A recent BBC article reported that Facebook has been accused of rolling sexist job advertising.
Investigative campaigners, Global Witness, have brought a startling bias to light, claiming that Facebook’s advertising strategy has a considerably sexist approach. The organization had created 4 test adverts to put Facebook under scrutiny, which lead to uncovering a huge discriminatory gender bias.
The ads that ran were for 4 job advertisements, linking to genuine vacancies posted by recruitment company indeed.com. The roles were for nursery nurses, pilots, mechanics and psychologists. It’s critical to note that Global Witness did not manually enter any targeting strategy, it was left entirely to Facebook who use an automated algorithm that shows your ads to ‘who is most likely to click on them’. When creating your advertisement via Facebook, they require advertisers to confirm that they ‘will not discriminate when posting job ads’ however ‘it’s own ad delivery system appears to operate in a discriminatory manner’. (Global Witness)
And here are the findings to prove it:
96% of the people shown the ad for mechanic jobs were men;
95% of those shown the ad for nursery nurse jobs were women;
75% of those shown the ad for pilot jobs were men;
77% of those shown the ad for psychologist jobs were women
Zing Insights have been awarded the research contract for Europe’s biggest trade show event for the retail industry. Zing will be conducting research with visitors at Spring Fair International which runs from during February, using their innovative iPad Research Pods.
David Langrish, Global Head of Brand Marketing at i2i Events Group said “It is important to us that we have real-time data collected during the show to provide our sales team with the insights they need to aid the exhibitor re-booking process. Zing came highly recommended and they have an innovative, flexible way of collecting large amounts of data, fast, during the event and not having to wait until after the show for results.”
Zing director Jo Walther said “Our research pods are the perfect data collection solution for any high footfall area, we’ve used them in retail outlets, in tourist attractions as well as at events to capture customer views at the point of consumption”. We’ve also found significant differences in results captured during an ‘experience’ vs. those captured after using online research methodologies because online samples are self-selecting, results are often much more polarised and extreme, positive and negative, whereas our samples are more reflective of an overall customer perception.”
Zing Insights is an award winning research and insights consultancy run by a team of highly skilled research professionals with over 40 years experience of delivering world class business insights. Zing were highly commended as a finalist for the EDP Business Award – best new business 2012 and are in this year’s EDP Future50.
Professional recruitment specialists Pure has been awarded an Investors in People Gold Award. Described as an achievement of ‘world class best practice’, IIP Gold is only given to organisations who can demonstrate excellence in developing and supporting staff to achieve high performance.
Investors in People is an internationally recognised accreditation held by more than 30,000 organisations across the world, but only 1.5% of these achieve the prestigious Gold award. Pure was first awarded the Gold standard in 2016 and following another assessment it has been awarded the top accolade for another three years.
The leading recruitment organisation, which has offices in Cambridge, Norwich, Ipswich and Chelmsford, was described as a ‘growing, forward-thinking company that prides itself on being a values-led organisation in a market where by far the majority are financially led’. The assessors described how people choose to work for Pure because of this approach and enjoyed the working environment created by the Executive team, and original founders, Gill Buchanan, Ian Walters and Lynn Walters.
Gill Buchanan, Chief Operating Officer at Pure, said: “This is a fantastic achievement and a highly desirable accreditation for businesses to hold. We’re extremely proud of this external recognition of the fact we like to do things differently and our ongoing focus on our company values, which are all based around making Pure a rewarding and positive place to work. We have created a supportive environment where people work flexibly, a culture of teamwork is fostered, and we are passionate about ensuring all our team are fully engaged to go the extra mile for our clients and candidates alike. Our focus is on establishing long-term relationships as trusted advisors and our targets are focused on outcomes rather than making a quick return.”
Organisations are only awarded with the Gold status following assessments in all aspects of people development, communications and engagement, through employee surveys, interviews and observations.
Pure was founded in 2002 and specialises in Accountancy, Financial Services, IT, Human Resources, Marketing and Office Support recruitment solutions at all levels, including board level appointments through its specialist Executive division. As well as its values led approach, the Investors in People assessors highlighted Pure’s strengths in open and transparent communication, the encouragement of innovation and its reward and recognition schemes which ensure everyone feels appreciated and valued for their hard work.
Abate Pest Management has recently secured a service agreement with leading 3PL and warehousing company Johnston Logistics UK, based in Snetterton, Norfolk.
From their 640,000-square foot facility in Snetterton, Johnston Logistics UK deliver warehousing, logistics and fulfilment services for businesses throughout the UK. They offer a complete range of services, from bulk storage to individually picking and packing customer orders.
