GPSJ Autumn 2024 ONLINE - Flipbook - Page 4
GPSJ
NEWS
Reeves must not become Labour’s ‘austerity
Chancellor’, union leader warns
Digital transformation
and customer experience
specialists, FourNet, have
appointed Capita’s former
Director of Innovation, Alan
Linter, as the fast-growing
technology 昀椀rm’s new Group
Consulting Director.
Responding to a report that the
Treasury is planning to cuts welfare
spending by billions,
Wright said Reeves must not
become the ‘’Austerity Chancellor’.
Steve Wright, Fire Brigades
Union general secretary, said:
“Cutting billions of pounds from
Welfare would be a return to the
austerity of George Osborne and
the Tories.
“It would be an outrageous
attack on the poorest and most
vulnerable.
“Many workers who are in
receipt of income support and
other bene昀椀ts would su昀昀er from
any cutbacks.
“Food bank use and ‘In Work’
poverty remain widespread after
nearly 15 years of Tory austerity.
“To make further cuts to the
already derisory levels of welfare
support would be to declare war
on poverty-stricken families.
“Hard pressed families must
not be made to pay the price of
nearly a decade-and-a-half of Tory
mismanagement of the economy.
“The Chancellor must use her
Spring statement to tax the rich to
properly fund public services and
increase pay.
“Rachel Reeves must not
become Labour’s ‘Austerity
Chancellor’.
“The Fire Brigades Union will
昀椀ercely resist any cuts announced
in the Spring Statement.”
Scotland’s first female electrical apprentice is
star of new video released by SELECT
for Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2025
Heather Fleming tells
trade association how
apprenticeship
set her on the path to a
successful career 37 years ago
Campaigning trade association
SELECT has tracked down
Scotland’s 昀椀rst-ever female
electrical apprentice to discuss her
career journey in an inspiring new
video for Scottish Apprenticeship
Week.
Former textile machinist Heather
Fleming tells viewers how she got
her big break 37 years ago, how
she insisted on being treated as
an equal to her male counterparts
– and why she still believes an
apprenticeship is an invaluable
way to help climb the career
ladder.
Produced in partnership with
the Scottish Electrical Charitable
Training Trust (SECTT), the video
has also been released ahead
of International Women’s Day on
Saturday 8 March.
In the 昀椀lm, entitled Blazing a
Trail, Heather reveals how she
switched careers when she joined
SELECT Member 昀椀rm HF Electrical
in Glasgow in 1988.
She says: “I was working as a
sewing machinist in a factory and
had the afternoon o昀昀, so went to
the local careers o昀케ce and found
a lea昀氀et called Would You Like to
be an Electrician?”
The Data City cements global growth plans
following £2m investment
The Data City is accelerating
its mission of establishing
a new global industrial
classi昀椀cation system, after
securing £2M investment from
Oxford Economics.
The investment is the largest
received by The Data City since
its formation in 2017. In 2023,
a funding round of £350k was
secured from venture capitalist
昀椀rm, Venturian, valuing the
昀椀rm at £10 million. Seventeen
months later, this latest strategic
investment almost doubles the
4
value of The Data City to £19
million, highlighting the success
and overall growth achieved in the
seven years since its formation.
The deal follows a record year
of growth for the Leeds-based
arti昀椀cial intelligence (AI) data
business. It has created ten new
senior roles across development,
data science and management
divisions, increasing the tech 昀椀rm’s
headcount from 20 to 30.
The investment will be used
to enhance The Data City’s
global data infrastructure,
expand its services for UK-based
multinational clients, and fund
the initial market development for
the US joint venture, with leading
global economic advisory 昀椀rm,
Oxford Economics. It will also
provide working capital to support
the company’s rapid growth.
In the 昀椀nancial year 2023/24
the business achieved its sixth
year of consecutive growth, with a
turnover rise of 63% to £1.25m.
Oxford Economics’ investment
underpins the increasing
demand for more accurate and
dynamic business intelligence.
By integrating The Data City’s
GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC SECTOR JOURNAL WINTER 2024/2025
AI-powered platform with its
global economic forecasting
expertise, the partnership will drive
innovation in sector analysis and
investment decision-making.
Alex Craven, CEO of The
Data City, said: “Securing
this investment rounds o昀昀 a
remarkable period of sustained
growth. Oxford Economics
shares our vision and ambition of
global strategic expansion, which
enables us to strengthen our
workforce, massively upscale our
technological capabilities.
