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Atos S.A. (formerly Atos Origin) is a French international IT services and consulting corporation based in Bezons, France. It operates in 42 countries globally, with over 74,000 employees. The company, Europe's largest IT services firm,^[2] is listed on Euronext Paris and is a member of the CAC Mid 60 stock market index.

History[link]

Atos Origin was formed in October 2000 following a merger between the French company Atos and Origin B.V. from the Netherlands. Prior to that, both companies were the creation of other smaller mergers and acquisitions starting from around 1976. In 1996, Origin B.V. was created after a merger of the Dutch company BSO and the Philips C&P (Communications & Processing) division, while a year later in 1997, Atos was created following a merger of the French companies Axime and Sligos.

The next five years saw considerable further growth and changes for the company. In 2001, Atos Origin sold its Nordic operations to WM-data. In 2002, it made a major acquisition by buying KPMG Consulting in the United Kingdom and in the Netherlands. Then in 2004, it acquired SchlumbergerSema, the IT service division of Schlumberger and took over the infrastructure division of ITELLIUM, a subsidiary of KarstadtQuelle.

At the same time (2004), the company underwent some major organisational changes with the creation of a new subsidiary, Atos Worldline, and the renaming of its consulting activities as Atos Consulting. Also in 2004, Atos Origin Australia, originating from Philips, was sold to Fujitsu. In 2005, Atos Origin sold its activities in the Nordic region, which had become part of the company with the acquisition of Sema Group, to WM-data^[3] while in 2006, Atos Origin sold its operations in the Middle East to local management.

In October 2007, Philippe Germond replaced the long-time CEO Bernard Bourigeaud as CEO. But a period of instability followed as two large shareholders, the hedge funds Centaurus Capital and Pardus Capital, tried to gain control over the company’s future strategy via the supervisory board.^[4] However, in November 2008 the boardroom battle came to an end when Thierry Breton replaced Philippe Germond as chairman and CEO.^[4]

In August 2010 Atos Origin acquired Venture Infotek, a leading player in the Indian payment market. Created in 1991, Venture Infotek operates in merchant acquiring, card processing, loyalty programs, government benefits programs and ATM management on behalf of the Indian Banks and major retailers. Venture Infotek operates in the major cities of India. Atos Origin has been attracted by the entrepreneurial spirit of Venture Infotek, by the quality of its technological platforms and by the portfolio of its existing customers.

In December 2010 Atos Origin agreed to acquire the IT Solutions and Services subsidiary of Siemens for €850 million. As a result of the purchase Atos expects to raise its sales to between €9-10 billion and its operating margin to 7-8% by the year 2013.^[5] As part of the transaction, Siemens agreed to take a 15% stake in the enlarged Atos, to be held for a minimum of five years.^[5] In addition, Siemens concluded a seven-year outsourcing contract worth around €5.5 billion, under which Atos will provide managed services and systems integration to Siemens.

The company dropped the "Origin" suffix of its name in July 2011 after completing its acquisition of the Siemens unit, becoming simply Atos^[6]

Company information[link]

Atos is an international information technology services company with annual 2011 proforma revenue of EUR 8.5 billion and 74,000 employees in 48 countries. Serving a global client base, it delivers hi-tech transactional services, consulting and technology services, systems integration and managed services. With its deep technology expertise and industry knowledge, it works with clients across the following market sectors: Manufacturing, Retail, Services; Public, Health & Transports; Financial Services; Telecoms, Media & Technology; Energy & Utilities.

Atos is focused on business technology that powers progress and helps organizations to create their firm of the future. It is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and is quoted on the Paris Eurolist Market. Atos operates under the brands Atos, Atos Consulting & Technology Services, Atos Worldline and Atos Worldgrid.

Operations[link]

Atos is a management consultancy, outsourcing and IT services and solutions company.^[7]

Olympic Games[link]

Atos is the official IT integrator for the Olympic Games from 2002 until 2016. Atos is delivering Information Technology for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Partners, alliances and joint ventures[link]

Canopy[link]

In 2012 Atos announced the creation of a new company called Canopy.^[8]

The CEO is Paul Stewart.^[9][10] He was previously CEO of Atos’ North America business.

