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A global cat owner survey has revealed the challenges that pet parents are facing when finding suitable food for their furry feline.
The survey, carried out by by GlobalPETS and Yummypets in Canada, the US, the UK and France highlights the differences in buyer preferences between consumers in the different countries.
It revealed that most pet parents like to buy food that is good for their animal’s health and well-being, but choosing the right product and brand proves to be difficult.
Across the surveyed markets, most cat owners (40 per cent) stick to the same cat food brand, but on the other hand, 37 per cent like to experiment and continuously look for new flavours or brands their cat might enjoy even more.
UK cat parents are more likely to vary the brands and flavours they buy (48 per cent), while only 29 per cent of Canadians follow this behaviour.
When it comes to feeding, 54 per cent of respondents prioritise products that are good for the cat’s health. However, 62 per cent of owners find it difficult to choose a product that matches their cat’s nutritional or health needs.
Consumers also value that the cat likes the taste (21 per cent) and that the food is high quality (15 per cent). UK and US owners are the most concerned about the taste of the food and if their cat likes it or not, French the least. For French owners, it’s most important that cat food is beneficial for their cat’s health.
While seven out of 10 cat parents like to go to a physical store to buy food, consumers in the UK (80 per cent) and US (79 per cent) are the most prominent ones, followed by Canadians (65 per cent) and French (62 per cent).
Half of the cat parents state that the quality of ingredients is the most important factor when purchasing cat food. At the same time, 66 per cent of respondents find it difficult to determine whether the ingredients used are beneficial for their animal’s health.
The second most important factor seems to be the brand (for 44 per cent of owners). Yet, most owners (57 per cent) find it difficult to pick a good brand. US owners tend to be guided more by the brand in their purchasing decisions, than owners in other countries.
Other differences between the buying behaviours and preferences of cat owners in the different countries:
- French consumers and the older generations are the most likely to never give treats to their cats.
- About one in five owners in Canada and France base purchasing decisions on recommendations from their vets. Only one in 10 owners do so in the UK and the US.
- Price is an important factor for 34 per cent of respondents. UK cat owners are influenced by the price the most, whereas French consumers care a little less about price.
- UK owners tend to look for age-appropriate food more often than owners in other countries, while US and Canadian owners find this aspect of small importance.
- The 25- to 54-year-old age group do most of their cat food purchases online. Canadian cat owners buy online the least and are more likely to buy in pet retail stores.
- Products that mention they’re grain-free are important for 12 per cent of respondents, predominantly in France and Canada.
- British cat owners and the younger generations are most open to the idea of feeding their felines food with alternative proteins. French respondents take to the idea of alternative protein the least, while elderly respondents are much less outspoken on this topic.


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This is the title's debut on Microsoft and Google's platforms.
Sega is rolling out an updated version of its crime drama Judgment for the new consoles, as well as Google Stadia.
The publishing giant is bringing the Yakuza spin-off to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Google Stadia on April 23. This new and improved edition of the Yakuza spin-off will come with improved visuals, a smooth 60 frames-per-second and faster load times. That's on top of all the DLC released for Judgment so far.
Unfortunately, the PS5 version will not be a free upgrade for existing owners on PS4.
Judgment was made by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, the folks best known for the Yakuza series of Japanese crime dramas. This new title launched exclusively for PlayStation 4 in Japan back in December 2018, ahead of a global release the following June. Generally, critics were on board with Judgment.
While the reception from the media has been positive, the game hasn't entirely escaped controversy. Following Judgment's Japanese release, actor Pierre Taki - who portrays and voices Kyohei Hamura in the title - tested positive for cocaine use in March 2019. Publisher Sega had a rather scorched Earth approach. The firm scrubbed Taki from Judgment for its Western release, pulling his likeness and voice lines, as well as any reference to him being in the game from press materials and even pulling Judgment from sale.
Sega might have been furious about the controversy, but sales of Judgment almost doubled - rising 97% week-on-week - following news of Taki's chemical transgressions. In April 2019, Sega revealed the new character model for Hamura.
Following its launch, freelancer Alan Wen wrote that Judgment might be a new take on the Yakuza IP, but its female characters still played into tired old tropes.

domain: news


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Langton Capital – 2019-05-14 – EI Group, Gregg’s, On the Beach, Stock Spirits etc.:
EI Group, Gregg’s, On the Beach, Stock Spirits etc.:
A DAY IN THE LIFE:
Too many results this morning. On to the news:
LANGTON PREMIUM EMAIL:
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ENTERPRISE INNS H1 NUMBERS: EI Group has this morning released H1 results for the six months to end-March 2019 and our comments are set out below. 14 May 2019: EI Group reports underlying EBITDA up to £140m from £139m in the same period last year. See Premium Email.
BOOK REVIEW: MANIAS, PANICS & CRASHES. CHARLES KINDLEBERGER – PUBLISHED 1978: Although more than 50yrs old, Mr Kindleberger’s book, written before the ’87 crash, the dotcom boom and the credit crunch, remains a classic. It has been periodically updated to include more recent events. 14 May 2019: See Premium Email.
GENERAL NEWS – PUBS & RESTAURANTS:
• Stock Spirits have announced revenue increased 8.2% to €156.9m and adjusted EBITDA climbed 4.2% to €33.5m, the six month period ended 31st March 2019. The company stated that it will increase its dividend by 5.2% to 2.63 cents. Mirek Stachowicz, Chief Executive Officer, said: ‘We delivered a strong organic growth performance in our core markets of Poland and the Czech Republic in the period, achieving strong increases in market shares, volume, revenues and profit. Looking to the future, the recently announced acquisitions in Italy and the Czech Republic are a clear sign that we are committed to delivering growth both inorganically and organically’.
• Greggs has reported total sales up 15.1% for the first 19 weeks of 2019, with LfL sales increasing 11.1%. During this period the group opened 38 new stores while closing 22. Commenting on trading the group said: ‘Looking forward, the sales comparatives from 2018 become progressively stronger but we now anticipate materially higher sales for the 2019 year as a whole than we had previously been expecting’.
• According to a survey conducted by vegetarian food brand Linda McCartney, one in ten British children are choosing to give up meat. Over 40% of the children who described themselves as vegetarian said they were doing so to be kinder to nature and animals.
• UKHospitality has welcomed the Local Government Association’s call to shake up the apprenticeship programme and reform of the apprenticeship levy. Chief Executive Kate Nicholls said: ‘Apprenticeships can be very useful for both employers and employees, providing opportunities to earn and learn while getting a valuable first step on a career ladder. It is clear, though, that the current system is in need of reformation if it is to be effective’.
• Leon has seen LfL sales increase by 15% in 2018, with full-year revenue up 24.5% to £95m. The group reported EBITDA of £3.9m a growth of 8.3% on last year.
• UKHospitality has restated that it believes the Government’s measures to reduce packaging waste must be proportionate and workable for business. Chief Executive Kate Nicholls said: ‘If the Government is serious about supporting such efforts, then any new measures that are introduced need to be workable, practical and affordable. If businesses begin to incur further costs, then the hard work they are already doing is likely to be undermined’.
• Discounts picking up. Pizza Express, Prezzo & Caffe Rouge 25% off food. Domino’s 25% off orders over £30. Bella Italia 30% off food & Bar & Block (WTB) 2-4-1 on mains.
• An estimated 10% of UK town centre shops are lying empty, according to data from the British Retail Consortium. The BRC’s chief executive, Helen Dickinson, said: ‘Empty shopfronts, particularly for larger stores, can deter shoppers from an area. This effect can be cyclical, with the long-term decline in footfall pushing up vacancy rates, particularly in poorer areas’.
• In the US, the NPD Group reports there were 3bn servings of coffee ordered at quick-service coffee shops in the year ended February 2019, up 4% yoy. The research shows specialty coffee drove most of the growth in away-from-home coffee consumption.
• Chapel Down Group announces Curious Brewer’s new facility will be opposite Ashford International railway station, a 1.6-acre site with a capacity of 2,900hl.
• Crussh is set to roll out into 61 Sainsbury’s convenience stores on 13 May following a successful trial at 10 sites.
HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:
• For the six months to the 31st March 2019, the online travel agent On the Beach has seen revenue increased 41% to £63.5m with group profit rising 5% to £4.7m. Simon Cooper, Chief Executive of On the Beach Group plc said: ‘On the Beach has delivered a solid performance in H1, despite continuing uncertainties around Brexit, with modest booking and revenue growth supported by the ongoing benefits of improved marketing efficiency which resulted in a growth in adjusted PBT of 14%’.
• Jet2.com is introducing Nando’s products to its in-flight menu, including a dip, drizzle and dunk Nando’s Box.
• STR has reported that London hotels have seen a 2.3% increase in supply during April 2019, while occupancy fell 1.6% to 81.1% as did RevPAR by 0.1% to £115.99. The average daily rate for London hotels in April increased by 1.4% to £143.01.
• Uber’s share price has declined another 8.5% following its IPO, amid wider stock market turmoil. Since listing on Friday Uber has seen $18.6bn wiped off its market valuation to $63.7bn.
• Finablr considers delaying or restructuring its IPO after struggling to drum up enough interest. The financial services firm had hoped to raise at least £154m from the float and -attract a valuation in excess of £2bn.
• Bolton Wanderers has become the first English football team to enter into administration for six years. The club has been given to two weeks to appoint an administrator following an unpaid £1.2m tax bill. Unlike a highstreet CVA, there is a price to pay for Bolton, as the club is most likely to suffer a points deduction in next year’s season, further deepening their woes.
• US customers have been given the go-ahead by the Supreme Court to sue Apple over app prices after consumers argued there was no alternative place to buy iPhone apps.
• Escape Hunt yesterday afternoon reported that it had successfully placed 6.67m shares at 60p to raise £4m before expenses to fund further expansion. CEO Richard Harpham comments ‘the board is delighted with the ongoing support shown by existing investors and wishes to welcome new shareholders at this exciting time in the company’s development’.
FINANCE & ECONOMICS:
• Bank of England deputy governor Ben Broadbent has warned that a further delay to Brexit could lower business investment further. Mr Broadbent said ‘it’s pretty clear that investment has been feeling the consequences of the uncertainty about Brexit and particularly the possibility of a bad outcome.’
• China is to impose tariffs on $60bn worth of US goods in the latest escalation of a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.
• Sterling down at $1.296 and €1.1525. Oil down at $70.45. UK 10yr gilt yield down 5bps at 1.09%. World equity markets all lower yesterday with Far East down in Tuesday trade.
• Brexit, politics etc.:
• The Tory Party has slipped to 5th place in opinion polls that now show the governing party would poll fewer votes than the Green Party. Mrs May remains under pressure to set a date for her own departure.
• FT reports ‘there is a growing panic inside [Mrs May’s] cabinet over the outlook for Brexit.’ Ministers are said to have given up hope of securing an agreement with Labour.
• Jacob Rees Mogg told LBC ‘the majority of the people at [Conservative] associations I’m addressing — and these are members of the party — tell me they’re voting for the Brexit party.’
• Honda has said there are ‘no viable’ alternatives to the closure of its Swindon plant.
START THE DAY WITH A SONG:
Yesterday’s song was Toothpaste Kisses by The Maccabees. Today who sang:
Runnin’ down the avenue,
See how the sun shines brightly in the city
On the streets where once was pity
RETAIL NEWS WITH NICK BUBB:
Greggs: Back on 7 March, with the finals, Greggs reported a very strong start to 2019, with LFL sales growth of 9.6% in the first seven weeks of the year. This built on a strong finish to 2018 and was further boosted by the publicity surrounding the launch of the famous “vegan-friendly sausage roll”. At that point, Greggs expected things to slow down, but today they have announced that sales since then have continued to grow very strongly and that for the 19 weeks to 11 May LFL sales grew by as much as 11.1%. The year is still yet young, but Greggs have now decided that full-year sales and profits are going to be “materially higher than its previous expectation”.
Retail Property Watch: Most of the focus in the world of shopping centre landlords is on the problems of Intu,, but today has brought the finals from Land Secs, who owns shopping centres like Westgate Oxford, Trinity Leeds and White Rose Leeds (as well as 30% of Bluewater and 50% of St David’s Cardiff). And the CEO says “We see no near-term improvement in retail market conditions, with CVA activity set to continue”, but fortunately the business is also big in London offices. Tomorrow brings the finals from rival British Land (which owns a ton of secondary shopping centres, as well as the likes of Meadowhall and retail parks like Fort Kinnaird in Edinburgh).
Rich List Watch: We flagged yesterday that the beleaguered Philip Green and his one-time friend Mike Ashley (aka #MadMike) had fared badly in the annual “Rich List” in the Sunday Times, but other retailers still did well. Way up the rankings were the Weston family (of Selfridges and ABF fame), whilst the Lewis family behind River Island were also well placed. Otherwise, the discounting sector saw plenty of success stories: Tom Morris of Home Bargains was estimated to be worth £3.6bn, the Arora brothers behind B&M were said to be worth £2.3bn and Chris Dawson of The Range was estimated to be worth £2bn. We also spotted that the owners of Specsavers, Douglas and Mary Perkins, were thought to be worth as much as £1.8bn.
News Flow This Week: Tomorrow brings the Kingfisher Q1/Capital Markets Day, whilst the World Retail Congress conference continues in Amsterdam. On Thursday we get the Burberry finals and the Asda/Walmart Q1 update, as well as the Next AGM, the first closing date for the Spectre “offer” for Bonmarche and, in the evening, the Drapers Digital Awards.


