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The Second National Bitcoin Congress is going to be held on 24th June at the ING Headquarters. According to the organizers ING is a hosting partner of the event. The first congress in 2014 was quite a successful event that was focusing on the Bitcoin currency and payment system, the endless speculation and the basic question of what it should or can do.
However, this year’s National Bitcoin Congress will focus on the Chain Block, the underlying technology. Additionally, this year there will be a live stream available, made possible by KPMG. The organizers are claiming that the National Congress Bitcoin is created and tailored to the forefront of Dutch companies and (semi) governmental institutions in Bitcoin technology.
Nonetheless, the top speakers will share their knowledge and views on the latest developments and the impact that Bitcoin has on business and society, now and in the future. The organizers of the event claim that the conference brings together the traditional players with innovators, innovators and disruptors.
According to them the event is going to offer a constructive critical eye on Bitcoin, “crypto-currency” and the Block Chain as new technology with practical tools for both strategic and practical discussions on innovation of services and products in the financial and government sectors.
Vincent Evers and Rutger van Zuidam are the two persons who are taking care of the conference at the ING Headquarters. The official portal in Dutch language says that with the advent of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin anyone in the world trade with each other without involvement of traditional third parties such as banks, notaries, accountants and governments.
Praising the role of cryptocurrencies the official portal claims that trade is a fundamental pillar of the economy and society where traditional trusted parties play a crucial role. However, the technology behind Bitcoin that makes this possible, the blockchain ensures that the essential functions of the “trusted third party”, also called “trusted third party” are fully automated via the Internet.
Moreover, as Bitcoin technology is so freely available, accessible and programmable like the Internet itself it can be revolutionary solution. The organization cites the Bank of England’s view on Bitcoin technology that says that it is as relevant and revolutionary as the advent of the Internet.
Brunon Bartkiewicz, ING Bank’s Chief Innovation Officer says:
For ING, innovation is at the core of our DNA and embedded in our strategy. The exploration of the innovative potential of blockchain technology for our clients and our services comes natural for us. Block chain technology is an exciting part of the evolution in banking on the back of technological progress and possibly very suitableness for improvements in our client and service delivery across the bank.
To contact the reporter of this story: Deepak Tiwari at email@example.com
However, this year’s National Bitcoin Congress will focus on the Chain […]


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THE AD-INDUSTRY YEAR IN REVIEW – Q&A with Pilira Mwambala
Today, we sat down for a Q&A with our very own Ad Operations Director and industry expert, Pilira Mwambala, to reflect on 2017 and gain insights into what happened in the ad-industry over the past year.
He elaborates on all the major 2017 digital trends and happenings including VR, native advertising, brand safety, vertical video and more!
Q: Brand safety was in the spotlight earlier this year with the Procter and Gamble YouTube incident. How did you notice South Africa approach brand safety this past year? Was there any new emerging tech?
Pilira: Brand safety is key in this era of fake news and domain spoofing. Reckless campaign planning & strategising leads to media buying on platforms that aren’t brand safe. Publishers and content creators earn revenue from their valuable content but when that content is not appropriate and insensitive, they’re rewarded fraudulently. It’s important for brands to have the right tools in place to take charge of their brand placements for their intended audiences.
Additionally, some credit needs to be given to “switched on” online marketers who have been paying attention to viewability as well as transparent media buying on premium marketplaces and whitelisted ad exchanges. That said, brand safety wasn’t really enforced and didn’t seem to be a big deal until major brand advertisers caused a stinker about it earlier this year. From a local approach, IAB SA’s publisher council held a first-ever round table this year to address issues around brand safety and fake news concerns. This is refreshing because the IAB will act as a local regulator and educator in this space and we’ve seen players such as Integral Ad Science and Grapeshot advocate brand safety.
Q: Immersive tech like VR, AR, and AI are said be the future of advertising and media. Do you agree with this statement? And how did you see South Africa adopt immersive tech in 2017?
P: Immersive technology offers new perspectives to digital media buys. Businesses within the travel, property, automotive, retail and education sectors – as well as gaming, will see an uptake in VR and 360-degree video in 2018.
Mark1 has executed a first to market programmatic 360 degree / VR campaign and this will only grow in 2018. YouTube and Facebook already offer VR / 360-degree video but what was lacking was the scale of programmatic offering – which hopefully Mark1 will grow in the local ecosystem. However, South Africa will grow this trend only if the price of the hardware and price of data comes down. At the moment, decent VR headsets are still very expensive. Data which is conducive to these rich data environments is also expensive.
Q: The IAB came out earlier this year saying Vertical Video is on the up and up. What do you think was the motivation behind this statement?
P: Mobile is pretty much every person’s first device. People are estimated to check their devices 46 times a day. Research suggests that smartphone users hold their mobile devices vertically +- 90% of the time. Apps such as Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Snapchat, and Facebook realised this and pretty much enforced vertical video. Since people love holding their devices vertically, they have a love for publishers and advertisers who are vertically “content driven”. Users find vertical video ads to be more targeted to them and less intrusive, especially when the video length is quite short.
Q: The past year, native advertising has been a big talking point for marketers – especially due to the increasing adoption rate of ad blockers. What insights do you have regarding the opportunities, as well as challenges faced by marketers in 2017?
P: What makes Native ads work is the nature of the paid media ads blending in with the natural form & function of UX on the sites / apps they appear on. Since they look and feel like the natural content, it is a chance for advertisers to speak naturally to consumers. The challenge for marketers is to really be unique with creative. Since audience targeting is unique, it means spending budgets to produce a lot of content which is unique to several audience groups, as opposed to a standard creative generic for all publishers.
Additionally, prices of native ads make it a hard sell because scaling native ads is an issue. AI might solve this because it will inject a programmatic capability, allowing multiple buyers to compete for a native ad slot.
Another opportunity with AI lies in the ability to collect a user’s reading behaviour, then tailoring personalised ads, if say a user comes to the site/app daily or weekly.
Q: Which chatbot integration has been the biggest game changer this year?
P: The best chatbots I’ve seen are the customer service ones for websites. SME’s have been receptive to these chatbots because business owners can connect them to Facebook messenger, Skype and chat in Realtime to prospective clients beyond the “traditional” business times. WeChat is also a great example: Standard Bank has been using this effectively for +- 2 years now.
Q: Are there any other trends that stood out to you this year?
P: Influencer Marketing. A high demand for social media personalities (like the Kardashians) leads to an increased value in brand placements due to the number of followers these celebs have. Our industry is moving towards views, so advertisers have been cutting TV budgets (immeasurable) and plough these to influencer marketing where engagements are measured by likes, follows, etc – in real time.