National Savings & Investments (NS&I)[link]

NS&I is chiefly known by the British public as being the state bank responsible for the issuing and management of Premium Bonds, though it offers other additional financial products and services. Following its acquisition of Siemens IT Solutions and Services in 2011, Atos became responsible for managing the "operational components of [NS&I's] business, including the service delivery of [their] products, operation of [their] customer call centres, IT and systems upgrade and support for [their] services".^[11]

Yunano[link]

In November 2011 Atos and software services provider Ufida International Holdings formed the joint venture Yunano. The two companies invested EUR 5.7million. Atos has 70 percent and UFIDA has 30 percent. The joint venture has its HQ in Bezons, near Paris, France.^[12]

Corporate Responsibility[link]

Corporate Social Responsibility[link]

In 2009, Atos joined the Global Reporting Initiative(GRI). The Global Reporting Initiative is a worldwide standard for reporting on corporate responsibility.

In 2010, the Group produced its first corporate responsibility report according to the GRI guidelines which was rated Application Level B+ in accordance with the GRI reporting criteria.^[13]

In 2011, Atos' second Corporate Responsibility report was rated Level A+ in line with the guidelines from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). A+ is the highest level qualification from the GRI requiring entire management disclosure on sustainability performance standards and assurance by a third external party.^[14]

Atos is included in the FTSE4Good Index and the ASPI Eurozone indices in recognition of its leading environmental and social practices.^[15]

Scientific Community[link]

In 2010, Thierry Breton, Chairman and CEO of Atos, launched a Scientific Community. This is a network of some 90 members, representing a mix of all skills and backgrounds, and coming from all geographies where Atos operates.

Its aim is to help Atos to create a vision regarding upcoming technology disruptions and the new challenges facing the IT industry. Scientific Community members have written a number of whitepapers^[16] and vision documents on innovative technologies and thought leadership.^[17]

Zero Email[link]

Atos’ Zero Email initiative comes in response to the challenges organizations face as a result of the continuing explosion in data and seeks to find a better way to communicate and collaborate.^[18] The suggestion has been made that the policy's chief aim is to minimise the availability of evidentiary documentation that would benefit opposing parties during disputes.^[19]

2008 UK Controversy[link]

In late 2008, Atos Origin was one subject of a government enquiry after it attracted comment from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who said that the company would have "to explain itself" after a memory stick with passwords and user names for an important government computer system was found in the car park of a public house.^[20] The Department of Work and Pensions, responsible for the contract that had given Atos Origin access to the sensitive data in question, later asserted that the memory stick had only held the data of a handful of people, and that all of their password information was encrypted.^{[citation needed]}

Atos Healthcare[link]

Atos Healthcare, a division of Atos providing consulting in the UK health sector, employs over 3,000 people. Of that number, it claims that, "around two thirds" are "medical professionals",^[21] but additionally that fewer than half (1404) are, "healthcare professionals";^[22] it additionally claims to "employ the largest number of doctors outside of the NHS."^[21] Its most prominent business process outsourcing contract is with the Department for Work and Pensions, under which it "conduct[s] disability assessments for people claiming a range of disability benefits including Employment Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Disability Living Allowance and Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit."^[23] Initially awarded to Schlumberger's Sema Group (subsequently purchased by Atos) in 1998, the contract was renewed for a further five years in March 2005.^[24] The company also provides occupational healthcare at over 150 centres in the UK.^[25]

Atos Healthcare in May 2010 was awarded a contract by Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust to deliver a means of accurately and efficiently forecast resource requirements and in-patient demands.^{[citation needed]}

Continued controversy over disability benefit assessments[link]