Abate Pest Management will manage the entire site for the prevention of pests by carrying out 12 visits per year. The site has approximately 180 bait stations, several insect monitors and electronic fly killing units. The service will cover any ad-hoc call outs to treat other pests such as wasps or ants if required. Each quarter Abate will produce rodent and insect trend graphs to analyse activities. Full electronic service reporting is made available for each visit to assist with the companies BRC compliance.
Jon Blake, Managing Director of Abate Pest Management said: “We are delighted to implement a full-service pest programme at Johnston Logistics UK which was with a national pest control company. We work to BRC level 7, Tesco Food Manufacturers and M&S Food standards for pest control, which is what is needed for a company that works within the food chain. We very much look forward to a long relationship and to maintain a pest free environment.
Jane Bull Compliance Manager said: As a AA Grade BRC approved business it is essential that we have a reliable and effective pest control company taking care of the site. After just a couple of weeks, I already have complete confidence in the service being provided which means I can leave Abate to do what they do best and get on with other work.
Abate Pest Management is based near Wymondham and services commercial and domestic clients throughout the Eastern region for rodents, insects, birds, woodworm and specialist cleans. Abate offers commercial businesses free site surveys with recommendations and costs.
ROTA are an innovative start-up and mobile application which helps those in the hospitality, catering and hotel industries find temporary staff for their needs. They also help those looking for hospitality jobs in London and other related part-time work in these industries acquire the perfect role. We are proud to be working closely with the great team at ROTA, helping them increase their positions online through clean, white hat search engine optimisation (SEO).
With an app as well as their website, there are some unique challenges. As is the case with other app-reliant businesses, getting users and customers to download and utilise the mobile application is paramount to the success of ROTA. Hence, as part of the strategy for the website, the app has remained at the forefront of our minds at all times and continues to do so.
Some of the Challenges
Upon starting our works with the team at ROTA, their website was not performing fast enough and was not responsive. This meant that many users upon landing upon the site were leaving before engaging with any aspect of the website. Moreover, those that reached the site and attempted to engage were often unable to do so at all times due to the slight lack in responsiveness. The website was also not optimised technically for SEO.
This manifested in the site ranking for some irrelevant keyword terms. It also did not satisfy some basic SEO best-practices and ranking criteria. This was as a result of a distinct lack of meta data (titles and descriptions) and content not being relevant enough to ensure accurate rankings. In addition, the backlink profile of the site (links pointing towards ROTA from other websites) was quite full of spammy and potentially toxic links, which were greatly holding back the performance and rankings of the entire website.
With regards to targeting and the strategy, there was previously only very sparse keyword and search term tracking set up. This means that as well as not performing as well as it should, the site’s progress was also not being tracked efficiently.
What We Are Doing
With a very aesthetically pleasing website, there was not much design-related work to be done on the ROTA website. However, we have been carrying out a number of other important tasks which are already paying dividends; getting the website up the rankings on Google and other search engines:
Website Performance – We removed a number of defunct functions and plugins from the website. This lead to almost immediate increases in website speed and responsiveness with various plugins having slowed down the site previously. We have also ensured wherever possible that a wide range of website files and media files have been sufficiently compressed to allow for much faster rendering and loading of the site
Website Crawlability – With numerous important factors missing from the site, the website was simply not being read properly by search engines. We therefore optimised the meta data, ensuring what Google reads and what users see in search engine results pages (SERPs) is fully optimised. As well as increasing positions online, this has also increased the click-throughs of users via search engines. We have also ensured that only relevant keywords and search terms are targeted and tracked to be able to accurately monitor progress over time
Links and Natural PR – Having previously been signed up to old-fashioned and spammy web directories as well as toxic ‘link farms,’ there was a great deal of negative link work which had been done upon the ROTA website in the past. Hence, we disavowed (disassociated) the spammy and toxic links, which numbered in the hundreds. We have also started to build ROTA a clean and natural backlink profile from strong and reputable sites. This is also working in ROTA’s favour as this acts as traditional PR in an online sphere, increasing the number of relevant users finding the ROTA brand through other naturally associated websites.
Start-Rite Shoes has appointed Kate Tansley as Product Director to provide leadership and direction for the strategic development of its product portfolio.
Kate has extensive experience in product environments; her last role was that of Brand Director at Multiyork where she was responsible for its creative and brand strategies, as well as the briefing of all product design and development. Prior to this, Kate held positions with Harrods, Tesco’s, TK Maxx and British Home Stores.
