The ICO has fined home improvements company ColourCoat Ltd £130,000 for making more than 900,000 nuisance marketing calls!

What?

ColourCoat Ltd of St Leonards on Sea, East Sussex, which provides a number of home improvement services, was fined for making almost a million nuisance calls over an eight-month period, between 1st August 2019 and 31st March 2020. This equated to an unbelievable average of 56,601 calls per month or 13,722 calls per week!

Repeatedly Calling

The company managed to clock-up the staggering total and incur the wrath of 50 complainants (and the ICO) by repeatedly calling people who had asked not to be called again and had withheld their phone numbers to prevent people from contacting them. This included a large number of people who had registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) and its business version, the Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS).

Gave False Company Names

The ICO reports that ColourCoat even resorted to providing false company names which included “Homes Advice Bureau” and on one occasion, even “Citizens’ Advice Bureau”.

“No Regard For The Law”

Natasha Longson, ICO Investigations Manager, is quoted as saying (on the ICO website) that “This company had no regard for the law or for the people they were calling”, and explained how the complainants described the calls received as ‘rude’, ‘aggressive’ and ‘abusive’, and made one complainant feel “threatened”.

The people who reported the calls to the ICO are also quoted as saying that the nature calls made them feel “annoyed” or “anxious”, and it was the manner of the calls as well as the “catalogue of contraventions” that led to ColourCoat Ltd receiving such a hefty fine and a legal notice.

Breaches

The breaches that resulted in the fine and legal notice relate to Regulations 21 and 24 of Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (PECR). These regulations give people specific privacy rights in relation to electronic communications, including marketing calls, emails, texts and faxes, cookies (and similar technologies), keeping communications services secure, and customer privacy (traffic and location data, itemised billing, line identification, and directory listings).

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This story illustrates an extreme example of a company apparently having no regard for electronic communications laws/regulations of the rights and matters of consent of the victims. All businesses need to be aware that alongside (UK) GDPR sit The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) and the ICO has the power under PECR to impose monetary penalties of up to an eye-watering £500,000! As illustrated in this story, registering with the TPS and CTPS can help, but this doesn’t guarantee that you will stop receiving calls. GDPR (UK) gives a person the right to request that they no longer contacted by a company, and the ‘right to be forgotten’ i.e., the right to request that a company removes all relevant personal details from its database/data storage systems. You can also report any unsolicited calls (or spam texts) that you are particularly unhappy with directly to the ICO via their website here https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/nuisance-calls-and-messages/spam-texts-and-nuisance-calls/.

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– In Google Sheets, select the cell where you want the dropdown list.

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General Fusion, a Canadian company with Amazon’s Jeff Bezos as one of its backers is building a Nuclear Fusion power demonstration plant at Culham in Oxfordshire.

Fusion

Whereas current nuclear power plants split atoms in a process known as ‘fission’ to generate energy, ‘fusion’ generates energy by fusing atoms together, which is the same process that powers our sun.  The fusion process, which can actually create temperatures much hotter than the sun, is achieved by combining lighter elements (hydrogen) to make a heavier one (helium) such as in the tokamak reactor design which uses powerful magnetic fields (magnetised target fusion) to control charged gas/plasma, all contained within a doughnut-shaped container.

The Benefits of Fusion

Fusion power, which was described by National Geographic (2019) as the “holy grail for the future of nuclear power” is safer than fission nuclear power, produces very little radioactive waste, and is a carbon-free energy source.

Culham Demonstration Plant

The Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak experiment/demonstration plant at Culham, is estimated to cost around $400m and aims to be operational by 2025.

The facility, which is 70 percent the size of a commercial reactor, is owned and managed by the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). It has been reported that the owners of the plant, General Fusion, have been backed by investment from Amazon’s Jeff Bezos for more than ten years and, after raising $100m in its last funding round, is likely to use the successful operation of its UK plant as a basis to return to investors looking for more money.

UK Government

The UK Government is reported to have committed £222 million to General Fusion’s Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (Step) programme at the Culham site which could lead the design and build of the world’s first prototype fusion power plant by 2040, which, it is thought, could support hundreds of jobs in Oxfordshire.

Challenge

There are currently different approaches to methods being used globally for fusion. The challenge to all of them, however, is to get more energy out of the reactions than is put in.

Breakthrough in May at Culham

In May, the fusion programme at Culham reported making a breakthrough in the development of a better way to remove the excess heat produced by fusion reactions, thereby protecting the materials inside the reactor, and extending the amount of time the fusion reactor can operate for.  The new system, which was reported to work in a similar way to a car-exhaust, led to a tenfold reduction in the excess heat.

Nottinghamshire Site?

Back in March there were also reports that the site of the old Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire (due to be decommissioned) could be perfect for a prototype, commercial nuclear fusion reactor.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Finding a way to supply a limitless, clean, cost-effective, and safe power source could benefit us all, help the environment, and create new opportunities in a whole new sector.  For the UK government, the chance to develop a fusion industry in the UK and be seen to be at the cutting edge of the new industry is the justification for the investment.  For Canadian company General Fusion, having a project in the UK is a way to help it expand its geographical presence and broaden its growing global network of government, institutional, and industrial partners in what is becoming a battle to establish early market leadership and promote its approach to and version of fusion as being the preferred format.