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The performance of Atos Healthcare in the UK in respect of medical assessments has been and continues to be criticised by UK Parliamentary Inquiries^{[citation needed]}, by individual UK MPs^[26] and by the Tribunal judiciary^{[citation needed]}. It is also frequently criticised by journalistic publications, especially Private Eye, as well as by advocacy groups such as the Citizens Advice Bureau,^[27] disabled people's organisations^{[citation needed]} and individual disabled people^{[citation needed]}. Professor Paul Gregg, one of the designers of Employment Support Allowance (ESA), has stated that the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is "badly malfunctioning", concluding that, "[t]he current assessment is a complete mess."^[28] Conversely, Professor Malcolm Harrington, asked by the Government to carry out the first two of five statutory independent reviews of the WCA,^[29] concluded in the first year that the WCA was not broken^{[citation needed]}. The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), ultimately responsible for ESA decision-making, is reported in 2011 to have by far the highest number of decisions overturned at appeal of any UK Department of State.^[30] Tribunal appeals against ESA eligibility are documented by the Department of Work and Pensions' own statistics, and show that approximately 38% of all appeals are successful (rising to approximately 70% when advocacy groups are involved), equal to around 9% of all ESA decisions.^[31]

Particular criticism has been directed at Atos over the ability of its staff to deal with complex mental health issues and patients with varying conditions.^[32] Atos assessors are not required to be familiar with disability healthcare prior to recruitment.^{[citation needed]} Around 60% are doctors, and 40% are nurses or physiotherapists.^{[citation needed]} Doctors receive eight days of training in disability before being allowed to assess patients and nurses receive a seventeen day training course accredited by the University of Derby.^[32] Following the Harrington Review which was published in November 2010, Atos Healthcare has worked with the DWP to appoint Mental Function Champions^{[citation needed]}, whose role is to provide support, guidance and coaching to all healthcare professionals as well as arrange and manage educational events and activities to promote best practice in their local area.^{[citation needed]} A very common complaint is the refusal of the assessors to make eye contact,^[32] aggravated by their working from a computerised script (LiMA) which attempts to distill the complexity of disability into yes/no answers.^{[citation needed]} Assessors have found patients with terminal cancer or severe multiple sclerosis to be fit for work.^[28] Attempts by advocacy groups, and even MPs, to secure access to LiMA in order to demonstrate its weaknesses have been refused on the grounds of commercial confidentiality^{[citation needed]}, although the DWP handbook for the conduct of WCA, which is openly available,^[33] has been found to contain instances in which forms of testing are suggested that fall short of the situation supposedly being tested^{[citation needed]}.

In response to grassroots campaigning against them by disabled people and groups, Atos has recently threatened several websites with legal action, alleging libel and misuse of the company's logo.^[34] Since January 2011, there have been numerous demonstrations against Atos in the UK by disabled people and their allies^{[citation needed]}, including the occupation of Atos offices in Glasgow and Cambridge^{[citation needed]} and the picketing of other Atos facilities, notably the corporate HQ in London.^[35] Recruitment days for medical staff have also been targeted with disabled demonstrators attempting to draw the attention of potential assessors to the nature of the treatment they have received from the company.^[36]

In an article for the BMJ, a doctor attended an Atos recruitment seminar and then detailed her experience. She concluded that she did not feel it was possible for a doctor to work as an Atos assessor and simultaneously adhere to their professional responsibility to place the needs of the patient first at all times.^[32] In response to a comment by a reader of the article that Atos doctors did not owe claimants their normal duty of care,^[37] the Standards and Fitness to Practise Directorate of the General Medical Council issued guidance^[38] that Atos assessments are indeed a doctor-patient interaction and that doctors have to make the interests of their patients their first concern at all times, closing the guidance with a reminder that "Being open and honest and acting with integrity is also an essential part of medical professionalism."

In August 2011, press reports claimed that twelve doctors working for Atos as disability assessors had been placed under investigation by the General Medical Council because of allegations of misconduct in relation to their duty of care to patients.^[39] This information proved to be incorrect as the GMC had double-counted some investigations when disclosing the information.^{[citation needed]} The press reports also failed to give the context of the number of doctors under investigation by GMC from all areas of practice and also the nature of the complaints against the doctors.^{[citation needed]}

Some disability campaign groups have called for a boycott of the 2012 Paralympic Games due to Atos's position as a worldwide partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.^[40]

On 4 April 2012, the Advertising Standards Authority upheld a complaint brought against Atos regarding inaccuracies on the Atos Healthcare website. It held that its claims to, "process over 1.2 million referrals for medical advice completing over 800,000 face-to-face medical assessments", and to employ, "1700+ healthcare professionals", were misleading, breaching three rules.^[41] Private Eye magazine claims in issue 1312 (20 April - 3 May 2012) that, as they went to press, Atos was yet to comply with the ruling.

