The economy shrank in the third quarter for the first time since 1992 and at a faster rate than previously thought, official data showed today. CBI Comment

“This is the steepest decline in GDP since the final three months of 1990, reflecting a marked slowdown in both the production and service industries. However, there is some evidence of an improving trend in the balance of payments figures and in household savings, which may be a sign of things to come.”

However as the National Accounts data is produced at least seven weeks after the end of a quarter this is always going to be a ‘rear-view’ mirror as opposed to a road-a-ahead outlook.

5 New Year Resolutions to Get Your Call Centre Fit for 2009

And primed to make it through the credit crunch

December 22, 2008, London, UK - Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN), the world’s leading supplier of speech, imaging and keypad solutions, today outlines five resolutions call centres can make that will help optimise efficiency, generate revenue, reduce costs and still deliver superior customer service in spite of current economic pressures.

1. Let Customers Just Say It - Don’t subject your customers to the disliked touchtone systems, whose complex menu mazes lead to misrouted calls and a bad customer experience. Nuance’s Call Steering speech recognition solution allows customers to describe their needs in their own words and move directly to their destination. Direct inbound customer calls more accurately, efficiently, and with higher caller satisfaction.

Festive names brings savings joy

As Christmas draws near, children named after the Archangel Gabriel could be celebrating more than stockings and gifts under the tree, as data from

The Children’s Mutual (http://www.thechildrensmutual.co.uk/) reveals they historically receive the largest lump sums of cash into their Child Trust Funds.Child Trust Fund (CTF) provider has analysed its database to look at how children with festive names benefit from gifts into their CTF’s and found that Gabriels receive an annual average in lump sum payments of £162 – almost twice the overall account average.CTF top up of £125. Unfortunately some Ebenezers seem to suffer from association with their Dickensian namesake receiving £5 in lump sum gifts on average.The Children’s Mutual, said: "There is an increasing trend for families to save some of a child’s birthday and Christmas money into their Child Trust Fund account and our customers with festive names are certainly benefiting from this!

-Leader in Global HR and Payroll Solutions Sets Sights on Further Expansion-

RALEIGH, N.C. and SALISBURY, U.K. (17 December 2008) – Patersons HR and Payroll Solutions, a leading global HR and payroll software and services business delivering expert solutions to clients in more than 160 countries, today announced details of its Series A financing.  The round of $30 million was led by Rho Ventures and partner, Paul Bartlett, has joined Patersons’ board of directors. Investment banking firm, Montgomery & Co., advised and managed the placement.

Previously financed by a group of private investors, Patersons HR and Payroll Solutions was founded in 1996 by Chief Executive Karen Paterson.  Paterson identified the crucial role that the Internet was going to play in global HR and payroll business processes and developed the company’s native Web-based offering, Logon2.