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For a fourth consecutive year, automotive and aerospace industry quality management experts G&P has been identified as one of London Stock Exchange Group’s 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain.
It is the fourth edition of the influential report and G&P is just one of a handful of companies that have made the list for all four years in a row.
The report is a celebration of the UK’s fastest-growing and most dynamic small and medium sized businesses across the UK with revenues of between £6 million and £250 million. To be included in the list, companies needed to show consistent revenue growth over a minimum of three years, significantly outperforming their industry peers.
Arne Willerslev-Legrand, group managing director at G&P, said: “G&P has enjoyed incredible growth and our continued success is reflected with our inclusion in this exclusive list once again, an accomplishment only matched by a select few. It is an amazing achievement and G&P is rightly very proud.”
G&P provides an innovative range of quality management services to manufacturing businesses around the world and has its headquarters in the West Midlands at the iconic Ford Dunlop building, on the doorstep of the UK’s automotive manufacturing industry. Its 1300 staff help manufacturing companies and their suppliers improve quality, efficiency and profitability.
In 2016 alone it helped automotive and aerospace customers reduce their levels of waste by more than £2.5bn.
Indeed, G&P has reported an average annual sales growth rate of 59 per cent over the last three years. Its latest inclusion in the ‘1,000 Companies to Inspire Britain’ is just one of a number of accolades and awards due to its exceptional performance, client improvements and relationships, growth and job creations to name a few.
Meanwhile, commenting on the latest report, Xavier Rolet, Chief Executive of the London Stock Exchange Group, praised the work of those companies, by saying: “Four years on, LSEG’s ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain’ report continues to highlight the dynamic, entrepreneurial and ambitious businesses across the country that are boosting UK productivity, driving economic growth and creating jobs.
“The strength and diversity of these companies is readily apparent with a broad mix of UK regions and sectors represented. These companies are the very heart of an ‘anti-fragile’ economy: more robust; more flexible and less prone to boom and bust. We must ensure we continue doing all we can to support high growth potential businesses like these.
His words were echoed by The Rt Hon Greg Clark, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, who said: “I want to congratulate the 1000 companies from across the UK featured in London Stock Exchange Group’s pioneering 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain report. Championing high growth innovative SMEs is crucial for the continued success of the UK economy and a country that works for everyone. We are committed to ensuring that companies of all sizes can access finance to grow, scale-up and create high quality well-paid jobs across the country.”


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Vessel sale gives GC Rieber Shipping best quarterly result in its historyCompany News // November 8, 2013
GC Rieber Shipping has delivered the best quarterly result in the company's history. The company had an overall fleet utilisation of 96 per cent in the third quarter of 2013, corresponding to the same level in the third quarter last year. The sale of a vessel has released a substantial amount of cash and GC Rieber Shipping says it is well positioned for further growth.
Operating income for the third quarter amounted to NKr 230.1 million, representing an increase of 10 per cent from the same quarter last year. EBITDA was NKr 137.9 million, up from NKr 106.9 million, and represents an EBITDA margin of 60 per cent. The increase in EBITDA margin was primarily due to termination of a UK Tax Lease agreement for the vessel Ernest Shackleton, which gave an accounting gain of NKr 22.7 million.
GC Rieber Shipping had a historical good result of NKr 439.5 million in the third quarter, compared to NKr 60.2 million in the same period in 2012. The result is mainly due to the sale of the vessel HMS Protector in September 2013. Normalised profit after tax amounted to NKr 69.7 million.
"The good result in third quarter confirms the company's sound underlying operations. Through the sale of Protector we released substantial funds, and we have strengthened our financial position further. As a part of our business model, strategic sale of vessels enables further investment in new vessels in our core markets," said the company's CEO Irene Waage Basili.
As of 30 September 2013, GC Rieber Shipping had a solid contract backlog of NKr 3.1 billion with average contract duration of 2.5 years.

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Home and Lifestyle Show is March 2, 3, 4
The annual Home and Garden Expo where attendees learn about home improvement will have a new name starting this spring.
The expo will be called the Home and Lifestyle Show.
According to Regina Suhrbier, The Messenger’s multimedia sales manager, the name is more inclusive to a variety of vendors and their services.
“We already have a number of vendors signed up that are really excited about the addition of the word lifestyle to the show,” she said. “It opens the door for a lot of local businesses and will give visitors that much more to do and see while they are there.”
She added, “There will still be gardening and landscaping vendors, as well as presentations. But this opens the door to cooking and home decor among other services.”
The Home and Lifestyle Show will be held March 2, 3 and 4 on Iowa Central Community College’s East Campus, 2031 Quail Ave.
Those dates are one week earlier than previous shows have been held.
Suhrbier said that change was made in an attempt to increase attendance.
“We wanted to get away from competing shows in the region and state,” she said.
Suhrbier said the annual event is an opportunity for attendees to learn something new.
“There are so many vendors under one roof for gaining ideas, researching a home and outdoor projects,” she said. “You can compare prices, see the newest products. From small projects to large projects. You have folks that build houses or refurbish your bathroom in a weekend. There’s large and small projects.”
She added, “It’s great in the spring. Everyone is couped up all winter — they are thinking about their garden. It’s just a great time to meet with people in one spot”
Admission is being sponsored by Hy-Vee Market Grill Express. Freewill donations will also be accepted and donated to local food pantries.


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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers says he believes Foxconn Technology Group will hire 1,500 people by the time production begins next spring at its new display-panel plant in southeastern Wisconsin.
Evers told CNBC during a June 27 interview posted online Tuesday that he believes the plant will have about 1,500 employees in place when production begins in May.
The company needs to hire 1,820 workers by the end of 2020 to qualify for job-creation incentive payments.
The state has offered Foxconn more than $4 billion worth of state and local tax credits if the company spends about $9 billion and hires 13,000 people.
The company failed to meet job targets last year and has decreased the type of factory it plans to build, raising questions about its commitment.
More Foxconn Wisconsin News
- Zignego gets $44M road project; Market & Johnson to build UW-La Crosse fieldhouse
- What are they building in there? Foxconn job survey provides some clues and may affect whether company gets tax credits
- WEDC evaluating audit on Foxconn; judgment of tax credits to come later this year
- In July letting, Zignego has $43.9M low bid for roadwork near Foxconn site
- Report finds Mount Pleasant on sound footing despite Foxconn’s shortfalls


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Tourism Ireland’s 2018 sales mission to Australia and New Zealand kicks off this week. A delegation of 11 Irish tourism companies is taking part in the targeted sales mission to grow tourism from both markets. Irish hoteliers along with those from visitor attractions will meet and sign deals with around 500 Australian and New Zealand tour operators and travel agents.
The delegation will visit Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney in Australia before moving on to Auckland in New Zealand. They will also brief local travel editors and bloggers, highlighting why the island of Ireland should be a top choice for holidaymakers from Australasia. The programme includes workshops, presentations, sales calls and networking events.
Visitors to the island of Ireland from Down Under totalled 228,000 last year.


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IBM, Maersk Form Joint Venture Applying Blockchain to Improve Global Trade, Digitize Supply Chains (SCN)
IBM has teamed up with the world’s largest container shipping company, A.P. Moller-Maersk, to provide a new platform for conducting global trade using blockchain technology. The aim of the new company will be to offer a jointly developed global trade digitization platform built on open standards and designed for use by the entire global shipping ecosystem. It will address the need to provide more transparency and simplicity in the movement of goods across borders and trading zones.
“The major advances IBM has made in blockchain have shown that the technology can foster new business models and play an important role in how the world works by building smarter businesses,” said Bridget van Kralingen, senior vice president, IBM Global Industries, Solutions and Blockchain. “Our joint venture with Maersk means we can now speed adoption of this exciting technology with the millions of organizations who play vital roles in one of the most complex and important networks in the world, the global supply chain. We believe blockchain will now emerge in this market as the leading way companies seize new untapped economic opportunities.”
The cost and size of the world’s trading ecosystems continues to grow in complexity. More than $4 trillion in goods are shipped each year, and more than 80 percent of the goods consumers use daily are carried by the ocean shipping industry. The maximum cost of the required trade documentation to process and administer many of these goods is estimated to reach one-fifth of the actual physical transportation costs.
According to The World Economic Forum, by reducing barriers within the international supply chain, global trade could increase by nearly 15 percent, boosting economies and creating jobs.
The attributes of blockchain technology are ideally suited to large networks of disparate partners. A distributed ledger technology, blockchain establishes a shared, immutable record of all the transactions that take place within a network and then enables permissioned parties access to trusted data in real time. By applying the technology to digitize global trade processes, a new form of command and consent can be introduced into the flow of information, empowering multiple trading partners to collaborate and establishing a single shared view of a transaction without compromising details, privacy or confidentiality.
Maersk, a global leader in container logistics, and IBM, a leading provider of blockchain, supply chain visibility and interoperability solutions for the enterprise, will use blockchain technology to power the new platform, as well as employ other cloud-based open source technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), IoT and analytics, delivered via IBM Services, in order to help companies move and track goods digitally across international borders. Manufacturers, shipping lines, freight forwarders, port and terminal operators and customs authorities can all benefit from these new technologies –and ultimately consumers.
“This new company marks a milestone in our strategic efforts to drive the digitization of global trade. The potential from offering a neutral, open digital platform for safe and easy ways of exchanging information is huge, and all players across the supply chain stand to benefit,” said Vincent Clerc, chief commercial officer at Maersk and future chairman of the board of the new joint venture. “By joining our knowledge of trade with IBM’s capabilities in blockchain and enterprise technology, we are confident this new company can make a real difference in shaping the future of global trade.”
IBM’s blockchain platform is enabling hundreds of clients and thousands of developers to build and scale active networks across complex use cases, including cross border payments, supply chains, and digital identification.
IBM and Maersk began a collaboration in June 2016 to build new blockchain- and cloud-based technologies. Since then, multiple parties have piloted the platform including DuPont, Dow Chemical, Tetra Pak, Port Houston, Rotterdam Port Community System Portbase, the Customs Administration of the Netherlands, U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The joint venture will now enable IBM and Maersk to commercialize and scale their solutions to a broader group of global corporations, many of whom have already expressed interest in the capabilities and are exploring ways to use the new platform, including: General Motors and Procter and Gamble to streamline the complex supply chains they operate; and freight forwarder and logistic company, Agility Logistics, to provide improved customer services including customs clearance brokerage.
Additional customs and government authorities, including Singapore Customs and Peruvian Customs, will explore collaborating with the platform to facilitate trade flows and enhance supply chain security. The global terminal operators APM Terminals and PSA International will use the platform to enrich port collaboration and improve terminal planning. With support from Guangdong Inspection and Quarantine Bureau by connecting to its Global Quality Traceability System for import and export goods, the platform can also link users to important trade corridors in and out of China.
To address the specific needs of the industry, Maersk and IBM are establishing an advisory board of industry experts to help further shape the platform and services, provide guidance and feedback on important industry factors, and drive open standards.


