Facebook page, or attributing a product sale to a piece of content or channel, I advocate

an ‘rOD’ approach: return on Data.Let’s take social media

as an example. Using social to enrich your customer

data set, rather than focusing on direct sales from it, is where it can deliver extensive value. here are a few examples to show why:

● Incremental data capture via polls, quizzes and competitions If you’re running a competition, make providing the key piece of data a condition of entry via the entry form, or ask people to vote for a favourite from a selection. CrossCountry Trains used this to great effect to establish a customer’s life stage. That data in turn allowed them to tailor email images, messages and incentives to a sub-segment of their customer base. The increase in opens and clicks was enormous, and led to an increase in transacting of over 150 per cent.

● Quickly building an opted-in database of prospects Genting Casinos used a Facebook and website competition to build a substantial database of interested customers in the run

up to the launch of a brand new nightclub in sheffield. They offered the chance of winning VIP tickets to the opening event with Jessica ennis. The programme was a big success with registrants opting in in their thousands.

● social sign-in buttons Many sites now offer a streamlined login by using a social media one-click login process, which means the site owner can access very valuable profiling data on that customer via the Facebook graph. It also reduces dropout from people signing in by up to 29 per cent.

● Facebook auto-fill site owners can now use an auto-fill button that uses the profile data stored on Facebook to auto-fill online forms (provided the customer is logged into their Facebook account) and even make payments from card data stored in a customer’s profile. This is likely to greatly reduce dropout and so should increase transactions and registrations.

● capturing and disseminating customer feedback and reviews If your product is one where customer reviews and testimonials matter, then allowing people to do this socially can have an enormous impact. Nielsen’s social media report found 26 per cent of people are more likely to pay attention to an ad that’s been posted by one of their social

ChOICe Is GeNeraLLY a good thing, but when it comes to talking to your customers, too much

choice can be a bad thing. as the number of channels keeps increasing, audiences are becoming more fragmented, and maintaining a presence on every channel becomes ever more onerous. should you be on social media or YouTube? should you be advertising or creating communities?

Targeting the right channels is critical to success, and even more so when you’re a smaller company with limited budget. But just how should you go about choosing where to focus investment, and what information should you track?

Understanding your customer through their data is the key to prioritising channel choice. rather than looking at the value of

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Digital marketing

network acquaintances, and according to MarketingProfs, 64 per cent consistently read online reviews prior to making product purchase decisions.

aside from social media, I also closely follow industry reports and trends via Twitter to establish the performance of channels. a great example was a recent study by ContractIQ, which found that sMs vouchers were 10 times more likely to be redeemed and shared than mail or newspaper coupons – an incredibly valuable insight.

The following sources can help you make the right channel choices too.

● Your customersThis may sound glaringly obvious, but many UK businesses still don’t look to their own customers – or if they do, they don’t follow it through. as your customers interact with your brand, particularly at the point of registration or purchase, ask them how they would like to be contacted – through which channels and how often, for instance. and once you have this information, respect it.

Your channel choice will also be affected by the aims of any given campaign. DrTV is great for driving sales; social media such as Facebook for gaining customer feedback; Twitter for monitoring/managing complaints; and email is great for driving traffic to your website and activating and reactivating customers.

● Your own dataas they say, past performance is a good indicator of the future, so look back at your own campaigns and the channels you used, assess how each performed, and rank them accordingly. Identify which performance indicators really matter to your business and make sure you’re able to track and report them at an individual level. This should give a fair indication of where to spend in the future.

● the expertsThe likes of eConsultancy, Digital Trends, DMa, bCG and businessweek frequently tweet

great reports, covering both general digital trends, but also industry-specific innovations and critiques. Twitter is an amazing source of great thinking, and it’s easy to build a sector- specific network of people you can follow without ever having to post a tweet. It’s a gold mine for ideas for small businesses wanting to punch above their weight.

● the big trends and must-havesThere are some universal truths that are hard to escape. Mobile growth will continue to outpace all other channels for many years, and yet 36 per cent of top UK advertisers don’t have a mobile site according to a study by eConsultancy – and a smaller number still create responsively designed emails (emails designed specifically to respond to any device on which they may be read). You really should ensure your site is optimised for mobile devices, and if you aren’t yet responsively designing your emails for mobile, you should at least adopt a mobile-first approach in their design – with large function buttons and a single column, building-block approach.

email’s still the darling of marketers as it remains a very profitable and responsive channel, and it’s extremely easy to track and report on. Indeed, the DMa’s latest report sees rOI of email regularly hitting 2,500 per cent (no, there’s not a decimal point missing!).

added to this, businesses are increasingly able to use customer data to hyper-personalise

Mobile growth will continue to outpace all other channels for many years, and yet 36 per cent of top uK advertisers don’t have a mobile site

emails and subject lines, and even automate campaigns to be delivered as a customer hits certain triggers, such as online basket abandonment or lapsed customer reactivation. The DMa has found this can increase response by up to 77 per cent.

● Freeware and cheap self-serve paygo softwareOnce you’ve chosen which channels to work across, the plethora of devices and browsers can greatly complicate things, but there are companies that specialise in making it easier. a great example is Vimeo. If you’re producing video content, use Vimeo’s player and they will optimise it to play well on all devices and across all browsers. You can even set security parameters to control who can see it.

Likewise nowadays for sophisticated email marketing software, you no longer have to pay a king’s ransom – great examples are dotmailer and Campaign Monitor.

so, while making the right choice of channels in which to invest may appear daunting, if you follow a step-wise approach and break it down into digestible chunks it’s eminently doable. Take it one step at a time, then test, test, test and learn as you go. n

ruPErT WATTS is Director of rGWC, a digital CrM, customer insight, loyalty and market automation specialist. He tweets under @rupWatts and can be contacted at [email protected]

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From theground up

Should businesses keep their physical servers or move operations

to the cloud? Or should they have both? And what of private

clouds and virtualisation? Jessica twentyman explains all

➔September/October 2014 businesslife.co 45

PhysICal or vIrtual?

As aNYONe whO’s ever kept a server on their own business premises knows, these tricky beasts demand specialist care and feeding. They take up space. They devour electricity. They constantly clamour for software updates, security patches and regular backups. In short,

they’re high maintenance. For some bosses that’s not a problem – that is if they have the room

to accommodate these servers and the IT expertise on staff to keep them running well. These systems may represent years of IT investment and perform tasks that are critical to day-to-day operations. In some cases, they may host confidential data the company wants to keep a close eye on in the interests of regulatory compliance and good corporate governance.

at other companies, all that monitoring and maintenance is an expensive distraction from getting work done. Plus, if they don’t have the necessary IT skills on hand, a server outage could have serious consequences, as work grinds to a halt and experienced technical support is sought.

This can be a powerful incentive to move to virtual servers in the cloud, according to Matt Chatterley, Director of web design and software development company Mattched IT. The premise here is that applications, such as email systems or financial accounting packages, are run on servers based in an internet-accessible location and managed on the company’s behalf by a third-party cloud provider.

“In the last couple of years, we’ve seen a real tipping point,” says Chatterley. “Clients of all sizes are now coming to us and saying, ‘we’ve

From theground up

got this old server sitting in our offices and we’re just not sure that it should be there anymore’.”

suddenly, there’s a much greater awareness that there are other options available. “Cloud has become sufficiently mainstream that companies are very open to discussing and considering it,” he adds.

after all, there are numerous benefits to using a virtual server based in the cloud, not least substantial financial savings. By using virtualisation software, cloud providers can host applications from multiple customers on a single server, which gives them significant economies of scale that they can pass on to their clients in cost savings.

a business that uses this kind of provider, meanwhile, rents rather than owns the IT resources it consumes. and just like renting office space, the client is charged for these resources in regular, subscription-based payments, made out of operational expenditure.

They are also charged according to the amount of IT resources they consume. If more resources are needed – more processing power, for example, or more storage capacity – then those payments rise. If fewer resources are needed, they fall.

either way, virtual servers based in the cloud can enable a business to sidestep the need to pay for its own servers out of upfront capital expenditure, and eliminate the day-to-day challenges and distractions of owning and running them.

best of both worlds“Thanks to the cloud model, some smaller organisations may find that there’s no longer any need to employ their own dedicated IT staff,


room to manoeuvre

Due diligence in a corporate m&a transaction can be a fraught affair for bidders – what do they know about the company up for sale, and what issues have they yet to bring to light?

for years, uncovering the truth meant a visit to a physical data room, typically in the offices of lawyers representing the company for sale, where bidders could peruse paper documents: bank statements, financial accounts and so on. they’d have to make an appointment to visit and obviously they’d need to travel there.

by and large, that doesn’t happen anymore, according to karl anderson, managing Director of safelink Data rooms. “i occasionally hear rumours of physical data rooms still existing, but it’s been a very long time since i’ve seen evidence that an m&a transaction was conducted that way,” he says.

instead most deals are now conducted via virtual data rooms, like the ones that safelink operates for clients including the queen’s solicitors, farrar & Co, as well as the Court of appeal in Jersey.

these are internet-accessible locations where files can be viewed securely online by prospective bidders or parties involved in a legal dispute. a virtual data room offers significant advantages over the old approach, says anderson: “they’re more convenient, they offer better access to documentation, but, most importantly, they’re more secure, too.”

Documents can only be accessed by authorised parties who have been issued an encryption key. Once inside, there are controls in place to prevent them from downloading or printing documents. and the systems that underpin a virtual data room keep a strict audit trail of who has seen each document and how long they spent browsing each page.

that can put sellers at a tactical advantage. “when negotiating a price, knowing what information the bidder has seen can help you anticipate their line of questioning,” says anderson.

but there are advantages for bidders, too: “they get convenient access to documentation from wherever they like and at whatever time of day or night they like. they’re not rushed or under pressure, so their due diligence can be more thorough as a result.”

because all their servers are virtual ones managed and maintained by their cloud provider’s IT staff,” says rob Vaudin, a senior Consultant at C5 alliance Group. some start-ups, he says, “will take an ‘all-cloud’ approach from day one”.

In mid-size and larger companies, however, this is rarely the case – most now tend to use a mix of on-premises and cloud-based servers. The trick here is identifying those servers that take up space and maintenance effort, but don’t deliver enough value back to justify that investment – the ones that support important applications, but that don’t deliver real competitive advantage to the organisation or set it apart from its rivals, because all of its rivals are using similar applications. “These systems are great candidates for migration the cloud”, says Vaudin.

according to Matt Chatterley, applications include the basic systems that employees use to get work done – email and calendar functions, document-sharing services, computer-based telephone systems and so on. servers that support websites and e-commerce functions are also good candidates.

among those mid-size and larger companies, meanwhile, there’s an increasing willingness to put more complex systems onto virtual servers, according to stafford hunt, head of Commercial Development at JT Group: “These companies are now comfortable with using the cloud to host financial accounting systems, human resources applications and customer relationship management systems, for example,” he says.

“while cost has been a huge driver of cloud services, those organisations that have gone down that route quickly uncover other benefits,” adds hunt. This is particularly true of the effort involved in getting new systems and services up and running.

“a business can certainly order its own server, wait for it to be delivered and then get IT experts to set it up, but that can take weeks.” with a cloud provider, he points out, speed of deployment can often be measured in a matter of days.

virtual reality Most organisations, however, aren’t making a simple cut-and-dried choice between super-cheap cloud servers and high-maintenance on-premises servers, because there’s much that can be done today to reduce the costs and maintenance effort associated with the latter.

By virtualising the physical hardware they hold in their data centres, companies can achieve many of the benefits of cloud computing –

“While cost has been a huge driver of cloud services, those

who go down that route quickly uncover other benefits”


PhysICal or vIrtual?

increased scalability and flexibility, coupled with reduced energy bills and maintenance costs – within their own server farms.

Unlike the ‘one application, one server’ model used in the past, virtualisation software allows companies to replace multiple small servers with fewer larger servers, each capable of hosting multiple systems. Fewer servers mean less work for the IT team and greater energy efficiency, and virtualisation also gives individual applications flexible access to greater processing power and data storage space as and when they need it.

That’s because those fewer larger servers are able to act as if they’re a single ‘pool’ of computing resource. The result is that companies don’t run into problems when an application outgrows its physical server, requiring a whole new dedicated machine to be bought. Nor will they experience the far more common problem of underutilisation, where each application sits on a physical server that is often far too big for it to give it the necessary space to grow.

By combining virtualisation software with automation technologies that govern how server resources within the pool are allocated to individual applications, companies can create their own ‘private cloud’.

Or, they can have a service provider build a private cloud for them in its hosting centre. This is a popular model with financial services companies, for example, says stephen Kane, head of Data Centre sales

at sure. “It’s a simple matter of compliance,” he says. “The regulations don’t allow them to use a model for certain systems and data where they’re sitting on servers shared by other companies.”

according to Kane, a hosted private cloud is a great choice for companies that don’t want to use shared infrastructure, but at the same time, don’t have suitable on-premises space available to accommodate systems. Most office buildings aren’t designed with the needs of IT infrastructure in mind – uninterruptible power supplies, specialised cooling, access control systems and IT support teams and security specialists who work on a round-the-clock basis.

