The National Three Peaks Challenge involves walking the highest mountains in England, Scotland and Wales within 24 hours. They are Ben Nevis (1344mtrs) in Scotland, Scafell Pike (978mtrs) in England and Snowdon (1085mtrs) in Wales, with the total ascent of 9,800 feet.

At the end of June, 11 adventurous ARM employees will take on the gruelling Three Peaks Challenge to raise money for ARM's nominated charities "Make a Wish" and "Macmillan Cancer Support". The trip is entirely self-funded and the team will not be receiving any assistance from the charities, maximising the amount of money that goes to the good causes.

Keep up to date of their progress via Facebook, Twitter and the ARM news page.

The sponsorship page is up and running if you want to help support them, please click here.

ARM recently attended the ICE Totally Gaming Event 2012 at Earls Court Exhibition Centre. The event was a major success, attracting over 20,000 gaming professionals from all over the world.

Earls Court has been home to the ICE event for many years, and each year new gaming innovation and solutions are shown to the world.

ARM iGaming find events like these very useful as we get to meet like minded professionals and learn more about the market place.

If you would like to see how ARM iGaming can help you find a job, or if you would like an informal chat on some of the challenges you face call: 01202 924 924 or visit our igaming page.

ARM's Stuart Roe talks about the recent expansion of the Bournemouth office, where ARM's iGaming, Marketing and International divisons are based.

It is hard to believe that it’s almost two years since Mike and I got our heads together and decided to launch a brand new ARM Division from sunny Bournemouth. Our first office was nothing more than a broom cupboard with room for five desks and not even enough room to swing a cat. Meetings were regularly conducted in the car park or local Costa Coffee - it really was back to basics launching a brand new and exciting venture from scratch.

Two years later, a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears and we have now moved into our third office. This stunning new office space has room for more than fifty staff, a board room, meeting room and a full kitchen and will provide the vehicle for ARM iGaming, ARM Marketing and ARM International to grow into mature businesses with huge scope for future growth, and career progression for all who sail in her.

Thank you to Amy, Alex and Stephanie who have been with us since the early days, and Mike and the rest of the board for support during our infancy.

Stuart Roe

Divisional Manager

iGaming, Marketing & International

On June 6th 2012, ARM Directors Mike Gawthorne and Paul Martin will begin a gruelling 300-mile, 4 day cycle ride in aid of the Make-a-Wish Foundation. They will attempt to raise £4,000 for this excellent cause - if you are interested in sponsoring them, you can find a link at the bottom this page. Already in training, Paul Martin BLOGS about it here!

Read his first blog here.

Well, three weeks have passed since my last blog, and Mike and I have completed our second training ride together, a crazy high-speed blast around Portsmouth and Southsea, averaging 18.6mph, after a long day at the office. Since this, I have completed 3 more rides of 20, 23 and 25 miles, the last being a particularly nasty ride in wind, rain and sleet, which has to go down as the least pleasant cycle ride of my life so far. My training now takes a temporary pause whilst I grab 10 days' sunshine and rest in Barbados, before training resumes in earnest on Sunday 18th March. Until then.....

You can sponsor Paul and Mike here!

If you would like to sponsor Paul and Mike in the London to Paris Cycle Ride, you can donate at this page: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/ARMDirectors

Thank you.

Advanced Resource Managers.

Recruitment and talent management consultancy Advanced Resource Managers Limited is pleased to announce the appointment of Simon Church to the position of Non-Executive Director.

Simon has 22 years’ board experience in the Telecoms and Networking, IT and Recruitment markets. In the early 1990s, he was founding Managing Director of two companies (in Multimedia and Cable Television).

He has also been on the main board of two firms through IPO – one of these in the staffing industry, led a number of company acquisitions and integrations and is a director of Elite Leaders, a peer to peer learning forum for the owners and managing directors of recruitment companies.

Simon says of his appointment:

Mike Gawthorne, MD of ARM, said:

We’ve had knowledge of Simon’s experience for years. His appointment as a NED gives ARM vital confidence and support in our growth. He brings a wealth of expertise in strategic account development which he has imparted to the business, and this will support the growth of clients, our own employees and our strategy going forward.”

On June 6th 2012, ARM Directors Mike Gawthorne and Paul Martin will begin a gruelling 300-mile, 4 day cycle ride in aid of the Make-a-Wish Foundation. They will attempt to raise £4,000 for this excellent cause - if you are interested in sponsoring them, you can find a link at the bottom this page. Already in training, Paul Martin BLOGS about it here!

So why did I sign up for this crazy challenge? I’ve been entering cycling events for the past three years, starting with Round The Harbours (36 miles) which I have completed in 3 consecutive years, and London to Brighton (60 miles on the day once I had cycled from my hotel to the start, and from the finish to where I was being collected), so already had the bug.

But why Make-a-Wish? It’s one of the charities we at ARM have chosen to support this year, and like everybody else at the company I was deeply moved when volunteer Adrian Dixon came to ARM HQ and presented to us on the charity’s activities and achievements. So I decided to see if any other idiots from the Directors’ team fancied joining me in a sponsored cycle ride to raise funds for the charity, and Mike Gawthorne stepped proudly forward. Temporary insanity over a glass of red on a Friday night, combined with my looming 45th birthday, spurred me on - and the gauntlet was firmly laid down!

