Z/Yen’s Superheros Are At It Again –

Breaking Records…

It isn’t all that often that a Z/Yen person is awarded a Guinness World Record, but one of our number achieved just that a few weeks ago. And it wasn’t in the Olympics.

For many years, as an avocation, Ian Harris wrote comedy for several shows, including the long-running show Newsrevue. This summer, in a simultaneous awards presentation at Newsrevue’s home in London and at its Edinburgh festival location, the show was awarded a Guinness World Record for being the longest continuously running comedy show in the entire world, ever – 25 years and still running. How such a claim is proved is one of those mysteries. Why a show that changes its material every week is deemed to be a single, continuously running show is another mystery. But our Ian isn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth, nor is he one to miss a party with some old friends. One of the resulting photographs is this month’s caption competition – there is still time to get your entries in.

(Ian hasn’t written for the show for 5 years – I wish I still got Z/Yen awards for stuff I did that long ago! – Ed)

Fighting Crime…

As mentioned in our last issue, we are currently investigating anti - money laundering regulations. Mark Yeandle is leading a team, supported by Michael, working on a project jointly commissioned by the Corporation of London and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales. The study is examining how compliance with the anti- money laundering regulations affects the competitiveness of the UK financial services industry compared to other jurisdictions and how effective regulations are in disrupting financial crime. We are looking to survey relevant senior managers in banks, financial intermediaries, accountants and lawyers. A questionnaire is being developed and will be emailed shortly. Anyone who is willing to complete this, please email mark_yeandle@zyen.com

Winning Medals…

Z/Yen is pleased to be working with the British Film Institute on its Information Technology (IT) Strategy. The objective of this three month project is to develop a strategy that expands the impact of the British Film Institute through the innovative use of IT. The work is being led by Mary O’Callaghan with support from Michael. Michael was recently made a medallist for this year’s British Computer Society Individual Excellence Awards as IT Director of the Year for our work on PropheZy and VizZy (but I thought VizZy was about visualising data? Surely, Mary and Michael don’t intend to show data films? – Ed)

Making Records…

What was almost certainly the oldest audience at last month’s Edinburgh Fringe turned out to see a member of Z/Yen’s Edinburgh team. Kevin sang, as well as played steel and 12 string guitar, as part of the Soft Shoe Skiffle Band. They did all the classic Lonnie Donegan songs including ‘Does your chewing gum lose its flavour on the bedpost overnight?’ (there must be a risk/reward angle somewhere there – Ed) as well as other favourites such as ‘Freight Train’ and ‘Sloop John B’. Photographers were in attendance – we feel another caption competition coming on…

...And Helping Clients!

Z/Yen are frequently asked by financial services clients to help with market analysis. Our deep knowledge of the financial markets has been rewarded with a number of assignments with clients including Wolff Olins, LCH Clearnet and ADP-Wilco in which we have been able to assist with both understanding and quantitative market-sizing of specific f-market sectors.