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Xiaomi will be launching its anniversary edition flagship phone, aka Mi 8 on May 31 in China. It is just two days to go for the launch and a new leak now suggests that Mi 8 will come with 3D Animojis, something that we have already seen on the iPhone X and also on Samsung's latest flagship phones, Galaxy S9 and S9+ previously. This will make Mi 8 the first ever phone from Xiaomi to come with 3D emojis. Another report coming to light reveals that Xiaomi will be launching another smartphone called the Mi 8 SE alongside Mi 8.
The trend of 3D Animojis was started by Apple with its tenth-anniversary edition phone, iPhone X. Apple calls it Animojis. It was later followed by Samsung, but unlike Apple, the South Korean smartphone manufacturer calls it AR Emojis. The trend is now being followed by Xiaomi reveals a Twitter user namely @bang_gogo_. For now, we don't know what Xiaomi will name the feature, but reports reveal that it will work in a similar way as the iPhone X Animojis. The 3D Animojis on the Mi 8 will be designed and developed by Xiaomi.
Alongside Twitter post revealing the coming of Animoji, Xiaomi also posted a message on microblogging platform Weibo which read -- "Urgent notice: A big wave of cuteness is coming" on Monday. The post was accompanied by a video showing 3D form of the cartoon avatar with facial expressions, similar to that of the iPhone X like Animojis based on Face ID.
Reports are that Xiaomi's eight-anniversary edition phone will come equipped with a structured light 3D module which will be responsible to bring the 3D facial recognition feature. The 3D module is said to include several features like front-facing camera, proximity sensor, ambient sensor, infrared lens, flood illuminator and dot projector. The 3D module will enable users to unlock the Mi 8 just by scanning their face in 3D. Not only that, the module is also expected to work perfectly in low-light conditions.
Meanwhile, a couple of posters showing the Mi 8 cameras have surfaced online. As previously rumoured mi 8 will come with a dual camera setup, which will work better than that of the Mi Mix 2S. Reports claim that the camera on the Mi 8 will be the best in a Xiaomi phone. To recall, the Mi Mix 2S comes packed with a Sony IMX363 sensor for the primary camera and while the secondary camera includes a telephoto sensor from Samsung.
On May 31, Xiaomi will be launching a range of other products alongside Mi 8 -- Mi Band, Mi Note 5, and MIUI 10. Some new reports surfacing the web now hint at a new product, Mi 8 SE. This means, on May 31, Xiaomi will be launching two phones and not one as rumoured previously. Not a lot of information is known about the Mi 8 SE for now, but what is being reported is that both the Mi 8 and Mi 8 SE will differ in almost all terms, be it specs, design or any other.


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'Staycations' boost home fix-it industry
CINCINNATI - As Americans grow accustomed during the recession to spending more time at home and living in the same places longer, home-improvement companies are regaining momentum.
Though construction and major remodeling remain sluggish - walloped by the housing market's plunge - demand has risen at big-box home-improvement stores for items to make small repairs and maintain lawns and gardens. Analysts say Home Depot Inc. and Lowe's Cos. Inc. are likely to show the benefits when they report their first-quarter earnings this week.
Handyman, painting and floor covering businesses also say they're booking more small jobs in recent months.
"We started to pick up a few weeks ago," said Dan Landon, owner of the Milford, Ohio-based House Doctors franchise. "And then it was like someone flipped a switch and I'm booked solid."
Landon said his employees have been doing mostly general repairs: fixing doors, windows and decks and refreshing bathrooms. Jim Hunter, president and chief executive of House Doctor's parent company, H.D. Franchising Systems LLC in Milford, said revenue has risen this year compared with last year at more than half its franchises around the country.
"The market is still struggling with big home additions, but the soft economy is keeping us busy with homeowners just fixing things up for now," Hunter said.
Some consumers are tackling smaller projects themselves rather than hiring professionals, repairing instead of replacing items and doing more comparison pricing, retailers and service companies said.
"Whether it's good times or bad, homeowners are going to preserve their investment," said Karen Cobb of Mooresville, N.C.-based Lowe's. "When people stay at home more and are less quick to move, they are more likely to notice things like the coat of paint that needs refreshing or a dripping sink."


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A quick look at sales year to date shows the overwhelming share of trucks outstripping cars, a trend that’s accelerating as automakers pour on truck models, including luxury-brand mash-ups that would’ve been unthinkable traditionally, like a Mercedes-Benz pickup, or a Jaguar SUV.
With U.S. automakers due to report November auto sales on Thursday, Dec. 1, there’s no contest between cars and trucks, and little doubt that on the strength of its truck sales Mercedes-Benz will be the luxury-brand champ again this year over Lexus and the BMW brand, by an even wider margin than last year.
Year to date through October, for the whole U.S. industry trucks made up 60 percent of sales, up from 56 percent at the same time last year, according to the Automotive News Data Center.
U.S. sales for Mercedes-Benz USA were 305,743 after 10 months, with cars making up just 49 percent of the total. Mercedes-Benz SUVs and crossovers include the GLA, GLC, GLE, GLS and G-Class.
In October, Mercedes pulled off a surprise by announcing it would introduce the Mercedes-Benz X-Class pickup next year in Europe.
The company claims it’s still considering whether to introduce it in the United States. That would be an obvious move, but by U.S. standards the X-Class would be a mid-size pickup, whereas full-size pickups dominate the U.S. market. It would also bump heads with its cousin, the Nissan Frontier. The X-Class initially will be built in a Nissan plant in Spain, under a cooperative agreement with Renault-Nissan.
It’s old news that the U.S. definition of “trucks” now includes so-called crossovers. In auto industry terms, crossovers are pretty much built the same way as cars, only with truck-like styling.
Old-school SUVs were built on the same platforms as pickup trucks, a body attached to a ladder-like frame on wheels, which were built separately, then "married" on the assembly line. That was good for sturdiness, but bad for gas mileage and for what the industry calls “noise, vibration and harshness.” Small crossover SUVs and for that matter many bigger SUVs are now built all in one shell, called a unibody, with no separate frame.


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The most expensive cities in the world – level 2
Singapore and Zurich are now more expensive than New York, according to the EIU Index.
The index analyzes prices for things goods and services in 173 world cities globally, for example, transport, rent, food, and alcohol. Geneva, New York, and Hong Kong are among the top five most expensive cities. Global prices increased by 7.4%, which was a little less than in the previous year. Food prices continued to rise, while strong demand for traveling after the pandemic meant an increase in transport prices.
In 2024, experts expect higher interest rates, less business activity, and consumer demand.
You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.
What factors contributed to the increase in global prices and which cities were among the top five most expensive in 2023 according to the EIU Index?
LEARN 3000 WORDS with NEWS IN LEVELS
News in Levels is designed to teach you 3000 words in English. Please follow the instructions
How to improve your English with News in Levels:
- Do the test at Test Languages.
- Go to your level. Go to Level 1 if you know 1-1000 words. Go to Level 2 if you know 1000-2000 words. Go to Level 3 if you know 2000-3000 words.
- Read two news articles every day.
- Read the news articles from the day before and check if you remember all new words.
- Listen to the news from today and read the text at the same time.
- Listen to the news from today without reading the text.
- Answer the question under today’s news and write the answer in the comments.