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About CD Diagnostics
CD Diagnostics is developing a series of diagnostic assays to rapidly detect the causes of joint pain using joint fluid analysis.
Technical.ly Coverage (5 posts)
- Delaware futurist Jim Lee on the state’s top technology trends
- CEO profile: Rick Birkmeyer, CD Diagnostics
- Why starting a business is like the Atari game ‘Pitfall’: CD Diagnostics CEO Richard Birkmeyer
- 13 innovative technologies being developed in Delaware
- Biotech firm CD Diagnostics unveils new Claymont HQ [Startup Roundup]


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"China is a main source of crypto investing and the bans just mean that that capital will go to projects based elsewhere because the local ICO platforms will not be able to attract new start-ups. The two made a purchase of million USD worth of Bitcoin back in, totaling to 1% of the total Bitcoins at the time. A comprehensive list of china banning Bitcoin should metallic element part a comprehensive list of china banning bitcoin of everyone’s portfolio low high-risk, high reward investment. Around 80% of all bitcoins are mined and traded globally out of China. China plans to put an end to cryptocurrency mining in the country, Reuters reported Tuesday citing a "draft list of industrial activities" China&39;s state planning agency looks to put a stop on.
All banks and other financial institutions like payment processors are prohibited from transacting or dealing in Bitcoin. China’s cryptocurrency miners are cautiously celebrating a government decision not to ban the energy-intensive industry even as authorities launch a fresh crackdown on trading virtual currencies. A notice published online in Mandarin by the country&39;s economic planning agency added "virtual currency mining activities.
The National Development and Reform Commission. China views bitcoin as a commodity and not a currency so currently doesn&39;t see it as a MAJOR threat. The closest example of a ban by a major nation would be Russia, where Bitcoin’s legal status appears to be in a constant state of flux. China&39;s ban on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies may be temporary, to appease international agencies and hardcore communist members ahead of the upcoming Communist Party convention. — Alistair Milne Ap. The social unit launched bitcoin commercialism metal a comprehensive list of china banning bitcoin with A comprehensive list of china banning Bitcoin, which enables the buying and selling of bitcoin.
China&39;s back-and-forth attitude to Bitcoin has put miners under stress. Additionally, major foreign Bitcoin exchanges like Coinbase, Bitfinex and LocalBitcoins would be added to the list of banned domains, which already includes sites like Google and Facebook. Long-time crypto watchers will recall, when China banned exchanges from allowing people to buy into bitcoin and other crypto coins using the local yuan currency.
dance Countries where Bitcoin is banned. Chinese regulators have decided on a “comprehensive ban” on platforms that allow people to buy or sell virtual currency in China, reports The Wall Street Journal. Bitcoin&39;s muscular functioning has not on the loose the notice of fence Street analysts, investors and companies.
(For more, see China. The legality of Bitcoin all over the world can be seen in this map: Legal map of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Now the Chinese government has proposed to ban mining. It is a common misconception that bitcoin and digital currency are totally banned and illegal in China, but China has become the world’s largest bitcoin trading market.
China is cracking down on. Last week. Started element mere few cents and now Bitcoin is worth author than ,000. Bitcoin creation has joined a list of activities facing a ban in China. The Chinese authorities began to ratchet up pressure on Bitcoin miners. China On 5 December, People&39;s Bank of China (PBOC) made its first step in regulating bitcoin by prohibiting financial institutions from handling bitcoin transactions. Even if this was a move specifically targeting Bitcoin, we could construe China’s continued offensive as a bullish sign.
Bitcoin has been a high-risk high honour investment until now. China&39;s state planner wants to eliminate bitcoin mining in the country, according to a draft list of industrial activities the agency is seeking to stop in a sign of growing government pressure on. Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are generally welcomed. Beijing banned virtual currency trading in, stopping a free-wheeling emerging crypto industry, and causing China’s share of global bitcoin trading to slump to less than 4%, from nearly 17%. 73 On 1 April PBOC ordered commercial banks and payment companies to close bitcoin trading accounts in two weeks. Bitcoin is a distributed, worldwide, decentralized digital money. In fact, most reappear in the ‘eliminate’ list in this updated draft.
On Monday, China’s central state planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, included cryptocurrency mining in a list of 450. Cryptocurrency exchanges are banned. Bitcoin and the entire crypto market received what can easily be perceived as bad news initially, as China is looking to make another significant play soon: Banning Bitcoin mining in the country. It has also banned initial coin offerings, a method by which start. China Bans a comprehensive list of china banning bitcoin Bitcoin Trading By Banks : The Two-Way The exchange rate of Bitcoin, the digital currency whose value has sharply risen this year, took a hit following a government ban. China Bans Bitcoin Decem by Payment Cards China bans Bitcoin, lowering the ceiling of the currency’s potential Decem by Extreme Tech People&39;s Bank of China Bans Bitcoin Over &39;Drugs and Guns&39; Trade Fears Decem by The Register. China is to block all websites related to cryptocurrency trading and initial coin offerings (ICOs) – including foreign platforms – in a bid to finally quash the market a comprehensive list of china banning bitcoin completely. No Bitcoin Mining Ban in China.
Bitcoin is essentially banned in China. Bitcoin has been a high-risk high honour investment until now. While mining has and hasn&39;t been banned in China at different points over the last decade, miners have continued to operate.
Within the past hour or so Chinese industry insider and Primitive Crypto founding partner, Dovey Wan, posted an official announcement stating that bitcoin and crypto mining has been removed from a list of industries that Beijing was planning to crack down upon. China banned Bitcoin 4 times in. And even private trading of cryptocurrency arranged through chat-apps like Telegram and WeChat, for example, could fall under scrutiny, according to the Wall. The result was a huge price. Following the ban, the Shanghai-based BTCC bitcoin exchange was forced to close its Chinese trading operations. r/Bitcoin: A community dedicated to Bitcoin, the currency of the Internet. Their investment in BTC could potentially be worth over 0 million USD.
The bitcoin ban is strictly on banks, as the central banking authority, The People’s Bank of China is owned 70% by the Chinese government. China’s state planner wants to eliminate bitcoin mining in the country, according to a draft list of industrial activities the agency is seeking to stop in a comprehensive list of china banning bitcoin a sign of growing government pressure. Source: Coin. Banking institutions and employees are banned from engaging in bitcoin business through banking, as well as servicing or doing business with the bitcoin industry. That ban triggered an instant 6% decline in bitcoin prices. It&39;s simple to find out what would happen if China bans Bitcoin mining: it&39;s happened a couple of times in the past. China is considering a ban on a comprehensive list of china banning bitcoin bitcoin mining in the country in response to environmental concerns about the creation process of the cryptocurrency. Eventually, those rumors became reality, with the heavy-handed Chinese government reportedly establishing a blanket ban on crypto trading and ICOs.
some might see it as an extremely bullish indicator! In, China ordered cryptocurrency exchanges to close. A comprehensive list of china banning Bitcoin is decentralized. Bitcoin’s valuation famously slumped in, falling from a record ,000 in December to below ,000, but this piece of news from China comes amid a period of renewed optimism. China’s bitcoin exchanges are closed to local customers, and a “comprehensive ban” is reportedly in the works.
Numerous false reports of bans by large countries, notably China and South Korea, have been known to cause price drops, sometimes significantly. In the meantime, China’s bitcoin traders are heading for the peer-to-peer. As Bitcoin began its monumental run in, rumors began floating around that China was set to crack down on the nascent crypto market. The price of bitcoin recovered from a low of roughly 0 and rose past 0 at press time on 11th April, on the news that Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), had.
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Already a fast-food titan in the U.S., Domino's Pizza is taking a shot at opening a store in the birthplace of pizza: Italy.
No stranger to international expansion, the chain has more than 12,100 stores in more than 80 international markets but had shied away from Italy until now. On Monday, the chain opened its first Italian location in Milan as part of a master franchise agreement with ePizza S.p.A.
The location will source all of its ingredients locally.
"We will be using a recipe created by us, using locally-sourced wheat. Everything else is purely Italian. We are purchasing all of our products from Italian producers. We've created our own recipe, starting for the original pizza recipe, with Italian products, like 100 percent tomato sauce and mozzarella, and products like Prosciutto di Parma, Gorgonzola, Grana Padano and Mozzarella di bufala Campana," said Alessandro Lazzaroni, who is leading the franchise, in a release.
EPizza S.p.A plans to open three locations in Milan by year end.