Now onto the training plan. I started training on a static trainer, but two twenty minute sessions later the boredom had got me out onto the road and I’d invested in a shiny new carbon fibre road bike! So much for static training.

Five weeks ahead of the plan supplied by the organisers, I had completed five rides by the end of January 2012, of distances varying from over 18 to over 30 miles - including a particularly gruelling weekend when I did 25 and 28-milers on consecutive days. The next two days at the office were mostly spent stood up for some reason!

A chill snap welcomes the start of February, and a 10am photo shoot on a cold Saturday morning beckons for Mike and me, so that the PR Express of ARM’s Marketing team can get us out there and help us smash our £4k sponsorship target.

You can sponsor Paul and Mike here!

If you would like to sponsor Paul and Mike in the London to Paris Cycle Ride, you can donate at this page: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/ARMDirectors

Thank you.

Advanced Resource Managers.

Although what we refer to now as “the cloud” has been around since the creation of the World Wide Web, it has only been over the last 5 years that it has truly gained any momentum. The technology has now reached a point where it can meet the needs and expectations of businesses.

Cloud computing, also known as Software as a Service (SaaS), is a way to provide resources to consumers - anything from storage and bandwidth to an entire platform and products. The service is provided with minimal configuration from the end user and allows the customer to use as little or as much as required whilst paying a variable rate.

The gaming industry is already taking advantage of the benefits of the cloud, with Bet365 announcing that its new version of in-play betting will have dramatically reduced latency. IGT is also driving cloud services and empowering casinos to manage game content from one of the largest game libraries in the industry. Cloud gaming allows 3D gaming to be streamed to devices that could not create such sophisticated graphics on their own systems.

Security and stability are the key areas which will provide complex issues and will be watched closely. However, the major advantages to the cloud are having the ability to remove failed or compromised hardware, without taking the entire system offline and having the support of a dedicated security team.

Only time will tell how far the online gaming industry can develop products for cloud computing.

Mark Yates

iGaming Recruitment Consultant

Tel: (01202) 924924

Email: marky@arm.co.uk

We would like to congratulate ARM's Christmas competition winner, Gordon Foot, for auctioning his brand new Amazon Kindle and donating the proceeds to the RNLI.

Gordon successfully sold the kindle in an eBay auction this week.

This morning we were pleased to receive an email from Gordon with a picture of him handing over a check for £83 to Sean at Plymouth RNLI station. 

Here's to Gordon!

Advanced Resource Managers.

With the ICE expo taking place next week, the iGaming year starts with a bang. This premier event is now compulsory attendance for all the big players and each will be hoping their latest technological advance will win them a bigger slice of an ever expanding pie.

For the last few weeks my excitement (and must say ‘slight trepidation’) has been building, as this will be my first chance to attend such a prestigious event. It will be a fantastic opportunity for me and my fellow ARMers to meet and greet a huge variety of industry professionals, all together under one roof and all wanting to talk business. What a perfect time to discover news on upcoming acquisitions, product launches and future skills requirements, and, with a little help of some liquid refreshment, maybe even a few industry secrets.

Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing the latest advances in ‘Mobile Gaming’ which has become synonymous with the popularity of Smartphones, Tablets, and bespoke personal entertainment devices such as iPods. Mobile Gaming and other technologies now require a highly adaptive and versatile workforce with candidates demonstrating a wide range of skills such as statistical and financial modelling.

What I think is most important, is the fact that we are there in person to build new friendships, re-establish longstanding business relationships and understand people’s needs and wants for the near future. In some ways its daunting to think about the impact such events can have on a business sector, but at the same time, for those like me who are new to this event, it’s incredibly exciting, and I look forward to enjoying the whole experience.

For those of you who wish to meet with us on our stand, (which I have been told is looking pretty good this year) then by all means come along. We are located on the upper floor of Earls Court 1 next to the VIP area, Stand L1 445. We would be more than happy to meet with you and discuss how ARM can support your aims and aspirations. We are genuinely committed to getting the best people into the best jobs with the best companies and we always work hard to make sure we deliver on that commitment. If for any reason you would prefer to meet elsewhere then please name a preferred location and one of us will be there.

I hope that ICE will be a great success and we all gain something from the experience.

Jeremy Cook

iGaming Recruitment Consultant

Add me on LinkedIn

2012 seems to have come around very quickly so firstly a very Happy New Year to all!

From my conversations with online gaming operators before the Christmas break, it became very apparent that the need for marketing professionals with casino experience is at its peak. This need is necessary to support the dynamic marketing strategies of key iGaming brands for 2012.

Now is the time for iGaming companies and candidates from London, Gibraltar, Malta and further afield to embrace the market with new vigor for the year ahead.

If you are looking to kick start your Marketing career this New Year, get in touch with ARM’s iGaming recruitment team to discuss the exciting opportunities we have available with our extensive client base.

All the best and I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Ben Phillips

Marketing Recruitment Specialist

Marketing jobs

Tel: 01202 924924

Email: benp@arm.co.uk