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Like Nigeria, many sub-Saharan countries have been struggling to find a way to stem the scourge of poverty that seems to have blanketed their economy. One of the more noted ones is Cameroon. Four years ago, one Cameroonian, Gaelle Laura Zambou Kenfack thought it might pay off if she created a firm that would produce and sell “Made-in-Cameroon” items. Looking back years after, she agrees it was “a crazy gamble”. In the central African country with a population of about 25 million people who highly depended on imported goods and services, it sure was a gamble.
After 10 years working as a consultant for BMW in Germany, Zambou returned to Cameroon at the end of 2016 to join other business leaders who, like her, believed in the “Made in Cameroon” label – a concept that was formally launched by the private sector five years ago to promote local production, processing and consumption. The goal was to overcome a long-standing weakness in Cameroon’s economy: the lack of “value-added” activities that create jobs and generate money beyond the business of selling primary natural resources like minerals, oil and timber.
Since the inauguration, stores labeled “Made in Cameroon” have opened up in several cities across the country. Five years ago, there was only one store dedicated to the MIC label. Today, there are at least 33,” says Carine Andela, President the Association of Ingenious Entrepreneurs of Africa (ASENIA).
Andela has already taken up fish farming. In Cameroon, aqua-culturists had until recently imported a lot of their fish from neighbouring Nigeria. “But what is interesting” Andela said, “is that some young people have started growing them themselves.”
‘Not rocket science’
In Biyem-Assi, a popular district of the capital Yaoundé, Zambou’s company Kenza Market was one of the first MIC businesses to open. Spices, dried fruits and vegetables, vegetable oils for the skin or marinades, line the shelves. One of the flagship products of the store was “spicy salt”, a mixture of salt and several local spices. “Our concept is to promote MIC by highlighting local products because that is what makes the economy grow,” Zambou said.
To ensure regular supplies for her shop, Zambou is in contact with local producers from whom she buys raw materials before processing them. She has another store in Douala, the main port and economic capital of Cameroon, and wants to open more shops as quickly as possible.
Samuel Safo Tchoffo, a former oil industry engineer, has also taken the plunge in creating his own company. Its pilot pumpkin seed-shelling plant is located in Montee Jouvence, another working-class district of Yaoundé.
“It took 27 years of research to get to this factory,” Safo says with a broad smile. The production line is made up of a chain of 11 machines assembled to convey, shell and sort the pumpkin seeds, then press the kernel to extract oil.
“The machines are entirely made in Cameroon, and we made it a point of honour not only to process product locally, but also to show young people that it can be done — and that it is not rocket science,” explains Safo, whose plant also produces soap and low-fat flour.
“I am interested in the virtues of this oil,” customer Juliette Mbango says during a local fair. “I’ve often heard about it. I came to buy some to discover it for myself.”
For all the public interest shown in the MIC label, management consultant Edith Laure Pokam argues that the label suffers from major handicaps. “Many consumers are willing to buy what is made locally, but they have doubts about the quality,” she says. Price is another obstacle. “The promoters of MIC products are not yet able to compete with imported goods because the latter are cheaper.” Entrepreneurs are aware of the difficulties. For Andela, the “Made in Cameroon” movement definitely has a future, but also has some basic problems, especially for funding to buy machinery and raw materials.
“Political force is what can change things,” Andela believes. “Some people have not yet understood the stakes of what we are doing.” Do we, in Igbo land realize this? We should take our governors and the local government chairmen to task on our own Made in Igbo land labels. They must help us create awareness that the Made in Igbo land labels and brands are necessary to promote our people’s ingenuity.


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THE INCREASE OF FEMALE PERSONAL TRAINERS
The gym has often been viewed as a male-dominated environment, from the dark metal weights to the man in the corner who is dripping in sweat and groaning at every lift, which can be intimidating for many women. In a previous blog, we mentioned that the importance of diversity within the gym environment, and how diversity is becoming more recognised and addressed. The increase of diversity can be seen through the rise of female personal trainers within the last five years; a UK-based study from 2021 highlighted that within the previous five years, the UK had seen a 17% rise in women becoming qualified personal trainers! (Source); that’s right, women aren’t just cardio bunnies they are often deemed as but leading the fitness training sector! There is nothing quite as empowering as being able to lift heavy, run fast and also being able to educate people in your expertise!
WHY ARE FEMALE PERSONAL TRAINERS NEEDED
The irony of the lack of women in gym environments is that women are mainly the ones who are exposed to marketing towards fitness and wealth. Yet, studies find 1 in 4 women do not feel comfortable going to the gym, so why are women being sold fitness products yet lacking the encouragement to attend gyms? While we could look at the root causes here at Body Aid, we believe in the importance of looking forward, so how can we solve this issue?
1. POWER IN NUMBERS
Womeninsport suggested that one of the best ways to combat this issue is the power in numbers, or as they worded it, “achieving diversity and balance” through more women who attend the gym, the more visible women are in gym environments makes those gym paces look more appealing and friendly to other women. If you want to be a leader in this pursuit, you could take it one step further by becoming a female personal trainer! You would be leading and encouraging more women to join the gym and simultaneously educating more women, and knowledge is always power!
2. PROVIDING A VOICE
Womeninsport also reported to aid women’s empowerment towards leading a more active lifestyle; women need to be given a platform to have a voice, and one of the most direct ways for women to gain that voice is to be an active member in the fitness sector. Gaining a voice could look like having more female fitness influencers, giving more visibility to female athletes and women working as Gym Instructors and Personal Trainers.
As previously stated, 1 in 4 women does not feel comfortable in sports environments. A way to provide more confidence for those women who attend the gym is to have female personal trainers. Female personal trainers provide a safe space to discuss women-related health issues, whether that is the best way to train during your menstrual cycle, weight issues and PCOS. While we aren’t saying male personal trainers can’t provide comfort, we are products of our experiences, and female PTs will be able to relate more due to having shared experiences with female clients.
LUCRATIVE MARKET FOR FEMALE PERSONAL TRAINERS
There is a market for focusing more on women’s health as Stylist highlighted that women are 53% more likely to want a personal trainer than men. At the same time, Strava, the fitness tracking app, reported that in the UK, there was a 108% rise in the medium number of fitness activities completed by women in the age range of 18 to 29. While it is great to see the increase in women being more curious about fitness, the fitness industry needs more female personal trainers to continue this increase. Female personal trainers to encourage more women to pursue fitness while also making them an active voice in empowering more women to enter the space! So, not only could you turn your fitness hobby into a career by becoming a personal trainer you will also be a role model for many women!
If you’re eager to be part of the movement toward a more inclusive gym environment, then you should look into Body Aid Solution’s personal trainer courses.
Spread the cost of your new career pathway up to 36 months. Terms & Conditions apply. No credit check required.


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Mumbai, Nov 16 (PTI) Global major Visa has picked up a minority stake in domestic payments processing company Billdesk for an undisclosed sum.
According to recent reports, Billdesk was looking to raise USD 250 million from Visa at an enterprise valuation of over USD 1.5 billion.
“Visa’s investment and collaboration will help BillDesk develop new product lines for its payments and loyalty businesses and also expand its footprint into other geographies,” an official statement said.
Payworld looks to raise up to $25 m by selling stakes * Payments company Payworld is looking to raise up to USD 25 million as growth capital by selling stakes either to a strategic or a financial investor, a senior official said.
The 2012-incorporated company’s equity is held only by its promoters and its aggressive plans require capital, its chief operating officer Praveen Dhabhai said.
The company is clocking revenues of Rs 65 crore at present and aims to take this up to Rs 100 crore in the next year, he said, adding that this will be possible through an increasing the gross transaction value to Rs 7,500 crore from the present Rs 4,000 crore.
It has a presence in at 2 lakh retailers in 20 states who carry out services including domestic remittances, rail bookings and also sale of investment products.
Integrated media firm Gozoop acquires mktg agency Hat Media * Integrated media company Gozoop
on Friday said it has acquired real-time marketing agency Hat Media, its fourth acquisition since 2013.
Hat Media is known for its management of the Mumbai Police’s Twitter handle.
“With this business acquisition, Hat Media’s clients will be consolidated within Gozoop and Hat Media’s founder Sunchika Pandey will head the citizen initiatives and government organisation division of Gozoop as the group director,” it said in a statement.
This is published unedited from the PTI feed.


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BREAKING! Canadian Study Alarmingly Finds That Commonly Used Farm Pesticide Chlorpyrifos Is Linked To Obesity Crisis In Most Countries!
Researchers from McMaster University-Canada have in a new study alarmingly found that a commonly-used pesticide-chlorpyrifos could be partially responsible for the global obesity epidemic
The study team from the University’s Centre for Metabolism, Obesity
and Diabetes Research and also Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism-Department of Medicine, discovered that chlorpyrifos, which is banned for use on foods in Canada but widely sprayed on fruits and vegetables in many other parts of the world, slows down the burning of calories in the brown adipose tissue of mice. Reducing this burning of calories, a process known as diet-induced thermogenesis, causes the body to store these extra calories, promoting obesity.
The study also found that chlorpyrifos also leads to the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and insulin resistance.
Typically bbesity results from a caloric imbalance between energy intake, absorption and expenditure. In both rodents and humans, diet-induced thermogenesis contributes to energy expenditure and involves the activation of brown adipose tissue (BAT).
The study team hypothesized that environmental toxicants commonly used as food additives or pesticides might reduce BAT thermogenesis through suppression of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) and this may contribute to the development of obesity.
Utilizing a step-wise screening approach, the team discovered that the organophosphate insecticide chlorpyrifos suppresses UCP1 and mitochondrial respiration in BAT at concentrations as low as 1 pM. In mice housed at thermoneutrality and fed a high-fat diet, chlorpyrifos impairs BAT mitochondrial function and diet-induced thermogenesis, promoting greater obesity, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and insulin resistance. This is associated with reductions in cAMP; activation of p38MAPK and AMPK; protein kinases critical for maintaining UCP1 and mitophagy, respectively in BAT.
The study findings indicate that the commonly used pesticide chlorpyrifos, suppresses diet-induced thermogenesis and the activation of BAT, suggesting its use may contribute to the obesity epidemic.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal: Nature Communications. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-25384-y
The study findings could have important implications for public health.
The study team made the discovery after studying 34 commonly used pesticides and herbicides in brown fat cells and testing the effects of chlorpyrifos in mice fed high calorie diets.
Senior author Dr Gregory Steinberg, professor of medicine and co-director of the Centre for Metabolism, Obesity, and Diabetes Research, McMaster University told Thailand Medical News, “Brown fat is the metabolic furnace in our body, burning calories, unlike normal fat that is used to store them. This generates heat and prevents calories from being deposited on our bodies as normal white fat. We know brown fat is activated during cold and when we eat. Lifestyle changes around diet and exercise rarely lead to sustained weight loss. We think part of the problem m
ay be this intrinsic dialing back of the metabolic furnace by chlorpyrifos."
Dr Steinberg said chlorpyrifos would only need to inhibit energy use in brown fat by 40 calories every day to trigger obesity in adults, which would translate to an extra five lbs of weight gain per year.
Dr Steinberg warned that while several environmental toxins including chlorpyrifos have been linked to rising obesity rates in both humans and animals, most of these studies have attributed weight gain to increases in food intake and not the burning of calories.
Although the use of chlorpyrifos on foods is banned in Canada, imported produce may still be treated with it.
China, India, most South-east Asian countries and even certain states in America are still using chlorpyrifos on the farms and also in the storage of various foodstuffs despite the fact that most European countries have also banned its use due to a variety of associated health reasons.
Dr Steinberg added, "Although the findings have yet to be confirmed in humans, an important consideration, is that whenever possible consume fruits and vegetables from local Canadian sources and if consuming imported produce, make sure it is thoroughly washed."
Thailand Medical News strongly recommends readers checking all sources of vegetables, fruits and even dried grocery items like lentils, dried beans, various flours etc as even though it some cases items might be labeled as organic and pesticide free in China, India and most South-east Asian countries, often it is not the case!
Note: I will be launching another website called www.christianmedical.news in mid september. Those wanting to be part of this site are welcome to contact me. I am also starting another blog called www.toxic.news in mid-October, stay tuned.Researchers and writers wanting to contribute about environmental toxins, pesticides, toxins in cosmetics, toiletries, home products, processed foods etc are also welcome to contact me.)
For more about Environmental Toxins
, keep on logging to Thailand Medical News.