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How to Watch Shark Week Online Without Cable Shark Week is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and if you’re looking for a way to watch 8 days of all things sharks without cable, you’re [Read more]
An explosion of programming choices is shifting the traditional cable TV model at such a fast clip that consumers can barely keep up.
It’s not about just shedding a hefty cable bill anymore.
For years, Comcast and Time Warner Cable have had exclusive rights to carry premium channels like AMC or A&E. That’s no longer the case. [Read more.]


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'We want a thriving high street': £16m funding for Brierley Hill regeneration
A lifeline of up to £16million will be spent on regenerating Brierley Hill’s struggling high street, the Government has announced.
The town is one of more than 100 areas chosen to receive a share of £1bn from the Future High Streets Fund.
Empty shop units in Brierley Hill will be turned into new shops, offices and housing, under the regeneration plans.
The announcement was made as Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, met with members of the community in Brierley Hill yesterday, alongside Dudley South MP Mike Wood and Dudley Council leader Patrick Harley.
Mr Wood said: “This initiative is fantastic and much needed. Brierley Hill has a very proud past.
“While we know the significant and very real challenges that the town faces, we know it has got incredible potential for a bright, successful and prosperous future.
“There is massive investment coming in to Brierley Hill - from the quarter-of-a-billion-pound government investment in the tram line to the new music institute and the DY5 Enterprise Zone.
“But really, town centres and particularly high streets are absolutely fundamental to local people’s identity.
“We want a vibrant, thriving high street in Brierley Hill. That will mean looking at what we can do to bring more people in to shop, to live, to work, so Brierley Hill is a place that people want to come to.
“And that is what will create the jobs, the prosperity and also bring the community together.”
Brierley Hill is the latest Black Country area to receive a slice of the funding - following in the footsteps of Wolverhampton and Walsall last month.
So far each successful applicant has received an initial £150,000 to put together a businesses case.
Then, each application will bid for much more funding, with a cash pot of between £2m and £25m available to each one.
Dudley Council made a bid for £16m back in March. However Mr Wood said any decision on the final figure in Dudley will not be made until after Christmas.
The cash will also be spent on regenerating older buildings, improving transport links and bringing in private investors into Brierley Hill.
It comes as several ambitious projects are already taking shape in Brierley Hill.
The town is awaiting the arrival of the Midland Metro, with the new tram line set for completion by 2023, while work is underway on a £9.5m music school on Brierley Hill’s Water Front.
And the DY5 enterprise zone, set up two years ago to boost trade, has reaped rewards by creating hundreds of jobs created.
Council leader Patrick Harley said: “To have anything from £2m to £25m would be fantastic, especially if we can get near the higher level.
“The high street is very run down and on its knees. We need to bring some life back into that high street.
“We also need to sort out the connectivity between Merry Hill Water Front and Brierley Hill High Street, because there is three parts to Brierley Hill.
“And we need to make a connection between all three as fluid as possible.
“Then we can eradicate those problems which will mean you have got more footfall through the town centre.
“Obviously we want to see more residential on the high street then, so we have got a captive audience who live within the retail that we have got.
“Then they can spend money on the town centre rather than businesses just relying on passing trade.”
Mr Jenrick added: “We know that consumer habits are changing and people are shopping more online. Across the country that is putting more pressure on town centres and we need to come up with local strategic plans to help them evolve and change.
“You have got a town centre shopping, the Merry Hill shopping centre, which has sucked some of the lifeblood out of the high street for a very long time.
“On top of that, you have now got these bigger changes of people shopping online. That is creating a lot of changes for people who shop on the high street.
“Brierley Hill is exactly the kind of the high street that we want to see this new investment coming in to, and hopefully it will give it a surer footing going forward.”


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Even though it's one of the simplest components in a cellphone, older SIM cards are still vulnerable to attack, leaving approximately 750 million users one exploit away from being compromised, according to German security researcher Karsten Nohl.
A subscriber identity module (SIM) card is a vital component in cellphones, which assigns each user a unique identity in order to route calls properly. Most SIM cards can also keep track of a user's entire contact list and payment information.
Nohl discussed the issue on his blog in preparation for a more comprehensive exploration of the topic at the Black Hat hackers' conference Aug. 1 in Las Vegas.
"The cards are [hackable] through custom Java software," he wrote. "While this extensibility is rarely used so far, its existence already poses a critical hacking risk."
Hacking a SIM card is a two-step process that relies on a flaw in the card's internal architecture. Older SIM cards employ cryptography right out of the 1970s. By cracking a SIM card's ID, a hacker can impersonate an admin and access all of its functions.
To begin the procedure, a hacker sends a binary message to the SIM card, which resembles a standard over-the-air update. The card usually doesn't fall for the phony update, but can return an error code with a unique signature (Nohl pointed out that not every SIM card will provide this compromising data). A hacker can transfer this code to a computer and decode a direct route into a SIM card.
After acquiring a SIM's signature, a hacker can distribute Java-based malware to gain control over a SIM card's functions. On most cards, this can redirect phone numbers and discover a phone's location. More sophisticated apps and less secure cards also allow hackers to access contact lists and payment information. [See also: The Top 10 Threats to Your Smartphone]
The good news is that users who have newer phones (especially smartphones) or older phones on Verizon Wireless or Sprint don't need to worry about this vulnerability. New SIM cards have stronger encryption, while Verizon Wireless and Sprint did not use traditional SIM cards until recently.
Even so, not everyone has a new phone, and Nohl estimates that 750 million active phones may still be vulnerable. Each SIM card has a unique code, so launching a mass attack could prove difficult, but there would be plenty of victims to choose from.
Nohl urges phone companies to adopt better SIM cards, implement firewalls and allow users to disallow over-the-air messages from unknown sources. Users have only one recourse: buy a newer phone.


