Last week we looked back over the first six months of 2018, now it’s time to see what was happening from July through to the end of the year.
July
The country, and the rest of the world, sweltered so we gave you our Top 5 Tips To Keep Your Computer Cool. Keep on the weather theme we also explained exactly what the cloud was (sorry!), what your business was already using it for and what else you could be using it for.
July was also the month we found out that we had achieved a place in the MSP501. We ranked 415 overall in the largest ranking of IT Support providers in the world. This placed is the top 20 in the UK, and Number 1 in the East Midlands for Small MSP’s – those with less than 50 employees.
Two things dominated the news in July: The Heatwave and The World Cup. Temperatures peaked at 35.3, with the dry conditions leading to a huge grass fire on Wanstead Flats, the largest incident of its kind ever dealt with by the London Fire Brigade. The Met Office urges people to ‘stay out of the sun’ and issues a level 3 amber alert.
England defeat Colombia on penalties in the first knock-out stage. It was Englands first ever penalty shoot-out win at the World Cup. They progressed past Sweden 2-0 in the quarter finals but, despite taking an early lead through Kieran Trippiers free-kick, they lost the Semi-Final 2-1 to Croatia.
In politics Boris Johnson resigned as Foreign Secretary and David Davis resigned as Brexit secretary to be replaced by Dominic Rab as a raft of ministers waled over the PM’s ‘Chequers agreement’ for Brexit.
And Donald Trump visits the UK despite nobody seemingly wanting him to.
August
In August we announced the further development of our partnership with Derby County Ladies FC, becoming the clubs ‘Official IT Partner’ and shirt sponsor to the Foundation Team.
We also warned of the end of extended support for the Windows 7 Operating System and the dangers this posed to businesses that were still using it.
Boris made the news again – stating that women who wore Burkas ‘look like letter boxes’ in his Daily Telegraph column.
Sports Direct owners Mike Ashley steps in to buy House of Fraser for £90m, after the retail chain falls into administration.
September
September saw Derby County Ladies take on Nottingham Forest Ladies at Pride Park, breaking the club and league attendance records with a crowd of 2,109. Derby won the game 1-0 to claim local bragging rights.
We warned businesses to be on the look out for Director Scam emails, complex and highly targeted phising attacks that have been on the increase. We also explained some of the options for businesses situated in areas with poor broadband connectivity.
Fire destroyed part of the one of the most famous landmarks in Liverpool, the Littlewoods Pools building. It is thought the blaze, which gutted the West Wing, was started deliberately.
The Met office confirmed that 2018 was the joint hottest on record, joining 1976, 2003, and 2006. Meanwhile, Theresa Mays Chequers Plan was rejected by EU leaders causing the pound highest fall of the year so far.
October
In October we welcomed two new members of staff to the Your IT family with Narayan and Liam joining as Apprentice Engineers. The appointments featured in a number of online publications including the Business Desk East Midlands.
Narayan is progressing well and has passed his first exam, however Liam decided the world of IT support wasn’t for him – we wish him well.
We partnered with Leicester based business Imagine If to produce an infographic explaining Cyber Security for the Home Business, concentrating on what the very smallest of businesses could do to protecting themselves from online threats.
And our Sales and Marketing Director, Craig Pearson, took part in the CEO Sleepout at Meadow Lane, Nottingham. Joining 60+ other senior business figures in sleeping rough on the pitch for the night Craig was able to raise £1,046 for the charity.
Hugely popular Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha is aboard his AgustaWestland AW169 helicopter when it crashes outside the King Power Stadium shortly after taking off from the pitch. Eyewitnesses describe seeing the helicopter spinning before crashing and creating a fireball. Srivaddhanaprabha and all four other passengers are killed and the city enters a period of mourning amid unprecedented support and well wishes from the wider football community.
Facebook appoints former deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg as Head of Global Affairs and Communications.
November
We asked the question ‘Should You Be Using Office 365’ in November. The post looked at the good and bad of Microsofts premium subscription based service.
Doctors became able to prescribe cannabis products to a restricted number of patients and Ross Edgley became the first person to swim around the entire coast of Great Britain. His journey of 1,780 miles had lasted for 157 days. The UK marked the anniversary of the end of the First World War with a wreath laying ceremony at the Cenotaph.
But it was Brexit that dominated the news. Brexit Secretary Dominic Rab became the latest Brexit Secretary to resign on the 15th of the month, Junior Brexit minister Suella Braverman followed suit followed by 3 others including Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey. On the 25th EU leaders endorse the Brexit withdrawal agreement after 18 months of negotiation. On the 28th Chancellor Philip Hammond announces that all forms of Brexit will make Britain worse off but that the PM’s plan is the best option. The Bank of England predicts a ‘No Deal’ Brexit means the UK economy would shrink by 8%, with house prices falling by a third.
December
In December we shone the spotlight on a couple of Confederation of British Industry (CBI) reports which focused on the adoption of existing technologies within small businesses to improve productivity, moving the business from ‘Ostrich to Magpie’.
A major disruption to the O2 mobile network, caused by faulty software leaving up to 32 million people without access and the NHS issues a ban on buying fax machines from January 2019 with a target to phase the machines out entirely by 31st March.
Again though Brexit and politics grabbed all the headlines. On the 4th December the Government was found in contempt of parliament for failing to publish the full legal advice on the Brexit deal.This was the first time in history the government had been found in contempt. On the 10th the The European Court of Justice rules that the UK can cancel Article 50 without the consent of the 27 other EU states and Theresa May delays the parliamentary vote on approving the European Union Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration, postponing it from the following day to 21 January 2019. The pound falls to its lowest level in 18 months.
The following day Theresa May meets with European leaders in an attempt to improve her Brexit deal, despite European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, insisting that no further concessions will be possible.
On the 12th Theresa May wins a vote of no confidence on her leadership of the Conservative Party by 200–117. The vote is held after the chairman of the 1922 Committee receives the 48 letters required from Conservative MPs to trigger a no confidence vote.
As of the time of writing that’s the year that was 2018!
It’s been a good one for Your IT and we’ve got good reason to believe that 2019 will be even better!
We’d like to wish all of our clients, suppliers, partners, and friends a very happy and prosperous 2019.