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GoTo’s shares soared as much as 23% on their debut on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, becoming the third largest IPO in Asia this year.
The company’s stock finished its first day of trading with a 13% gain at 382 rupiah per share. Formed from the merger of Indonesian unicorns Gojek and Tokopedia, the combined entity managed to raise 15.8 trillion rupiah ($1.1 billion) from 300,000 investors, a record for the highest number of investors for an IPO in Indonesia.
“Despite global market volatility, investor interest has been strong, reflecting the rapidly growing demand in Southeast Asia for our on-demand, e-commerce and financial technology services, as well as confidence in GoTo's position as the largest digital ecosystem in Indonesia,” Andre Soelistyo, GoTo Group CEO said in a statement.
GoTo also reached a market cap of 400.3 trillion Rupiah which makes it the fourth-largest listed company in Indonesia after telecommunication giant Telkom Indonesia.
The group reported a gross transaction value of 414.2 trillion rupiah in the 12 months ended September 30, 2021, a 62% jump from a year earlier. But GoTo is still operating in the red. The company posted a loss of 11.58 trillion for the first nine months of 2021.
Vivian Xu, a partner at ZWC Partners, an investor in GoTo, said that her firm is not too concerned about the company’s profitability given the current momentum. As an emerging market fund manager in Asia, the firm looks at China and Southeast Asia in parallel. From the firm’s experience investing in China, it has seen the emergence of super-platforms like Alibaba, JD.com and Pinduoduo.
“We understand that for internet companies, as long as it continues to provide values to users, they can create a very high stickiness and finally reached profitability,” Xu said in a virtual interview.
According to Xu, Indonesia has relatively lower rate of paid user penetration as well as ARPU (average revenue per user). Taking e-commerce as an example, listed companies from Southeast Asia, such as SEA Group’s Shopee, have ARPUs of about $5, whereas its Chinese counterparts like JD and Alibaba are seeing ARPUs in the range of $100-200.
Hian Goh, a cofounder of Openspace Ventures, the first institutional investor of Gojek in 2014, is also upbeat about GoTo’s growth potential in the future after its merger with Tokopedia. Goh says the company can now burn less money to acquire customers.
“Compared to its peers, GoTo has the strongest chance of turning into a cashflow and profit-driving company in the earliest time because of the combination of Gojek and Tokopedia,” Goh said in a virtual interview.
Analysts, on the other hand, have mixed views on the IPO. Nirgunan Tiruchelvam, head of consumers equity research at Tellimer Research, wrote in its latest report that the offering price of GoTo is at a premium because it’s priced over six times the EV/sales multiple of its close competitor, Grab.
Tiruchelvam also pointed out that the market is not patient with companies that have a long way to profitability, and GoTo is projected to record losses until 2024.


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This summer Somerset House in London will be hosting an exhibition celebrating 20 years of one of the most feted and creative contemporary designers Mr Martin Margiela.
“20” will see the London venue work in conjunction with the Mode Museum in Antwerp to showcase works from throughout the career of the mysterious Belgian. Possibly one of he most copied labels around today, you can see the Margiela influence running strongly throughout the fashion world – from the haute couture houses, through streetwear and right down to the high street. Yet despite his ubiquitous appeal he has yet to become a household name, perhaps this is due to his reclusive nature, never being photographed or appearing front of stage at his fashion shows, instead allowing his work to talk for him.
It was recently announced by label owners Diesel that Margiela has actually left the label which bares his name, so this retrospective will serve as a timely reminder of one of the greatest designers of all time. Lets just hope he isn’t doing a Helmut Lang, and is actually preparing a new project to launch soon.
Maison Martin Margiela ‘20’ will be open from June-September 2010.


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In Global Maritime Issues Monitor 2020, from Global Maritime Forum, broker Marsh and the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI), it was noted that the pandemic had shown digitalization to be a shortcoming in the industry.
Some commentators said that digital technologies, had they been better developed prior to the pandemic, could have improved transparency and traceability in disrupted supply chains and reduced the exposure of seafarers to contagion.
The open-ended survey responses indicated that Covid-19 was seen as likely to accelerate digitalization, while 35% of respondents said it had made more likely the development of big data, AI, and autonomy technology.
Alicia Garcia Herrero, Chief Economist Asia Pacific, Natixis, said that “the maritime sector has long been accused of being slow to adapt. But, to live with the virus, the maritime industry should respond quickly to include terms related to new arising issues such as sudden port closures or increased hygiene protocol. In the medium run, the sector should enhance its digital adoptions to meet with the new working mode.”
Herrero added that those more adapted to digital applications and more diversified in supply chain could operate relatively smoothly during pandemic disruptions.
It was possible that the abrupt emergency conditions brought on by the pandemic will also force changes in the onshore maritime workforce similar to what is being seen in other industries.
Heidi Heseltine, CEO, Halcyon Recruitment and Co-Founder, Diversity Study Group, said that “remote working and the adoption of new technology have historically been real challenges for the maritime sector to consider. It took the pandemic for the industry to be left with no other option but to embrace both simultaneously, and almost overnight.”
One area of acceleration stemmed from the need to reduce face-to-face interactions, according to Quah Ley Hoon, CEO of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA). She noted that the MPA had been rolling out technology to use electronic certificates to improve efficiency and port clearance. “The global supply chain thrives on global connectivity,” Quah Ley Hoon said. “There needs to be global collaboration on digitalization in order for the benefits to be multiplied.”
Industry experts agreed that improving the use of technology should be a top agenda item and could lead to benefits in areas such as efficiencies from data optimization — including meteorological data, oceanographic data, shipping rates, and vessel information — improved risk management, improved environmental performance, and more.
Richard Smith-Bingham, Executive Director at Marsh & McLennan Advantage, said that, in order to take advantage of the new opportunities, shipping companies would need to enter into new technology-based partnerships. Without those, the industry could be open to disruption from major technology firms, particularly e-commerce and transportation firms with existing capabilities in the application of data for transportation and land-based supply chains.
Respondents continued to see autonomy technology as something for which the industry was particularly ill-prepared. It moved from fourth on the list of unpreparedness to third this year, just after pandemics and global economic crisis. Smith-Bingham said that “the opportunity of (more) autonomous shipping raises considerable questions about the consequences for seafaring staff, given crew costs and the space required for them. Although a high proportion of marine accidents can be ascribed to human error, greater use of autonomous technologies presents a host of unresolved legal liability questions as well as those relating to confidence in absolute reliability.”


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- Exploited garment factory workers have been denied over £27million in wages since July
- British Retail Consortium and Lisa Cameron MP write to the Home Secretary to demand action
The British Retail Consortium and Dr Lisa Cameron MP, Chair of the APPG for Textiles and Fashion, have written to the Home Secretary to demand urgent action over labour exploitation. Exploited garment workers are denied over £2.1million a week, this equates to £27million in lost earnings since a previous letter in July.
A joint letter, signed by over 50 cross-party MPs and Peers as well as a further 40 retailers, investors and NGOs was sent in July. This letter called for urgent action from Government to introduce a licensing scheme for garment factories in the UK.
According to the letter, a 'Fit-to-Trade' licensing scheme “would protect workers from forced labour, debt bondage and mistreatment, ensuring payment of National Minimum Wage, VAT, PAYE, National Insurance, holiday pay and health and safety”. This would also encourage retailers to source more of their clothing from the UK, supporting the development of an ethical, world-leading garment manufacturing industry.
It is estimated that over 10,000 garment factory workers are being paid an average of £3.50 an hour – well below the National Minimum Wage of £8.72. This violation of workers’ rights cannot be allowed to continue, and Government has a key role to play in this.
Helen Dickinson OBE, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium said:
"The BRC has repeatedly called on Government to do more to prevent labour exploitation in the UK garment manufacturing industry. Despite numerous reports in the media, and a previous letter to the Home Secretary signed by over 50 MPs & Peers and more than 40 retailers, investors and NGOs, we have not seen any significant action from Government to bring this injustice to an end. All the while garment workers are robbed of tens of millions of pounds in wages.
“Our members continue to stand firm against labour exploitation. Implementing statutory licensing of UK garment factories would ensure they are all ‘Fit to Trade’. We hope the Home Secretary joins us in this fight.”
Dr Lisa Cameron MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Textiles & Fashion, said:
“Right now, we have an opportunity to create a more ethical and sustainable fashion manufacturing industry in the UK, providing better jobs and boosting the economy at a time when it is needed most. It is vital the Home Secretary takes action to introduce a licensing scheme for UK garment manufacturers and puts the rights of workers at the heart of the industry. Without urgent action thousands more people face exploitation.”