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|Samsung's new NX range consists of three cameras, the NX20, NX210, and NX1000, all of which feature 20MP capture and built-in WiFi Connectivity.|
Today, Samsung has announced three new Wi-Fi-equipped NX models, all of which share the same 20MP CMOS sensor that was used in last year's NX200. Dpreview spent some time in Korea last month, and got some hands-on time with the new cameras as well as an exclusive opportunity to ask some senior executives about their vision for the future of the NX line, and for photography in general.
The new NX lineup consists of three models - the NX20, which replaces the NX10, the NX210, which replaces last year's popular NX200, and an entirely new NX, the NX1000, which is aimed at beginner photographers and compact camera upgraders. As well as sharing the same 20MP CMOS sensor, all three of the new NX models feature Wi-Fi connectivity.
The NX models share the 'Smart Camera' capabilities with the compact models announced earlier this year. This means they can be set to automatically back-up images every time you come back into range of your home Wi-Fi network and allow control of the camera via a 'remote viewfinder' app on compatible smartphones. There are also options for uploading to various 'cloud'-based back-up sites, to ensure both peace-of-mind and accessibilty of your images.
Samsung's latest Wi-Fi-equipped cameras can connect either via a wireless Internet router or directly to another device. This allows users to email images and share them on Facebook straight from the camera, via an internet hotspot. Alternatively, it allows photographers to browse images from their camera directly on a Wi-Fi-equipped AllShare or DLNA enabled television, or via an Android smartphone using Samsung's 'MobileLink' app. At our meeting in Seoul we asked the assembled executives for their vision of what the company is calling its 'Smart Camera Ecosystem'.
'Digital life starts with the content creator'
Nyunwoo Nam - marketing manager for the NX range told us that putting Wi-Fi into Samsung's mirrorless cameras is a logical next step. In his opinion, he explained, 'digital life starts with the content creator, the photographer who takes his or her images and then shares them. For the past couple of years Samsung has been communicating to users the fact that cameras aren't just for taking pictures, they are evolving to be used as sharing devices. Nam added 'with the addition of Wi-Fi to our NX range, users have a more convenient way to share their stories'.
|Like other recently-announced compact cameras from Samsung, the new NX range is intended to fit into a connected 'ecosystem'. The new NX1000 (pictured) makes sharing very easy thanks to a direct Wi-Fi button on the camera's top plate, which initiates a menu for sharing with one touch.|
He went on - 'all of our devices will evolve to make our users' experience easier, and more enjoyable, and the camera is the first step to achieving that goal. Future products will make it even easier to connect and share media, and have fun and be creative'.
'The camera is becoming a communication tool'
So is the future one in which we're connected to everything, all the time? Byounjae Jin, principle engineer in Samsung's R&D department thinks that it is. 'People should know this already' he told us - 'this is the entire concept of devices like smartphones and it makes sense'.
It seems that Samsung doesn't envisage smartphones and cameras converging completely though - at least not yet. According to Sunhong Lim - VP Sales & Marketing, Samsung 'wants people to use their cameras and smartphones together'. He explained 'the camera is becoming a communication tool - a vehicle for communicating with others [but] phones and camera are separate products - they will co-exist'.
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If you purchased a Leica TL2, do NOT attach Leica's Visoflex electronic viewfinder. Leica is working on a fix, but for now, it's possible the viewfinder will break your camera.
Google just released Motion Stills for Android. Unlike the iOS version, the Android app uses a redesigned video processing pipeline that processes each frame of a video as it is being recorded, creating instant results.
A huge copyright lawsuit between photography firm VHT and Zillow Group is heating up again, as both sides appeal a court ruling that granted VHT $4 million in damages.
European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet spent 6 months on board the International Space Station where he worked with Google capturing spheric panorama images that are now available in Street View.
It's official. PDN has confirmed with parent company Aurelius that 94-year-old lighting company Bowens is indeed going out of business.
The newly launched firmware version 1.06 fixes AF-issues that can occur with some lenses that are not officially compatible with the MC-11 converter.
Voyager is a waterproof smart light stick you can control entirely from your phone. The light has already blown past its $300K funding goal on Indiegogo.
2018 is the last year Photokina will take place during the traditional end-of-September dates. In 2019, Photokina will take place from the 8th to the 11th of May.
The Canon IXUS 50 (known as the SD400 Digital ELPH in North America) was one of a string of high-performing, pocketable PowerShots of the mid-2000s. In this week's throwback Thursday, Barney casts his mind back to 2005.
A close look at the EOS 6D II's Raw files suggest its dynamic range has taken a significant step backwards compared with the company's recent DSLRs. We look at how much difference this might make for your photos.
With a full-production review unit in our hands, we've got over 100 production samples from the new Canon EOS 6D Mark II to share.
Need a break from your day? Kick back and watch the making of a somewhat unconventional mojito filmed on Canon's new EOS 6D Mark II.
The Bonfoton Camera Obscura Room Lens can turn any room into a camera obscura, projecting the view from your window onto the walls of your room.
Adobe just released version 2015.12 of Lightroom CC, adding support for several new cameras and lenses, and baking in several important bug fixes while they were at it.
In this interview, Chiara Marinai, photo editor for VanityFair.com, explains exactly what she looks for in new photographers and photo submissions. Take notes.
Massive corporation P&G is being sued by a Cincinnati photographer for serious copyright violations. If the courts rules against P&G, the company could pay as much as $75 million in damages.
Snapchat's camera-equipped 'Spectacles' aren't so difficult to get anymore. You can now pick up a pair through Amazon for $130.
A group of thieves has made away with tens of thousands in camera gear through a carefully orchestrated scam through Venmo and Facebook Marketplace.
A portrait lens from 1910 might be coming back to life if two photographers from Germany succeed in a new Kickstarter project—the latest development in the craze to remake vintage optics.
The updated version of Google Glass is called the Enterprise Edition and, as the name suggests, it's not meant for personal use.
Charles Ommanney was once a photographer for presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, now he's working for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Image compression software JPEGmini Pro was just updated to handle files up to 128MB. They're calling it "The 1 Feature Hasselblad Owners
Apple was just granted a patent for a camera system that prods, coaxes and manipulates users into taking better group and solo selfies.
The Canon EOS 6D Mark II is a better camera than its predecessor, but how much better? Should you buy one?
The winners of the 2017 Magnum and LensCulture Photography Awards have been announced. Here are the six photographers who took home the top prize in their respective categories.
A NASA study has confirmed what your ears have been telling you: people HATE drone noise. In fact, it was ranked more annoying than that of "any ground vehicle."
This floating bird video isn't edited in post-production. It's the result of the birds wing flap matching the camera's 20fps frame rate.
Adobe released a major update to Lightroom Mobile for both iOS and Android users today.
Could the future of photo and video storage be... alive? Scientists at Harvard have managed to encode a GIF of a galloping horse into a live sample of E. coli.
Recently appointed Photokina manager Christoph Menke has provided some background on the decision to try out an annual schedule and other changes in a Q&A session.


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- What's on
- Real Estate
- APN Network
News Popular video app TikTok is used by more than 1.6 million Australians including Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, but tech experts have raised concerns.
Technology TikTok users are being urged to delete the app immediately, after it was exposed the platform is collecting their personal data.
News Apple’s new phone is expected to be sold without key accessories, which has been compared to “shipping a car with no wheels”.
Technology The Facebook boss tells employees that the advertisers who have fled the platform will return. But he didn’t sound like he’d quite convinced himself.


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Vincent Boland: Chronically underperforming Unilever long past its salad days
The venerable British consumer goods giant is now in the crosshairs of a disaffected fund manager who accuses the company of having lost the plot
It was only one paragraph in a 13-page letter to investors, but it hit its target like a laser-guided missile. When Terry Smith, a British fund manager, wrote to his clients earlier this month giving them an update on their investments, he singled out a venerable British company for special mention, and not in a nice way.
The company is Unilever, the consumer goods group that makes Dove soap, Magnum ice cream, Marmite spread, Hellmann’s ...


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We have to love their name: the Android Police. They have discovered a problem with HTC phones where personal data can be exposed to any app that accesses the internet. (yikes!)
The devices affected are believed to be the EVO 3D, some Sensations and the upcoming Vigor.
The Android Police state, “The vulnerability, discovered by the crew at Android Police, potentially exposes a broad range of private user data, including email addresses, GPS locations and phone numbers.
The security hole appears to be a residual consequence of HTC’s latest update to the phones, which recently received a new logging tool and seems to be where the problem first showed up.”
The problem occurs in any app that connects to the Internet, specifically ones that send out the android.permission.INTERNET. We understand this is SOP for most any app that uses the web. With the HTC security problem, apps that send out such a request may have access but not be limited to the following:
- List of users accounts, email addresses and sync status for each address
- Last recorded network and GPS location, and a short list of previous such locations
- Phone numbers from the phone log
- SMS data, including phone numbers and encoded texts
- System logs (which may give access to additional personal data)
The reported fix is to “root your phone and manually remove the “APK” file that logs all your actions. Unfortunately, rooting is a process that can be difficult for users who aren’t familiar with the process.” Because of the serious nature of this problem, it is believed that HTC will be releasing a fix patch soon, but in the meantime, be very careful of what apps are used or downloaded as this can expose your data.
Here’s what we have gathered as quoted from HTC:
- There’s a big security problem with its phones that lets third-party apps access your personal data.
- However HTC has communicated that it is already dealing with the problem.
- “There is a vulnerability that could potentially be exploited by a malicious third-party application.”
- HTC says it’s working on a patch that will fix the problem, soon to be made available over the air after a short testing period. In the meantime, the company advises “caution when downloading, using, installing and updating applications from untrusted sources.”
- HTC is at pains to make clear that the logging software it installed “does no harm to customers’ data”. “So far,” the statement continues, “we have not learned of any customers being affected in this way and would like to prevent it by making sure all customers are aware of this potential vulnerability.”
Here is the HTC statement in full:
“HTC takes claims related to the security of our products very seriously. In our ongoing investigation into this recent claim, we have concluded that while this HTC software itself does no harm to customers’ data, there is a vulnerability that could potentially be exploited by a malicious third-party application. A third party malware app exploiting this or any other vulnerability would potentially be acting in violation of civil and criminal laws. So far, we have not learned of any customers being affected in this way and would like to prevent it by making sure all customers are aware of this potential vulnerability.
HTC is working very diligently to quickly release a security update that will resolve the issue on affected devices. Following a short testing period by our carrier partners, the patch will be sent over-the-air to customers, who will be notified to download and install it. We urge all users to install the update promptly. During this time, as always, we strongly urge customers to use caution when downloading, using, installing and updating applications from untrusted sources.”
No release date has yet been announced by HTC but they are working on the patch and users will soon hear from them. Stay tuned…


