Latest news with #RichardMarsh
Press and Journal
2 days ago
- Science
- Press and Journal
How Aberdeenshire firm's tech found lost Titan sub as new Netflix film released
A new Netflix film has sparked renewed interest in the Titan sub imploding on a deep-sea dive to the wreckage of the Titanic two years ago. The incident dominated headlines around the world in June 2023 as a search and rescue mission was launched. The submersible was found after four days when debris was discovered 500 metres from the bow of the Titanic. What was less widely known is the key role an Aberdeenshire business played in the debris ever being discovered. This gave closure to the families of the five people who lost their lives on the vessel. In a Press and Journal exclusive we revealed that equipment designed by Aberdeenshire subsea firm Tritech was used to discover the debris field. The Odysseus 6K ROV (remotely-operated vehicle), owned by US-based Pelagic Research Services (PRS), was the first subsea asset to find wreckage of the Titan submersible. The ROV was fitted with Super SeaKing DST sonar designed by Westhill-based Tritech. Described by Tritech as 'the ultimate mechanical scanning sonar', it uses acoustic waves to sense the location of objects in the ocean. At the time, Richard Marsh, who founded Tritech in 1990 and designed the Super SeaKing in 2005, said: 'Several experts thought it could take weeks or months to find the lost debris. So it's a feather in our cap to find it so quickly. 'As soon as they got an ROV down there it was found, thanks to the Tritech sonars. 'We were able to bring it to a conclusion very quickly which is something to be proud of, even if it's tragic.' He added: 'Although it's a terrible thing for the families, at least they got closure quickly. 'At least we now know from analysing the debris site that their death was instantaneous. 'The thought of them being trapped five days and slowly dying is unbearable.' The global interest in the Titan disaster meant the Press and Journal's story was read around the world. More than 320,000 people read the report in 178 countries. The new Netflix documentary doesn't just recall the Titan sub disaster and the rescue mission. Instead Titan: The OceanGate Submersible Disaster focuses on the years leading up to up to the incident and examines OceanGate inventor Stockton Rush's quest to be a billionaire innovator. It highlights safety concerns of engineers who worked on the project and flaws in its design. The film, which premiered on Wednesday, has the tag line: 'The deeper you look, the darker it gets'.
ITV News
02-06-2025
- Politics
- ITV News
Seven Conservative councillors in Dumfries and Galloway quit party amid row
Seven conservative councillors in Dumfries and Galloway have quit the party amid a row over the direction of the administration. The local authority has been led by the Conservative Councillor Gail Macgregor since 2023. She took over after a rainbow coalition fronted by the SNP fell a year after the election. The rebels have formed two separate groups. Councillors Andrew Giusti, Chrissie Hill, David Inglis and Richard Marsh have formed a new group called Novantae. In a statement, Councillor Giusti said: "Our decision to leave the Conservative group is driven by a strong desire to pursue a political agenda that is truly reflective of the needs and aspirations of our local communities. "We were elected to serve our communities, but increasingly we have found that vital decisions affecting our region are being made without sufficient local input. "We believe that critical decisions impacting our residents are best made closer to home, with direct input from those they affect most." Councillor Richard Marsh added: "The lack of genuine support for the Galloway National Park - an opportunity that could potentially transform our economy, tourism, and environment - is just one example of a broader failure to listen to the west of the region. This isn't about political point-scoring; it's about standing up for the people we were elected to represent." The three other councillors Ian Carruthers, Karen Carruthers and Andrew Wood, have formed a separate independent group. A spokesperson for the Scottish Conservatives said: 'We wish them well.' The rebellion means that the Conservative group shrinks from 16 to nine and raises questions over the viability of the current administration. The political make-up of the council is now: 11 SNP members; nine Scottish Conservatives; eight Scottish Labour; one Scottish Liberal Democrat; 14 independent / other. A spokesperson for Dumfries and Galloway Council said: 'Dumfries and Galloway Council can confirm that seven councillors have resigned from the Conservative group. The council's website has been updated. 'Four of the councillors have formed a new political group called Novantae – councillors Richard Marsh, Chrissie Hill, Andrew Giusti and David Inglis. 'Three of the councillors have informed council officers that they have set up a separate group and they intend to call it The Dumfries and Galloway Independent Group. These are councillors Ian Carruthers, Karen Carruthers and Andrew Wood. 'The council will not be commenting further at this time."