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Connecticut lawmakers are expected to announce legislation today that would allow new, smaller casinos along the state's borders with Massachusetts and New York. The Mashantucket Pequots and Mohegans, who operate tribal casinos in Connecticut, would open the smaller casinos in the proposed bill.
Mohegan Sun could promote its flagship property in Connecticut to players at a proposed casino in Revere, Mass., documents show, despite Mohegan Sun's constant denial that it would try to lure players to Connecticut, where it pays lower taxes. Mitchell Etess, CEO of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, said the marketing deals are limited to similar deals at the Revere casino. The recipient of the Greater Boston license could be determined next week, and marketing the Connecticut casino in Massachusetts is an issue Wynn Resorts Chairman Steve Wynn, whose company offers a competing proposal, has frequently brought up.
The $15.5 billion buyout offer for Harrah's Entertainment is making waves in the casino industry, and some say gaming regulators will need to adjust licensing practices, as more private-equity funds flow into the casino sector. Gaming experts this week said hotel-casino financing has been transformed by the large scale of new casino developments.
RED Development has lined up Olympia Gaming to build a 1,000-room hotel, casino and spa at RED's $500 million casino-resort being planned in Sparks, Nev., outside of Reno. The Legends at Sparks Marina project also will include 100 acres of outdoor shopping and entertainment on the area's Helms Lake.


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The Free Market will undergo an investigation process in the coming days, and for a most trivial reason. Some users are selling pirated digital books inside the platform, something that was discovered by the National Consumer Secretariat (Senacon), an agency of the Ministry of Justice that introduced the administrative measure to better investigate the case.
“The process initiated aims to investigate the violation of objective good faith and transparency, as well as investigating the conduct of misleading advertising and the insertion of an inappropriate product for consumption in the market,” says an excerpt from the process published by Valor Investe. After this measure, the Ministry of Justice gave the Free Market up to 10 days to comment.
Within the process is another company from the Market Livre group, Market Pago, which receives payments on the platform. If signs of negligence on the part of the companies are identified, fines must be sanctioned by the Government.
In a statement sent to Valor Investe, Market Livre stressed “that it rejects the misuse of its platform and that it works in collaboration with different actors in the public and private sector to exclude any advertisement that violates its terms and conditions of use and the legislation in force. force”.


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When Honda revealed the latest Civic Hatchback last month, it confirmed that a Type R variant will only be revealed in 2022. With some time to go until the new year, renderings of what the hot hatch could look like have begun surfacing on the internet.
The ones you see here are the work of KDesign AG, which previously rendered the new Civic Sedan prior to its official debut. The design approach taken involved is pretty straightforward, as the new Civic Hatchback is used as the base before being incorporated with styling elements of the current Type R.
The end result is a car that sports familiar front and rear bumpers, although we expect the final design that Honda comes up with to differ from what’s been rendered. This is based on spyshots of Civic Type R prototypes undergoing testing, which also feature a smaller wing with a different design compared to the prominent one currently. A side note is the imagined model lacks the vented bonnet of the outgoing Type R.
Given Honda’s new subdued styling approach for the new Civic range, it’s likely that the new Type R won’t be as over-the-top in the looks department compared to its predecessor, so these renders should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Honda will not be so restrained when it comes to performance, as it wants the Civic Type R to be the best hot hatch possible to fend off rivals on the road. Extra rigidity from the 11th-generation Civic’s platform will help in the handling department, while under the bonnet, several reports indicate a lot more power on tap.
The current model uses a K20C1 2.0 litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine that makes 320 PS (306 hp) and 400 Nm, paired exclusively with a six-speed manual. The latter has been confirmed to return for the new car (#savethemanuals), but the engine is still a mystery. Some rumours suggest an upgraded version of the K20C1, while others claim the adoption of a hybrid all-wheel drive system with three electric motors for 400 PS (394 hp).
A hybrid system would add complexity and weight, which could detract from the Civic Type R’s ethos. More power and the use of additional lightweight materials would seem to be a better fit, but with stricter emission standards, Honda might not be able to keep electrification away from its hot hatch.


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Last week we blogged about the amazing potential in China’s growing market for businesses that are looking to expand into the East, and ways in which social media sites like Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo can help provide insight into an otherwise opaque market, from a Western perspective. This week we’ll look at Western brands that got it right, and others that leaped before they looked, culturally speaking, and how they could’ve sidestepped such blunders by using social media to understand and target their market segment effectively.
Lost in Translation
US companies have been trying to trade with modern China since the sovereign state opened up to foreign investment in the 1970s. While some have done a great job of introducing products into this unique market, others found that their expeditions got lost in translation.
These brands didn’t fail because they were inept or inexperienced, either. Fortune 500 companies that triumphed in other global markets have suffered some of the most epic defeats. Why? Take it from NBC News: “[i]n China, business is not just business. It’s social.” Ignoring those implications can spell big trouble for Western brands.
Even America’s most iconic doll can’t just waltz into China and expect to become a household name. While the children’s doll was popular enough, the toy manufacturing giant assumed that their doll’s brand would be desirable enough to Chinese consumers that they could build a flagship store and market all kinds of goods and services.
The toymaker invested millions in a prime urban location, replete with high-end branded jeans, a restaurant and a spa. But a disastrous miscalculation led to the store’s closure just two years after its launch. Instead of concentrating on the doll, the manufacturer speculated that the market was ready to consume anything and everything bearing its logo.
Know Thy Customer
While one company went in with the assumption that people would understand their brand, Nike has found success in China by building a brand that focuses on Chinese interests, according to BBC News. Most popular in third- and forth-tier cities, Tencent Weibo data can help businesses make better decisions before entering into uncharted markets. Enrichments such as gender and language detection can help further zero in on market potential specific to products within a brand (such as running, training or basketball shoes, in Nike’s case).
Let’s look at another example. A DIY home-improvement retailer built its brand in Western markets by following urbanization and demographic indicators. With China’s exploding middle class, the big-box store thought they would have a slam-dunk.
Again, assumptions led a seasoned retailer down a costly rabbit hole. It turned out that people don’t ‘DIY’ in China – labor is so cheap that those with disposable income just hire a handyman, reports NBC News.
Even for those who study the market, we see that success in China isn’t just about demographics – Western businesses need to understand positioning and culture. General Motors is another brand that has thrived in China, to the extent that certain car models are tailored to Chinese customers’ product preferences, according to CNN, and designed for the China market first.
Luxury and traditional brands (like GM) can benefit from Sina Weibo data, which provides insight into established markets. With five percent of users posting ninety-four percent of the original content (and ninety-five percent simply reposting that content), big brands can identify key influencers in their market. Links enrichments can further help the enterprise understand what other types of content is being shared by influencers, providing rich context for engagement campaigns.
Live and Learn (and Thrive!)
If these examples have taught us anything, it’s that Western assumptions about China’s market are the equivalent of wearing cultural blinders – businesses operating in the dark with questionable instincts.
Chinese social media gives real-time access into the cultural zeitgeist of the new middle class that uses online networks – exactly the upwardly mobile community that has disposable income. Sina and Tencent Weibo help brands take off the cultural blinders.
Contact [email protected] to find out more about how DataSift can help your company move into the Chinese market.


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Global smartphone sales have fallen year-on-year for the first time, as upgrades slowed down and manufacturers failed to bring substantially new benefits to new devices, Gartner has claimed.
Qualcomm signalled a more cordial tone while rejecting Broadcom’s latest takeover offer, as it announced a number of new handset deals for its 5G New Radio (5G NR) chipset.
Deutsche Telekom, EE, Elisa, Telia and Vodafone Group are planning to verify and trial new 5G New Radio infrastructure and devices devised by Nokia and Qualcomm.
Qualcomm and Samsung have signed a multi-year strategic partnership to focus on mobile device development and the shift to 5G.
Google has vowed to continue "building and investing for the long run" in its hardware business, after the digital company formally closed the takeover of HTC's hardware arm.
iOS and Android are tightening their grips on the European smartphone market as Windows Phone continues to decline, according to new figures from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.
Qualcomm is working with a range of Chinese OEMs to launch devices based on the 5G New Radio standard as early as 2019, as it won new deals to supply them with radio components.
The number of augmented reality (AR) users will exceed one billion in 2018, according to Deloitte, as technological advances make it more widely accessible.
Ericsson researchers have started exploring how augmented reality can be used to troubleshoot problems with factory equipment.
Samsung is pushing to make its IoT devices more open and interoperable as it aims to bring connectivity to every single device it makes by 2020.
Qualcomm used the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to announce a slew of product upgrades and customer wins focusing on the smart home and connected car.
Bouygues Telecom is bringing Google Assistant to its Android TV service as part of a wide-ranging expansion of the search giant's digital helper.
Broadcom’s CEO has urged Qualcomm investors to support its new nominations for the chipmaker’s board amid growing takeover interest, as Samsung announced the launch of a new AI specific application processor.
Apple is losing its reputation as a smartphone innovator in the wake of new software and devices from Amazon and Google, a new report has claimed.
ETSI has launched a new group to explore use cases and specifications for telcos to take advantage of augmented reality.
BlackBerry has paid Nokia $137 million after a court ruled the former smartphone giant failed to make payments from a patent license agreement between the two companies.
Android and iOS devices are increasingly failing users, with the Google operating system experiencing twice as many errors as its closest rival.
Larger screened phablet devices are set to overtake conventional smartphones, as consumers opt for more video and gaming friendly devices, new research has claimed.
5G smartphone shipments will hit 1.5 billion units by 2025, up from an estimated two million in 2019, a new report from Strategy Analytics has forecast.
Intel has launched new modems for 5G and LTE as operators prepare to upgrade their networks.
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Bouygues Telecom and VEON reported rising revenues and earnings last year, the operators’ latest[…]
Telefónica hailed a 10 percent rise in the ARPU of its mobile subscribers as[…]
Proximus has teamed up with Canada-based Stingray Digital Group to launch an exclusive music[…]