Today, whether they’re based in the cloud or on a company’s own premises, more and more physical servers are now, in fact, virtualised. according to analysts at IT market research company IDC, each of today’s virtualised physical servers now hosts, on average, 10 virtualised servers. By 2017 the number will rise to over 12 virtual servers per physical machine.

above all, the balance has shifted away from the ‘one application, one server’ model. IDC’s analysts reckon around half of all applications at work in the world today are already powered by virtual servers – better for floor space, energy bills, and businesses, too. n

JESSICA TWENTYMAN is a business technology writer


we are generating more data than ever before – and success and failure in business could be determined by which companies around the globe use that data in the smartest way, as liat clarke explains

A world ofdata


➔

Big Data

world

BY ThIs TIMe tomorrow, an extra 2.5 quintillion bytes of data will have been created. That’s a perfectly impossible volume to grasp. so if you need a mental picture, in one year that amounts to a stack of data-filled

iPads that reaches the moon – and it’s a volume that’s expected to increase tenfold by 2020.

The build up to this volume of data has been extraordinarily brief. Ninety per cent of all today’s data has been generated in the last couple of years. This is partly down to the realisation of Moore’s Law, which dictates that computing power will double every two years as the cost of semiconductors plummets. This has led to the proliferation of mobile devices, along with sensors that are fitted into our cars, wearables and home appliances, which are all rapidly generating data of their own.

In most cases, that data is unstructured – taking the form of emails, photos, audio, social media content and much more – meaning it doesn’t fit neatly into rows and fields, like structured financial data. so it’s not surprising, then, that although we’ve all heard of big data, its value remains elusive to many. Indeed, at the time of a 2013 Gartner report, less than eight per cent of companies were deploying big data analytics.

processing the dataBut that doesn’t have to be the case. Just as the cost of electronics has plummeted, thus increasing their reach, so has the cost of processing and storing that data, thanks to cloud computing. For companies, that means realising the advantages of deploying customer relationship management (CrM) systems, fuelled by big data and complex algorithms, to help employees make novel connections, insights and decisions in real time.

as Chris Clark, Managing Director at technology firm Prosperity 24.7, explains: “It’s about analysing thousands of transactions and minuscule correlations, and tying that back to behaviours.”

For the JTC Group, that meant transforming its CrM from a ‘giant address book’ containing thousands of client details, into a tool for driving global expansion.

“with big data analytics we could see how far business operations had moved and forecast how likely deals would progress,” says David Vieira, Group head of Business Development and Marketing.

“we tracked stats on a monthly basis to see the exact volume and rate of enquiries.” The improved CrM was stepped up just two years ago, and as a result has helped JTC go from having offices in five jurisdictions to 18.

as the group expanded into africa and Latin america, analytics helped them target the right clients in the right way. In southern africa, for instance, it showed that clients were accessing the company website on mobile devices – e-marketing campaigns were tailored for the platform and a mobile responsive site launched.

Making the connectionsocial media is also increasingly becoming a part of building client profiles. JTC integrates LinkedIn into its CrM, which then flags up when a client has changed jobs. “we’ll get in touch to congratulate them and set up another meeting,” says Vieira. Other firms might just lose contact, receiving bounce-back emails from the client’s old address.

JTC also uses behaviour tracking to see which products clients are clicking on through their site. although this could be perceived as intrusive, Vieira notes it’s simply a matter of “taking real world systems online” – if you met someone at a conference, say, you’d make a mental note of which brochure they picked up.

Client managers just need to adopt an indirect approach, recommends Clark. “Phone up and mention a particular client service to strike a chord, don’t go straight in and suggest the specific product they had looked at.”

Telecommunications group sure has been integrating research from customer focus groups and public comments on Facebook and Twitter into its CrM. “It’s about finding out how this data relates to the analysis we’ve already done,” says Gavin Price, head of Commercial Integration. “we can then start tagging the data to automatically segment customers [according to preferences].”

If companies manage to avoid unnerving clients by uncannily pre-empting their needs, the advantages will

be huge. Between e-marketing, cold calling and snail mail junk, the public is, unsurprisingly, a little jaded. a genuinely helpful call or a bespoke e-marketing campaign means clients will be more likely to pick up the phone or divert emails from junk.

however, all this relies on having clean and relevant data to begin with. “Companies have massive amounts of data collected over

At the time of a 2013 report, less

than eight per cent of companies were deploying big

data analytics

data


BIg data

a number of years, and information from 10 years ago might be patchy,” says David Carney, a senior Manager in risk assurance at PwC. Many organisations don’t even have a handle on what data they hold, he says, and start building CrM systems without deciding what questions need to be answered.

If data’s not clean and reliable, and a cross-departmental strategy isn’t decided upon, big data won’t be the solution – it will be the start of a complicated mess. “It’s about stepping back to ask yourself, ‘is it all relevant?’” says Carney.

It’s why all the analytics are done in-house at sure. “we had pockets of skills, in terms of excel resources, and we could build in dependent variables that made it meaningful to us,” says Gavin Price

data protectionKeeping employees in the loop is also key to protecting client data – you can’t provide the proper privacy and security if you don’t know who is handling it and how. every employee must be aware of data protection regulations, says Price, who notes that most breaches are attributable to human error. “The tech side of things will do as it’s told – it’s about educating people.”

according to europe’s Data Protection Directive and the article 29 working Party – made up of regulators from all member states – customer consent is needed when “tracking and profiling for purposes

Many organisations start building CrM

systems without deciding what questions need to be answered

of direct marketing, behavioural advertising, data brokering, location-based advertising or tracking-based digital market research”. But as Karen McCullagh, Law Lecturer at the University of east anglia, points out, company terms and conditions are rarely straightforward, and so could prove problematic.

The eU Directive also states that data processing and collection should be proportionate to the original use. “however, big data analytics often involves repurposing of data,” says McCullagh.

Vieira says JTC sticks to a policy of transparency to make sure it’s in line with the directive, while Price argues that all of sure’s data is anonymised. however, anonymised data can get personal – and quickly.

“Organisations tend to claim that data is not personal because it’s held in an anonymised or statistical format,” says McCullagh. ”however, given the volume processed it can lead to surprisingly accurate profiling.”

Jennifer Golbeck, Director of the human-Computer Interaction Lab at the University of Maryland, recently revealed how her team predicted how smart a person was based simply on whether or not they ‘liked’ a curly fries Facebook page. This was down to a network effect – smart people tend to know other smart people, and the page founder was smart. however, other elements as seemingly trivial as ‘liking’ curly fries were also shown to help accurately predict ➔


Big Data

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If data’s not clean and reliable, and a cross-departmental

strategy isn’t decided upon, big data won’t be the solution

– it will be the start of a complicated mess

political preference, gender, religion and age.

when everyone from Barclays to the Nhs says it wants to sell anonymised customer data, the dangers to the public appear to be growing. Carney notes: “If you haven’t logged in, but a company already has information on you and how to track habits, how many clicks does it take to figure out it’s you?”

Change is afoot, however. Pending changes to the eU Directive will force companies to be more responsible when it comes to profiling – both in terms of excessive collection and getting informed consent. as a consequence, they will have to provide customers with access to their profile, as well as information on how it was built.

Companies need to be prepared for this. as the public becomes more aware of what analysts are doing, they will want to know their data is

being safeguarded. Ultimately, these adherences will be worth it because, used correctly, big data can help any company grow. a report published in the Harvard business review in 2012 showed those in the top third of their industry were six per cent more profitable than competitors when they made data-driven decisions.

at the end of the day, though, to have a successful experience with big data, companies really

just need to continue doing what they should already be doing – listening to clients, keeping interdepartmental communications open and asking the right questions. The analytics will just help the answers come faster. and with the world’s total data output expected to reach 40 trillion gigabytes by 2020, that help couldn’t come soon enough. n

LIAT CLArkE is a reporter at Wired.co.uk

The robot uprising

as more systems become automated and we rely increasingly on analytics to make our decisions for us, employee numbers are likely to be culled. the signs are clear across multiple industries.

thanks to an algorithm that draws in data from multiple sources – including the us geological survey – the Los Angeles Times published a news article about an earthquake earlier this year, minutes after it happened.

text-mining could make paralegals redundant, and image processing software could do the same for lab technicians. but in most of these cases, it’s likely to be a mistake.

a great example of the inherent problem that comes with letting a robot do a human’s job came when high frequency trading algorithms caused the stock market to temporarily crash last year. why? associated press’s twitter account was hacked and a tweet posted stating that the white house had been bombed and the us president injured.

and ‘misread’ data can go a very long way to seriously damaging customer relations. when an angry father marched into a target store in the us furious because the retail branch had been automatically sending his teenage daughter vouchers for cots, Crm was to blame. his daughter had been buying unscented lotion and supplements – classic signs, according to target’s ‘pregnancy predictor’ analytics, that she was approaching her second trimester. it turned out the system was right, but that didn’t matter much to the furious father and his mortified daughter.

Despite abiding by us privacy laws, target – and the statistician that implemented it eight years prior, adding $23bn in growth to the company – had managed to totally overstep what is acceptable in customer relations, proving that behind every good analytics system, there needs to be an even better human team. a cautionary tale well worth bearing in mind as manipulating big data becomes common practice.

BIg data

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because we want to move money faster, have more control over our finances and transact in a way that

suits us best, technology is having to reinvent finance in a way we’ve never seen before.

Dave Waller explores the fintech explosion

Money MOve

INaNCIaL serVICes aND technology seem to be inseparable these days, and the frankly phenomenal rise of fintech shows

just how much can be gained by such a coupling. Once merely a catch-all description for back-office solutions being sold into financial institutions, the fintech sector has blossomed into something genuinely transformative, pioneering everything from alternative currencies to peer-to-peer lending. want your own private wealth manager? Thanks to recent developments in fintech, you can have one – even if you don’t have a yacht parked in the driveway next to your car.

all those mysterious ‘1’s and ‘0’s may be baffling, but when applied to the finance world they certainly seem to command vast sums. according to accenture, global investment in fintech ventures has more than tripled during the last five years – from under $930 million in 2008 to more than $2.97bn in 2013. Meanwhile over the past three years, global investment in fintech has grown more

£

$

on thef


➔

Fintech

£

than four times faster than venture capital investment has overall.

But what exactly is fintech? For the typical financial services company, it will comprise a couple of key elements. Firstly, it’s about how the organisation uses technology to enhance the way it does business – generating efficiencies, improving controls and security, using data more effectively, enhancing communication and speeding up transactions.

But it’s also about providing these benefits to customers and clients too. Barclays, for example, launched its mobile phone payment platform Pingit in 2012. Designed to enable customers to make payments with just a mobile phone number, it had over one million downloads in its first six months alone. In July this year, a London cabbie became the first to use it as his sole method of taking payment, with the meter fare transferring from the customer’s bank account to the driver’s in 30 seconds.

at the beginning of 2014, five other UK banks – Metro Bank, First Direct, hsBC, santander and Nationwide – announced

they were adding a new mobile payment facility called Zapp to their existing smartphone and tablet apps. “Fintech is essentially about using technology to facilitate banking services,” says Derek white, Chief Design Officer at Barclays. “It ensures our colleagues, customers and clients can do what they want, when they want, and in a way that suits them best.”

disruptive financeas you may expect of a digital sector, the fintech world is one that’s constantly being disrupted. Developers are coming up with novel innovations all the time. The key thing is that the large institutions are aware of how much this can benefit their punters. “The existing payment systems have been seen as not cost-effective, and companies are becoming more savvy and looking for ideas for alternatives,” says adrian akers, Technical services Director at Touchstone, a wealth management systems consultant.

Those seeking alternatives now have a range of options, with the emergence

of cloud computing and greater access to processing power and data servers all meaning that it’s easier for small, innovative technology start-ups to turn their ideas into marketable products.

Take the company CurrencyTransfer. every month, Co-Founders Daniel abrahams and stevan Litobac needed to send money abroad to pay suppliers. The pair were mortified at the hidden fees and ludicrous bank markups. Zero per cent commission was often a devious way of concealing a terrible rate of exchange, often up to five per cent of the value of the transfer. Trying to get ‘smart’, the founders would call up two or three FCa-regulated foreign exchange brokers for sharper rates. The rates were very competitive, but the process of shopping around took a good hour each week. It all became pretty tiring, inefficient and inaccurate as the rates move by the second.

The two thought ‘wouldn’t it be great to log onto a platform, compare money transfer quotes from multiple suppliers, and book a transfer. all on the same venue. In a matter


of 60 seconds?’ and so CurrencyTransfer.com was born.

“The big banks’ other key realisation is that nimble digital start-ups may well be better qualified to produce this stuff than they are,” says akers.

Indeed, since the crash, banks haven’t been able to afford to invest large amounts into developing their own products, so they have switched to investing in specialist start-ups instead. Many now back fintech accelerators, programmes that back a handful of companies who are working to develop new financially focused technological platforms, giving them the support and advice they need to get their companies up and running.

hsBC, for example, has allocated up to $200 million for investment in tech start-ups with the aim of improving the bank’s financial technology. It’s a win-win: the start-up gets a leg-up, while the backers get to pass on the benefits of the improved technology to their customers. This could be anything from online payment systems to virtual private wealth managers (see box, left).

New frontiersBut it’s not all being driven by the tech. Just as the banks’ purse strings were being tightened, so new and tighter regulatory demands were being imposed upon them too, requiring improvements in everything from capital adequacy to client accountability. Now the larger financial services companies needed new technology

that would prove they were performing at the top of their game.

as if that wasn’t enough to create a perfect storm for fintech, there were other factors too – not least the changing economy. “There’s a whole pool of talent within the financial services industry of people who got made redundant in the downturn and simply went off and launched their own start-ups,” says eric Van der Kleij, head of Level39, a fintech accelerator in Canary wharf. “all this when the regulatory regime in the UK is improving for entrepreneurs too. It’s getting easier both to start a business, and to hold on to your capital gains when you come to sell it.”