New figures from job search engine Adzuna and data provider Dealroom show that hiring in the tech industry has reached its highest level in five years.

Vacancies Exceeding Pre-Pandemic Levels

The data, which was compiled by Adzuna and Dealroom for the Government’s Digital Economy Council shows that job vacancies in the digital tech sector have now exceeded pre-pandemic levels and are at their highest level since 2016.

For example, in April 2021 almost 10,000 vacancies for software developers were recorded.  This figure is almost double the number recorded in the same period last year. Also, in May this year, 132,000 tech/digital job vacancies were recorded in a single week.

Increased Demand For Digital Services

The increased demand for digital services created by the pandemic was a key driver in the increase in tech job vacancies.  For example, the pandemic meant that retail, healthcare and other sectors had to rely more on digitisation and many businesses found that they were forced into an accelerated digital transformation.  These factors created greater demand for tech products and services, and this, in turn, increased demand for those who could develop tech products and services.

Big Investment in UK Tech Companies

Another factor driving the rise in UK tech vacancies has been the big increase in the investment in UK tech companies over the last year. For example, as reported by TechNation and Dealroom, despite the global pandemic, there was a record level of venture capital (VC) investment in 2020 into UK tech companies, with investment reaching $15bn. This investment, particularly in London, Oxford, Bristol, Cambridge, and Edinburgh, meant that the UK became the third highest investor in tech globally, behind the US ($144.3bn) and China ($44.6bn).

Start-up Hiring Strong

The investment in tech companies has fuelled tech start-ups which, in turn, has kept start-up hiring resilient, and this has contributed to more tech job vacancies.

Almost A Quarter of Tech Jobs Now Remote

One important pattern in the tech-jobs arena is that almost a quarter (22 percent) are remote. This figure represents a doubling of the figure from the same time last year and is likely to be heavily influenced by a general move to remote working during the pandemic as well as by jobhunters hoping to avoid commuting, together with the uncertainty of office-based work in a changing public health situation. This move to remote working has boosted tech job vacancies outside London, and particularly in the north-west of England (Manchester) and Birmingham.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Back in 2019, much of the focus was on the challenge of a tech skills gap. Investment through 2020, and the effects on demand for tech skills caused by a surge in demand for digital/tech services during the pandemic have boosted confidence in the industry, boosted vacancies, and changed the geography and nature of tech jobs e.g., away from London and in favour of remote work. The government is, of course, keen to talk-up these increases as evidence of its investment in what now appears to be a booming UK tech sector. For UK businesses, this shift in focus of tech job vacancies should mean that they are more able to fill roles and get their required tech skills from a wider pool of talent around the country, perhaps considering more remote input.

An investigation by consumer champion ‘Which?’ has revealed that food ordered via delivery apps such as Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber Eats can be considerably more expensive than dealing directly with the food outlet.

Food Delivery Apps

Seven out of 10 people in the UK (Which? survey) say they now use food delivery apps.  Popular delivery apps such as Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber Eats work by allowing customers to place food orders from different restaurants and fast-food outlets in an area using an app on their smartphone or tablet device. Once the restaurant receives, accepts, and confirms a paid-for order, the nearest delivery person is directed to the restaurant from where they take the prepared food to the customer using the navigation in the app. Customers can check the delivery person’s status, location, and ETA on the app.

Deliveroo and Uber Eats have also now added groceries to their platforms so the above process differs slightly in terms of order-picking and delivery method.

Price Differences

The ‘Which?’ survey showed that ordering via the apps cost significantly more than ordering directly from the restaurant, even when delivery costs are accounted for. This is because in addition to individual items varying in price, there are also commission charges for the restaurants which may be reflected in higher pricing.

Comparison

In the Which? survey, a comparison was made between the cost breakdown and price of the same dishes (Chicken Shish & Mixed Grill) ordered from the same Lebanese restaurant, but using the three different Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber Eats delivery apps. The results showed that ordering a Chicken Shish direct from the restaurant cost £12.95 but ordered via Deliveroo and Just Eat the price was £13.95, and £14.95 via Uber Eats.

The Which? survey also compared the purchase of the same groceries purchased direct from the Co-Op, and purchased using the Deliveroo App.  The total price of a direct purchase was £35.40, whereas the price of purchasing the same groceries using Deliveroo was found to be £48.09, a whole £12.69 more!

Commission Paid To Apps

According to Which? the extra expense appears to be down restaurants simply charging more to get back some of the money they must pay out in commission to the apps. The commission can account for anywhere between 15 percent and 35 percent of the total cost of an order. Delivery apps such as Uber Eats, for example, may offer participating restaurants a zero percent commission for the first 40 days before moving the commission rate up.