On 12 April 2012, the website Liberal Conspiracy reported that two doctors who work for Atos had raised concerns over the company's "recent" requirement for them to acknowledge obligations pertaining to the Official Secrets Act.^[42] In a follow-up article in The Guardian newspaper, the doctors are reported as believing that, "signing the document would hinder people in the organisation from blowing the whistle on patient safety and issues around whether medical assessments were being carried out appropriately".^[43]

Accessibility of facilities[link]

Atos claims all of its assessment facilities meet the legal accessibility requirements. However, both the Disability Discrimination Act and the Equality Act require that a service provider make pre-emptive access provision based on the likely needs of its service users. In the case of Atos assessment centres those service users are overwhelmingly disabled, many being wheelchair users, or having limited walking capability, or have difficulty with sitting for long periods or rising from chairs, yet Atos's own documents^[44] show that of its 55 assessment centres 28 do not have on-site disabled parking, 16 are more than a 5 minute walk from the nearest bus or train station/stop (DLA mobility assessments hinge on whether the claimant can manage to walk 50 metres), 29 are not wheelchair accessible and 15 fail to offer chairs with the arms which might be needed for disabled people to use them safely, with a half dozen more centres having only limited numbers of chairs with arms, in some cases as few as a single seat. When called before the Parliamentary Work And Pensions Select Committee a senior Atos representative admitted that they routinely overbooked appointments by at least 20%, apparently without heed to the limited ability to sit on poor seating for extended periods that affects many of their clients. Atos Healthcare also explained that nationally 30% of customer who have appointments do not attend. (Q103 Andrew Bingham:)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

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The Right Honourable Michael Meacher MP
Meacher at a rally outside the American Embassy, 9 December 2005.
Minister of State for the Environment
In office 2 May 1997 – 13 June 2003
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Elliot Morley
Member of Parliament for Oldham West and Royton Oldham West (1970–1997)
Incumbent
Assumed office 18 June 1970
Preceded by	Keith Bruce Campbell
Majority	9,352 (21.8%)
Personal details
Born	(1939-11-04) 4 November 1939 (age 72) Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England
Political party	Labour
Alma mater	New College, Oxford London School of Economics
Website	www.michaelmeacher.info

Michael Hugh Meacher (born 4 November 1939) is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Oldham West and Royton since 1997. Previously he had been the MP for Oldham West, first elected in 1970. On 22 February 2007 he declared that he would be standing for the Labour Leadership, challenging Gordon Brown and John McDonnell.^[1] On 14 May, however, after talks with John McDonnell, he announced he would stand aside in order to back McDonnell as the "candidate of the left".^[2]

Beginnings[link]

Born in Hemel Hempstead, the son of an accountant and stock-broker, he was educated at Berkhamsted School, New College, Oxford and the London School of Economics, where he gained a Diploma in Social Administration. He became a researcher and lecturer in social administration at Essex and York universities and wrote a book about elderly people's treatment in mental hospitals. He was the Labour Party candidate for Colchester at the 1966 UK General Election, and fought the 1968 Oldham West by-election after the resignation of Labour MP Leslie Hale but lost to Conservative candidate Bruce Campbell.^[3]

In Parliament[link]

Junior minister[link]

He was first elected to Parliament in 1970 for Oldham West, reversing his previous defeat, and served as a junior minister under Harold Wilson and James Callaghan (Under-Secretary for Industry, 1974–75, Under-Secretary for Health and Social Security, 1975–79). During opposition he was in the Shadow Cabinet for fourteen years and concurrently lectured at the LSE. He was seen as a figure on the left and an ally of Tony Benn and stood as the left's candidate against Roy Hattersley in the 1983 deputy leadership election.

