Apple Pay looks to boost UK Digital Payments

Back in October 2014 Apple launched Apple Pay in the US as part of its iOS 8.1 update. The Cupertino giant then saw 1 million American activations in the first 3 days.

However over here in the UK we have been awaiting news of a similar launch. Many blogs have been written about getting Apple Pay in the UK and false hints & rumours that Belgium may be the first European country to get the new digital payment service haven't helped. But on 8th June at Apple's WWDC 2015 the silence was broken and the announcement was made that Apple Pay is to launch in the UK, making us just the second country to adopt the service... ahead of Canada and other candidates.

More surprising was the news that we'll get Apple Pay in a matter of weeks, as plans for a July 2015 launch are now underway. Meaning that key UK retailers such as Marks and Spencers and Waitrose will offer you contactless / NFC payments via your iPhone this Summer. Furthermore, TFL will also offer Apple Pay across its network.

However, if you can tap in & out on buses and tube trains around London from next month using both your iPhone and your NFC-enabled credit card... does this spell the beginning of the end for the Oyster Card system?

Where are all the Scottish eCommerce Consultants?

I've lived in Scotland for around 6 months now, having moved here from London. I've therefore been doing all I can to promote and develop the eCommerce market north of the border... I've met with quite a few prospects, clients, industry leaders, agency folk and anyone else I can to increase my business network in Glasgow, Edinburgh and further afield.

However, there's no getting around it, the ecommerce market in Scotland is on average) less mature and smaller in scale than that of London or The Midlands.

This also means that I've not found many eCommerce consultants knocking about, who do what I do:

• Strategic advice (incl multi-channel retail)
• Business analysis and benchmarking
• Programme Management of large / complex projects
• User experience best practice and conversion improvement
• Digital analytics and insight
• Online marketing optimisation

In fact, a search on Google for "Scottish eCommerce Consultant" just tends to mainly bring up old job adverts for roles that are neither really eCommerce or Consultant focused.

So if you are a digital or eCommerce consultant based in Scotland, or just want to know what one does in more detail, please get in touch.

Hayden

Why I'm moving to Scotland

A personal post from me today.

Most friends and family will know by now that The Sutherlands are moving to Scotland in matter of weeks. For some this will come as a shock, but for others it will seem an obvious step.

Most people who know us, know that my wife Moya is originally from the Scottish town of Paisley near Glasgow. There she has a large & welcoming family, plus a great set of friends she has had forever. Not forgetting that our kids were both christened in the local cathedral where we got married there.

Moya and I have been discussing and subsequently planning our move (to what my brother once 'politically incorrectly' called "North England") for a couple of years now. So this most definitely is not a short-term venture, this is a change of country, lifestyle and outlook. One of us is going 'home' and the rest are either going because we want to (me) or to get our own bedroom (the kids).

I'm also longing to get out on my bikes more, as both the mountains and road in Scotland are better for cycling compared to West London. This is part of my commitment to lead a healthier lifestyle (and lose that spare tyre that seems to be inflating around my midriff).

So what am I leaving behind?
Well, it's fair to say I've built up a great network of contacts, clients and colleagues in London and the South East. I know my way about very well and I know where to go for business drinks, impressive dinners and the best burgers (Wolfs near Covent Garden do an amazing wagyu beef burgers that IMHO hard to beat). I don't have this sort of knowledge where I'm going, but I'm not one for standing about....

Yes, I will miss running the Ealing Tweetup, something that I've coordinated for about a year and a half. That's been a great event for me, with the chance to build up friendships, meet local social media users and even to sing at the top of my voice whilst backed by a live band (thanks to Brace Yourself).

One question I have been asked several times by those who already know of our departure and that I've avoided answering, is whether our decision to move away from Ealing was influenced by the riots last year. The honest answer to that has to be "no". You see we'd already decided to move by last Summer, however the madness that happened across the UK (but not Scotland) only ratified our decision.

One last thing. Just because I'm moving to Scotland, it doesn't mean I'm not going to be down in the metropolis. You see....

"When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."
SAMUEL JOHNSON (1709-84)

Don't blame social media for unrest

I live in Ealing in West London, where some of the riots took place the other night. I spent a lot of time listening to police sirens & helicopters overhead and throughout the disturbances I followed the news online (via the BBC) and on Twitter & Facebook.

In the last few days a lot of things have been cited as the cause of these riots, however one constant theme mentioned by Newspapers, TV & Radio channels is that "Social Media is allowing people to riot".


Quite frankly, this topic is a pathetic attempt to create headlines that are nonsense. Riots have existed before social media, and before TV and other channels. Note: I've yet to check if there was 'technically' a riot before the invention of the printing press... but you get my drift.


Social Media, just like the telephone and every other method of communication we have is not the cause of social unrest.... it is merely a facilitator, the channel via which people now interact with each other. Blaming it is like blaming the air for transmitting an influenza virus.

And just like air, Social Media has become just another thing we now take for granted in our modern lives. However there have been calls by some political leaders to shut down various social media (most popularly Blackberry Messenger / BBM because it is far less traceable). But as several overthrown rulers of several North African countries will testify.... trying to shut these sources down really didn't help matters....

Ealing Tweetup - the Next Generation

For the last year or so I’ve attended the fantastic Ealing Tweetups run by Mark Hillary. However at the beginning of this year Mark took off to be with his new wife Angelica in Brazil and passed the baton for organising future events onto myself and a handful of regulars.

So, the good news is that the event hasn’t come to an end as was feared and the next Ealing Tweetup returns to its regular and rightful home of the Rose and Crown pub on Thursday 21st April 2011. http://www.fullers.co.uk/rte.asp?id=4&itemid=252&task=View

This time the pub will have just opened the day before following an extensive re-fit . We therefore hope to have a great time, especially as the following day is Good Friday (and therefore a public holiday for a lot of people).

So, if you’re an Ealing resident or worker and fancy coming along to meet fellow local Twitter users in real life, then sign-up and come along for a cheeky beer:
http://twtvite.com/ealingtu8

T-Mobile takes over Trafalgar Square

T-Mobile, in a reprisal of their famous Liverpool Street flash mob dancing advert, took over Trafalgar Square in the middle of London on Friday evening and the actual advert screened last night on UK TV.



Although this didn't perhaps have the impact of the previous one, it continues the "Life's for sharing" theme.