HandStep Mobility Seminar

On the 26th of September HandStep, who recently joined the chamber, held a seminar to tell more about their products and what they do. As presented in the

Yad Jaura

Summer Edition of the Red Letter HandStep is a Danish company who sells mobile solutions. This seminar helped to get a further insight in the mobile solutions they offer.

Brian Nielsson

The seminar was introduced by Yad Jaura VP, Marketing, who said that mobile solutions were the last place for technology to help businesses in their everyday work.

Then Mr. Jaura introduced the founder Brian Nielsson. Mr. Nielsson told us that he had started HandStep because he was interested in simple devices that could be used everywhere. After having had success in Denmark the last 8 years they now wish to target the English market. He also told us that HandStep is using Microsoft because they are the leading company in the market for touch screens which is what HandStep is using in the mobile solutions.

This lead to an introduction to the needs of mobile solutions by Jason Langridge from Microsoft, Windows Mobile in UK. Mr. Langridge gave us some very interesting figures by telling us that 47 % work outside their office in UK and as much as 75 % would like to have a flexible job, but only 20 % of the companies offer flexible jobs at the moment.

Søren Linde demonstrating the mobile solution

After a short break we were introduced to Morten Petersen from Arriva Scandinavia. He told us that Arriva had wanted a mobile solution because 90 % of the employees are working in the field and therefore there was a big management challenge. With the new solution which was demonstrated by Søren Linde Project Manager for HandStep the train drivers could now see their schedule on the phone, report immediately if something was broken, even take pictures of it and send it along with the report. Because of the new system the drivers are also now able to see how far the repair people are in the process of fixing what ever it was that was broken.

Interested listeners

Even though Arriva had just implemented the new system the control centre already had 20-30 % less phone calls. It was a good feature to see the mobile solution demonstrated as it makes it easier to understand if you are not that technological.

After the presentation from Arriva, Anders Heick, CTO, introduced the Team Calendar which will be the first product from HandStep on the British market. It will allow people to see others calendars even though they are outside in the office which will make it easier to arrange meetings.
It was a very informative seminar and always interesting to learn more about where technology is taking us.

An Evening on Europe

On the 2nd of October the members of the DUCC were invited to listen about Europe. The guest speakers were Karin Riis-Jørgensen, member of the European Parliament and Erik Nielsen, Chief European Economist of Goldman Sachs. The event was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel - The Churchill. The speakers were introduced by Per Troen, Chairman of DUCC.

Karin Riis-Jørgensen

Mrs. Riis-Jørgensen started the presentation by giving us a short introduction to the European Parliament. She told us about the 3 political groups that were represented, the conservative, the socialist and the liberal to which Mrs. Riis-Jørgensen belongs to. Hereafter we were told that the parliament had grown much stronger during the last few years and with the new reform treaty almost all legislation is going to be passed by the Parliament and Council. We were also told of Mrs. Riis-Jørgensen view on lobbyism. She said she thought lobbyism was necessary but people who carried it out had to quick and very precise in what they wanted. The most recent example of lobbyism is the case with Microsoft where they lost their patent. This was due to that they didn't lobby to keep their patent because they thought it was enough that they were a big company. Mrs. Riis-Jørgensen rounded her presentation off with that one must choose Europe in order to gain influence.

After this first presentation on Europe it was Mr. Nielsen's turn to speak about the economy. He started off by saying that the world is facing a very interesting period of globalisation at the moment.

Erik Nielsen

In short it means that the world is facing problems in the financial market due to the fact that money has been too cheap for too long, especially the US is facing this problem now. In the longer run the world will be more and more aware of the rise of the BRIC-countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), this subject led Mr. Nielsen to talk about the winners and losers in Europe and how to respond to the BRIC countries in order to survive.
Mr. Nielsen showed some very interesting figures starting off by showing that the US were the largest economy in 2006 followed by Japan, Germany and China. This picture will however, look very different in 2050 where China will be the largest economy followed by the US, India and Brazil. In the "old world" the winners will be the consumers, the educated mobile and owners of real capital, whereas the losers will be those who are trying to compete with the BRIC-countries. We were then told how to respond and how not to respond to this future scheme. The "old world" should liberalise products, capital and markets, improve education and defend patents. What the "old world" shouldn't do is to raise protectionist barriers and don't restrict immigration.

Answering questions from the floor

After these two presentations Mr. Troen opened up for questions and people were very eager to ask both Mrs. Riis-Jørgensen and Mr. Nielsen. Mrs. Riis-Jørgensen were asked about the future big issues for EU which she told us will be the new treaty and a ratification of it and whether Turkey should become a member country or not. Mr. Nielsen was asked about the situation where jobs are moved to Asia, and he told us that the consumers and the society actually gets more money by moving the work to other countries.

Hereafter the guests were served drinks and delicious canapés and networked with each other.

Chris Burke - InterTrade Media Limited Charlotte Clauber Ruwald - Royal Danish Embassy	Paul Fizia - The Knightsbridge Hotel Marc Faltheim - International Financial Strategy	Steen Rosenfalck - Miller Rosenfalck LLP Dan Frisch - Nordea Bank Luxembourg Ulrik Walther - Prytania Group
Tina Rana - Corren Troen Louise Koue - Cosec Direct	Networking

Denmark is no. 1 in the world of investments and business

Sanne Lyng Marsland

Denmark has recently been named to be the country in the world that will have the best business environment in the world in 2007-2011 by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) World Investment Prospect 2007-2011. But why is this so, Denmark was also placed top of the world for the period 2006-2010. To find the answer we asked Sanne Lyng Marsland from Invest in Denmark, Trade Council of Denmark within the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Why do you think that Denmark has been ranked no. 1 twice in a row to be the country in world that will have the best business environment?