The world leader in fintech is silicon Valley. The area’s fintech industry raised $950 million in venture funding in 2013 alone. The UK and Ireland are some way behind – total fintech investment there has reached a comparatively low $781 million since 2004 – but the region is making great strides. The volume of fintech deals there has tripled since 2011, while the five-year compound growth rate for fintech financing was twice the global average and twice that of silicon Valley.

The good news for the Channel Islands is that fintech represents a strong opportunity. as the technology sector requires only a light footprint, it means not only that fintech can

Setting the tills ringing

the following fintech developments are those that have really gained traction in recent years:

non-bank banks. Companies like zopa and funding Circle are pioneering peer-to-peer innovations in lending and invoice discounting, helping to plug a crucial gap by providing finance to smes in a way that traditional banks can’t.

real-time fraud and compliance screening. kusiri is a company that will go to a bank that’s using 50 different banking systems, the legacy of years’ worth of different systems installations, and use ‘data scraping’ to create a single dashboard that reaches across them all, making it easier to see what’s going on in every corner of the business at all times. this is a technology that was innovated in the internet, now being applied to improve solutions for banks.

automated private wealth. users of services like nutmeg, the online investment management software, get an automated system that feels like they’re receiving advice from their own private wealth manager. this democratises the world of wealth management, opening it up to people who would have previously been priced out. a case of technology actively increasing the scope of the market.

payment systems. people are seeing how much their bank charges them for making payments. now many smaller companies are going with cheaper payment bureaus or payment hubs to lower the costs. expect the likes of transfergo and transferwise to be raking it in pretty soon.

£

$


Fintech

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help their financial services businesses improve their processes, but that the islands may just be able to diversify their own economies further by moving into the digital space.

Take cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. such technologies may capture the imagination, but they need interest not only from business, but also from the regulators. when Jersey launched GaBI, its first regulated Bitcoin investment fund, in august, the island’s financial services commission was quick to give it support. There’s now a drive to get Jersey recognised as the world’s first ‘Bitcoin isle’ (see page 60).

“There’s an interesting opportunity for the Channel Islands to use their heritage and experience to do something very powerful in this space,” says Van Der Kleij. “The islands have so much experience in financial services they could become a pioneer in hybrid finance,

facilitating the transformation from the old world of financial services to the new one. There’s no question that the Channel Islands could prove transformative if they get in now.”

Beyond the vast experience they offer, the Channel Islands may also benefit from their size. The high concentration of heavy-hitting financial institutions makes it easier for dynamic start-ups to get access to those who decide where the money goes. Meanwhile organisations like Digital Jersey and Locate Jersey are working to bring local companies on board, helping politicians understand the businesses, and going out to find opportunities.

Venture capitalists and entrepreneurs are out there, whether you’re talking London, silicon Valley or beyond, with fintech accelerators designed to help entrepreneurs through the process of getting ideas out to

scale. Many of these new fintech businesses will be looking to europe for expansion – so why not head them up in the Channel Islands instead of the UK?

as is so often the case with new opportunities, success in fintech will rest on showing the desire to get in there early. Do that, and the Channel Islands will be a long way towards boosting their digital pockets. n

DAvE WALLEr is a freelance business writer

The fintech sector has blossomed into something genuinely transformative, pioneering everything from alternative currencies to peer-to-peer lending


Bitcoin

both sIdes of the (Bit)coin


Bitcoin

➔

Is the time right for Jersey and Guernsey to embrace the potential of bitcoin, or should the islands steer clear for the sake of their financial services industries? Kirsten Morel weighs up the arguments

IF IT’s The roller coaster rides that get you going at the funfair, it’s likely Bitcoin is your kind of asset class when it comes to investment.

had you bought, or mined, Bitcoin at the end of 2011, when the cryptocurrency’s value was just above 29 cents, come last November your

investment would have gone through the roof, as one Bitcoin became worth just over $1,000.

On the other hand, had you invested at that peak, you would have lost almost half your investment by now – at the time of writing, Bitcoin had fallen to just over $571. Investing in Bitcoin is certainly not for the risk averse, and not just because it’s a volatile commodity but because nobody really understands what drives its value up or down.

every rise and fall in Bitcoin’s value is followed by a slew of articles and commentators trying to explain why. Ironically, the strongest reason offered for the rising value is the enormous amount of media hype surrounding this digital asset. Yes, people understand there’s a limited supply of Bitcoin and that new coins are generated (mined) at regular intervals. Many also understand that Bitcoin is deflationary, but none of these facts help investors understand why there wasn’t a catastrophic fall in value when Mt Gox, the once dominant Bitcoin exchange, collapsed earlier this year amid various rumours and recriminations.

Given the uncertainty, why would anyone want to put their hard-earned money into such an enigmatic and volatile asset class? Moreover, why is Jersey looking at cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology (the technology that underlies Bitcoin) as a potential source of business for the future?

an oily parallelLooking at the investment potential of Bitcoin, Daniel Masters, Director at Global advisors, the investment firm that has just launched the world’s first regulated Bitcoin investment fund, compares today’s Bitcoin ecosystem to that of the oil industry 30 years ago.

“During my first 15 years, the oil market was completely fractured, there was little in the way of exchanges and

there were multiple company failures and so on. To all intents and purposes, it looked similar to the Bitcoin market we see today.”

Global advisors launched a commodities fund back in the late Nineties, which had the effect of creating a channel for capital to flow into the energy industry, sparking innovation and development that would otherwise have been slow to take hold.

“By investing, a wonderful miracle of economics came to pass,” Masters explains. “when people invested, it drove the price of oil higher and made other forms of energy viable. By 2010, the Chinese were using 10 million barrels of oil per day. had that investment not occurred, God knows what would have happened.”

while oil’s viscous reality may seem a million miles from the ephemeral world of cryptocurrencies, Masters sees Bitcoin addressing issues in the banking sector in a similar way to oil in the energy industry.

“I look at Bitcoin and it has all the hallmarks that oil had in that first 15-year period. It also has a compelling story. when you look at the costs and limits of sending and receiving money, you realise that Bitcoin is a very interesting technology.”

It’s the enormous inefficiencies in the banking sector, those that were unmasked so brutally during the credit crunch, that have created the narrative that Masters believes Bitcoin is destined to follow.

Importantly for Jersey, the launch of the Global advisers Bitcoin Investment Fund (GaBI) was accompanied by a great deal of press attention. as the world’s first fully regulated Bitcoin investment fund, GaBI carries Jersey’s regulatory seal of approval. For a jurisdiction that does all it can to maintain a strong reputation as an international finance centre, this is no small move – particularly as Bitcoin is repeatedly linked with criminal activity (see page 64).

treading carefully“we have a sensitive activities Policy,” says John everett, Director of Funds and Policy at the Jersey Financial services Commission. “This covers activities that could give the island a bad name. Bitcoin could fall into that.”


Bitcoin

as a result, GaBI is available only to institutional investors or sophisticated investors with over a million pounds in assets (excluding a residential home).

“reports from world regulatory authorities tend to agree that Bitcoin isn’t for retail investors and that there are risks,” says everett. “Jersey’s expert fund regime means you won’t have retail investors involved in it and that you have to sign a declaration of the understanding of risk.”

as much as GaBI is a world first, if Jersey’s involvement in Bitcoin is limited to hosting investment funds then it’s unlikely to become a significant industry. Tellingly, the launch of GaBI was used by Jersey’s Government as an opportunity to welcome cryptocurrency business to the island, adding that this is only as long as it falls within Jersey’s existing regulatory framework.

Describing cryptocurrency as ‘business’ is important because Bitcoin, according to robbie andrews, Co-founder of Bit.coin.je, Jersey’s cryptocurrency community, is much more than an asset class, and the wider Bitcoin industry is looking for a home.

“a truly global space has popped up in the last five years that has grown so fast and isn’t led by a single

bitcoin has potential as an asset for investment, as a currency, and, further down the line, as a technology that could reshape economies

country,” andrews explains. “It doesn’t have a geographical location to call home, and if you were to pick anywhere in the world, Jersey and the Channel Islands are as good candidates as any.”

Certainly competitive jurisdictions, most notably the Isle of Man, have stepped forward to show their willingness to accommodate Bitcoin businesses. however, there is little clarity about whether such public announcements, like the Manx government saying that it would enact cryptocurrency laws towards the end of this year, are designed to attract media attention or do in fact have substance.

even Jersey’s much smaller sister island of alderney got in on the act last year by announcing that it would partner with the royal Mint to evaluate the feasibility of creating a gold-backed version of Bitcoin. The idea immediately attracted comments about reputational risk to the Bailiwick of Guernsey, of which alderney is a part, and has since been put to bed.

Guernsey has since stayed quiet about Bitcoin and while island resident Toby Birch, a founder member of the UK Digital Currency association, puts much of this down to regulatory fears, he’s hopeful for change.

“The regulator is very risk averse,” Birch says. “It’s a classic case of being protective and not allowing anything to happen. having got off to an uncertain start, however, we will hopefully be able to fast-track some legislation in the year ahead.”

Guernsey’s slow start has, in Toby Birch’s mind, put the island “six months behind” and this is reflected in its lack of Bitcoin business activity.

stealing a marchThis slow start contrasts sharply with Jersey, which has more than a dozen businesses publicly accepting Bitcoin and which is openly talking about developing businesses based on Bitcoin or services based on blockchain technology.

“The way the blockchain works allows for a decentralised network of trust, or a trustless network,” ➔


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2015 PUBlIShINg SChEDUlE

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businesslife.co

Issue Theme Available

36 – January/February 29 December 2014

37 – March/April Includes property section 6 March

38 – May/June wealth Edition 9 May

39 – July/August 4 July

40 – September/October Technology 4 September

41 – November/December Funds 30 October

42 - January/February 2016 28 December


Bitcoin

explains robbie andrews. “every transaction is time-stamped and verified by a massive network.”

applications of this technology are being developed by a number of companies, including one in Jersey called Blockcraft. One view at the moment is that the blockchain can be used to remove the middle man from transactions, and while many professionals won’t be happy to hear it, it’s expected to be used to replace roles such as notarial services, centralised registers and accounting services.

“If you can have the same power as your lawyer or accountant in your PC, then you will save a huge amount of money,” says andrews.

so Bitcoin has potential as an asset for investment, as a currency and, further down the line, as a technology that could reshape economies. although initially reticent, regulators are moving to understand and accept Bitcoin and politicians are coming on side too. so if Jersey or Guernsey wants to make the most of Bitcoin, what would make the biggest impact?

Paradoxically, for a technology that poses a genuine threat to the banking system, andrews sees banks as being key to jumping ahead in the Bitcoin race.

“You have a perfect storm of businesses that are generating a lot of money but no banks that are willing to deal with it,” says andrews. “I think there’s a gap here that Jersey could take advantage of, and it will only be a matter of time before another jurisdiction does.”

adam Cleary, Founder of London-based Bullion Bitcoin, agrees that finding a bank to deal with Bitcoin businesses is crucial, but is not a panacea.

“access to banking is a critical issue, but other issues also impact the choice of jurisdiction, particularly taxation and regulation’” he says. “Fidor Bank in Germany is actively providing services to digital currency businesses, but this has not as yet resulted in an overwhelming advantage for Germany as a Bitcoin jurisdiction.”

as with most things in the technology world, it’s difficult for the non-techie to see beyond the hype, but in Bitcoin, which has thrived in the limelight, there is a great deal of substance. whether it is this currency or another incarnation of blockchain technology, there’s a lot more of the cryptocurrency world to discover.

It’s perhaps too early to say whether Bitcoin will become an important part of the Channel Islands’ economies, but there’s a passion driving those involved. and while ensuring that financial services reputations aren’t damaged, both Jersey and Guernsey have an opportunity to be among the first to explore this exciting new frontier. n

kIrSTEN MOrEL is businesslife.co’s Technology Editor

The dark side of bitcoin

bitcoin is certainly not short of evangelists and it’s quickly come to the attention of the mainstream media. however, the early days of bitcoin were littered with as many stories about its dark side as there were stories about its potential benefits.

bitcoin’s popularity among users of silk road, an anonymous online marketplace hidden in the darker recesses of the internet, was one of the main drivers for the scare stories, which tended to focus on bitcoin’s ability to enable people to buy drugs, engage in criminal activity or launder money with very little chance of being caught.

ultimately, the fbi caught up with the alleged man behind silk road, ross william ulbricht, and as part of their investigation they seized 170,000 bitcoins (over $100 million) from both ulbricht and the site.

earlier this summer, us marshalls auctioned almost 30,000 coins seized from the site, which would have been worth around $17 million at the time – but silk road’s downfall did not stop a second version quickly coming online.

bitcoin’s involvement with the shady site did not stop, and earlier this year $2.7 million worth of bitcoins were stolen from silk road 2.0, highlighting not only the darker uses of bitcoin, but also proving that, digital or not, a currency will always be a target for theft.