The Which? report suggests that with delivery app services essentially taking over from people going to the high street during the pandemic lockdowns, restaurants may have felt as though they were faced with the choice being of Deliveroo (for example) and at least getting some business while having to put up with the commission payments, or not being on Deliveroo but essentially becoming invisible and potentially going out of business. The evidence presented in the Which? report also appears to show that for some restaurants with higher running costs, the commission charges of the app delivery service may make using the service unviable.

Customer Complaints

The Which? survey appears to show that even though customers are having to pay more to have their food delivered, they are not always receiving value due to problems often related to delivery.  For example, 59 percent of Deliveroo users and 53 percent of Uber Eats customers reported problems with their orders over the last 12 months. The most common complaints were found to be late delivery, cold food and missing items.

Complaint Complications

It also appears that the fact that there is an extra, third-party service involved (i.e. the delivery app) means that in some cases, customers can find themselves being passed around between the app and the restaurant if they complain and so they don’t always receive a satisfactory resolution.

Resolution Complications

The Which? survey also found that although consumer law states that customers should get what they paid in the first place as a refund, in some cases, customers have been offered an in-app credit with an expiry date instead of a full refund.

Amazon and Deliveroo

Back in April last year, after the UK Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) had considered competition concerns, it was decided that Amazon could invest in food distribution company Deliveroo.  Amazon had previously operated its own ‘Amazon Restaurants’ food delivery service in London, but this was closed in December 2018 following strong competition from Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Just Eat, among and others.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Convenience is the big selling point for delivery app customers and there’s no doubt that despite the higher price (compared to direct ordering) these app-based food delivery services have provided an extra layer of value during the pandemic when high streets were effectively closed. For participating restaurants, the app-based delivery services have also provided a lifeline during the pandemic, but one that comes at a cost (i.e. commission paid to the app). There may be an argument, therefore, that now that high streets are again accessible, ordering direct has to be a serious option for customers, not least because the price is lower, but also because any problems are likely to be easier to resolve. For restaurants, although they may receive many orders from app-based delivery services, the ideal situation would be to have more customers ordering direct, thereby cutting out the need for any commission payments.

In this article, we take a brief look at what DaaS is, as well as its advantages and disadvantages.

Desktop as a Service

Desktop as a Service (DaaS) is a service where virtual applications/virtual desktops, via a third-party public or private cloud service, are made accessible (streamed) to users over the Internet via an html-based web browser or a secure application downloaded to the user’s device(s).  DaaS is usually licensed with a per-user subscription.

VDI, VM, and DaaS

VDI refers to the backend ‘virtual desktop infrastructure’ of DaaS, including the ‘virtual machines’ that run desktop operating systems, and are hosted by the third-party cloud provider. A virtual machine (VM) is a virtual environment which operates just like a ‘computer within a computer’, runs on its own isolated part of its host computer, and has its own resources that enable it to let end-users operate it (run apps on it) as they would a physical workstation.

Advantages of DaaS

The advantages of DaaS include:

– It offers businesses a simple to operate, centralised, turnkey, pay-as-you-go solution with minimal set-up time.

– It is flexible and scalable.

– IT admin is simplified (saving time and money).

– The DaaS providers handle VDI deployment, maintenance, security, upgrades, data backup, and storage, thereby saving money and freeing up in-house IT resources and meaning that companies don’t have to go to the expense, trouble, and risk of trying to manage their own on-premises VDI solution.

– An improved disaster recovery (DR) solution (i.e. failover resources) are hosted (securely) in the cloud rather than needing backup workstations.

– Better functionality and productivity from being less likely to fail, experience downtime or disruptions.

– Less dependence on (and fewer costs for) hardware/desktop infrastructure supply chains.

– DaaS can deliver better insights from data, as well as better data integration and governance.

– Improved agility of data workloads.

Disadvantages of DaaS

Some disadvantages include:

– Users will still need a device capable of running and accessing the DaaS service, as well as a good, fast Internet connection. Both of these factors have cost and employee access implications.

– Licensing payments are still required.

– Moving (sensitive) data to the cloud could bring some compliance challenges for some organisations.

– Trust in the security of the cloud is necessary and moving data to the cloud and transferring it over a network could, arguably, bring a data risk compared to keeping it locally behind the firewall.

– IT staff/the business may lack experience in using DaaS.

Some Examples

Examples of DaaS providers/service include Microsoft Windows Virtual Desktop, Amazon WorkSpaces, VMware Horizon Cloud, Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, Cloudalize, V2 Cloud, and dinCloud (dinWorkSpace).

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Many businesses have made the move to the cloud anyway and are also now used to the subscription economy and the ‘as-a-service’ model of delivery e.g., Windows 10. The DaaS model clearly offers many benefits, to businesses e.g., cost and resource savings, centralisation, security, flexibility, and simplification, as well as being particularly useful at a time when remote working and now the move to hybrid working have become important. DaaS also enables companies to improve the agility of data workloads, get important business insights more quickly, offer a better work access solution to employees as well as freeing the business from many of the traditional IT management and admin challenges.