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Marijuana may be legal in California, but cities are creating their own cannabis regulations – and bans. Here’s how that affects you
Aaron Herzberg wakes up in his hometown of Irvine, a city with some of the most stringent marijuana laws in California.
As he commutes to his Los Angeles law firm he’ll pass through Santa Ana, which allows retail sales of marijuana but no commercial cultivation, and Lynwood, which allows commercial cultivation but no shops.
He’ll drive through Fountain Valley, which lets people grow marijuana in backyard gardens. And he’ll pass by Montebello, which requires permits if people want to grow one plant inside a locked room of their home.
The city at the end of Herzberg’s morning commute, Los Angeles, permits outdoor home marijuana gardens and every type of cannabis business that’s legal under state law.
The journey shows one thing: Even though Proposition 64 made marijuana generally legal in California — as approved by 57 percent of California’s electorate — the specific rules about cannabis’ legality vary from town to town.
The same law that legalized recreational cannabis and set the stage for a cannabis industry that kicked off this month also gives local governments authority to regulate or ban most marijuana activity inside their borders.
That’s led to a rapidly evolving patchwork of rules that can vary widely from one city to the next, making it tough for Californians to know where they can shop for legal weed, open a marijuana business or even what they can do in their own homes.
“It’s impossible to follow,” said Herzberg, who’s law firm represents the marijuana industry and has stakes in cannabis ventures throughout Southern California.
“It’s just too hard to keep up with everything.”
Database tracks city rules
Some basics apply everywhere.
Since Nov. 9, 2016, anyone 21 and older in California has been allowed to carry or give away up to an ounce of marijuana and grow up to six cannabis plants per […]


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It's Boomerang Thursday! Returns of unwanted Christmas presents reach their peak today with millions of items set to be refunded or exchanged
- Experts claim presents worth £600m are being returned after Christmas
- The peak is said to be the first Thursday after the big day - which is today
- Despite it being New Year's Day, many shops are open long hours
- Online shops set to be particularly hit and 'could be underprepared'
New Year's Day may only seem good for a bleary-eyed lunch with the in-laws. But it seems a deluge of shoppers are hauling themselves out of bed - and returning those Christmas rejects.
Today will see more presents exchanged than any other, claims a report by business analysts, and the number could hit a record high thanks to the rise of online shopping.
With a string of shopping centres up and down Britain opening as late as 9pm, the day has been dubbed Boomerang Thursday by the analysts.
Ready to hit the shops... again? A report claims today will see a peak of gift returns - despite a public holiday
Some 29million unwanted presents are being returned from online shops alone this year with an expected value of £600million, estimates the report by LCP Consulting.
The firm, which advises businesses on their supply chains, said past figures suggest 15 per cent of all online presents are returned - and around 200million were set to be delivered over Christmas.
Despite the public holiday - and for people who work long hours, because of it - the report claimed many Christmas presents will be returned today.
Many returns of goods originally ordered online will happen in person, it added, thanks to quicker refunds and the added lure of the sales.
The firm's founder Alan Braithwaite, a visiting professor at Cranfield University in Bedford, said some departments faced having more than half of all their sales returned.
That could pose a challenge for small independent shops which rely on Christmas income, and prompt long till queues at big-name chains which have an online ordering arm.
Of shops opening on New Year's Day, he said: 'I think the retailers want to maximise the available time to persuade customers to spend their money, especially those without much free time.
'Some retailers such as John Lewis are still not opening, but those in a less strong position will be concerned not to lose the opportunity.
Scramble: Shoppers on Black Friday in Wembley, north London. The trend is among several promoting impulse buys which analysts say can lead to a higher number of gifts being returned in the cold light of day
'The most-returned items will be high fashion - trendy things given as gifts, and people may have bought one or two because they weren't sure what would fit, so one has to be returned.'
His colleague Phil Streatfield claimed the massive number of refunds and returns creates 'more pressure than ever for retailers to be slicker in managing their refund process'.
He added: 'This will be a critical factor for future success, and become part of a new and increasingly complex battleground.'
The firm claimed 600,000 orders from Cyber Monday will have required redelivering, many of them before Christmas Day. It estimated the average gift as costing £20.
Major shopping centres will be opening long hours today, despite New Year's Day historically being quiet.
London's two sprawling Westfield malls will be open from 10am to 9pm, while shops at the Trafford Centre in Manchester - Britain's largest - are open until 6pm.
The huge Bluewater mall in Greenhithe, Kent, will be open until 7pm while the Liverpool One centre will be open until 6pm.
Shops in London's Oxford Street - still recovering from the capital's excesses last night - will be open until 7pm.
Not everyone has succumbed to the pressures of consumerism. Gateshead's MetroCentre, the second-largest shopping centre in the country, will be almost completely closed today.
And with a YouGov poll showing we spent £604 per household on gifts, perhaps some people just can't bear the thought of hitting the shops again. Especially with that hangover.
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British supermarket Tesco has launched a Google Glass app that gives shoppers product information and even lets them add to their online basket without using their hands.
An article in TechWeek Europe about the buzzed-about technology says consumers can also obtain price and nutritional information about their purchases using image-recognition technology.
The new app, which is linked to shoppers' Tesco.com account, provides a hands-free experience that allows consumers to drop an item into their basket by scanning an item's barcode with the headset.
Pablo Coberly, innovation engineer at Tesco Labs, said the Google Glass app is meant to help "customers to shop whenever and however they want."
Read the full article here.


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A Salem, Oregon man found 98 job applications in a dumpster behind a local Little Caesars store, according to KOIN.com.
His wife, who has been a victim of identity theft, contacted the local media concerned that the applications included personal information like social security numbers and dates of birth, otherwise may have fallen into the wrong hands.
According to KOIN, Little Caesars Pizza’s corporate headquarters issued a statement that an investigation into the matter is underway and that standard practice is to shred such documents.
This news piece serves as a reminder to operators that your employees’ or potential employees’ information is your responsibility to keep safe. Confidentiality is more than good business, it’s also the law in many cases.
Information that should be kept secure includes, but is not limited to: social security numbers; drivers’ license numbers; background search results; salary information; performance evaluations; and disciplinary and legal issues (garnishment actions, workers’ comp matters, employment discrimination) private, which is covered under several laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), etc.
April 10, 2017 | Pizza Headlines
Firenza Pizza & Persona Wood Fired Pizzeria – two restaurants known for their high quality and exceptional pizza product – are joining forces to become one! It’s the best of both worlds as the two merge together under the Firenza Pizza name in Spring of 2017. Sarasota, Florida, April 4, 2017 (Newswire.com) – At Firenza,… Read More ›
April 7, 2017 | Videos
April 1, 2017 | Pizza Headlines
I’ve got some exciting news to share with you regarding our Wednesday keynote address at Pizza & Pasta Northeast, which will be held October 17–18, 2017 at the Atlantic City Convention Center. Many have heard the call, but only two pizza makers have been chosen¬—at least by a national television network—to travel the country in… Read More ›


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Published: JULY 25, 2019
The money came from Illuminate Ventures, with participation by Benhamou Global Ventures and Correlation Ventures. Illuminate founder Cindy Padnos will join the Pyze board.
“We have onboarded thousands of web and mobile applications and are seeing strong demand for our services,” said Pyze CEO Prabhjot Singh in a statement. “This funding will help us further accelerate onboarding more platforms, providing analytics and engagement capabilities to them and to their customers. We’re excited to partner with such strong investors who have deep domain expertise to help fuel our growth.”
The company is initially focused on low-code or no-code web and mobile app platforms, commerce marketplaces, media platforms, and multi-brand enterprises.
“The ability to offer sophisticated analytics and automated marketing capabilities to our customers is a huge win for MobileSoft,” said Jason Soto, general manager of MobileSoft, in a statement. “Our clients love using the platform, specifically the integrated usage analytics and automated campaign execution, giving us the ability to offer our customers the growth marketing tools they need to compete effectively.”
Padnos stressed the company’s innovative path to market in a statement.
“We’re delighted to have the opportunity to work with the Pyze team to support their vision to embed best in class analytics and marketing automation into virtually any Platform,” she said. “As business services span multiple devices and as marketing campaigns become channel agnostic, the capabilities offered by Pyze will become an imperative for leading digital platforms and enterprises.”


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Mexico, the Latin American country wants to expand trade relations with Bangladesh, as they are seeing great potential in the Automobile, Pharmaceutical, Chemical, and FinTech sectors.
Federico Salas Lotfe, Ambassador of the Embassy of Mexico in New Delhi, India made a courtesy meeting with Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu, Senior Vice President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) on 30 January.
During the meeting, the Mexican Ambassador said, “Economic relations between Bangladesh and Mexico are still small. By exploring and diversifying trade both sides would be benefited. The Automobile, Pharmaceutical, Chemical, and FinTech sectors have huge potential.”
And Federico Salas Lotfe said, “Mexico is one of the major suppliers of the global automobile market. We are interested in exchanging Mexico’s experience and transfer technology to build the capacity of Bangladesh in automobile manufacturing. I think it would be a good initiative. Bangladeshi entrepreneurs also establish businesses in Mexico.”
The Senior Vice President of FBCCI, Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu, briefed the team from Mexico on the Bangladesh Business Summit that would be held in March of this year to commemorate FBCCI’s 50th founding anniversary. He said that the FBCCI anticipates active involvement from the Mexican side.
He said, “Several plenary sessions will be held during the three-day Business Summit. While trade and investment potentialities in Bangladesh will be discussed. CEOs from international companies, business leaders, analysts, and top officials of different countries and organizations are going to present the mega event.”
Besides he requested to active participation of Mexican officials and the business community in the event.
Mostofa Azad Chowdhury also said that FBCCI will provide all kinds of support to Mexican businessmen in expanding trade and investment in Bangladesh.
FBCCI Director Syed Sadat Almas Kabir, S. M. Shafiuzzaman, Abu Hossain Bhuiyan Ranu, Secretary General Mohammad Mahfuzul Hoque, and other members of the delegation were also present at the meeting.
At the FBCCI office in the afternoon, a special delegation of senior executives from the Mitsubishi UFG Financial Group, or MUFG Bank, a well-known Japanese bank and one of the biggest banks in the world, paid a courtesy visit.
Gaurav Bhagat, the bank’s managing director and head of FI (South Asia), served as the delegation’s leader. In the upcoming days, the bank’s officials have indicated a desire to operate more in Bangladesh.
Besides highlighting the potential sectors of Bangladesh, the FBCCI leaders highlighted the importance of foreign investment for the country, and urged the MUFG bank authority to open a branch in Dhaka.
FBCCI Senior Vice President Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu; Vice President Md. Amin Helaly, FBCCI Director Syed Moazzem Hossain; Shomi Kaiser, Dr. Nadia Binte Amin, Syed Sadat Almas Kabir; Abul Kasem Khan, Abu Hossain Bhuiya Ranu, BARVIDA Secretary General Mohammed Shahidul Islam were also present at the meeting.