- It seems as Denmark have found a unique working solution to compete in a globalised economy; the Danish model.

What does the Danish model consists off?

-It is not size nor the language says Sanne Lyng Marsland and continues, and it is not the wage level, as Denmark has a moderate income. But, paradoxically it might be all these things put together that have forced the Danes to create a society and economy, which are uniquely efficient, flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances, creating huge value to business and society.

According to the EIY-study Denmark stands out for the successful balance that it has struck between the state and market. Sanne Lyng Marsland tells that the Danish product markets operate efficiently and the labour markets are flexible, there is a low non-wage labour cost and few restrictions on hiring and firing.”

But what about the high tax we have in Denmark?

- Denmark compensates for its elevated tax burden with the quality of its public good, notably infrastructure and higher education. And contrary to the trend in some countries, Denmark has refused to compromise its social welfare system in order to compete on low taxes. It is significant that the country has achieved a high degree of competitiveness and a favourable investment climate without resorting to radical public spending and tax cuts.

And Denmark is actually scoring well across the whole range of categories of the business environment covered by the EIU. Among the most prominent are the political and institutional environment, macroeconomic stability, policy towards private enterprise and a labour market characterized by a highly educated and flexible workforce. In addition the financial system is transparent and diversified, with a strong banking sector.

To all of this Sanne Lyng Marsland also mentions the Danish transport network:

- The transport network that Denmark has is among the best in the world, with further improvements planned, especially in and around Copenhagen. The construction of bridges linking the island of Zealand with Germany via Jutland, and Copenhagen with Malmö in Sweden, has made Denmark a hub for businesses shipping products to other Nordic countries and to Central and Eastern Europe.

Sanne Lyng Marsland goes on to telling that Denmark in a recent study by IBM and the Economist Intelligence Unit of web-savvy nations has remained no. 1 in taking advantage of the Internet, both connection citizens securely over broadband and wireless networks as well as using its near ubiquitous hook-ups for Internet banking and government services such as tax returns. She adds that the study said that “E-procurement (for public services) is saving Danish businesses 50 million euros ($62.1 million) and taxpayers as much as 150 million euros per year. The rest of Europe is expected to follow Denmark’s lead.”

How is Denmark planning to maintain its rank as number 1, because as the report mentions Denmark is threatened of labour shortages, aggravated by firm immigration policies as well a slow growing population and there is a tendency for workers to take early retirement?

- The Danish government are aware of this and has chosen to meet this challenge head on. The government has formulated a comprehensive strategy for Denmark in the global economy, which encompasses more than 300 specific proposals. The main thrusts of the strategy are firstly more and better education, innovation, research and entrepreneurship. Secondly the extension of the number of years on the labour market through earlier graduation of students, prolongation of retirement and more active labour market policy to reduce unemployment. And thirdly to improve integration of immigrants and descendents in the labour force, attraction of immigrant with better qualifications and better-structured immigration.

So will Denmark still rank as number 1 next time the EIU-study comes out?

- It is the goal of the Danish government to maintain and further improve on the best business environment in the world so entrepreneurs can grow and compete. This includes foreign investors who will benefit equally from a friendly and favourable business environment and enjoy a friction-free and fast track procedure to set up business in Denmark. So, nobody should be surprised, if Denmark by 2015 still ranks no. 1 according to business climate and are counted among the most competitive and innovative societies in the world.

AlfaPeople UK is the newest branch of the leading Microsoft Customer Relationship Management solutions provider. AlfaPeople was originally founded in Denmark in 2005. With more than 150 implementations to date including industry leaders like Microsoft EMEA, University of Aarhus, Rosendahl A/S, TNS-Gallup and many more, AlfaPeople can help your business maximize the value of your existing customers as well as create new opportunities with your prospects regardless of your industry.

Our London office is a 100% CRM dedicated Gold Certified Microsoft partner and is staffed with experienced consultants, trainers, and project managers. We specialise in evaluating your existing business processes, understanding your business imperatives, and implementing the right solution for your business in the fastest and most effective way along with post implementation support and training. For a free evaluation of how we can help your business, please email us at pgm@alfapeople.co.uk or call us at +44 (0) 7770 553 464.

To learn more about AlfaPeople, please visit www.alfapeople.co.uk

Good food with love from Scandinavia

Hello,

Scandinavian Kitchen is London’s first truly Scandinavian deli, coffee shop and grocery store. Serving breakfast with a distinct twist, delicious Smørrebrød - open sandwiches - for lunch and scrumptious pastries, rolls and other goodies at all times, we have set out to introduce the informal Scandinavian cuisine to Londoners and Scandinavian expatriates alike.

Scandinavian Kitchen

Conveniently located on 61 Great Titchfield Street, five minutes walk from Oxford Circus, we stock around 500 products – fresh, frozen and dry - including Danish favourites such as leverpostej, remoulade, sild, rugbrod, salt lakrids and koldskaal.

Scandinavian Kitchen is set up by a Dane, Bronte Blomhoj, originally from Høng on Sealand, who’s drawn on her experiences as a Danish expat in Luxembourg, Switzerland and the UK to set up her own little corner of Denmark and Scandinavia right in central London together with her Swedish partner, Jonas Aurell and baby daughter Astrid (three months) – delivering good food with love and lots of ‘hygge’.

Bronte Blomhoj, Astrid and Jonas Aurell

See also www.scandkitchen.co.uk. Office and private catering available.

Open 8 – 19 on weekdays, 10 – 18 Saturdays and 10 – 16 on Sundays.

Address: 61 Great Titchfield Street, London W1W 7PP

Telephone: 020 7580 7161

Email: info@scandikitchen.co.uk

For all members of the council please click here