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THE WEEK|October 13, 2019
Remember that scene from Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), when Audrey Hepburn, glamorous in a Givenchy gown, eats a Danish out of a paper bag, right outside the Tiffany’s on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan? There was such longing in her eyes as she gazed at the luxurious jewellery inside the shop. Today, you don’t have to eat your Danish outside, like Hepburn had to do. There is an eatery inside Tiffany’s Fifth Avenue store called Blue Box Café. Shops are no longer just about… well… shopping. They are there to provide an immersive experience because customers want to be inspired and entertained. They want stories over stuff.
But the offline experience is no longer enough in a world in which digital is threatening world domination. According to a Bain & Company report, online luxury shopping grew 22 per cent in 2018 to nearly €27 billion, and it now represents 10 per cent of all luxury sales. Today, many luxury brands like the Italian fashion retailer Yoox Net-a-Porter and menswear label Bonobos have more of an online presence than physical. They are at the helm of exciting innovation.
Globally, the luxury market today is impacted by several factors, says Vivek Ramabhadran, vice president, Asia South and Africa Region, Swarovski Professional. “The trade wars, the current situation in Hong Kong, the drop of the yuan against the US dollar… these are massively impacting luxury spending today,” he says. “Even other strong luxury retail regions like the Middle East are sluggish because of the uncertainties in the political and economic situation there. We are probably entering a more minimal design phase for the next year, after a focus on ‘fantastical’ design.”
India, too, is feeling the heat. According to Euromonitor, there was a slowdown in the Indian luxury market in 2018. Luxury brands are adopting various strategies in this changed scenario to attract customers. Luxury hotels, for example, are experimenting with hyper-localisation. “Today, it is all about abandoning traditional luxury—the brands that everyone has known and appreciated all these years—and becoming the flag-bearer of your destination,” says Saurabh Rai, an executive vice president for Preferred Hotels & Resorts. “Hotels have the opportunity to go deep and find out what is the best of local luxury.” Many hotels in India have embraced hyper-localisation to varying degrees. At ITC Royal Bengal, for example, the artworks are by Bengali artists, Sanjay Bhattacharya and Paresh Maity. The Brass Room pays tribute to Kolkata’s heritage of jazz, blues and western music. The Darjeeling Lounge offers the finest teas from the region.
With luxury getting a makeover, traditional business houses in India are changing with the times. And helming these changes is the next generation of entrepreneurs. Like Avni Biyani, concept head of Foodhall and daughter of Kishore Biyani, founder and CEO of Future Group, and Samyukta Nair, designer and hotelier and daughter of Dinesh Nair, co-chairman and managing director at Hotel Leelaventure.
Avni, for example, has introduced the concept of experiential retail with Foodhall, the food superstore chain that is the most premium offering from Future Group’s portfolio. While one goes to Big Bazaar, the group’s flagship retail brand, with a grocery list and an air of impatience, one goes to Foodhall to luxuriate in the experience. Foodhall has offerings like Party Chef, where you can personalise your parties with Foodhall’s bespoke chef service. There is Blue Ribbon, where gifting experts help you choose customised gift hampers for friends and family. Then there is the Cookery Studio, which offers everything from certificate courses in bakery to fun sessions cooking pasta with friends.
In many ways, these young scions of luxury are ushering in the future. Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar, executive director of the Historic Resort Hotels (HRH) and son of Maharaja Arvind Singh Mewar of Udaipur, is focusing on personalising your stay at HRH. “You don’t want to check into a hotel when you are travelling,” he says. “You want the experience of a home in a hotel.” Samyukta has transformed the traditional luxe of the Leela hotels, founded by her grandfather, Captain C.P. Krishnan Nair, into the hip, millennial vibe of Bombay Bustle, the restaurant she started in London in 2017. For these next-generation entrepreneurs, luxury is not about an expensive handbag or a watch. As Samyukta says, everyone has the tangibles. The real luxury is in the intangibles. “It could be something as simple as sharing a cup of tea with a loved one,” she says.
“I GREW UP LISTENING TO DINNER CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THE BUSINESS”
When you walk into the Aroras’ Juhu villa, you feel like you have stepped into an episode of the BBC’s The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes. The five-storied home, designed by the Singapore-based Argentinian architect Ernesto Bedmar, is lavish. There is furniture from Christian Liaigre, silk carpets custom-made in Belgium and planters brought from Bali. Perhaps the opulence is unsurprising, even warranted, seeing how the Aroras own D’Décor, a leading home couture destination and, reputedly, the largest woven upholstery and curtain mill in the world.
Sanjana Arora, the elder daughter of Sanjay Arora, managing director at D’Décor Exports, leads me to an intimate seating area behind the bar and cigar lounge. Above the leather sofa is a collage of framed black-and-white photographs of the family taken by celebrity photographer Dabboo Ratnani. “My favourite part of the house is the terrace,” says Sanjana, referring to the outdoor space on the fifth floor with a barbecue and teppanyaki counter. “I entertain many of my friends there. I consider it my personal zone.”
Sanjana, 25, joined the family business after she graduated from Babson College in Boston five years ago. She is the brain behind D’Décor retail, having conceptualised stores in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Delhi and Kolkata. She is also responsible for the domestic distribution of D’Décor’s latest category, D’Decor Blinds. Recently, she was closely involved with the brand’s latest ad campaign—Beautiful homes tell beautiful stories—starring Shah Rukh and Gauri Khan. Conceptualised by JWT, the series of short films was directed by Punit Malhotra and marked ten years of the brand’s association with Shah Rukh and Gauri.
Sanjana says she always knew she wanted to join D’Decor. “I grew up listening to dinner conversations about the business,” she says. Today, she is part of those discussions, especially with her father. Sometimes, she says her mother and sister refuse to have dinner with them because they are always discussing work. “At parties, you will find me and my dad standing apart, having heated discussions about the business,” she says, adding that today, her father is one of her closest friends.
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October 13, 2019


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BOSTON Luxottica Retail will meet with six semifinalists in the review of creative chores on its domestic ad account, according to Pile and Co., the consultancy overseeing the search process.
The company spent $90 million on U.S. measured media last year, two-thirds of which was devoted to its LensCrafters chain, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus.
In the hunt are Havas' Arnold in Boston, Publicis Groupe's The Kaplan Thaler Group in New York, WPP Group's Young & Rubicam and Omnicom Group's DDB, both in Chicago, and Interpublic Group's Lowe and McCann Erickson, both in New York.
IPG's Deutsch in New York is the incumbent on LensCrafters and is not participating in the review.
A cut to finalists is expected next month, and the review will wrap up in early November, said a representative at Pile and Co. in Boston.
Pile is handling a simultaneous review of Luxottica's media chores, handled mainly by Omnicom's OMD in New York. That shop is expected to defend.
The rep said the media search is in the preliminary stages, with contenders to be determined.
The Luxottica retail group is based in Mason, Ohio, while the parent company is headquartered in Milan, Italy.


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Alibaba Expands Financial Empire With Huatai Securities Purchase
E-commerce giant Alibaba has paid more than $500 million for a stake in a leading state-owned Chinese securities firm, getting a hold in a lucrative industry after its previous efforts were stymied by regulators.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. paid 3.5 billion yuan ($512.3 million) for shares in Huatai Securities Co. Ltd. issued through a private placement that raised more than 14.2 billion yuan to bolster the brokerage’s balance sheet and working capital, according to filings with the Shanghai and Hong Kong bourses late Friday. The internet behemoth, which holds a 3.25% stake in Huatai’s enlarged share capital, is now the brokerage’s fifth-largest shareholder.
Huatai did not specify what role Alibaba will play following its investment. A vice president of the investment banking department of a listed securities firm told Caixin that the two companies may cooperate in businesses such as online broking and artificial intelligence.
Alibaba operates online marketplaces such as Taobao.com and controls Ant Financial Services Group, which owns Alipay, a leading online payment services provider. The Hangzhou-based company has long sought entry into the securities and investment banking industry as it seeks to expand its financial empire with Ant Financial at the center.
Yunfeng Financial Group Ltd. , controlled by Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma, bought 56% of Hong Kong brokerage Reorient Group Ltd. for HK$2.7 billion ($344 million) in 2015.
But Ma’s efforts to gain a foothold on the Chinese mainland’s securities industry have been slow in making progress. Ant Financial’s attempt in 2015 to take a stake in Shanghai-based Tebon Securities Co. Ltd. went nowhere, with media reports last year saying that regulators had suspended the acquisition application indefinitely. In 2016, Reorient and two other partners agreed to invest 3 billion yuan to set up a joint venture called Yunfeng Securities on the mainland, but the deal has yet to be approved by Chinese regulators.
Tencent, another Chinese technology champion that operates WeChat, the country’s dominant social networking platform, has pulled ahead in the competition for shareholdings in mainland securities firms. Last year, it paid HK$2.8 billion for 4.95% of the enlarged share capital of China International Capital Corp., the country’s top domestic investment bank.
Huatai had revenue of 5.5 billion yuan in the first half of this year, the third highest among all Chinese securities companies, according to figures from the Securities Association of China, the industry’s government-backed self-regulatory body.
Five other companies took part in Huatai’s private placement. Home-appliances retailer Suning.com Co. Ltd., which also runs a leading e-commerce platform, paid 3.4 billion yuan for 3.16% of Huatai’s enlarged share capital. The remaining investors were Essence Securities Co. Ltd., China Structural Reform Fund Co. Ltd., Shanghai Beixin Ruifeng Asset Management Co. Ltd., and Sunshine Property and Casualty Insurance Co. Ltd.
Jiangsu Guoxin Investment Group Ltd., the investment company wholly owned by Jiangsu province’s state-assets watchdog, remains the de facto largest shareholder, although it did not take part in the private placement.
Contact reporter Fran Wang (email@example.com)
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DISPOSABLE MEDICAL INSTRUMENTS LAUNCHES IN SOUTHERN IRELAND
Disposable Medical Instruments (DMI) is proud to announce the launch of Disposable Medical Instruments (Ireland) Ltd. Although the company already has several agents in key global markets, this initiative marks the first time DMI has set up an operations base outside the UK, and is evidence of its commitment to embracing everything the European marketplace has to offer. DMI (Ireland) will have its own offices and director.
DMI (Ireland) has been established in response to DMI’s growing role in the European medical device market: pricing goods and services and accepting payment in euros will make it even easier for other countries to access DMI’s customised packs of single-use stainless steel medical instruments, designed to support healthcare institutions as they look for ways to save money and work more efficiently and safely, ultimately benefitting patients. It will also enable DMI to extend its endoscope sterilisation and certification service to hospitals in Southern Ireland, freeing up CSSDs to concentrate on more complex instruments. Initially, preparation of the packs and all packing and sterilisation will be carried out in the company’s UK facility, but in the future DMI may look at rolling out its successful business model – providing cleanroom packing, Ethylene Oxide (EtO) sterilisation and global distribution, all from one site.
“We believe British companies can play a vital role in rebalancing and rebuilding the European economy, showcasing the country’s creative and technological skills in the world-class products we create and export. At DMI, we believe in putting our money where our mouth is, and our expansion into Southern Ireland is proof of the investment are prepared to make into ensuring we are ideally placed to make the most of what Europe has to offer.”
Patrick Chaney: Managing Director, Disposable Medical Instruments
Monday, 1 February 2016 10:30:04 Europe/London
Posted in News By


