Shared Services, North West Shared Services Forum, Conference, Manchester, UK

Leading North West Business Sector holds inaugural conference, ‘The Forum ‘Live’ Leading the Way’ in September

The first ever conference dedicated to driving forward the shared services industry in the North West is being held at the Macdonald Kilhey Court Hotel, near Wigan on 14th September, 2006. 

The day conference is being co-ordinated by the North West Shared Services Forum, an organisation that re-launched in autumn 2005 to support and grow the shared services sector in the region. Entitled ‘The Forum ‘Live’ – Leading the Way’, the conference aims to be a platform for promoting best practice, raising the profile of the sector and encouraging members to network.  The North West Shared Services Forum comprises 30 member organisations and is supported by MIDAS, Manchester’s Investment Agency.  For more details about the organisation please visit www.sharedservicesforum.org.uk.

The conference is only open to member organisations and HR sub-forum members and expected to attract over 100 industry professionals from public and private sector organisations operating shared service centres in the north west such as AstraZeneca, Rolls Royce, Tetra Pak, HM Revenue & Customs and Network Rail as well as those from outside the region who actively support the work of the Forum.

Andrew Kris, a leading commentator, author and sought-after speaker on the world-wide development of shared services and business process outsourcing is one of the keynote speakers at the conference.  Co-author of ‘Shared Services: Mining for Corporate Gold’ and ‘Shared Service Centres’ both published by the Financial times/Prentice Hall, Andrew is chairman of the Advisory Board of the Shared Services and Business Process Outsourcing Association (SBPOA).

As well as speakers, conference attendees will have the opportunity to attend a selection of interactive workshops presented by heads of or experts in their fields covering a wide range of topics and designed to share and foster best practice as well as numerous networking opportunities throughout the day. A member benchmarking service will also be launched at the conference.

The North West is the second largest base of shared service centres in Europe.  Competitive employment and property costs, the highly skilled and experienced workforce as well as the superlative business infrastructure and cosmopolitan lifestyle opportunities combine to underpin the growth of the sector.

Companies recently expanding their shared services operation into the region include RBS and Network Rail. The North West has also spearheaded the first Shared Services occupational qualification, the BTEC in Shared Services, following a unique collaboration between Manchester’s public and private sector communities and the HR Forum that also introduced salary benchmarks.

For more information on the North West Shared Services Forum and the Conference please visit www.sharedservicesforum.org.uk or contact Rachel Greeen, Business Development Manager at MIDAS and North West Shared Services Forum Steering Group Member on 0161 772 2824 or Rachel.green@midas.org.uk.

Notes to Editor:
Press passes for the conference, telephone interviews press releases and images are available from Tracy Bosanko, Project Manager (Tel. 0161 743 9564 / Mob. 07725 203620 / E. tracy@tbpr.co.uk).

The North West Shared Services Forum:
• Acts as a focus for current topics that can enable change and improvement to current practice
• Facilitates sharing of information across its members
• Agrees specific benchmarking initiatives that support identified member requirements
• Works closely to support local skills development initiatives that could drive up capability
• Engages with Development Agencies and other formal bodies who can provide specialist advice and support on new regional initiatives
• Is managed by its members within governance guidelines agreed by its Steering Group
• Delivers three annual full day meetings, a members conference, a website designed to promote and aid the sharing of information between members and working groups on topics decided by the members

Member organisations:
Allied Bakeries Ltd
AstraZeneca
AXA
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Cargill
Ciba Chemicals
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Esso Serve-Europe
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
Home Office
ITV Granada plc
J T International
Kellogg’s
Marks & Spencer 
Medical Research Council
Michelin
Network Rail
Pentland Brands plc
Rolls- Royce plc
Royal Mail
Royal & SunAlliance
Sodexho
TDG plc
Tetra Pak Business Services Ltd
The Co-operative Group
United Co-operatives Ltd
Xansa
Xchanging HR Services