“You have a perfect storm of businesses that are generating a lot of money but no banks that are willing to deal with it”

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Disruptive technology


➔


I aM aLwaYs writing about the period we’re in, and sometimes I’m telling people things they don’t want to hear,” scriptwriter Matthew

weiner recently told The Atlantic magazine. “The economy, the internet – all these things are isolating us and making us feel defeated. Our national culture feels defeated, our exceptionalism.”

weiner is the creator of one of TV’s most successful shows about the workplace, Mad Men. The show is set in the hard-drinking, chain-smoking, very non-PC world of a 1960s advertising agency based on New York’s Madison avenue. a large part of its appeal is that it’s the story of a time when things seemed more predictable and stable than they do for the current generation. after the period in which Mad Men was set, the workplace began to change fast, and weiner says that the subtext of the show is really “present-day angst” about the disruptive technologies that have transformed work and society in recent times.

It is, after all, less than three decades since the internet went mainstream and turned over tried and tested business models – from how to send a letter to how to break the news. These days, a child under the age of 10 living in a developed country may never watch broadcast TV or pick up an encyclopedia.

The phrase ‘disruptive innovation’ was coined in 1995 by Professor Clayton M Christensen of the harvard Business school, who described it as the process of creating entirely new markets and sets of customers. he emphasised that while new technologies have a role to play, it’s the business models of disruptive firms that are important, and often they emerge from market niches thought too small to be of value to established firms.

who would have thought, for example, that a company that developed a niche algorithm for searching databases would go on to become the most valuable – and arguably most powerful – in the world? Or that a website for organising student parties would become the de facto method for 1.32 billion people a month to stay in touch with their families and friends and, in many cases, receive their daily news.

as young, agile companies like Google and Facebook quickly overtook the traditional media and IT firms they disrupted, so the term ‘disruptive tech’ has passed from a popular buzz-phrase among silicon Valley

start-up culture into everyday business parlance. and that may not necessarily be a good thing.

For disruption’s sake“It’s really fashionable to talk about disruption,” says Matt Chatterley, Founder of Jersey-based software developer Mattched IT. “It’s suddenly gone mainstream in the last six months, even though it’s really just the way that innovation works. Lastminute.com is a good example, in that it was highly disruptive at the time it was launched, but is now commonplace.

“People looking for disruption now often do so for no good reason, though. They’re developing things like scalping apps for selling parking spaces, and that’s not such a good thing.”

as an example, whatsapp, the disruptive and free alternative to sMs popular with everyone from welsh teenagers to Malaysian businessmen, is unlikely to feel threatened by newcomer to the instant messaging space, Yo, which allows you to transmit the message ‘Yo’ and nothing more to contacts. some do see the value in disruption for disruption’s sake, though – Yo recently received a $1.5 million investment, indicating that someone sees a future in its simplicity, which others may not yet perceive.

Chatterley says that the industry most ripe for disruption now is banking and finance, and points to the recent proposals to regulate Bitcoin in New York as an example of how revolution in the sector is inevitable.

“whatever you think of cryptographic currency, it’s a great medium of exchange,” Chatterley says, highlighting increasing concern among consumers around sharing payment details online. “The big revelation is that you can push money to a target rather than exchange information,” he explains.

established financial players are waking up to this too. In July, MasterCard launched its MasterPass service in 10 countries, which allows online shoppers to make payments without sharing card details with retailers. however, it’s in the developing world where the biggest disruptions are happening.

Banks and mobile operators have been fascinated for years by the rise of mobile money in african states like Kenya and Tanzania, where a majority of working-age adults now use Vodafone subsidiary safaricom’s M-Pesa system for transferring small amounts of money using

“

new tech has the power to ‘disrupt’ the status quo, changing the way we live our lives. But how is disruptive

technology affecting us right now? And is breaking the mould always a good thing? adam oxford investigates



voucher codes over sMs. By providing a cost-effective way for urban workers to save and send money to families in rural areas, M-Pesa and its many imitators are seen as both a mechanism for disrupting heavily regulated and expensive formal financial systems common in lower income countries and a way to bring the ‘unbanked’ into the fold.

Japie van Niekerk, Managing Director of Bidvest Bank, which underwrites M-Pesa in south africa, says he eventually sees mobile remittances working across borders too, removing often complex currency controls that hurt migrant workers’ ability to send money home.

More to comeDisruption, then, is far from over, and while Christensen was keen to distinguish disruptive innovation from technological advances, the coming of age of cloud computing with its near infinite resources of processing power and storage will ensure that the next 10 years will be just as innovative as the last.

Just like the word disruption, the phrase ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) is also starting to enter the mainstream, and many believe it heralds yet another period of rapid change. IoT describes everything in the world of connected devices, ranging from tiny networked sensors to heavy plant machinery with on-board intelligence. analysts at Gartner recently predicted that 26 billion devices will make up the IoT by the end of this decade, providing real-time information about almost everything, and a fertile ground of data for disruptive innovation.

“The next technological revolution will connect the world, quantifying the environment and sharing that data in vast databases,” says Lawrence Lundy, ICT Consultant for analysts Frost and sullivan, “The mattress will know when a body is present, clothing will know when it needs

to be washed, and the lights will know when to dim. The natural world is about to be quantified, automated and made more efficient.”

If you thought the last 10 years were interesting, strap in – there’s definitely more ‘disruption’ on its way. n

ADAM OxFOrD is the Editor of South African technology blog htxt.africa, and also writes for ZDNet.com on technology innovation

Drivers of disruption

“i’m ‘airbnb’ing my flat at the moment,” says maxine brady, an interior stylist from brighton, ”i made £1,500 last month. it’s a great alternative to renting in the short term.”

brady is one of millions of people who are using a new generation of websites and mobile apps to rent out their homes or skills – where brokerage platforms replace old-fashioned bartering for mutual benefit.

the emergence of sharing in a particular business sector is rarely met with warmth by established firms. in the same way Craigslist, a network of free local classified ads, destroyed the business models of newspapers, airbnb is seen by those in the hospitality industry as stealing business from traditional hoteliers. and to make things worse for them, it just closed a half a billion dollar funding round.

the best known of these disruptive sharing services is arguably uber, a mobile app which matches owner-drivers with potential

passengers. uber improves on traditional minicab services by providing real-time location data on the car – so you know exactly when your ride is going to turn up – and handling the financial transaction, so you don’t need to carry cash around at night.

not everyone is a fan. licensed cab drivers from new york to london have attempted to get uber banned because its drivers aren’t always subject to the same strict regulations around testing and insurance. and owning a licence to operate a taxi is traditionally a lucrative affair, which uber seeks to undercut. in June, black-cab drivers in london joined their colleagues across europe in a day of protest against the service.

uber’s general manager alon lits, however, is sanguine about the image his firm has among professional taxi services, and sees disruption of any long-standing business model as both inevitable and desirable. “Cab operators must improve, or people and drivers will both choose uber,” he says.

“People looking for disruption now often do so for no good reason. They’re developing things like scalping apps for selling parking spaces, and that’s not such a good thing”

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GadGets

you lot have never had it so good with this new line-up of must-have

gadgets ready for launch this autumn. sean hargrave takes a look at the

most exciting tech that no busy exec should be without

Gotta have it!

apple iphone 6OK, sO IT’s a tad predictable, but there really is only going to be one gadget manufacturer at the centre of everyone’s attention this autumn. across september and October, apple is due to announce and launch the iPhone 6, as well as, the rumour mill suggests, the long-awaited iwatch. Indeed, you may already have the iPhone in your hot, sweaty palms.

The new iteration will offer ham-fingered executives a choice of 4.7-inch or 5.5-inch screens for swiping and messaging, as well as near-field-communications (NFC) so the handset can pay for goods and services and act as a mobile ticket for transport and events.

It’s not yet clear if both larger screen versions will go on the market at the same time. as ever with apple, rumours are swirling around that one will be launched a couple of months after the other.

whatever order they’re shipped in, it’s highly likely the usual scenes of excitable fan-boys camping outside apple stores will be repeated the length and breadth of the country. You may well opt to simply pre-order online and receive your iPhone 6 a day later, but without the bad back from a night spent sleeping on regent street.

smartwatchesBUsY exeCs are going to have more choice

than ever in the coming months when it comes to smart wrist wear. Like many

gadget niches, there have been some false starts, but apple’s iwatch will – again, if the rumour mill is correct – be announced sometime in september or October for a November launch.

It will go head-to-head with the newly launched samsung Gear Live and LG G watch models based on Google’s android wear platform.

Interestingly, it’s an area Motorola is trying to make its name in with the

Moto 360, the only round traditional-looking smartwatch, the release of which

is yet to be announced. Launch dates are open to much online debate, but it’s likely all will be

available for Christmas. For Becca Caddy, Publisher of leading gadget site shinyshiny.tv, it’s an exciting time.

“The whole tech world is on the edge of their seats waiting to hear more details about apple’s iwatch,” she says. “It’s tipped to have state-of-the-art health and fitness tracking as well as a range of designs, so if the rumours are true, that could be the smartwatch to rule them all – for both men and women.

“so many smartwatches have entered the market this year. although some have captured the imaginations

?

GadGets

of tech-lovers and wearable fans, we’re yet to see a gadget that can break into the mainstream by combining the features found within popular health and fitness bands, becoming a genuinely helpful one-stop notification centre, and, most importantly, giving us a good reason to carry yet another gadget around with us 24/7.”

google glassFOr earLY aDOPTers, putting on a £1,000 pair of specs has opened up a new world of displaying maps, documents, film activity and playback footage, leading many to claim it’s the must-have gadget of the year.

For Paul Lamkin, editor-In-Chief of wareable, the excitement is understandable, but he believes improvements are needed, and will come in time. “Google Glass has enormous potential for the workplace,” he says. “It’s a device that has the potential to bring an architect’s vision to life on a construction site, put real-time biometric information in the view of a surgeon during a complicated operation, or keep a trader up to date with the latest market moves, quite literally with a blink of an eye.

“The potential is limitless. however, in its current guise, the hardware sadly isn’t. Google Glass is very much a work in progress. It’s like a taster for what the next big thing could be.”

One potential answer, at least aesthetically, has been a deal with ray-Ban and Oakley to design trendier looking frames so early adopters feel a little less geeky. a timeline

for when the designer glasses will be available has not yet been released, but making Google Glass look a little less like a pair of laboratory eye protectors is bound to widen the technology’s appeal.

Mobile hotspotseVeN wITh The eU cutting back data-roaming costs, mobile data isn’t cheap – particularly if you also fly outside europe. so, many execs may well want to seek relief from an expenses mishap

through the £199 Goodspeed mobile hotspot. It’s a mobile hub that connects with your devices when

you’re travelling to offer a local mobile data connection or access to a wi-fi hotspot if one is available. Purchasers can select the nine countries they spend

most time visiting and then rest assured they are only paying £4.90 per GB of data on top of a monthly fee of £8.20. Occasional travellers can opt out of paying a monthly fee and instead pay €13.70 per day or per GB.

Wake up calla raDIO aLarM clock may not seem the most pressing of gadgets now most people use their smartphones to wake them up. however, for execs who either want to

switch their phone off overnight or listen to high-quality DaB or

FM radio audio, as well as music streamed from their phone via

Bluetooth, the Geneva sound system Model xs DaB+ is worth a look at £219.

It has a small amplifier and a set of tiny speakers inside its ‘clamshell’ design, which, along with its handy size (about

the size of a larger mobile phone), neat case and

rechargeable battery, help it stand out from the crowd.

one for the future?sTeVe sTaNTON, aN engineer at C5

alliance, believes the gadget that will really catch the imagination in a few years’ time is the 3D-printed robot.

“The technology behind 3D printing is really moving on and becoming exciting now,” he says. “where I reckon you could see it go, though, is printing out circuit boards as well as main parts for a robot that could become an

executive’s personal assistant. everyone gets weighed down by all the everyday admin, but imagine if you

could just print out a robot that would help fill in forms and take care of your administrative tasks. It may sound like it’s years off, but it’s technology researchers are working on right now.” n

SEAN HArGrAvE is a freelance technology writer


Cyber defenCe


Cyber defenCe

➔

IF YOU’D MaDe a credit card purchase from Us retailer Target in October last year, you’d have been an unwitting

victim of the biggest retail hack in Us history. Malware designed

to steal details from credit card transactions had

been installed on Target’s payments system, so as cards were swiped in every transaction across

its 1,797 stores, the details were sent to a Target server

being controlled by hackers, ready to be sold on further

to eager buyers. earlier in the same year,

a 16-year-old Brit was secretly arrested by the UK’s Cyber Crime Unit for what

has been described as the biggest cyber attack in the history of the internet, which

saw hackers bombard the servers of Dutch anti-spam organisation spamhaus with 300 billion bits per second of data, enough not only to knock the site out of business, but apparently to cause a global internet slowdown.

here we have two very different types of cyber attack, but together they deliver a stark message: as technology’s role in day-to-day business increases, so too does the potential for malevolent interests to sabotage the process.

and as these examples show, criminals may not even be after money directly. It may be commercial intellectual property, denial of service, or that all-important data. Meanwhile their methods are increasingly well organised. what was once the hobby of teenagers in basements has become commercialised, with teams of geeks working on commercial terms because they can make more money that way than by doing anything else.

“Ten years ago you’d have needed to be part of a criminal fraternity,” says Grant Mitchenall, Director of Financial risks at heritage Insurance. “Now anyone can source the stuff themselves and sell it to a company’s competitors. You could hack into IBM, for example, and sell the information to Cisco. will this kind of company admit to buying it? No. But while government and inter-governmental hacking has been seen to be the highest area of risk, that’s followed by corporate cases, and then the criminal networks.”