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Mengyang “Zoe” Zhao, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology in the School of Arts & Sciences, studies labor related to video games, livestreaming, esports, and care. But she wasn’t always a gamer—or particularly interested in the subject at all.
Growing up in a small city outside of Shanghai, China, she was discouraged from playing video games, as many women continue to be, she says. But in her studies, which spanned statistics at New York University and now doctoral research in sociology at Penn, she realized there exists an unexpected intersection between her work in sociology, technology, and labor activism, and her interest in video games.
Zhao’s aim is to call attention to emerging labor disputes among digital gig workers, who often, she says, are left out of the conversation among NGOs and regulators. After all, many of these institutions are still playing catch-up on gig work that’s created whole new industries of workers since the rise of the smartphone. Think: Uber drivers.
The working conditions for competitive gamers, livestreamers, and any number of adjacent roles, then, are still largely uncovered.
Zhao began doing field work around Shanghai to understand the sociological elements of digital labor and, more importantly, begin to challenge prevailing notions of what is work. particularly, she says, in the tech field.
“I think people might have a stereotypical image of what counts as a worker, so that is why I started to be very interested in tech workers, because of all people nominally associated, like programmers, people think of them as the typical image of a tech worker,” she explains.
Her work analyzes, in a global context, labor markets surrounding video games—typically, players of competitive video games like “League of Legends” or, in China, the popular mobile game “Honor of Kings.” In those team-based games, competitive players will often seek out other gamers to collaborate with to either test their skills or, depending on the game, level up. Imagine fitness trainers, but for video games. Where it gets even more complicated, Zhao says, is when these workers are considered through the lens of care workers—again, consider any time a fitness trainer has ever felt as much like a therapist as a coach.
“Even in Silicon Valley,” she says, “you’ve seen startups emerge in recent years, like E-Pal, that have been based on a platform of companionship, where you could find workers all over the world for that.”
She’s also begun looking at how gaming guilds have monetized these emerging digital markets, essentially acting as agents for competitive gamers or livestreamers. In some cases, she says, the guilds—which in the U.S. will register as a celebrity management company—have grown to be more profitable than the platforms in which live streamers are playing on.
In essence, Zhao is invested as a sort of industry watchdog—mostly in China, because the market is more mature there, she explains, but also in a global context. She’s especially interested in exposing exploitative practices, she says, like paying gamers in volatile cryptocurrencies.
She cites the example of a Vietnamese play-to-earn mobile game, “Axie Inifinity,” that went viral in the Philippines and was developed as a repetitive smartphone game in which in-game tokens are tagged to a cryptocurrency, allowing users to continue playing the game to earn actual income—but not before investing some of their own cash first.
The ultimate hope, she says, is to get regulators to pay attention to digital gig work in the same way they have with the work of other emerging gig-work industries. Regulation efforts from the U.S. Congress to address loot boxes—which are virtual bundles of items purchasable with real money—are a start, she says, but more work is needed, and she’s hopeful game workers will begin to self-organize.


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Developer: Bohemia Interactive
Story: DayZ places players in a fictional post-Soviet state named Chernarus, where an unknown virus has turned most of the population into undead, violent zombies. As a survivor with limited supplies, you must scavenge the world for food, water, weapons, and medicine, while killing or avoiding zombies, and killing, avoiding or co-opting other players in an attempt to survive the zombie apocalypse.
Latest DayZ News
DayZ Could Arrive On Xbox One, PS4 In 2015
In a recent interview, DayZ creator Dean “Rocket” Hall discussed the possibilities of the game arriving on Sony and Microsoft's home consoles, and exactly how soon and in what state games can expect the game. The news comes on the heels of Bohemia Interactive's previous announcement that the PS4 would be getting a special edition of the popular open-world zombie title.
DayZ Dev Addresses Development Progress, Community Concerns
It's a long, hard road toward the goal of claiming “completion” but Dean “Rocket” Hall and the rest of Bohemia Interactive are still moving forward. Through this process, however, the team has had to assuage the concerns of fans and address the roadmap of the game's current development direction.
DayZ Getting Special Release On PS4, New Details Revealed
We've been hearing and reading about the possibility of a port for quite a time, but it always seemed like something that was so far away and far off that it seemed more like a pipe dream than a possible reality. Well, it turns out that DayZ on the PlayStation 4 is a much larger reality than a lot of gamers may have anticipated.
PS4 May Get Early Access Games Like DayZ Or Rust
Unlike PC gamers, console owners can't buy games while they're still in alpha or beta. That may change on the PS4 in the future, though.
DayZ Gets An Engine Upgrade For Better, Faster Updates
Dean “Rocket” Hall and the rest of the crew at Bohemia Interactive working on DayZ managed to get a full team upgrade back in March. While we thought this was just a complimentary thing to help speed along development, it was actually done so that they could quickly overhaul and upgrade the core engine that powers the game.
DayZ Rap Battle: Heroes Vs Bandits Video
It's no where near as good as the Call of Duty versus Battlefield rap battle, but the video showdown between the hero and bandit from Bohemia Interactive's DayZ is pretty darn cool.
DayZ Sells 2 Million Copies
Another milestone has been reached for DayZ's standalone release. Dean “Rocket” Hall took to the social media sphere to make it known that the open-world, zombie-survival game has managed to sell more than 2 million copies.
DayZ Is Played By A Popular Walking Dead Star
Well this should come as a pleasant surprise to some and no surprise at all to others; but Walking Dead television star Chandler Riggs, turns out to be a pretty big fan of the post-zombie-apocalyptic survival game from Dean “Rocket” Hall and crew, DayZ.
Weekly Recap: PS Vita Owns PS4 In Sales And 5 Other Shocking News Stories
There's a new DayZ-style MMO inbound for PC and PS4. The PS Vita outsells the PS4 in Japan and there's plenty of news on the front of the resolution wars. These stories and more in this Weekly Recap
H1Z1 Is Like DayZ For PS4, Early Access Starts Soon
Sony Online Entertainment is working on a new MMO called H1Z1 for PC and PS4. The game is expected to head into its Early Access phase very soon, and the whole concept of the game is basically DayZ trying to get hocked up on steroids.
DayZ Get Lucky Parody Music Video Will Make Daft Punk Proud
Daft Punk has won six Grammys but now they've received an even bigger honor: their own DayZ music video. A few players have combined "Get Lucky" with the zombie survival game for a very catchy parody.
Why DayZ Isn't On PS4 And Xbox One Yet
Xbox One and PS4 owners would both love to get their hands on DayZ Standalone. Bohemia Interactive would love to give it to them. So, what's the hold-up?
DayZ Standalone Cooking System Detailed, Development Team Doubled In Size
DayZ Standalone's development team has begun work on a cooking feature for the survival game. In a new blog post, Bohemia Interactive explained what cooking will be like in the zombie apocalypse and also gave a progress report on other features.
DayZ Designer Is Quitting Bohemia Interactive, Creating New Studio
DayZ will have a new lead designer soon. Dean "Rocket" Hall revealed today that he's leaving Bohemia Interactive and the zombie survival game he helped build.
Banished Knocks DayZ Out Of Steam's Top Sales Spot
DayZ has officially been bumped from the top spot on the Steam sales charts this week, courtesy of Shining Rock Studio's Banished.
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WASHINGTON, May 2, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "NAWBOapplauds the President for his selection of two highly-qualified and capable individuals to lead such prominent posts within his Administration," said Diane Tomb, President & CEO of the National Association of Women Business Owners."Both have the vision and expertise necessary to play integral roles in our nation's government andcontinue to get our economy on track."
From the White House Rose Garden, President Obama nominated Penny Pritzker as his new Commerce Secretary and Michael Froman to be the next U.S. Trade Representative.
"Women business owners are the fastest-growing segment of the country's economy," said Tomb. "In his selection of Penny Pritzker to lead the Commerce Department, President Obama shows he is committed to harnessing that economic driver.We agree with the President that Penny Pritzker is one of the most accomplished and respected women business ownersand are confident she will translate her skills developed as a business owner to the public sector as she leads the Department of Commerce to promote job creation and economic growth."
Founded in 1975, the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) propels women entrepreneurs into economic, social and political spheres of power worldwide by: strengthening the wealth creating capacity of our members and promoting economic development within the entrepreneurial community; creating innovative and effective change in the business culture; building strategic alliances, coalitions and affiliations; and transforming public policy and influencing opinion makers. Learn more at www.nawbo.org.
(818) 772-9555, ext. 103
SOURCE National Association of Women Business Owners


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Allbirds is planning to open 20 stores in 2019, bringing its global footprint to 35. The new locations will include shops in Dallas and Austin, Texas; San Diego; Washington, D.C.; Minneapolis; Philadelphia; Denver; Atlanta; Miami; Portland, Ore.; and a second New York City store.
The company has embraced the natural, “un-designed” look of its shoes in the minimalist design of its stores. For instance, the retailer’s New York City flagship has only a handful of shoes on display, organized by style (skippers, loungers, runners or flip-flops called “zeffers”) and material (wool, trees or sugarcane). Allbirds also includes details of where and how the shoes are made to emphasize the sustainability of their practices.
“We’re in a competitive space in footwear but, look, there’s 20 billion pairs of shoes made a year on average and we’re still very tiny,” said Brown in an interview with CNBC. “We’ve got enormous potential to grow and continue to grow, but to do that we’re going to have to continue to innovate and continue to be good. The retail expansion is part of it, as is international, but at the core for us, it’s about product and it’s about material innovation.”
However, the long-term benefits of pure play retailers expanding into brick-and-mortar remain to be seen. A study by Blis tracked unique shoppers’ activity with eight digital native companies over a three-month period. A majority, 80%, shopped one of the eight digital natives during only one out of the three months. Only 13% shopped in two out of the three months, while 8% entered the stores every month. These customer retention challenges could make brick-and-mortar stores a costly investment for pure play retailers.
For its part, Allbirds noted that all of its existing U.S. stores reached profitability within their first two months of opening.