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Indie survival co-op horror game launches today on Steam. DEVOUR is a four-player co-op survival horror game. and it has begun its reign of terror
Martha Is Dead coming to Playstation 5 in 2021
Dark Psychological Thriller Martha Is Dead publisher, Wired Productions and leading Italian studio, LKA, announced the forthcoming first-person psychological thriller Martha Is Dead will launch
H.P. Lovecraft inspired First-person horror game Underworld Dreams to be published by Skystone Games
After debuting its trailer at the Indie Live Expo II today, Skystone games announced that it will be publishing Underworld Dreams from Drop of Pixel.
Fearmonium, Coming to Steam in March.
Fearmonium is a psychedelic metroidvania where suspense intertwines with humor. Fearmonium is being developed by one person – Slava Gris with music from Expecte Amour.
Horror Game, Today is My Birthday set to release Oct 30th.
The upcoming horror game Today Is My Birthday, published by Crytivo and developed by Wonder Games will be available on Steam at 10am PDT, October


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Male investor bias is significant, a new study says, and it may be the reason why fewer than 10% of all venture-backed companies are led by women.
But the report also says that women can narrow the gap via a technical background and personal references.
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text: By The Associated PressMONDAY, Jan. 13 WASHINGTON a¿¿ Treasury releases federal budget for December, 2 p.m. Eastern. PARIS a¿¿ French utility EDF reports its full-year earnings. TUESDAY, Jan. 14 WASHINGTON a¿¿ Commerce Department releases retail sales data for December, 8:30 a.m.; Commerce Department releases business inventories for November, 10 a.m. MUMBAI, India a¿¿ India's closely watched inflation statistics are released. WEDNESDAY, Jan. 15 WASHINGTON a¿¿ Labor Department releases the Producer Price Index for December, 8:30 a.m.; Federal Reserve releases Beige Book, 2 p.m. MUMBAI, India a¿¿ A new airport terminal serving India's overcrowded financial center is due to open after a series of delays that mirror the country's problems in modernize crumbling infrastructure that is holding back economic growth. BERLIN a¿¿ Germany's Federal Statistical Office releases economic growth figure for 2013. THURSDAY, Jan. 16 WASHINGTON a¿¿ Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims, 8:30 a.m.; Labor Department releases Consumer Price Index for December, 8:30 a.m.; Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, releases weekly mortgage rates, 10 a.m.; National Association of Home Builders releases housing market index for January, 10 a.m. PARIS a¿¿ French big box retailer Carrefour reports its annual sales figures. Upcoming: NEWSNOW before markets open. FRIDAY, Jan. 17 WASHINGTON a¿¿ Commerce Department releases housing starts for December, 8:30 a.m.; Federal Reserve releases industrial production for December, 9:15 a.m.; Labor Department releases job openings and labor turnover survey for November, 10 a.m.


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A day at the Quesnel Farmers’ Market is a shopping trip and a social call.
Even if the Saturday weather is less than ideal – but it so often is – the warm welcomes are worth a visit every week. Every vendor and each entertainer is another chance to enjoy the moment.
“We are here every week. It’s a great vibe; great people,” said Kristina Fay of KM Ranch, a local operation with about 160 head of cattle and some sheep as well. An array of protein products are available from them right out of the cooler.
Fay said she finds the Farmers’ Market sales are about on par with online sales orders, making it a key part of their company’s economy.
There are greens, cakes, and preserves all over the grounds at the wide park surrounded by the Kinchant-Carson-McLean intersections in the park by Helen Dixon Centre and McNaughton Centre. But food isn’t the only stuff you’ll find, there.
“I started the year with 110, got down to about 10 or so, so I had to start building like hell again,” said Norm Armstrong, a property developer for feathered residents. At retail prices ranging between $5 and $35, it’s no wonder his birdhouses go fast.
His overhead isn’t problematic, though. The size of his construction projects allow him to build with found items, wood scraps, bits of material from person-sized structure projects, and a lot of innovative imagination. Some are surprisingly complex designs, others are the traditional birdhouses we’re all used to seeing.
Some vendors even have both food items and handmade creations together. Tahirih Goffic runs Dragonfly Studios which has a combination of baked goods and fine art. She learned the dual-track artistic skills running her own studio in Bella Coola for 27 years, and for eight of them also operating the Dragonfly Cafe. Now she’s hanging up her shingle in Quesnel at the Farmers’ Market.
With her paintbrush, she specializes in animal imagery, but recently started branching out into other themes and mediums. “I started seeing pictures in my head, which had never really happened to me before, so I figured I had to get that out,” said Goffic. The results surround her well-stocked market space.
Travelling from not quite so far up the road were Kelly Davison and daughters Julia and Shae from their Harvest To Hearth agri-food spread.
“We’re a new family farm in Bouchie Lake,” said Kelly. “I’m a student in the Applied Regenerative Agriculture program, now called Applied Sustainable Ranching, through TRU (Thompson River University).”
Components of that program teach topics like cash flow and business preparation, so these concepts are now being put to practical use.
“This year we’ve focused more on the canning crops like tomatoes, dill, cucumbers, and we decided to plant 2,100 strawberry plants,” said Kelly.
There are also a lot of onions, sprouts, lettuce, mint, and much more in their combination greenhouse and garden on their 310-acre farm shared with some Coriente cattle.
Every few steps at the Quesnel Farmers’ Market makes your mouth water or your creative sparks ignite. You can get world class crackers from Chanelle Sankey at her Hixon Falls Company. You can stop by to talk about Farmers’ Market logistics with Paul Zeegers, the association president, who also has a display of bedding plants, tomato baskets, mixed greens and veggies. You could stroll past the musicians that always have a showcase there. It’s an easygoing community festival, each Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.


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(London, 21 April 2022) – disguise, the visual storytelling platform and market leader in extended reality (xR) solutions, is one of 232 UK organisations to be awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise Innovation this year.
Announced today, disguise has been recognised for its excellence in extended reality (xR) and virtual production innovation at a time when the media and entertainment industry has been severely hit by the pandemic. Its solution, named disguise xR, provided groundbreaking technology that allowed its user and partner community to continue delivering spectacular productions in a virtual setting.
First established in 1965, the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are the most prestigious business awards in the UK. The awards celebrate the success of exciting and innovative businesses which are leading the way with pioneering products or services.
The award comes two years after disguise xR’s first major application by disguise partner and xR pioneers XR Studios, for Katy Perry’s memorable performance at the American Idol 2020 Finale. Since then, the demand and potential of xR has skyrocketed, in response disguise have accelerated their business towards new markets such as virtual production, broadcast and immersive entertainment, whilst unlocking new applications in existing markets like live performance, corporate presentations and brand activations.
During this time, extended reality has become a global phenomenon and disguise have powered over 450 productions around the world. The company gained a majority financial backing from The Carlyle Group and increased their partnership with Epic Games, a minority stakeholder in the company by securing one of their MegaGrants. Meanwhile, more than 300 stages powered by disguise xR have been built across 35 countries to meet the growing global demand for this groundbreaking technology.
Recently, disguise is driving the industry across the APAC region opening new offices in Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, Singapore and Auckland, New Zealand to meet rising regional demand. The opportunity that xR and disguise technology brings has led to a 75% increase in headcount across the business globally from 2018 to the end of 2020.
disguise is committed to continuously invest in R&D with a successful track record of hardware and software releases to support the industry push boundaries with every new production. The comapny recently acquired cloud-based solution platforms Mapping Matter, Previz and Polygon Labs to extend its capabilities towards remote collaboration. It has also recently offered access to its software interface in six new languages to empower its global user base to deliver ambitious productions removing any friction or language barrier.
“From a small experiment less than five years ago to the most prestigious business award in the UK today… This is truly a dream come true! disguise xR is the result of industry-wide collaboration as our team worked closely with our user community over the years to build out the most advanced and integrated extended reality solution on the market. I am incredibly proud of our team, their passion and dedication to continue pushing the boundaries of what disguise can achieve,” says disguise CEO Fernando Kufer.
Speak to the disguise team to discover the opportunities of xR.