Ian Watson, Chief Executive Officer, said: “Kate boasts a very strong, category focussed background and will be instrumental in bringing our strategic vision to life. She will have overall responsibility for our Product, Technical and Design teams and we’re delighted to have her on board.”
Kate Tansley, Product Director, Start-Rite Shoes, said: “I am delighted to be joining the team at Start-Rite. I have a passion for product and design and I’m excited to be applying this to a new category. Children’s shoes are close to my heart and I’m looking forward to developing the product portfolio with our expert design and technical team. I’ve always been a Start-Rite customer, they are a brand that inspires trust through their great heritage and expertise. Our new brand positioning builds from this while refocusing on the pioneering spirit that was so central to Start-Rite in the past. We know kids and take a lot of time and care to understand what they need from their shoes as they grow and develop – that for me is what makes our design approach so refreshing.”
Staff at East Anglian accountancy firm, Aston Shaw, which has its head office in Norwich, have announced they will be fundraising for Norfolk and Waveney cancer charity, Big C, over the next 12 months.
Big C was chosen following a staff vote from four local charities and follows Aston Shaw’s support for EACH over the past three years.
Staff at Aston Shaw had already run a Big C biscuit appeal for a charity dress-down day. The biscuits were delivered to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) Big C Centre for visitors to enjoy. The team will continue to fundraise via ‘Casual Fridays’ and hope to take on some sporting challenges.
Charlie Maylin, marketing executive at Aston Shaw said, “Big C is a fantastic local charity and we can’t wait to start fundraising through a variety of events and activities. As a team we feel it is so worthwhile to be contributing towards ground-breaking cancer research, state of the art equipment and Big C’s support and information centres across Norfolk.
Dr Chris Bushby, Chief Executive at Big C, said, “Our grateful thanks to Aston Shaw for voting for us as their named charity. It is this kind of support which makes such a significant difference to those in our community affected by cancer.
To learn more about the work Big C does to improve the lives of those affected by cancer in Norfolk and Waveney, please visit www.big-c.co.uk
The Big C story:
2018 is shaping up to be quite a year for Norfolk and Waveney’s cancer charity, Big C. This summer the charity looks set to hit a phenomenal fundraising total of £30 million since Big C was founded in 1980 by local men David Moar and Clive Bamford. Having been through their own cancer journeys and enduring lengthy journeys to receive treatment, the pair passionately wanted to ensure that local people had access to outstanding treatment and support, close to where they are.
From its first small, but important fundraising project providing chemotherapy equipment at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, Big C has grown into an impressive organisation which funds specialist life-saving equipment and internationally significant research projects based at the Norwich Research Park. These projects greatly benefit local people and have a global impact on our understanding and treatment of the many types of cancer.
The charity has also established three Big C centres located at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, in Kings Lynn and Great Yarmouth and a hub at the Louise Hamilton Centre in Gorleston. These centres provide an oasis of specialist emotional and practical support for those with a cancer diagnosis and their loved ones away from a clinical environment.
UEA spin-out company, Intelligent Fingerprinting, was named the region’s ‘One to Watch’ business at the EDP’s annual Business Awards ceremony which took place last night at a gala event at the Holiday Inn in Norwich.
The One to Watch category set out to identify a company from within the EDP’s Future 50 family of businesses able to demonstrate a pioneering approach to business and with the potential to flourish and deliver impressive results. The category is about recognising an early stage business which shows the promise to become a success story of tomorrow. Judges were looking for drive, impact, potential and vision.
Intelligent Fingerprinting was one of three finalists competing for the award, which was sponsored by NWES. Professor David Russell received the award from BBC Look East’s Stewart White.
This summer Air Malta will again operate weekly charter flights to/fromseven regional airports in the UK between May and October 2013. In linewith demand and operations in previous years, Air Malta will operatecharter flights to/from Birmingham and Cardiff with two flights every weekon Tuesdays and Fridays, and weekly flights on Tuesdays to/from Bristol,Exeter, Newcastle, Norwich and Glasgow airports.