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France: Expert details major decline in wine industry
France's Union of Oenologists has demanded those working in the wine sector be placed on the priority list for the coronavirus vaccine as long-Covid symptoms hamper professionals. France 24 spoke to Didier Fages, the President of France Union of Oenologists and Sophie Pallas.
Ms Pallas, who is also an Oenologist, said: "I think I still have some work to do to get back to that speed of perception."
French 24's Marios Sofos stated: "Pallas's story highlights the threat posed to France's multi-billion euro wine industry by the virus whether it is to wine experts, producers or sellers.
"It of course poses a risk for chefs and perfumers as well among other professions that rely on fine-tuned taste or smell."
Mr Fages said: "It is like a musician losing their instrument.
Emmanuel Macron has been France's President since 2017
"One of the measures we are asking for is priority vaccines.
"We wrote to the Prime Minister and President Macron to be considered for the priority list."
Earlier this year, President Macron was told by French exporters that the nation's wine sector is under threat following Brexit.
Jérôme Pont, CEO of Calais Vins, stated that the French wine sector was in a period of "emptiness" following Brexit and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Macron is a ‘little king in his castle’ says protester
Asked if Brexit had been a "hard blow" to his business, Mr Pont told Public Senat: "This is certain because in fact the British clientele represented around 25 percent of our turnover.
“It was just a crossing for a day, they came to refuel for three, four months, six months for a wedding, a christening, a communion, for a family event.
“It will be over because in fact, a christening, a communion is ok with 24 bottles but a marriage is not 24 bottles.
“So all that part of our turnover, we think we've lost it.
'EU killing our fishing!' French MEP breaks cover to issue demand [COMMENT]
Macron and EU face 'further pain' as US hits French wine with tariffs [INTERVIEW]
Oh dear Michel! Barnier humiliated over desperate Presidential plot [OPINION]
“Now that can be regained with a greater frequency of visits but that is really a hypothesis and we do not... we can't know because we are also in the middle of a period of emptiness, in full period of health crisis and, Brexit or no Brexit, we have not seen an Englishman since the first instance of the health crisis."
Emmanuel Agius, City of Calais deputy projects delegate, also warned of the consequences Brexit is having on trade.
He said: "We would like to have a special policy, that is to say, to create a duty-free zone throughout the city of Calais.
"Or rather a tax-free zone which would therefore allow tourists, English since we are neighbours, to come to Calais, make purchases and then be able to have the products purchased in Calais tax-free, mainly so as to be able to regain an economic boost such as we finally got to know a few years ago."


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Get your fits ready now — there’s a new “Vice” jersey on the way.
Tyler Herro accidentally revealed the Miami Heat’s new “Vice” jersey on his Instagram story Tuesday afternoon. The rather innocent of the Heat’s locker room post has since been deleted.
After debuting the laser fuchsia “Sunset Vice” and the black “Vice Nights” City Edition collections last year, the new jerseys are almost entirely blue gale (read powder blue). The front neck drop and arm holes are outlined with black, white and laser fuchsia. Similarly, the lettering and numbers are white with a laser fuchsia and black shadowing.
The jersey still hasn’t been named but that didn’t stop fans from sharing their excitement on social media.
No word yet on when the gear will be made available for purchase or when they’ll be worn in-game. In the meantime, fans should start copping the shorts, shoes or whatever necessary to match the icy blue collection.
With the Heat tipping off the regular season Oct. 23, it’s only a matter of time before the new jerseys are here.


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Consensus IT Writers Awards
27 March 2001
The Australian IT and www.australianIT.com.au
Submitted for Most Controversial category
REGIONAL restrictions on DVDs could be an anti-competitive practice and a breach of the Trade Practices Act, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has warned.
DVD hardware and software makers encode DVDs to play in one of six regions around the world as a means of controlling release dates and fighting piracy. Australia – along with New Zealand, Central and South America – is region four. The United States is region one and Japan is region two.
The restrictions mean that Australian consumers wanting to buy imported titles must buy a DVD player from the appropriate region or modify their machines. Legal advice obtained by The Australian IT is that it is legal to put a chip or smart card in a machine to play imported DVDs, as long as the it does not also allow the machine to play copied discs.
But such a change usually voids the product warranty.
ACCC chairman Allan Fels said the commission was investigating whether restrictive region coding breached the Trade Practices Act.
"If the manufacturers have an agreement to do that, it looks like an anti-competitive agreement breaching not only Australian law but laws in other countries," Professor Fels said.
The commission would make recommendations to federal Parliament in a few months, but there were jurisdictional issues, he said.
"It is a breach of Australian law to make an agreement offshore that harms competition in Australia," Professor Fels said.
"In practice, it may or may not be easy to enforce the law against overseas countries."
Possibilities included international co-operation to force the DVD industry to change its ways, or legislation to declare Australia a market that would only sell multiregion DVD players.
"I would like it to be region zero here, but it depends on co-operation," Professor Fels said. "I'm not opposed to a law that would have that effect.
"I would consider that."
Warner Home Video Australia managing director Marc Gareton said the decision to encrypt DVDs by region was made by the DVD Forum in Tokyo – a committee of hardware manufacturers and movie studios. The original members were Toshiba, Panasonic parent company Matsushita, Warner Brothers and Sony.
Mr Gareton said region restrictions allowed movie importers to ensure DVDs were not available in a country before a movie's release in cinemas.
"There are a lot of reasons why movies can't be released in cinemas all round the world on the same date – mainly the cost of film prints and marketing," Mr Gareton said.
"If a DVD is released in the US six months after the US cinema release and plays on every machine around world, we would have a situation where DVDs would be available in countries before cinema release. If that happened it could shut down large numbers of cinemas.
"If it's available on DVD, I'd be surprised if people would go to the movie."
Mr Gareton said piracy was another concern, because a DVD made a good master copy – unlike VHS video, which degraded with each copy.
South-East Asia and China each had their own regions because of rampant piracy.
Another reason was compliance with national censorship ratings.
"The Australian release could have cuts of scenes with violence and sex," he said.
"The distributor might be happy to release a movie in Australia as MA, but the original movie would have been an R."
Warner had conducted market research and consumers did not seem to have an issue with region coding.
The issue of different formats for different regions was not new, because videos were released in either PAL or NTSC format, he said.
Consumers keen to watch imported movies could always buy a second DVD player for the appropriate zone.
"As a free consumer you can buy what you want as long as the machine can play what you buy, but as a retailer you cannot import without permission from copyright owner," Mr Gareton said.
Mr Gareton said it would be problematic for governments to force the DVD industry to change.
Region coding was specifically included in the DVD patents so it was possible a manufacturer selling a multi-region machine could not legally call it a DVD player.
Also, some DVDs did not play in multi-region players.
"A region-four disc might not play in a modified machine because it's supposed to check that the machine is coded the same as the disc," he said.
"If the Government took the decision to only allow multi-region players in the country, they would be inviting the consumer to spend $300-400 on a machine and then buy software that would not play.
"That would be an interesting decision – I would find it difficult to believe."
(02) 9288 2891
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The federal agency responsible for policing tobacco sales had a "serious lack of oversight" and couldn't provide proper records for $127 million worth of cigarettes used in undercover operations, according to a just released report from the Justice Department's Inspector General.
"(D)ue to inadequate documentation of cigarette inventories, when we reviewed records," said the audit of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, "we were unable to reconcile the disposition of 2.1 million of the more than 9.9 million cartons … purchased for [those] investigations." The report estimated that the retail value of the missing cigarettes was $127 million.
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The report also alleged that local field offices often disregarded guidance about how to conduct undercover "churning" investigations, in which the ATF sold cigarettes to criminal targets, and sometimes "misused the proceeds." In one instance, said the IG's report, a confidential informant was allowed to keep more than $4.9 million of the $5.2 million generated by selling cigarettes as part of a churning operation.
"We found that the more than $4.9 million covered more than just the business expenses related to ATF activity," said the report, "including 100 percent of the confidential informant's total business operating overhead and more than $2.3 million in profit."