Information overloadsome of these ‘baddies’ will be going after commercial secrets and competitor information. Not necessarily needing to steal it – they may simply go into systems, scan them for terms with some extortion value, and copy files. Often this is a continual process, known as ‘milking’, rather than

As technology proliferates, companies

from all walks of business are finding themselves at the mercy of cyber attacks – with

their finances, intellectual property and very existence

being threatened. dave Waller reports

Attack


a series of one-off attacks. Others will go down the blackmail road, with distributed denial of service attacks (DDos).

here those shady elements will control an army of millions of infected computers around the world, and under the command of a central server they’ll point all the computers to a target website and overload it with traffic, thus taking it off the air. Its operator will often receive a ransom note, saying ‘pay protection money or we’ll attack’.

“e-gaming companies may be particularly susceptible to DDos attacks,” says Dean Cooper, senior Consultant at C5 alliance. “with any company that needs an online presence to conduct their business, DDos is potentially the easiest way to coerce them. This sort of attack will be perpetrated by organised crime, not by rival businesses. I’ve not actually seen any ransom situations, but it is happening.”

These attacks could be coming from anyone: a business, outlaws, or groups with a political agenda. as for who’s being attacked, it’s anyone, from banks like Zurich UK, to tech firms themselves – eBay, apple, LinkedIn, Yahoo and Microsoft have all succumbed. hacking collective anonymous launched sustained attacks on giants like Mastercard, Visa and PayPal under the banner Operation Paycheck, because these businesses had cut their ties to wikileaks.

Meanwhile more innocuous companies are often singled out as the route in to a bigger player. Target, for example, was taken out by a rogue element getting in through one of its trusted suppliers. so a business needn’t be sitting on clients’ credit card details to become a victim. attacks simply come down to the value of the given information on the black market. and everything, from browsing history to corporate KYC data, is worth something.

“The issue is absolutely far bigger than companies expect,” says shai Blitzblau, Managing Director at Maglan Information Defence Technologies. “In 2013, we performed 196 penetration tests in eU companies. These are attack simulations, anything from light hacking to

industrial espionage. we had success in 90 per cent of those – and most were big european or global corporations.”

think you’re safe?One example of Maglan’s work is with major Italian fashion houses, who naturally seek to cloak upcoming designs in secrecy. Yet theirs isn’t the only world in which a breach can be disastrous, and companies often need to do more than they think to ensure protection.

“I’m meeting CeOs who are saying: ‘we’ve invested €20 million in security, so we’re safe’,” says Blitzblau. “But they’re still not secure. The threat is moving all the time, a true case of cat and mouse. I’d say the total levels of IT security protection at the moment are medium, but the volume of targeted hacking incidents is very high.”

If you’re reading this in the offices of a financial services firm in the Channel Islands, alarm bells may well be ringing. while official figures on breaches are thin on the ground, anecdotal evidence suggests the Channel Islands have had their share of trouble. Mitchenall says two of his clients have been actively hacked, while he knows of three other

businesses that have been targeted. he describes the attacks as ‘very focused’ attempts to elicit information for money, and

both were caught before it was too late – but only just. Meanwhile andy Jarrett, Director at Digital Jersey, says the islands’ e-gaming and financial businesses are being attacked both randomly and specifically. “JT noted well over 80 attacks in the last two years,” he says. “That’s notably up on previous periods.”

as for how the cyber defence landscape will look in a few years’ time, it’s hard to imagine such attacks declining, in either scope or technique. Just as the sophistication of the defences catch up to the criminals, the latter will always manage to stay one step ahead. There’s simply too much money to be made

– and invested – in this game of cat and mouse. n

DAvE WALLEr is a freelance business writer

Play it safe

as the frequency, scale and intelligence of cyber attacks increases, what can businesses do to protect themselves?

get your systems checked out there are specialised firms that conduct controlled penetrations of companies’ systems. it’s hard to imagine a better way to test for vulnerabilities, but that doesn’t mean it’s fun for the company’s CsO, who may find it painful to see just how easy it is to breach the defences.

assume the worst it’s prudent for your systems to assume you already have some infection. the leading technology can analyse network traffic, spotting machines that are behaving unusually, and even logging where bad traffic is hiding among the good.

take a DDos mitigation service Credible providers offer filter technology to spot bad traffic and block it, while allowing the good stuff to go through.

Communicate these attacks are going on in banking, but no one talks about it. not surprising, perhaps. but sharing the knowledge on such attacks would be good for the whole industry.

educate the easiest way to penetrate a company is via social engineering – exploiting the human urge to help people out. allowing just one rogue usb stick onto a network may be enough to bring it down, so make people aware of the dangers. isO 27001 is the standard to pursue. the watchwords should be: training, risk management and effective security.

As technology’s role in day-to-day

business increases, so too does the potential

for malevolent interests to sabotage

the process

CyBer defeNCe

to get involved contact carl Methven +44 (0) 1534 615886 / +44 (0) 7797 796377 or [email protected]

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to get involved contact carl Methven +44 (0) 1534 615886 / +44 (0) 7797 796377 or [email protected]

IT’s TheperfecT maTch!

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Future tech

FANTASY

ISlANDSJersey and Guernsey constantly talk about

diversifying their economies, but what if they really took technology to the extreme? liat clarke looks at some areas of tech that are pretty much ‘out there’ and asks whether the Channel Islands really could

benefit from taking a walk on the wild side


➔

Future tech

The wearaBLes OF the future will be all-encompassing health monitors, fashion statements and remote controls for every connected object in your world, of which there will be many. This doesn’t simply mean thermostats and smartphones – think door locks sensing your digital fingerprint, and refrigerators ordering the groceries. smartphones and wearables will control every step.

The established chipmakers powering these devices may be hard to compete with, but there are many more avenues for opportunity. Not least of which are the legal and regulatory frameworks needed to enable the connected revolution – if you thought data protection laws were slow to grapple with Google’s behaviour tracking, wait until insurance companies get hold of your heart-rate data.

Because health will be a huge part of our connected world (see page 80), samsung and apple have launched dedicated health app stores, and there’s ample space for fine-tuning the sensors picking up that data, the software analytics making it useful and the transfer and data-storage systems backing it all up. Cybersecurity will also be key – hack a future wearable, and you will be hacking an individual’s entire life.

Perhaps more important than any of these business opportunities is consumer testing, marketing and product design. To date there’s probably not a wearable on the market fashionable or useful enough to stay strapped to a person’s face or wrist all day, every day. Google Glass has met criticism for its looks and camera tech, already receiving bans from cinemas. anyone that can nail a product design that’s beautiful and timeless, and delivers a UsP that doesn’t rely on infringing the privacy of others, is in for a windfall.

JaPaNese rOBOT KIrOBO was the first to have a conversation in space last year, and it signified the leaps being made in natural-language processing. soon we will be able to tell our phones, and the devices they are connected to, exactly what we want them to do, and this stands to make our robotic underlings more helpful than ever before.

elsewhere robots are already becoming our surgeons – 422,000 surgeries were conducted with them in the Us in 2013 – and an ageing population means robot caregivers are in the making.

robotics can be thought of in two categories - the machines we see, that will be doing the heavy lifting in factories, and the artificial intelligence (aI) behind them. The opportunities lie in developing the software that powers that aI. MIT roboticist Cynthia Breazeal has built the first family-friendly robot, ‘Jibo’, and she has already called on developers to create accompanying apps.

Opportunities also exist in legislation. atlas, the terrifying six-foot robot unveiled by Darpa in 2013, is designed for disaster response, but like the drones before it, will likely find its way into armies. Designing legislation for a future robot army is therefore a nearer task than you think. Not to mention the need for a legal framework that takes advanced aI into account.

will we need a robot rights directive to prevent the abuse of these machines by those that control them? There are also no laws today that would apply to a murderous robot, because intent must be taken into account. Can a driverless car powered by a siri-like future personal assistant be found guilty of a traffic crime if there’s no human in the vehicle?

On a brighter note, with the UK promising to get driverless cars out on public roads by 2015, the relatively small landmass of the Channel Islands could present the perfect test bed. “when you’re naturally confined by scale, then is that not a great opportunity to be leading the way? If the islands became a voracious user of high-tech – perhaps a test bed of sorts – then why would its own high-tech industry not follow on?” says Matthew Thornton, a Director at IT consultancy C5 alliance.

Wearable tech

robotics


Future tech

the Isle of Man seems to

have its eyes squarely

on the big prize:

manned space

missions

FrOM sCIeNCe TO space tourism, the opportunities in the space sector are huge. The Isle of Man may already have a footing here – partly due to the government creating a dedicated Office of space Commerce – and it seems to have its eyes squarely on the big prize: manned missions.

This is an already crowded sector, with spacex, Boeing, space adventures and the Isle of Man’s own excalibur almaz all planning orbital flights – and Virgin Galactic, xCOr and armadillo aerospace planning suborbital tourism. There are opportunities, however, in helping provide the legal and engineering backing these companies need to succeed – particularly if, as planned, the UK opens its first spaceport in 2018.

Most commercial spaceflight operators are also planning to provide companies with the means to launch small satellites weighing under 250kg. These cost-effective tools can be used to gather data for a variety of industries, including those delivering high-speed broadband to regions with poor connectivity (the Channel Island’s O3b is already on the case).

with the proliferation of miniature 10cm3 cubesats and the use of ever-advancing consumer-grade electronics in satellites, the opportunities for research are also expected to expand. Companies that want to build and design satellites will be in demand, as will those behind their software and the data-storage systems back on earth.

a rather large stumbling block, however, is expertise. Many space start-ups in the relatively successful UK market came from academic r&D

hubs, so a university could massively improve the Channel Islands’ space-race chances. “If the Channel Islands could attract the right variety of academics, it could start to grow a hub of technology experts,” says C5 alliance’s Thornton.

we MaY NOT be able to see the future, but 3D simulations are trying their best to give us a number of optional ones to base decisions on.

Tech firm rDV systems helps city planners, transportation companies and local government understand the environmental and economic impact of their designs by building a computer-generated view of the architecture and geology, dragging in publicly available data on traffic, population and more, and layering it with Nasa photography.

“You can help different interest groups or the public imagine what something is going to look like,” says CeO eial Diskin. “It enables you, in a simple manner, to see what things will look like in the future.” The company licenses the technology out, so anyone can make use of it, or they’ll build it for you. It means bringing an entirely new dimension to your business – whatever that might be.

For instance, cloud-based simulation software simudyne has been developed to not only help city planners, but emergency responders and healthcare providers, in one study replicating an entire country of three million people.

Combined with big-data analytics, they proved in one case that a city park was entirely misplaced – built in an area with high crime rates and poor transport links, it was not widely used by runners. This might sound unimportant, but a well-placed park that encourages the public to exercise is part of what will drive down healthcare costs. with a rapidly ageing population, this will be a key area moving forward.

as INCreDIBLe as it would be for the Channel Islands to bag a piece of the high-tech action, C5 alliance’s Thornton presents a very forthright sense check.

“For anything like this to happen, it would initially need a mix of financial backing and a commitment to training (and retaining) the right skills on island,” he explains. “will this ever happen? I doubt it – on Guernsey, we can’t even build a decent cinema.

“There are two clear barriers to entry in these sectors – expertise and start-up costs. Clustering of high-tech industry is a well-known phenomenon – so it would take something initially to kick-start any such industry in the Channel Islands, as nothing like it really exists.”

Of course, this doesn’t mean it’s impossible. “Modern computing and advances in technology have greatly decreased the importance of geographic location and reduced some of the previous barriers to entry into certain markets,” says Thornton. “and I for one would welcome a high-tech Guernsey, awash with miles of fibre optics and self-driving solar-panelled cars… and of course my own robotic servant.”

as they say, be careful what you wish for… n

LIAT CLArkE is a reporter at Wired.co.uk

space race

3d simulations

reality check

Why not treat yourself (or somebody else) to a bite of something delicious.

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St Helier Seriously Ad.indd 1 20/08/2014 12:40


MeDICaL sCIeNCe aND technological innovation have always been closely related. From hippocrates and asclepieia, through da Vinci’s anatomical studies, to

Marie Curie and big pharma today, the basic human desire to live longer and live better has drawn curious minds to focus their research on medicine and healthcare.

even by historical standards, however, the opportunities for technology to improve our wellbeing seem, from a layman’s point of view, to be in a period of stunning growth. In the last eight years alone, scientists have profiled the human genome and grown skin tissue from stem cells.

One of the most interesting areas of development is where connected technologies and healthcare are colliding. Our ability to fit sensors into just about everything and process the data they collect has enormous implications for healthcare.

In July, for example, internet giant Google and healthcare company Novartis announced that they had entered a partnership to develop ‘smart lens’ contact lenses for diabetics. The lenses, which were originally developed in the same lab as Google’s self-driving cars, contain a microscopic sensor able to detect glucose levels in tears. almost as improbable is that they are then able to relay that data back to doctors using antennae thinner than a human hair that are embedded in the lens.