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One former executive for a plant-based Meat alternative company was taken into custody in the state of Arkansas this past Saturday for allegedly threatening another man and then proceeding to bite him on the nose.
53-year-old Doug Ramsey, who was promoted to the role of COO of Beyond Meat back in 2021, was officially charged with the issuing of terroristic threats and a charge of third-degree battery, according to a recent release reported on by local news outlet KNWA. The entire fight, which reportedly took place in a parking garage, sparked off in the wake of a Subaru allegedly making contact with the front tire of Ramsey’s vehicle.
Ramsey leaped out of his car and threw a punch at the back windshield, as stated by the report. When the driver of the Subaru vacated their vehicle as well, Ramsey “pulled him in close and started punching.” During the scuffle, he bit the man on the nose, “ripping the flesh on the tip,” and allegedly threatening the man’s life, as stated by a witness.
As a long-term executive for the food company, Ramsey was appointed to the role of COO of Beyond Meat just under a year ago. The company takes strides to promote the eating of plant-based meat as a means to positively affect the environment and the planet as a whole. The products that it puts out are quite popular with the vegan community, and the promotion of Ramsey to COO this past December 2021 was reported on by a large vegan media brand, VegNews, and heavily lauded as an extremely positive step toward adding more “vigor” to the expanding meat-alternative movement.
“Beyond Meat is the gold standard in the plant-based meat industry and I am proud to join in its mission to produce delicious products that are healthier for our customers and more sustainable for our planet,” stated Ramsey at that time. “I’m thrilled to be a part of a company that is constantly innovating and delivering high-quality products to some of the world’s most prominent foodservice and retail customers.”
Ramsey previously worked with another food company, Tyson Foods, where he had been president of the global McDonald’s business, as reported by a biography readily available on the website for Tyson. One spokesperson for Tyson explained to KNWA that Ramsey departed from the company quite a few months ago.
As of writing, the first court date appearance is slated to take place in mid-October.


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The Talent Boom opens up statesideJuly 12, 2017
Global recruitment search firm goes stateside
The Talent Boom, a global recruitment search firm for elite creative, digital, tech and marketing talent will be opening their first US office in Fall 2017.
Head quartered in South Africa, with offices in Amsterdam, The Talent Boom was founded by British global talent matchmaker Emily Keyes, originally from the UK.
In a nutshell, The Talent Boom headhunts and represents game-changing, best in class, senior to executive level talent across the creative, digital, sports and marketing industries. They partner with advertising agencies, global development houses, start-ups and corporates across the globe.
The firm’s global clients include large ad agencies such as JWT, Ogilvy and McCann to international independent agencies such as Oliver and Joe Public, to brands such as Burger King and Adidas.
“We are super excited to open up shop in Miami and we’re looking forward to collaborating with the creative industry more closely across the pond,” says Emily Keyes, CEO. “The Talent Boom is very much based on global creative foundations and due to the nature of our services as international headhunters, its important for us to continue to have our Boomers on the ground across the globe. We recently opened up an office in Amsterdam and looking forward to continuing our global footprint by entering the US market.”
If you’re interested in having a conversation with Emily and the team about a new career, or if you are hiring and need fresh talent, please contact email@example.com or check out the website at thetalentboom.com or tweet @thetalentboom.


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Search Results for:Liana B Baker
The board expects to make a decision on whether to launch a formal review of Musk’s proposal in the coming days and is speaking to investment bankers about hiring financial advisers to assist it in its review in such scenario.
Meisheng Cultural’s unsuccessful acquisition attempt illustrates how some Chinese companies see opportunities in marrying their low-cost manufacturing base with U.S. retailers
The deal is the biggest acquisition for Cisco since its $3.7-billion purchase of AppDynamics last year.
Elliott’s call adds to challenges for Hyundai, which is struggling from slowing sales in China and the United States, due to its delayed response to the sport utility vehicle segment, and Seoul’s diplomatic row with Beijing last year.
The strong pricing bodes well for other highly anticipated IPOs from tech unicorns, or startups valued at more than $1 billion.
Dell is under pressure to boost its profitability after the EMC deal failed to deliver the cost savings and performance it projected.
An IPO of Wanda’s sports assets would include Infront Sports & Media AG, a Swiss sports marketing company and World Triathlon.
The company said in June it had more than 140 million active users while listing more than 30 million songs.
The deal would be the latest example of Asia-based investors stepping up their hunt for educational assets overseas
The merger has been held up by a US inter-agency panel that vets such takeovers for national security.


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Generative AI Era is Here: How Publishers Can Fight Back & Adapt
The era of generative AI technologies has begun, and it’s time that editorial content creators adapt to the new realities.
Publishers’ Checklist: How to Sustain Ad Revenue Growth in 2023
Even though analysts forecast an uneasy year for publishers of editorial inventory in terms of ad revenue acquisition, things are never as bad as they seem. Here’s how to make…
[INFOGRAPHIC] 2023 Online Video Advertising Trends
2023 is getting closer, and it’s time to take a closer look at the major online video advertising trends that will be shaping the industry next year.


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February 2, 2023
By Ray Ampoloquio
Rockstar Games has officially released update 1.66 for Grand Theft Auto Online.
The GTA Online update comes after reports that the game is suffering from an exploit that prevents players from enjoying the game.
The latest "security-focused" title update for GTA Online aims to make GTA Online more secure but it remains to be seen if this is enough to bring players back.
However, players aren't quite convinced the security patch is enough to solve the issue.
For what it's worth, some GTA Online players are saying that they've encountered very few issues in the game so far.
Only time will tell if Rockstar is going to release some form of compensation for GTA Online, especially the ones who were affected by the bug.
For now, we hope the new GTA Online update holds for a long time.


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Ford TV Spots Drenched in Americana
Last year, amid Ford and Firestone's "exploding tires" debacle, America was introduced -- via television commercials -- to the then-CEO and president of Ford Motor Company. Jacques Nasser stood unassumingly in front of a bland backdrop, wearing an expensive Italian suit, and told the nation that Ford was doing everything in its power to get to the bottom of the problem, and would soon emerge stronger than ever. He was well-groomed, and a smooth talker. But was that an accent we heard?
At a time of hyper-patriotism, sagging profit margins, and talk of the "inevitable recession," the Powers That Be made an executive decision about the face of this thoroughly red, white and blue corporation: Out with the Australian, in with the Ancestor.
Enter William Clay Ford Jr.: vegetarian, Buddhist and self-proclaimed "'60s throwback radical," complete with Nehru jacket and beads, who came striding into the role of CEO in late October of last year. Bill, as he likes to be called, is a fourth-generation Ford. As he says in the company's new commercials, "Ford has been part of me since the minute I was born, and I wouldn't have it any other way."
The new Ford-on-Ford spots, which have been running throughout the primetime TV schedule since late February, feature Ford casually talking about the company, the products, and, most certainly, the legacy. At a press conference about the release of the new ads, Ford told reporters he was initially skeptical about the idea of appearing in them. "I can't stand up there with a cigar and say, 'If you can find a better car, buy it'," Ford said, referring to Lee Iacocca's '80s Chrysler ads. "But," he continued, "they said, 'What if you just talked? That I could handle.'"
And talk Ford does, about everything heart-warming and special about one of the largest and most influential corporations in American history. The four spots, entitled "Legacy," "Family," "SUV" and "Truck," muck around in the rhetoric of sentimentality and play with notions of the automobile as a symbol of American freedom.
In "SUV," Ford reveals that a group of American icons gave birth to the now-ubiquitous vehicle. "My two great-grandfathers, Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone, used to take these camping trips every year with Thomas Edison and whoever the president at the time was," Ford explains over grainy black and white film of a Model T sliding down a hill. "They called themselves 'the Vagabonds.' They sort of invented SUVs."
In "Family," the image of corporation as living being is displayed at full tilt. "I think the thing that is special about Ford is, we're not just another nameless, faceless company," Ford explains. "We're a company that has a soul." The Ford employees who will be affected by the company's January announcement that it will close five plants and cut 21,500 jobs in North America might disagree.
And then there's the issue of environmental stewardship. Before his role as CEO, president and sentimental bolsterer, Bill Ford had made strides from within to bring Ford to a higher level of corporate responsibility. Those ideals are undetectable in the new commercials. In a subtle move to counter any arguments against the regulation of fuel emissions, Ford says in one ad, "Our SUVs provide a great deal of freedom. You can't accept limitations." You hear that, America? To be free, we can't place restrictions or limitations on anything we do. Especially on our cars and trucks, or what comes out of them.
Since the initial popularity of the first four commercials, the company has released two more "Ford on Ford" spots. The new ads, entitled "Mustang" and "Motorsports," were released after the "exceptionally positive" response to the first four. According to Rich Stoddart, a marketing communications manager at Ford, "We are reaching people with a powerful message of what the Ford brand stands for and where it is going."
Where it is going? According to Bills speeches, the company is going towards higher fuel efficiency standards, a boost in hybrid vehicle production and eventually a move toward vehicles which rely on hydrogen fuel cells exclusively. "I believe fuel cells will finally end the 100-year reign of the internal combustion engine," said Ford in a speech to Greenpeace in October of 2000.
But in "Mustang," over shots of Steve McQueen speeding through the streets of San Francisco in the 1968 movie "Bullitt," Ford says, "A lot of people have accused me of having gasoline in my veins," due to his undying love for the classic car. "If I could have one car for the rest of my life it would be a red Mustang convertible with a throaty V-8," Ford continues. "To me, life doesnt get any better than that."
Only time will tell if these corporate cheerleading ads will be able to lift Ford above its checkered recent history of shoddy tires and the $5.45 billion loss the company announced last year. But the danger of these ads is in how readily many Americans -- not famed for their wary skepticism -- may believe them. We are naturally drawn toward down-home imagery and the feeling of being connected to something larger than ourselves. We have been told by TV, our president and now advertisements, that this interconnectedness is what makes us strong.
It's a simple formula: Wave an American flag in front of the camera, show blacks, whites, Latinos and Asians laughing and talking in front of your products, and have the great-great-grandson of a powerful American icon appear in your commercials.
But please, make him leave his Nehru jacket and beads at home.
Andrew Beck Grace writes for Flak Magazine. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org.