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DCU is one step closer to tackling period poverty as free sanitary products are to be made available in female and gender-neutral bathrooms across Glasnevin and St. Pat’s Campus.
The news was welcomed at Tuesday’s Class Rep Council meeting, where a motion was passed and requires Dean O’Reilly, VP for Wellbeing, to provide period products (both pads and tampons) across both campuses. A delivery service will also be available to provide free sanitary products for student off campus.
“The general distribution of these [period] products through discrete and public locations brings us closer to our ultimate goal of dismantling period poverty and stigma.
“Our postal service ensures that all students including many of our students on placement and those with health and accessibility concerns, have access to the products they need,” O’Reilly said, adding that the current Provision of Period Products Bill 2021 has not progressed since February 2021.
Dr Claire Bohan, Director of DCU Student Support & Development stated: “Our mission in DCU is to transform lives and society. No student should ever have to worry about access to basic necessities. By providing this service, we are taking one more concern out of their lives and are helping those who need this service, focus on the things that matter most at University.”
There is so much shame and stigma attached to period poverty. Many are too embarrassed to ask for period products or admit that they cannot afford it. Many will rely on alternatives such as toilet paper or newspaper, as they struggle to afford the basic necessities for the time of the month.
At DCU if period products start to run out, individuals can discretely scan the QR code provided, log in the location and the Student’s Union will refill the baskets as soon as possible.
Claire Hunt from Period Poverty Irelands stated; “period poverty affects more women in our communities than we realise…it is ridiculous that period poverty exists in Ireland in this day and age it is so wrong that in 2021 people are thanking you for getting them pads.”
One must note, it is not just women who suffer from period poverty, but Trans men and non-binary individuals do also. It is significant that DCU and DCU SU are being inclusive in providing products in gender-neutral bathrooms.
VP for Community and Citizenship, Ross Boyd told The College View, that they are “working on providing period products in the male bathrooms once supply is received”.
Speaking to The College View, Emily Harford, President of Erasmus Student Network DCU, stated, “I think that the new initiative will be fundamental in assisting DCU students in need of sanitary products and in helping to end period poverty.
“It’s without a doubt an issue that many students tackle when already faced with buying expensive resources for college, travel expenses and busy schedules making their own personal needs often being left by the wayside. This will make a huge impact by curbing situations where students are caught off guard, and feel shame or embarrassment, be forced to use other items or miss out on college and daily activities because of their periods.
“It’s wonderful that the SU have implemented this scheme and I hope that in providing these products as well as discussing the impacts of period poverty, this will reduce the stigma associated with it and ensure everyone knows that it’s nothing to be ashamed about.”
The Public Relations Officer of DCU’s LGBTA Soc, Ellie Brennan, added that “free period products are very helpful in tackling period poverty as it allows students who may not necessarily have room in their budget to buy them themselves to have access to what they need during that time of the month.”
Providing free period products in third level institutions is a positive more towards eradicating period poverty amongst students. DCU now joins University College Dublin and Munster Technology University in their bid to tackle the burden it places on students.
Image credit: Freestock on Unsplash


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Acne Studios Reveals its Spring/Summer 2018 "Showpiece Prototype" Collection
Featuring 50 original, hand-produced bespoke garments.
Acne Studios has just revealed the second instalment of its unique “Showpiece Prototype” collection, with the new capsule featuring 50 original bespoke garments, all hand-produced for the Women’s Spring/Summer 2018 show. The exclusive pieces will only be available in select stores, and will also feature 50 original menswear garments.
If you’re looking to shop the collection, the Acne Studios “Showpiece Prototype” pieces will be available at Acne Studios’ flagship stores at Dover Street London, Madison Avenue New York, Norrmalmstorg Stockholm, Piazza del Carmine Milan and Rue Froissart Paris. Peep the sneak peek above, and don’t miss the Swedish label’s latest Batilda sneakers.


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Where have all the HGV drivers gone?
Anyone working in the haulage industry will be well aware of the current driver shortage in the industry. Recent news reports state that the UK haulage industry is now short of 80-100,000 drivers, which will have massive consequences on the UK economy.
Supermarket bosses have warned the Government that the country faces serious problems with the food supply chain, and the boss of Tesco stated that they were now destroying 48 tonnes of food per week. Short shelf-life food is affected the most, and farmers are also reporting fruit and vegetable crops are being left to rot in fields.
Why does the driver shortage matter?
Clearly, there is a problem. However, the Government seem to be saying that everyone is overstating it, and it's not as severe as people think. They point to supermarket shelves still being fully stocked with products as evidence that there's not as big an issue as companies are making out.
However, retail experts have pointed out that supermarkets simply won't allow empty shelves and will make sure they are filled with any products to appear fully stocked. Moreover, closer inspection of the products on sale shows they are masking shortages. For example, pictures on social media illustrate that fruit and veg aisles (that used to have multiple product varieties) may be full, but they're full of two or three different products instead of twenty.
Road freight may be frowned upon in the current carbon-conscious climate, but it is an essential element of our everyday lives. And demand for transport is growing daily with increased online shopping.
So, what are the reasons behind the driver shortage? At a glance, people may think it's a freak occurrence of one-off events like Covid and Brexit. But, other, more subtle factors combined to create the 'perfect storm' we're now facing.
The pandemic and subsequent lockdowns of 2020 are a prominent factor in the reduction of available drivers. EU nationals working as HGV drivers in the UK returned home due to the lockdowns and haven't yet returned due to international travel restrictions.
However, Covid created another problem with the licencing of new drivers. It has been estimated that 28,000 HGV driver licence tests were cancelled in 2020, and the testing centres don't have enough resources to deal with that backlog quickly.
Another factor brought about by Covid has been the massive increase in home working and online shopping. In total, online sales hit a 13-year high, growing by 46% in 2020 and, within that, online food shopping grew by 79%. That massive, sudden spike in demand for deliveries combined with the sudden drop in available drivers has been an enormous factor in the current crisis.
The post-Brexit immigration policies created a points-based system to categorise workers according to their skill levels and demand for those skills. Sadly, HGV drivers weren't deemed to be skilled enough to qualify for the skilled worker visa. As such, it's illegal for UK haulage firms to employ EU workers.
However, the fall in the pound's value against the euro also means that the wages on offer in the UK are worth less than they were before, meaning that EU nationals are less keen to come, even if they could.
Arguably, another factor could be the perception that Brexit has created an anti-EU sentiment and that foreign nationals simply aren't welcome. Why would you want to work in a country that resents you being there?
With many drivers operating as limited company contractors, the recent changes to IR35 legislation put the financial responsibility onto the contracting company to make sure their contractors aren't 'deemed employees'. If a contractor is, essentially, working as an employee, they are classed as outside IR35 and liable for being taxed as an employee.
If contractors are found to be 'deemed employees', the contracting company is liable for all the unpaid tax going back up to six years. With the financial advantages of working as a limited company gone, it has placed additional pressure on industry wage rates.
Truck drivers are an ageing population, and few younger drivers are coming into the industry. The average age of a lorry driver in the UK has risen to around 50 with a significant proportion over 60 but only about 2% under 25. This is down to a lack of interest from younger people in becoming drivers and the increased insurance premiums for lorry firms employing drivers under 25. With margins already tight, it's another cost that haulage firms can't stand.
As for the lack of interest from younger people, well, let's be honest, the public's perception of the haulage industry is pretty poor, and drivers aren't as well respected in the UK as they perhaps are in other countries. However, this is the section that the haulage industry can control themselves.
And, like many things, it starts with education. Does a career as a professional driver even feature in careers talks in schools? Where are the apprenticeships for new drivers? How about national advertising campaigns promoting the positive aspects of being a driver? Why is there only a tiny proportion (1.2%) of female drivers?
The reality of a modern-day HGV driver is very different from the perception. They are highly skilled and well-trained professionals who invest significant sums of money in their training to get their licenses. Their cabs are packed with modern technology and border on being high-tech mobile homes.
What happens next?
The Government is under increasing pressure from hauliers and retailers to add HGV drivers to the list of skilled workers. That may bring some short-term relief if foreign drivers can be brought into the country easily and quickly.
But there are more profound and long-term problems to attack. As a nation, we've got used to immediate deliveries and cheap freight, but that will probably need to change. Haulage firms will have to increase their costs as their wage costs rise to attract more drivers into the industry. Increased insurance premiums for younger drivers will push those costs up further, although they could be balanced with improved driver and vehicle safety systems. Ultimately, those costs will be pushed onto the consumer, and we will see a difference in our weekly shopping bill.
And for the long-term, the haulage industry needs to look at how it can improve the public's perception of drivers and make it an attractive sector for younger people and female drivers to consider.
Truck stops are in serious need of investment to provide high-quality facilities for drivers. Frequently, drivers report a shortage of facilities and no space in the available truck stops so they can comply with their rest periods in decent environments.
In the short term, we're going to have to live with some product shortages, higher costs, and longer delivery times.


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Gov. Scott urges Obama to intervene if port strike occurs
Gov. Rick Scott sent a letter to President Barack Obama on Thursday, urging the administration to intervene in labor negotiations between the International Longshoremen's Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance in order to prevent dockworkers from going on strike at the end of the year.
Longshoremen have been at odds with labor management for several months as they negotiate a new contract. The deadline for that contract is Dec. 29, but talks broke between the two parties last week over several issues of union compensation.
Now the nation, including many of its retailers, is preparing for the possibility of 45,000 longshoremen striking 15 East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, including PortMiami, Port Everglades and Jacksonville Port Authority's terminals.
The estimated impact of a strike on Florida would be devastating, Scott wrote in his letter.
Cargo-related activity at Florida seaports currently generate more than 550,000 direct and indirect jobs in Florida and contributes about $66 billion in economic value to Florida's economy, the governor said. Furthermore, Florida has invested $421 million in the state's ports to grow business links and take advantage of the benefits of trade with Central and South America.
"Additionally, if a strike occurs, it is not only the state of Florida that will be affected, but the entire country," Scott wrote. "The international liner shipping industry, as well as retailers and distributors, are already preparing for inevitable shortages and supply chain backlash issues at ports outside the region that would remain operative in the event of a strike or lockout. A strike will affect everyone – including ports on the West Coast – as well as our intermodal capabilities.
Shaun Bevan is the digital producer for the South Florida Business Journal.
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