Finextra
15-05-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Aldermore selects Finova lending origination platform
Finova, the UK's largest cloud-based mortgage and savings software provider, has today announced a new and extensive partnership with specialist lender Aldermore. 0 Aldermore is a long-standing customer of Finova, first partnering with the provider in 2016. Following a comprehensive market review, Finova delivered a series of successful pilot projects with its lending platform, formerly known as Apprivo. Building on this success, Aldermore has chosen to extend this relationship across both origination and servicing - covering key areas of its mortgage business, including specialist buy-to-let, commercial real estate, and residential lending. The expanded five-year partnership is built on a shared commitment to cloud-native technology and agile delivery. By adopting a more flexible, iterative approach to development, both organisations aim to accelerate innovation and ensure the platform continues to evolve in line with Aldermore's strategic goals. For mortgage originations, Aldermore will adopt Finova Lending - a SaaS-based origination platform helping to streamline the time to offer and improve operational efficiencies. Aldermore will benefit from a number of key features including advanced decisioning tools, its task automation module 'Enhanced Tasks' and post-contract variation capabilities - such as product switches and further advances. In addition, Finova Lending's self-serve features will enable Aldermore to make rapid in-house changes to products and pricing, driving operational agility and enabling faster responses to market volatility. Aldermore also cited Finova Lending's composable architecture as a major factor in its decision. The platform's modular design allows for either a fully orchestrated end-to-end solution or a headless setup that integrates into Aldermore's own existing composable tech stack. For mortgage servicing, Aldermore is already benefiting from the successful upgrade and migration of its servicing solution to Microsoft Azure. Finova has significant expertise in managing complex Azure workloads, with most of its client base already operating in Azure as a managed service. By joining this hosted environment, Aldermore will benefit from containerised infrastructure, Security Operations Centre (SOC) and Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) capabilities, live operational data feeds, and other Azure-native services. Richard Marsh, Chief Operating Officer at Finova said: 'We are delighted to extend the partnership with Aldermore. It's an extensive partnership covering origination for a range of mortgage products, wholly powered by Finova Lending and an upgrade and cloud migration of our servicing solution. Together, Finova and Aldermore are building a robust platform to meet Aldermore's ambitious targets for UK specialist lending, and I am looking forward to building on the initial success of this relationship over the coming years. Ross Dalzell, Managing Director of Property at Aldermore, added: 'As a lender, we faced the decision of whether to build in-house or invest in a third-party solution. Finova Lending gives us the best of both worlds—a fully deployed solution with the flexibility to build on top of it, thanks to the platform's composable architecture. It's the right fit for our strategy, and we're excited to go live with buy-to-let as the first step in this journey.'
Finextra
08-05-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Finova and Castle Trust Bank team on broker portal
Finova, the UK's largest cloud-based mortgage and savings software provider, has today announced the successful delivery of a new upgraded application and processing platform built for brokers for Castle Trust Bank. 0 PULSE, which stands for Providing Unbeatable Lending Service Every time, has been built with Finova's origination platform, Finova Lending. It gives brokers the ability to obtain multiple and bespoke quotes on the same case, as well as instant pricing, terms and credit-backed DIP decisions. Designed to meet the individual needs of lenders, Finova Lending is a fully API-driven 'cloud-first' SaaS banking origination platform. It is unique in that it allows Castle Trust Bank to troubleshoot issues in-house, offering self-sufficiency, flexibility and faster response times. Finova Lending's customisable interface enables Castle Trust Bank to add a range of modules to the tool as needed, offering even more flexibility in how the product is used and deployed in the future. The new product will also allow Castle Trust Bank to handle higher application volumes, offer greater efficiencies for its lending, and provide its team with real-time business insights for better transparency. Richard Marsh, Chief Operating Officer from Finova said: 'We're thrilled to continue our journey with Castle Trust Bank, a frontrunner in flexible lending solutions. Our award-winning customisable Finova Lending software is primed to support its lending offering and allow Castle Trust to continue its growth trajectory and maximise efficiencies. We have already seen great success with Castle Trust's integration of our platforms and are confident that this new partnership will only strengthen our collaboration. 'We have built Finova Lending to improve speed to market, allowing lenders to scale their businesses and manage their own product changes quickly and independently. We're proud to report that we already have 24 clients currently using this product.' Anna Lewis, Commercial Director at Castle Trust Bank, said: 'At Castle Trust Bank, we are continually striving for ways to enhance our award-winning bridging proposition, and the launch of PULSE is a big step forward in the experience we deliver for brokers. The new platform offers a slick user journey, only asking pertinent questions and enabling brokers to obtain multiple quotes on the same case. It also delivers instant pricing, immediate terms, and instant credit-backed DIP decisions. 'I really believe that the launch of PULSE, combined with our innovative product range, is going to be a game-changing moment for any brokers involved in bridging lending.'