The inventors, Brian Otis and Babak Parviz, said that they had originally looked at putting LeDs on the lenses

A pictureof health

From the smartphone in your pocket to 3D printers and

nanorobots, technology is transforming healthcare

around the world. Adam Oxford puts some

groundbreaking innovations under the microscope


HealtHcare

➔

too, which would warn people if the wearer was about to enter a hypoglycaemic state.

smart lenses may sound like something from the future, but they’re far from the most outlandish project currently being developed for healthcare. In 2012, Dr George Church of harvard Medical school was the principal investigator for a team that created ‘DNa nanorobots’ of molecular size, which are capable of destroying ‘cells in distress’.

as Church explains: “we can finally integrate sensing and logical computing functions via complex yet predictable nanostructures, aimed at useful, very specific targeting of human cancers and T-cells.”

smart thinkingwhile cancer-hunting nanobots and smart lenses may still be a few years off general use, there’s one device that’s delivering unforeseen amounts of benefit today – the humble smartphone.

Thanks, in part, to a profusion of sub-$100 handsets aimed at developing countries, market research firm GFK is predicting that 5.2 billion people – 69 per cent of the entire planet’s population – will own a smartphone by the end of 2017. and that has huge implications for health. as well as being excellent conduits for putting lifesaving information and medical advice into people’s hands, smartphones can employ all kinds of other sensors used for monitoring people’s health.

Back in 2011, researchers at MIT were able to accurately predict an owner’s activity by analysing the real-time information generated by a particular sensor, which can turn a phone into a pedometer. high-end phones today, like the samsung Galaxy s5, even come with sophisticated heart-rate detectors built in, and there’s a burgeoning market for ‘wearables’ like fitness bands, smartwatches or blood-pressure monitors, which connect to smartphones for data-gathering purposes – keeping an eye on what we eat, how fast and far we run, and encouraging us to do more of the things that are better for us.

For the most part, says consultant cardiologist andrew Mitchell, the phone add-ons and apps available today aren’t just cheap gimmickry. “It’s mostly high-quality stuff that’s coming through,” he says. “The FDa in the Us has cottoned on to the development of applications that might be termed a health device. so a lot of the applications and hardware have to prove themselves to be of the quality the FDa would approve.”

and Mitchell says that Jersey is becoming a prime location for testing new healthcare technologies,


HealtHcare

Printing health

“the most exciting technology right now is 3D printing, because it’s something that can be done at all levels,” says martin Cooke, head of it services and Operations at C5 alliance. “researchers are creating nanotechnologies and implants, and bioengineering muscles and teeth all using 3D printing.”

there are many advantages that recent breakthroughs in 3D printing bring to healthcare. last year, us biotechnology company Organovo revealed that it had 3D printed a functioning human liver – albeit a scaled down one – by layering individual cells on top of each other. the tiny liver survived for five days in a laboratory, and the company is currently working towards producing tissue suitable for drug research, which could one day replace animal testing for some trials. CtO sharon presnell told journalists that she expected to be able to produce directly implantable material “within my lifetime”.

in south africa this July, doctors performed surgery to implant 3D-printed jaw implants as part of facial reconstruction surgery for cancer sufferers in the poverty stricken eastern Cape. if this is what 3D printing can do now, just where could it go in the years to come?

particularly those that rely on acquisition and analysis of large data sets through smartphone apps.

“In the last few years, things have exploded in mobile health technology and wearables,” he says. “about three years ago we started looking at what Jersey can provide. It has a small stable population that is relatively affluent, and that’s a good environment for testing new technologies.”

Many of Mitchell’s own patients are recording data using common smartphones and wearables, which have proved useful in monitoring exercise levels.

“a patient of mine came to the clinic having recently undergone heart surgery,” Mitchell says. “exercise is an important part of his rehabilitation and when I asked how much exercise he does, he was able to share with me the readout from his fitness tracking device. we know that people who use these become incentivised to do more, and there is some work looking at using these devices to enhance recovery from certain types of surgery.”

One of the biggest issues at the moment, he says, is the lack of a common set of reporting standards for health

information so that different services can share data with each other. “we need a uniform language for health devices, so data can cross talk using different applications,” he says.

delivering with dataMartin Cooke is head of IT services and operations at C5 alliance, a Jersey-based solutions provider and high-tech consultancy. Prior to his current position, he was Chief Officer of the states of Guernsey health and social services Department, and before that he spent five years as CeO of the Nhs Dudley Primary healthcare Trust. Over the course of his career, he’s been involved with evaluating and implementing cutting-edge healthcare on behalf of hundreds of thousands of people.

Cooke is a proponent of the use of big data to improve the delivery of healthcare. his experience of using Mosaic, the Nhs’s data-analysis tool, convinced him that the potential for using large data sets, like those captured from personal fitness apps, will be an essential tool for making the most out of public healthcare budgets in the future.

“The Nhs is already using those tools to predict down to postcode level how many people in a 10-house area will develop type 2 diabetes and respiratory problems in 20 years,” Cooke says. “I think it has huge benefits. Predicting down to that level can save millions on future operations.”

and that, says Cooke, is key. as populations age and healthcare needs increase, bringing the costs of care down is critical – and technology will play a vital role. n

ADAM OxFOrD is the Editor of South African technology blog htxt.africa, and also writes for ZDNet.com on technology innovation

Last year, uS biotechnology company Organovo revealed that it had 3D printed a functioning human liver – albeit a scaled down one – by layering individual cells on top of each other

➨September/October 2014 businesslife.co 83

The AGeNDA

1goes all autumnal

INsIDe The AGeNDA: EVENTS, FASHION, SHOES, ACCESSORIES, DRINKS, BEAuTy, PHONES, FuRNITuRE, WATCHES, CARS

Everything you need for a more stylish life.

The Agenda is compiled by businesslife.co’s Fashion and Lifestyle Editor thom O’Dwyer, with additional material by Danny Cobbs, and Jeffrey Chinn of Hettich Jewellers in St Helier.

1. Shape shift

High shine, iridescent shimmer, luminous lustre, and sparkling three-dimensional textures are all major stories for women’s fashion this autumn. In its autumn/winter pre-season collection, burberry prorsum has produced the ultimate statement dress – the most beautiful, yet wearable, high-shine dress a girl could ever imagine. The cut may be simple, but the impact is mega. Rest assured, when you step out in this bronze-colour metallic geometric cloqué shift dress, heads will twirl. £995, uk.burberry.com

the AgendA


4. Clap your hands, stamp your feet

Charlotte Olympia’s fanciful shoe, handbag and accessories designs have put the label directly at the top of every fashionista’s wish list. And her new collection doesn’t let down the legacy. In an homage to the great couturier Elsa Schiaparelli – the designer who was Coco Chanel’s great rival – Olympia has come up with the ultimate fantasy shoe, the Hands On Sandal. Elegantly manicured hands reach up to form the straps of these impeccably made suede sandals in an optical illusion that will have everyone looking twice. Just too, too divine for words! £755, www.selfridges.com

43

3. Moo moo booze

A premium vodka made in west Dorset? From cow’s milk? you couldn’t make it up. But black Cow vodka is currently the tipple du jour of celebrity ‘moo-vers’ and shakers. How’s it made? The whey from the milk is fermented into a milk beer, distilled and put through a top secret blending process. It’s then triple-filtered before being put into glass vessels resembling vintage milk bottles complete with a gold top.

Last year it won the coveted silver medal at the San Francisco World Spirit Competition, and fans include superstars Daniel Craig and Liz Hurley, and celebrity chefs Heston Blumenthal, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Mark Hix. Food writer Tom Parker Bowles is also smitten, claiming that it is “one of the most remarkable things I’ve ever tasted… and makes a Dirty Martini you’ll never forget.” From £23.85, www.blackcow.co.uk

2. The big picture

It took a Chinese company, huawei, to go just that little bit further with mobile phone techno gimmickry with their new Huawei Ascend P7 smartphone. The P7 has moved the ‘selfie’ into what the techno company has christened the ‘groufie’ or ‘group selfie’. The phone’s stand-out feature is its forward-facing eight-megapixel camera which can produce panoramic shots. The results are truly outstanding, and the mere fact that the company has managed to cram a camera similar to the ones in the last few iPhones into a smartphone that is just 6.5mm thick is downright astonishing. While the camera and the ‘groufie’ are certainly not going to change the world, it definitely sets a new high water mark for front-facing cameras. £327.50, www.amazon.co.uk

2


➨

7. Block party

The totally on-trend shirt label du jour gitman vintage has been in business for over 70 years. Tucked away in a sleepy little Pennsylvania borough, it remains one of the most celebrated names in American clothing. Delving into their vast archive season after season and making use of fabrics and designs that reflect the brand’s rich history, the company deals in heritage cuts, recognisable detailing and classic yet fun – sometimes slightly off-the-wall – fabrications. This funky Wood Block shirt is finished with the iconic shirt-maker’s instantly recognisable detailing, button-down collar, and premium make. A nice bit of fun for the fall… £155, www.endclothing.co.uk

7

6. Spinning around

For sport, fitness, rehabilitation, or for just sheer fun, powerball is a totally unique techno tool that has taken the exercise market by storm. It’s a finely engineered, high-precision gyroscopic sphere designed to exercise the wrist as part of physical therapy or in order to build palm, forearm and finger strength. This brilliantly designed, tennis-ball-sized plastic or metal shell encloses a free-spinning mass which is started with a short ripcord string. Once the gyroscope inside is going fast enough, the person holding the device can accelerate the spinning mass to high revolution rate by moving the wrist in a circular movement. From £11.99, www.powerballs.com

65. All aboard the retro train…

Living with sustainability and eco-awareness in mind has become an important part of today’s culture. Our increased awareness has given recycled and upcycled furniture and finishes a prominent place in contemporary interior design, and Eastbourne-based the retro station should be your first and only stop for retro, vintage and upcycled furniture. A veritable hive of creative activity, the small team of three créateurs believe that with some imagination and a dose of good old fashioned elbow grease, any piece can be resurrected and redefined as a wonderful design feature for your home. Pictured here is their ingenious ‘Trunkie Chair’. Made from steamer trunks mostly dating from the 1930s and 1940s, this single individualistic item is a master stroke of interior design brilliance. £649, www.theretrostation.com

5


the AgendA

8. To dive for

When it comes to watches that can hold their own in seriously challenging environments, not too many brands can say they’ve been higher, further or faster than rolex, writes Jeffrey Chinn. To add to their collection of boundary-defying watches, Rolex has just released a brand new version of the Deepsea, the divers’ watch that is waterproof to an extreme depth of 3,900 metres. No, that’s not a typo.

The Deepsea’s innovative technology revolves around its Ringlock System, a nearly indestructible nitrogen-alloyed stainless steel compression ring, able to withstand pressure that would crush a nuclear sub. This new version with its gradient blue-to-black dial was produced to commemorate the Deepsea Challenger solo dive by film director James Cameron to the furthest depths of the ocean. £7,220, www.hettich.co.uk

89. Joy ride

Of all the cars currently on the market, there’s only one that seems to be in a class all on its own, and that’s the mazda mx-5, writes Danny Cobbs.

Granted, there are cars that are faster, technically more advanced and have much greener credentials, but when it comes down to pure unadulterated fun, and for less than 20 grand, there’s simply nothing that compares, or even comes close, to the MX-5. Plus, it’s super reliable and cheap to maintain too.

From its conception, Mazda wanted the MX-5 to be their interpretation of a two-seater roadster. Three generations later, and the MX-5 has never wavered from that ideal. It has a low-slung cockpit, like a Triumph Spitfire or MG Midget, and the engine drives the rear wheels, just as God proclaimed it should. And because it has a 50:50 power-to-weight ratio, it has the balance and poise of a prima ballerina.

Even in its most powerful form – fitted with the 2.0i 160PS Sports Tech engine – it’s far from being the quickest car on the road. But it’s not about straight-line speed, it’s what happens when the road twists and turns a bit, and the sun shines, and the roof is down. And then it becomes the most fun you can have with your clothes on. From £18,495, www.mazda.co.uk


➨

910. 24/7 skin care

zv2 is a totally natural skin care product specially formulated for men. Only launched in July, it’s already been shortlisted for a prestigious GQ award as best new grooming product. This stuff is the fountain of youth in a bottle, or rather two colour-coded bottles – one for day and another for night. It’s also the first atomised serum on the market. Formulated using all fresh natural ingredients by European scientists specialising in skin care, in essence the product feeds a man’s skin, helping to reduce any appearance of fatigue or ageing. Its anti-inflammatory characteristics also help produce a relaxed radiance and restore a healthy look, and it can also help decrease those dreaded under-eye circles and puffiness. It’s suitable for all skin types and it also provides vital skin protection for all weather conditions. Thank you Robyn Opie, the lady behind ZV2, for this miracle in a bottle. Errr, two bottles…£52, www.zv2.co.uk

10


the AgendA

13. Build your own

Have you ever spent hours searching for the perfect pair of shoes? Well now you can design your own at the click of an app. Top British menswear designer gresham blake has teamed up with free app u Design gb to help you design and order footwear in a wide range of styles and materials. you can even have shoes cut from the same cloth as your smart Gresham Blake suit!

Styles include loafers, Oxfords, classic brogues, Chelsea boots, golf shoes, slippers, and even smart trainers. And you can choose from the finest leathers, suede, patent, velvet, wool tweeds and canvas.