Blair Ministry[link]

He was an elected member of the Shadow Cabinet from 1983 to 1997, but Tony Blair refused to appoint him to the Cabinet and instead made him Minister of State for the Environment, first at the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1997–2001), then at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2001–2003). Despite Blair's hostility, Meacher gained a reputation for being a politician who was on top of a complex brief^[4] and was one of the longest serving minsters in the same job in the Labour government, from 1997-2003. He was criticised for hypocrisy when he condemned second home owners; according to the BBC and Channel 4's The Mark Thomas Comedy Product, he and his wife owned more than one home themselves.^[5]

Political activities after 2003[link]

He was sacked in June 2003, to be replaced by Elliot Morley. Since then he has attacked the government on a number of issues, most notably that of genetically modified food and the 2003 Iraq war, though in the run-up to the invasion he had accepted reports by the intelligence services and government saying that Iraq had Chemical Weapons.^[6]

Meacher has claimed that a supposed absence of prevention by United States authorities of the hijackings on 11 September 2001 was suspicious and 'offered an extremely convenient pretext' for subsequent military action in Afghanistan and Iraq.^[7][8] This was seen as giving "credence to conspiracy theories" as claimed by the mainstream newspapers The Daily Mail and The Guardian.^[9][10] Michael Meacher has also written a foreword for David Ray Griffin's book The New Pearl Harbor.^[11]

In May 2005 he introduced an early day motion on climate change to parliament, which calls upon the government to commit to yearly CO₂ emission reductions of 3%.^[12]

In June 2006, various articles appeared in the British media claiming Meacher would stand as a stalking horse against Tony Blair in order to initiate a leadership contest; others suggested, especially after Brown came out in support of the Trident missile programme and nuclear energy, that Meacher would challenge Brown from the left. He announced his candidacy for the Labour leadership on 22 February 2007.

On 23 September 2006, Michael Meacher became the sixth Labour MP to start a blog.^[13] Meacher has also written articles for ePolitix.com, which has included criticism of Blair and Brown for perceived right-wing policies, including privatization. He has called for a more conciliatory policy in the Middle East, attempts to tackle income inequality, and a greater commitment to reducing energy use.^[14]

Leadership bid[link]

On 22 February 2007, Meacher declared his intention to stand for the leadership of the Labour Party claiming he had the support of a large number of MPs. The decisions of both Michael Meacher and John McDonnell to run for the leadership have been controversial^{[citation needed]} with many annoyed that John McDonnell did not consult with other members of the Socialist Campaign Group^{[citation needed]}, and many others accusing Michael Meacher of trying to split the nominations and keep John McDonnell off the ballot paper, although neither candidate was thought by many to have any chance of winning the Labour leadership.^[15][16]

On 21 April 2007, The Guardian claimed that Meacher had the support of no more than 3 MPs and that his campaign was "virtually dead in the water".^[17]

On 27 April 2007, it was reported that Meacher had reached an agreement with John McDonnell that on the day Tony Blair announced his resignation, whichever of the two of them had the fewer nominations would step aside and allow the other to challenge Gordon Brown.

On 14 May 2007, Meacher agreed to stand aside to allow John McDonnell to be the sole leadership candidate of the left. Subsequent articles reported that Meacher had 21 declarations of support while McDonnell had 24. In the Labour Party's leadership nomination process, McDonnell received nominations from 29 MPs.

Outside Parliament[link]

He appeared briefly as himself in the 1985 BBC Television drama serial Edge of Darkness.

In 1988 he lost a libel action against the journalist Alan Watkins, who had written an article in November 1984 which included the remark "Mr Meacher likes to claim that he is the son of an agricultural labourer, though I understand that his father was an accountant who retired to work on the family farm because the life suited him better."

Meacher is a member of the Fabian Society.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Michael Meacher's weblog
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at PublicWhip.org
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
• Articles authored at Journalisted
• Column archive at The Guardian
• Column archive at The New Statesman

Articles

• Profile: Michael Meacher, BBC News, June 2003
• This war on terrorism is bogus - Michael Meacher MP, 6 September 2003
• The Big Ask More information about the Climate Change EDM

Videos

• Michael Meacher and Andreas Von Bülow express their serious doubts about 9/11
• Video: Meacher says US allowed 9/11 to happen