These charter flights increase accessibility to the islands from regional UKairports and thus offer travellers the opportunity to travel out and backfrom their nearest home airport. Furthermore, such flights also attract theinterest of the Maltese traveller to visit family and friends in various citiesin the United Kingdom. The operation of such regional services was madepossible thanks to the support received from tour operators and traveltrade partners in the areas.Commenting on these services, Philip Saunders, Chief CommercialOfficer said, “Air Malta is building on its position in the UK as a leader inthe market to Malta. Our summer charter operations further confirms theairline’s commitment to boost incoming tourism to Malta from the UK, andto bring Malta closer to their home. These flights also make it much easierfor the Maltese market to visit the British regions.”Air Malta operates such charter services as a supplement to the regularscheduled services to/from Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester, andlikewise offers 20Kgs for checked in baggage and up to 10Kgs as handluggage allowance for each passenger. Seats are available also for salevia the airline’s portal www.airmalta.com and via the international Call-Centre on 00356 21 66 22 11.
Norwich International to Malta operates 07 May – 22 October 2013.
Tour operators that will take allocation on the flights and offer package holidays are listed below: Belleair Sunspot/Mercury Direct Thomson Thomas Cook Cosmos Prestige Holidays Classic Collection Flexible Trips Superbreak
Flights and package holidays from Norwich International to Malta can be booked via your local travel agent.
KLM UK Engineering entered a team of 6 colleagues to take part in the East Anglian Air Ambulance EPIC 50 mile cycle ride Friday 18th May. Colin Gamson, Paul Green, Mark Walker, Janel McFadyen, Shane Boyle & Steve Batten completed the ride as a team on this North Norfolk course starting & finishing at North Walsham Rugby Club.
A big thank you to our team for volunteering and completing this challenge and to East Anglian Air Ambulance & Pedal Revolution for organising this charity event. We look forward to next years event!
Bigfork worked with Naked Marketing to improve this market leader’s website. The main aim of the new website was to position Omar’s park homes as the best in their industry.
With the Naked team we created a new website that showcased their product range with exciting new photography and an improved user experience. We also worked on search and conversion optimisation to boost lead generation, results so far show the new website is performing very well and is on track to meet targets.
Energy services company, Proserv has officially opened its new purpose-built Centre of Excellence within Great Yarmouth’s Beacon Park. Developer, Great Yarmouth Borough Council, together with New Anglia LEP and key stakeholders, joined Proserv at the 65,000 sq ft ‘Artemis House’ – named after the site’s ‘Artemis 2G’ (A2G) subsea control system technology – to mark the occasion with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Artemis House is the largest site within Beacon Park, featuring modern offices, 25% additional manufacturing space and a yard area. There is also the ability to add a further 20,000 sq ft of workshop capacity in the future and increase office headcount. Davis Larssen, COO of Proserv, welcomed the guests. During his opening speech, he highlighted the importance of the move to the enhanced site, underlining Proserv’s long-term commitment to the area and, indeed, the energy industry. He said: “”Having just began building this exceptional site a little over a year ago, I would like to thank everyone involved in helping us reach this key milestone. This opening is a new chapter for us as we consolidate more than 180 employees from our previous two sites in the area. It’s fantastic to see our workforce unite, ensuring we are well placed to not only meet customers’ expectations but exceed them, now and in the future.” In a joint statement, the borough council’s political group leaders, Cllr Graham Plant and Cllr Trevor Wainwright, said: “This landmark HQ is a symbol of Great Yarmouth Borough Council’s partnership work as a proactive authority dedicated to supporting local investment, jobs and growth, as well as bolstering Beacon Park’s national reputation as an established energy hub and top-performing Enterprise Zone. “Artemis House will ensure that these skilled jobs, mostly held by local people, will continue to be based within the borough, while generating rental income which will be used to help support vital public services. As the developer, we would like to thank the skilled team who helped to make this important development a reality, and we’re sure that Proserv’s staff will enjoy their brand new purpose-built workplace.” Doug Field, chair of New Anglia LEP, added: “The completion of Artemis House is great news for Proserv, its employees and the wider economy. LEP investments through our Growing Places Fund are targeted to make an impact, and this project will do exactly that. It’s further evidence of the strength of our energy coastline – within which Proserv is a key supplier and employer – and of our Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft Enterprise Zone in attracting and retaining investment in the East.” Beacon Park is part of the Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft (New Anglia) Enterprise Zone, which focuses on attracting and supporting energy-related businesses within the East of England. Great Yarmouth Borough Council, with support from the Local Enterprise Partnership, developed the site and remain landlord for the facility. Proserv is a technology-driven company providing products, services and bespoke solutions to clients across the energy industry. Operating worldwide through 22 operating centres based in 12 countries, the company has won a string of industry awards over the years in recognition of its achievements. For more information about Proserv visit: www.proserv.com For more information about Beacon park visit: www.beaconpark.co.uk