And if that’s not enough, the app’s virtual reality will allow you to see the completed shoe on your foot as though you are actually wearing it. Thanks to high technology, u Design and Gresham Blake, no two pairs of shoes need ever be the same again. From £295, www.greshamblake.com

12. Bags of style

At January’s Men’s Fashion Week, Burberry’s Creative Director Christopher Bailey sent some amazing menswear down the catwalk, but it was the st ives bags that stole the show. The overall theme was ‘A Painterly Journey’, and was inspired by Bailey’s personal creative heroes – the bohemian artists of the St Ives Group, including Ben Nicholson and Christopher Wood, and the Bloomsbury Group headed by Duncan Grant. This was a romantic, artistic show, and the bags garnered the most attention, appearing in a number of guises. A double-handled, zip-fastening, oversized tote was produced in British blanket material, Moroccan kilim weaves, and beautifully rendered hand-painted abstract and impressionistic floral and abstract designs in both leather and suede. From £1,495, uk.burberry.com

1211

13

11. Modern man

Since 2002, award-winning designer Oliver spencer has been one of the major forces in British fashion – both men’s and women’s. A self-taught tailor, the man is a wizard at producing cross-generational, switched-on clothes for the modern man, adapting bits of Americana and pared down conceptual design inspiration from Japan and melding it into his own personal brand of ‘cool Britannia’. Spencer’s knock-out autumn/winter 2014 collection is all about a luxury urban aesthetic. It’s urban renewal with old-school construction, exquisite craftsmanship and sharp attention to detail just begging to be worn. Ontario shirt, £110; Oxford jacket, £350; shawl lapel waistcoat, £180; judo pants, £150; and chukka boots, £220. www.oliverspencer.co.uk


1

14. Down the hatch

The munich Oktoberfest is one of the most famous annual events of its kind, and the world’s largest fair, attracting seven million visitors each year. What started in 1810 as part of the wedding festivities of Bavarian King Ludwig I and his wife Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen proved so popular that it became an annual event, and this year it runs from Saturday 20 September to Sunday 5 October. Be warned though, the Munich beer that is served is considerably stronger than normal lager, so pace yourselves! Last year 14.6 million pints were quaffed. There are 14 absolutely massive beer tents, as well as a huge number of smaller tents and stalls selling pretzels, food, souvenirs and other Bavarian bits and bobs. The whole shebang kicks off at high noon on opening Saturday when the Mayor of Munich taps the first barrel of beer. www.oktoberfest.de

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15. Golden girls

The belief that gold holds mysterious beautifying properties dates back thousands of years to Egypt and the early Mayan and Aztec civilizations. Historians claim that Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile, always slept with her face encased in a solid gold mask to enhance and prolong her legendary beauty. But good news – now you don’t have to be a queen, or even a millionaire, to enjoy this game changer in the beauty world. Rich in mineral gold, natural plant collagen, anti-ageing hyaluronic acid and fragrant rose essence, Jamela skin Care 24K Gold Crystal Collagen Facial Masks are easily absorbed, removing toxins and tightening the skin, leaving you with a plump, nourished, visibly smoother, rejuvenated complexion. It doesn’t get more luxurious than this.From £30.50, www.jamelaskincare.com

TO gET YOUR FIRM lISTED IN ThE DIRECTORY CONTACT CARl METhVEN+44 (0) 1534 615886 / +44 (0) 7797 796377 OR [email protected]

NEw ONlINE DIRECTORY

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ThE ONlINE DIRECTORY ThAT wIll gET YOUR FIRM NOTICED. with a profile summary on every press release, and a historical press release archive linked to your directory entry, businesslife.co is the place to be

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Directory

bespoke impartial Credit solutions

Asset Leverage Consultants (ALC) is a privately

owned company based in Jersey, serving a global

client base.

We deliver bespoke debt structuring solutions,

based upon the very latest financial criteria across

all asset classes. Our knowledge enables our clients

to achieve optimal financial structures that

maximise returns and our service allows Trustees,

Family Offices and Private Clients (both Private and

Institutional), the ability to secure savings both from

a monetary perspective and reduced risk profile.

ALC demystifies the language of finance, working

independently of any provider on an impartial basis

for our clients.

learn more at: www.alc.je

tel: 01534 719 188

email: [email protected]

linkedin: /asset leverage consultants

training that improves business performance

The tools we use everyday are the ones that we

need to know best, which is why ALX Training

delivers Microsoft Office classes to a wide range of

businesses across the Channel Islands.

Designed to meet the needs of your business, our

courses improve efficiency by helping your staff get

the most from Microsoft Excel, Word, Outlook

PowerPoint, Project and Visio. Enabling them to

work confidently and productively with these

powerful tools as well as learning clever tips and

tricks that save both time and effort.

We make it easy for you by coming to your offices

and using our own laptops for the sessions,

alternatively, training can take place at our offices

above Liberation Station on the Esplanade.

If your organisation is planning to upgrade to Office

2010 or Windows 7 then ALX Training is the perfect

partner. We’ll ensure that your colleagues will be

able to use these new applications from the first

moment they sit down to use them.

for more information and a copy of our latest

catalogue please call

alex morel on 01534 710925

email [email protected]

www.alxtraining.com

Appleby is the leading provider of offshore, legal,

fiduciary and administration services. uniquely

positioned in the key offshore jurisdictions of

Bermuda, BVI, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Isle

of Man, Jersey, Mauritius and the Seychelles, as well

as the international financial centres of London,

Hong Kong, Shanghai and Zurich. We are also the

only firm to have offices in all three British Crown

Dependencies.

Active in Jersey’s Finance industry sector since its

inception, the Jersey office has an excellent

reputation for corporate & commercial, litigation,

property and financial services as well as private

client and corporate trust work.

Our services include:

● Corporate & Commercial

● Litigation & Insolvency

● Private Client & Trust

● Property

Members of the Jersey office regularly advise

London City and international law firms on all legal

aspects of offshore corporate, finance and

investment fund transactions and arrangements in

Jersey.

For more information visit our website

www.applebyglobal.com/our-expertise

michael Cushing

managing partner – Jersey

tel: +44(0)1534 818 395


To advertise in the directory in print or online contact Carl Methven on + 44 (0)1534 615886 or [email protected]

www.businesslife.co


For more information about the directory contact Carl Methven on +44 (0)1534 615886 or [email protected]

Directory

At the C5 Alliance Group we work as a trusted partner

with a range of different sized organisations in the

Channel Islands, helping them to change and run their

businesses, to increase revenue and reduce costs.

Now with a team of over 150 experts, we have both an

IT Services Division (managed services/outsourcing)

and a Business Solutions Division (professional

services). C5 is a Microsoft Partner with multiple gold

and silver accreditations achieved.

The services and support we provide includes:

business solutions Division

● Business Growth & System Innovation

● Business Intelligence & Management Information

● Business Process Management & Project Delivery

● Client Relationship Management (CRM)

● Infrastructure Design & Platform Implementation

● Compliance & Corporate Governance

● Information Sharing & Collaboration (SharePoint)

● Product/Service Innovation

● Customised IT Training

it services Division

● 24x7x365 Managed Services & Support

● Full Service Desk including First Fix Time

● Incident & Problem Management

● Server Patching

● End of Day Check Lists

● Hands on 1st & 2nd Line Support

● Cloud Services

● Business Continuity

● Dedicated Facilities & Hosting – ISAE 3402

accredited

Please contact us to discuss how we can help your

organisation gain competitive advantage through

technology.

tel: Jersey (0)1534 785400 /

guernsey (0)1481 722575


website: www.c5alliance.com

Baker Tilly Channel Islands Limited is a chartered

accountancy practice registered with the Institute

of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

We are the Channel Islands independent member of

Baker Tilly International and are Recognised

Auditors with the Jersey Financial Services

Commission.

We bring an informed business perspective to each

engagement. Our specialised expertise and global

reach in audit, tax and general business consultancy

services, supports our clients’ goals and objectives

with knowledgeable and competitive insights.


● Audit & assurance

● Tax advisory and compliance

● Accounting

● Business consultancy

● Business recovery

For more information visit our website at

www.bakertillyci.co.je

or contact one of our directors:

bernard le Claire + 44 (0)1534 755110

David hopkins + 44 (0)1534 755111

ewan spraggon + 44 (0)1534 755141

an independent member of

baker tilly international

We are an independent trust company fully

regulated and licensed by the Jersey Financial

Services Commission in the conduct of trust

company business.

We provide a full range of management services to

our domestic and international private clients.

Join us.

Our team has many years of experience dealing with

a wide range of clients in different countries. We

look to provide good corporate governance to

achieve your aim. try us.

Family office- bespoke assurance

Wealth management -your strategy

Fiduciary services - impartiality with vision

Corporate services - attention to detail

Good governance - a helpful eye

We aim to assist in the provision of personal service

to meet your requirements, being vigilant and

proactive in the face of a fast changing legal,

economic and fiscal landscape. We can provide the

focus to your solution. Contact us.

mrs Áine O’reilly, aCCa – Client Director

[email protected]

nigel bentley, solicitor, tep – Consultant

[email protected]

mrs ann williams, tep – Client Director

[email protected]

nicholas falla, tep – managing Director

[email protected]

tel: +44 (0)1534 870670


➔

Deloitte llp

Deloitte LLP offers professional services to the uK

and European market. The company has the broadest

and deepest range of skills of any business advisory

organisation and employs over 14,400 exceptional

people in 28 offices in the uK and Switzerland.

We provide professional services and advice to many

leading businesses, government departments and

public sector bodies and publish many influential

studies and thought leadership pieces.

Deloitte LLP employs 160 professionals across the

Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man offices. It is the

uK member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

Limited, a uK private company limited by guarantee,

and its global network of 150 member firms, each of

which is a legally separate and independent entity.

Deloitte provides audit, tax, consulting, and financial

advisory services to public and private clients

spanning multiple industries. Deloitte brings world-

class capabilities and high-quality service to clients,

delivering the insights they need to address their most

complex business challenges.

for further information please do not hesitate to

contact:

John Clacy, partner, guernsey

email:[email protected]

phone +44 (0) 1481 724011

greg branch, partner, Jersey


phone: +44(0)1534 824325

www.deloitte.com

Equiom is an independent trust and corporate service

provider with offices in Jersey, the Isle of Man and

Malta. We are a thriving business with plans to

continue to extend our jurisdictional reach and

product range in order to provide increased planning

opportunities for existing and potential clients.

Our clients benefit from receiving the most

appropriate trust or corporate service that can

preserve and enhance various underlying asset

classes and ensuring peace of mind both now and in

the future.

Our experienced team has gained the required

knowledge and qualifications in Wealth Protection,

Corporate Management, Foundations, yachting

Services, Aviation Services, Crewing and Property

Structuring to furnish clients with professional and

value-added services.

Developing lasting relationships with clients and

intermediaries who appreciate our approach and

integrity which, when combined with the regulated

environments in which we operate, enables us to

provide a bespoke and tailored service designed

around the needs of our clients.

for more information please contact:

equiom (Jersey) limited

One the esplanade

st helier

Jersey Je2 3qa

tel: 01534 760100

[email protected]

www.equiom.je

Equiom (Jersey) Limited is regulated by the Jersey

Financial Services Commission.

about ey

Ey is a global leader in assurance, tax, transactions

and advisory services. The insights and quality

services we deliver help build trust and confidence

in the capital markets and in economies the world

over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to

deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In

so doing, we play a critical role in building a better

working world for our people, for our clients and

for our communities.

Our strong network has enabled us to build close

working relationships with our colleagues in EMEIA

and across the world. This allows us to respond

quickly to our CI clients’ needs, drawing upon our

industry experience across all our services lines.

to discuss how we can support your business,

please contact one of our partners below:

mike bane, partner, assurance and tas

e: [email protected] t: 01481 717435

andrew Dann, managing partner, assurance


geraint Davies, partner, assurance


Chris matthews, partner, assurance


David moore, partner, assurance and advisory


peter willey, Ci head of tax

e: [email protected] t: 01534 288 212

wendy martin, executive Director, tax


David white, head of tax, guernsey


www.businesslife.co


For more information about the directory contact Carl Methven on +44 (0)1534 615886 or [email protected]

Directory

Delivering a fresh approach, ipes is a multiple

award winning independent specialist provider of

private equity fund services.

Ipes is a people business and the relationships our

teams build with our clients are at the heart of our

success to date. Every one of our people owns part

of our business and our clients tell us this makes a

difference to the service they receive.

Our 150 professionals administers more than $53bn

assets for over 90 clients from full service offices in

London, Luxembourg, Jersey and Guernsey. On

average our senior client facing team have 18 years

experience.


● Fund administration

● Outsourcing

● Depositary services

● Listed funds

● Mezzanine

Ipes in now ranked 6th globally based on AuM

(Custody Risk Survey 2012) and 2nd in Guernsey by

Monterey Fund Survey. Ipes is ISAE 3402 and AAF

01/06 accredited.

for more information visit our website:

www.ipes.com

andrew whittaker

managing Director, ipes guernsey

tel: +44 1481 735850


nigel strachan

managing Director, ipes Jersey

tel: +44 1534 712501


greenlight is a business transformation specialist.

We work with businesses in the Channel Islands and

across Europe, helping them to realise their potential

through improved corporate performance and

increased enterprise value.

Greenlight consultants are multi-sector change

management experts holding a variety of formal

qualifications; from MBAs, PMO, PRINCE 2, Six

Sigma Black Belt to P3O Practitioner.

