Despite continuing economic uncertainty in 2010, SPIE’s business held up well, and profitability improved for the fifth year running. The Group broke new ground in all of its markets and saw organic growth resume in France
With consolidated turnover up 0.7% year-on-year to €3.75 billion, annual business volume stabilised, underpinned by a balanced customer portfolio and good anticipation of sector trends, with growth in the healthcare and social housing sectors, sustained mobility in cities, demand for energy efficiency in services and manufacturing, the solar photovoltaic boom and the roll-out of broadband networks being just a few examples. In addition, SPIE further strengthened its excellent position in the energy markets.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/prne/spie/48893/
Over the past six months UK small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have grown on average by six per cent despite the broader UK economy struggling, according to the latest SMB Index from HP.
HP’s survey of 1,000 SMBs, with between 1 and 50 employees shows that, compared to that of the previous six months, growth for UK SMBs has slowed slightly but optimism is still strong, with SMBs expecting to grow by up to 13 per cent over the next year. Optimism in the economy is also strong, with 66 per cent of SMBs optimistic about the year ahead. SMBs in Financial Services have grown the most (13 per cent), followed by Manufacturing (10 per cent). SMBs in Retail (4 per cent) and Professional Services (1 per cent) have seen the least growth. Nearly half of UK SMBs (48 per cent) are turning to social media to help grow their business and reach new audiences, with 56 per cent of sole traders recognising its value the most. However, although SMBs are finding social media beneficial for networking purposes (83 per cent), and as a mechanism for advertising (57 per cent), many SMBs are underestimating its true potential for business growth and lead generation.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/prne/hp/48901/
In this eloquent account of her current struggles with physical pain, Joni Eareckson Tada offers her perspective on divine healing, God’s purposes, and what it means to live with joy. Learn more about this book: http://bit.ly/boKB8R Learn more about this author: http://www.joniandfriends.org/ Religion/Christian Life/Spiritual Growth
Saxo Bank, the online trading and investment specialist, believes a reasonably positive economic momentum barring a geopolitical crisis is likely during Q2 2012. The eventual return of QE seems inevitable as central banks try to keep the crisis at bay and the compounding of policy errors failing to address the solvency problem and growing social and geo-political friction will potentially lead to an explosive outcome.
According to the Bank’s analysts, Europe will continue on the path of flat growth despite the Eurozone having entered recession at the tail-end of last year. However the rebound in economic growth in the US will eventually spill over into Europe, and Asia will continue to aid its growth through imports. If the recovery in the US fails to provide enough jobs momentum a return of QE some time in Q3 may be a possibility. In Asia, the critical question is China, as losses on investments continue to accumulate and eventually need to be realised.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/prne/saxobank/53812/
UBMStudios, the world leader in digital events, environments and communities, is capitalizing on the rapid growth in Marketing-as-a-Service (MaaS). According to the BtoB “Marketing Services: What Marketers Want From Their Media Partners” research report, 55 percent of marketers have used b2b media companies for marketing services in the past 12 months. Additionally, CMO Survey’s August 2011 research shows that nearly 75 percent of respondents currently outsource marketing activities. These studies highlight that companies are making investments in outsourced marketing due to bandwidth and increased areas of marketing specialization.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/49987-ubm-studios-capitalizing-on-the-growth-of-marketing-as-a-service
Frost & Sullivan recently published a white paper, Virtualization for Midsize Businesses: Keep Your Foot on the Accelerator, which identifies the benefits midsize businesses gain through holistic adoption of virtualization technologies.
To overcome the many recurring challenges pertaining to data centers, there are streams of benefits virtualization across servers, storage, networks, and desktops can deliver, especially for midsize businesses with heightened strategic priorities in innovation and revenue growth. This shift to virtualization increases capacity and improves effectiveness with greater speed, flexibility and reliability than possible in non-virtualized environments.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/56117-frost-sullivan-white-paper-virtualization-midsize-business-efficiency-ibm
http://igetitapps.com/ i Get It offers some of the best educational apps for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, autism apps, and iPad apps for special needs kids. i Get It applications are designed to support language skill development and facilitate cognitive growth through building language skills. Typically developing young children and individuals with developmental delays, such as PDD-NOS, autism, down syndrome or TBI will benefit from these interactive applications. Autism apps have been recently featured on TV shows as a great way of communication for people whose condition prevents them from speaking. i Get It apps have been featured on AutismSpeaks.org, Snapps4kids.com, A4cwsn and many others. Please go to http://igetitapps.com/ to see all our apps.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC) today released a new multimedia platform illustrating the importance of intellectual property (IP) in job creation and expanding economic growth. The Innovation Lifecycle captures more than 30 voices from America’s most innovative and creative sectors—illustrating the challenges, dedication, and skilled individuals behind the process of bringing an idea to the market. Viewers will be asked to chart their own course through The Innovation Lifecycle, with options to view informative facts, videos of various sectors and stages, join the conversation on social media channels, and engage with key stakeholders.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/52335-u-s-chamber-of-commerce-launches-the-innovation-lifecycle
Despite sluggish recovery by the nation’s economy, the restaurant industry is projected to expand in 2012, according to the National Restaurant Association’s 2012 Restaurant Industry Forecast released today. Total restaurant industry sales are expected to reach a record high of $632 billion in 2012 – a 3.5 percent increase over 2011, marking the second consecutive year that industry sales have topped $600 billion.
In addition, the restaurant industry will continue to fuel U.S. employment in the year ahead as the nation’s second largest private sector employer. Overall restaurant industry employment will reach 12.9 million in 2012, representing 10 percent of the total U.S. workforce.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/52982-national-restaurant-association-2012-restaurant-industry-forecast
Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) announced that it will grow its New York City portfolio by 50% this year and open more hotels in New York in 2010 than any other city in the world. Today, Starwood operates 12 hotels in the Big Apple across six of its nine distinct and compelling brands. The company's NYC boom will result in 18 high-caliber Starwood hotels including the debut of Starwood's two newest brands in Manhattan — Aloft and Element. The company's bullish focus on NYC is illustrative of its meaningful global growth strategy — Starwood is on track to open more than 80 hotels in key markets around the world this year.
To view Multimedia Newsw Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/starwood/45288/
Energy efficiency is at the heart of Europe’s growth and transition to a resource efficient economy. The European Union aims to save 20% of its primary energy consumption by 2020 (compared to what has been forecast). Everyone’s contribution is crucial in meeting this goal. By better insulating buildings we can reduce energy consumption by 28% by 2020. By choosing modern energy-efficient refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers etc. we can use significantly less energy than with older appliances. By buying lighter vehicles or using low fuel consumption tyres we can double the fuel efficiency of an average car.
This video clip provides an overview of the European Union’s energy efficiency objectives and shows how each of us can make the difference, be it in our professional or private life. This video clip was disseminated in France, Belgium, Netherlands, Ireland, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria and United Kingdom.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/53791-european-commission