We live your business, applying our expertise within

your corporate culture to steer the organisation

successfully through:

● Business Analysis - The first step in corporate

evolution

● Project Management - Bridging the gap between

great ideas and best practise

● Programme Management - Transforming

theoretical business strategies into real business

benefits with a series of large-scale projects

● Change management - Providing a clear route

through the entire process of significant

transformation

is your business the best it can be?

www.greenlightci.com

Jersey Office:12/13 Caledonia place, st helier,

Jersey Je2 3ng

phone: +44 1534 715400

guernsey Office:hadsley house lefebvre street, st

peter port, guernsey gy1 2Jp

phone: +44 1481 712200

[email protected]

Grant Thornton Limited is a leading Channel Islands

accountancy and consultancy practice with offices in

Guernsey and Jersey. We are the Channel Islands

member of Grant Thornton International, one of the

world’s leading organisations of independently

owned and managed accounting and consulting

firms. We provide a range of services in the Channel

Islands that include:

● Audit

● Accounting services

● Insolvency, Recovery and Reorganisation, and

Liquidation services

● Out-sourced Accounting and Payroll services

● Private Client services

● Tax services

● Business Risk services

We offer practical and strategic advice to a range of

businesses from the Financial Services sector

including Funds, Fiduciaries, Insurance and Banking.

Our Business Advisory team provides a full range of

services to independent businesses throughout the

Channel Islands, covering the retail, manufacturing,

agricultural, horticultural, hotel, leisure and service

sectors.

for more information please contact:

grant thornton guernsey Office

pO box 313, lefebvre house

lefebvre street, st peter port

guernsey gy1 3tf

t +44 (0)1481 753400

f +44 (0)1481 753401

grant thornton Jersey Office

kensington Chambers

46/50 kensington place

st helier, Jersey Je1 1et

t +44 (0)1534 885885

f +44 (0)1534 885775

www.gt-ci.com


➔

Minerva is a family owned business that has been in

existence in Jersey for over 35 years.

As a leading independent provider of trust,

corporate and fund administration services, we

focus on internationally active clients located in sub

Saharan Africa, India, the GCC and Europe.

We firmly believe in the value of personal

relationships and are familiar with how our clients

and professional intermediaries operate from a

cultural and business perspective within these

regions.

In addition to Jersey, we provide services from a

number of offices based in key jurisdictions including

London, Geneva, Mauritius, Dubai, Singapore and

Amsterdam, as well as affiliate offices in Kenya, India

and New Zealand.

for further information, please contact:

John wood

managing Director

minerva trust & Corporate services limited

pO box 218

43/45 la motte street

st helier

Jersey Je4 8sD

Channel islands

t +(0)1534 702930

e [email protected]

www.minerva-trust.com

Kendrick Rose is an executive recruitment,

resourcing and HR solutions company dedicated to

providing a first class service delivered with the

utmost professionalism.

Our clients choose us because we are different. We

have held senior in-house HR positions before

becoming consultants and recruiters, we are able to

apply a highly practical approach to recruitment and

HR projects and we can implement solutions for our

clients that really work and deliver results in the

workplace. We provide a range of services covering

every aspect of the recruitment and selection

processes, we offer advice on resourcing strategy

and have a deep understanding of HR services.

We meticulously focus on matching an individual’s

competency, goals and aspirations with an

organisation’s culture and ethos. We are

passionately dedicated to resourcing excellence –

from the people we place with our clients to the

processes we initiate with them, to the solutions we

develop for them.

for a confidential discussion please contact;

shelley kendrick

Director

kendrick rose limited

lister house Chambers, 1st floor, 35 the parade.

st helier. Jersey. Je2 3qq

t: +44 (0) 1534 715150

e: [email protected]

www.kendrickrose.com

A leading accountancy practice, with offices based

in Jersey and Guernsey, KPMG in the Channel

Islands provide audit, tax and financial advisory

services.

KPMG’s global network enables us to draw on our

international resources and skills to meet our

clients’ needs. We address complex business

challenges with methodologies and processes

spanning markets and national boundaries.

Fundamental to KPMG’s approach is our focus on

industry sectors. Our vision is simple, to turn

knowledge into value for the benefit of our clients,

people and capital markets.

for further information please contact:

heather macCallum

executive Director, audit

[email protected]

rob hutchinson

executive Director, audit

[email protected]

John riva

head of tax

[email protected]

tony mancini

executive Director, tax

[email protected]

ashley paxton

head of advisory

[email protected]

robert kirkby

Director, advisory

[email protected]

www.kpmg.com/channelislands

www.businesslife.co


DirectoryFor more information about the directory contact Carl Methven on +44 (0)1534 615886 or [email protected]

understanding reputational tax risk

In the current tough economic climate, tax

authorities are under pressure to maximise revenues

and prevent tax leakage, and attitudes to offshore

financial centres are hardening, fuelled by coverage

in the press. users of offshore centres not only need

to ensure their tax structuring is robust, but also

that it stands up to public scrutiny.

have you considered the reputational risk buried

in your client base?

We can help you:

● Review your client portfolio and identify risk

areas.

● Develop client take-on procedures that evaluate

the business risk associated with tax structuring.

● Review tax risks including substance and

management and control in practice.

● Assist your clients in dealing with tax enquiries

and investigations.

the goal posts are moving; make sure you and

your clients are not caught out.

Contact Jersey – 01534 838200

[email protected]

[email protected]

Contact guernsey – 01481 752000

[email protected]

rathbone investment management international is

part of the award winning Rathbone Brothers PLC

(“Rathbones”), which was established in 1742.

Rathbones is a leading provider of discretionary

investment management services for private investors,

charities and trustees.

We enjoy the stability afforded by being a FTSE-250

listed company with significant critical mass (£20 billion

of funds under management as at 31 March 2013).

we offer a range of tailored investment options:

● Bespoke portfolio management

● Multi-manager portfolios

● unitised portfolios (the RIMI Strategies Funds)

Our services are delivered by a team of innovative and

experienced offshore professionals based on an

understanding of a client’s specific investment and risk

objectives, backed-up by the performance-driven

Rathbone investment process and encompass the full

universe of assets.

for further information please do not hesitate

to contact:

Jonathan giles, managing Director

[email protected]

phil bain, Director

[email protected]

vaughan rimeur, Director

[email protected]

+ 44 (0) 1534 740550

www.rathboneimi.com

Rathbone Investment Management International

Limited is regulated by the Jersey Financial Services

Commission

specialty: Bespoke IT Development & Business

Consultancy

Our products

pureClient is a new pioneering client data

management platform that will maintain client

records for any entity or relationship. Built with an

integrated customer due diligence and risk

assessment tool, PureClient has 4-eyes control

throughout that will ensure your business can trust

the data within it.

Designed to support FATCA, PureClient provides

the necessary transparency to enable “look-through

reporting” that is needed to manage sophisticated

structures and automatically identify u.S. or other

high risk entities and relationships.

PureClient will automatically manage new,

outstanding and renewable KyC and ensure entity

documentation is stored and quickly retrievable on

the integrated document management platform.

purefunds is a powerful and intuitive investment

administration platform supporting Hedge Fund,

Mutual Fund, Private Equity and Real Estate

businesses within a single application.

PureFunds multi-currency transfer agency platform

brings a new and dynamic approach to dealing and

administrative activities ensuring that all client, fund

and company registers are automatically updated.

The flexible straight- through batch processing

functionality will automatically process, file and

email all client correspondence. This functionality

will minimise business risk and deliver many

efficiencies without compromising control, integrity

or security.

to find out more how puritas can help your business.

Contact mike feighan

head of business Development

t: +44 (0) 1534 874100



Rowlands has been actively supporting businesses

in Jersey for almost 40 years. With a wealth of

experience, in-depth market knowledge and a

genuine enthusiasm for people, careers and

resourcing we are well positioned to help you make

the most of your recruitment opportunities and to

secure the best possible people for your business.

Our performance is based on honest, effective

personal relationships and it is our aim to provide

you with a long term, valuable resource that will

help to improve your business. The services we

provide have developed through client demand;

building a reputation for professionalism and

confidentiality. Our services include:

● Permanent Recruitment – all levels

● Executive Placements

● Temporary/Flexible Solutions

● Contract Recruitment

● Graduate Services

● Pre Employment Screening

● Outplacement Services

● Psychometric Testing

● Remuneration Survey

for more information on these services and how

we could support you and your resourcing strategy

please contact:

Jeralie pallot

managing Director

rowlands recruitment, trinity house, bath street,

st helier, Jersey Je2 4st

t: +44 (0)1534 626722


www.rowlands.co.uk

At Santander Corporate Banking, we believe in

building long-term relationships by placing you, the

customer, at the heart of all we do. We’ll strive to

become your partner, not just a finance provider

and we’ll take the time to listen to you and

understand your business needs. We’re setting a

new benchmark in corporate banking with a team of

experienced Relationship Directors based within a

Corporate Business Centre in Jersey.

Every business and organisation is different which is

why we’ve assembled a range of products and

services, together with tailor-made solutions in day

to day banking, deposit taking, treasury and lending.

We are consistent in all we do; a true relationship

bank that has earned the trust of our customers by

doing what we say, when we say.

to start working with us today, contact our team

on 01534 767750.

wil beaumont

[email protected]

steve O’brien

stephen.o’[email protected]

scot laing

[email protected]

Jane bond-webster

[email protected]

security & simplicity shared

We provide exceptionally secure online access

systems for sending and sharing highly confidential

information.

Safelink’s virtual data rooms are perfect for M&A

due diligence, allowing documents to be released to

potential acquirers in a tightly controlled online

“room” with the ability to restrict downloading and

printing. Excellent local support, a simple but

sophisticated interface and powerful page-level

reporting make Safelink ideal for onshore and

offshore transactions.

Our secure extranet service is used by trust, legal

and accountancy firms to provide 24x7 access for

peers, clients and intermediaries through a fully

branded portal. you can share documents and send

encrypted messages while retaining complete

control.

For further information, a no-obligation

demonstration or to discuss your specific

requirements please contact:

[email protected]

safelink Data rooms

suite 15, 4 wharf street

st helier, Jersey, Je2 3nr

t: 020 8798 3140


w: www.safelinkdatarooms.com

www.businesslife.co


risk is inherent in our use of technologyBeing able to access both personal and business data at

all times is fast becoming a non-negotiable necessity in today’s society. Our ‘virtual footprints’ are enormous and, until recently, ineradicable. we have information scattered across enterprise and CrM systems, social media sites and applications. however, despite this somewhat uncomfortable fact, we have made a decision to embrace technology and its impact upon us – technology is changing how we assess the balance of risk and reward.

new technologies present businesses with both risks and rewardsBusinesses are now confronting risk on a daily basis – not only in terms of assessing market volatility and opportunity, but especially when considering the impact and application of their IT strategies. In particular, the cloud has changed everything. while there remains some nervousness around the location and security of data, more and more companies have to confront and weigh up the

benefits of cloud services versus the traditional attitudes towards data storage and control.

Businesses are considering increased productivity and reduced technological infrastructure costs, globalised access to data, reduction of software licensing costs and generally improving the flexibility of a company’s workforce. rewards of the cloud are outweighing the perceived control and safety of housing data on the premises. the rise of individual riskThere was a period just after the financial crisis, when businesses ‘froze up’ and stopped investing altogether. In many ways, this led to a rise in individual risk. as banks and lenders tightened criteria in an understandable reaction to the crisis, entrepreneurs have been faced with hard decisions – invest your personal wealth or stop growing. This is a decision I was faced with last year, and I ended up putting my entire personal savings on the line to fund C5 alliance’s acquisition of Itex holdings.

we need to continue to take calculated riskswhile individuals have been confronted with tough personal decisions, countries generally

about mark loaneMark Loane is CEO and founder of the C5 Alliance Group, a locally owned, full-service IT provider in the Channel Islands. As a Board Member of Digital Jersey, Mark is also committed to developing the ICT offering and vision for Jersey and the Channel Islands. His specialist areas of knowledge include

strategic guidance, industry commentary, technology solutions and business re-engineering.

(including the Channel Islands) have had to face much harder ones – namely: how much risk can we stand? what can our economy tolerate? This is not just a matter of mathematics, this is a matter of cultural makeup.

Governments must understand the specific cultural needs of their jurisdiction when embracing technology – the traditional approach will not work anymore, and as a result most eGov strategies are now moving towards an end-user-driven experience, which puts responsibility for data accuracy in the hands of the individual.

This presents a radical shift from the current tendency of

governments to try to control the data of the citizen – it is a risk, but the potential reward of better, more accurate, more useful information, is worth it.

This also applies to jurisdictional stances on things such as cryptocurrencies. Jersey, for example, has come out with a largely positive position in this area, but without a finance industry willing to take the calculated risk of engaging with regulated cryptocurrency business, opportunity and reward will soon be lost. risk should always be calculated in such a way so that it doesn’t stifle the innovation and progress necessary to make it worthwhile – without risk, everything stagnates.

To quote william Faulkner: “You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.” n

In our regular end piece, respected business figures in the Channel Islands are given free rein to put forward their opinion on subjects they feel strongly about. This time… mark loane talks technology

business news . views . comment . lifestyle

The funds Issue

available 31 october

issue 35: november/December 2014

For advertising opportunities, contact Carl Methven on +44 1534 615886, +44 7797 796377 or at [email protected]

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businesslife.co Issue 34 September/October 2014

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Transcript of businesslife.co Issue 34 September/October 2014