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I-Phone Technology Getting Out of Hand
This is getting ridiculous. Is nothing safe from high tech snoops? Here's the latest thing to be concerned about. If you have an iPhone, that creepy guy standing near you holding a phone may be reading your text messages.
We already know snoops who know how can use an iPhone to detect keystrokes typed into a nearby keyboard. Now -- scientists have turned the tables on the iPhone itself, with a program that can identify text typed on a touchscreen from up to 200 feet away.
The program is called -- what else? -- i-Spy, and it allows users to read text messages and emails sent from an iPhone.
The new work uses nothing more than a typical smartphone camera to spy on phones up to 10 feet away. Using advanced cameras and lenses it is effective out to about 200 feet.
This new technique can be thwarted by using various kinds of privacy screens on mobile phones, but people who worry about their privacy are concerned just the same.
iPhone users need to realize how vulnerable their mobile devices are to this kind of snooping, by network hackers as well as people nearby using technology such as this.
Welcome to Brave New World. There's no such thing as privacy anymore.


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HONDA BEAT GM AT THEIR OWN GAME
When talking to those in the trades, chances are they are looking at the Big Three fullsize truck-makers for their next purchase and not the new Honda Ridgeline. However, Honda has taken advantage of an opportunity to make people think twice about their next truck purchase, and it’s all thanks to GM. In their latest of ever relenting shots at Ford and their use of aluminum, GM staged a commercial shoot where landscaping stones were dropped from a height of 1.25 m onto the unprotected beds of both a Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Silverado. First, we don’t know of any tradesmen who use an unprotected bed, but the ensuing damage showed several punctures and large dents to the F-150. The Silverado held up quite a bit better but still sustained a fair bit of damage.
The twist in this story is that Honda saw this and figured they would duplicate the test on their new Ridgeline, which features a composite rear bed. With a one-take scene, Honda replicated the test yielding only a few scratches in the composite and not real damage. We’re betting GM didn’t see this one coming and that they learned a valuable lesson in karma.


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Photo by Asia Morris.
Beachwood Brewing announced last week major plans to expand in an effort to meet, not surprisingly, a steadily increasing demand for its award-winning brews. While it sounds like the news of their intent to take over the recently closed Huntington Beach-based craft brewery, Beach City Brewery, was released prematurely, it goes without saying that a bit of excitement must have played a part in the leak.
Beachwood founder and co-owner Gabriel Gordon said in a statement that the deal to take over the space, that would seek to increase Beachwood Brewing’s production over the next five years to more than 8,000 barrels, has yet to be solidified.
“We are still in the process of securing the proper licenses that will allow us to take over the facility, so we’ve been a bit coy on the topic,” Gordon stated.
Currently, Beachwood Brewing produces its hankered-for hops solely at its Long Beach brewpub, aside from the sour beers of its Single Barrel Experiments and Propagation Series produced at Beachwood Blendery, also in downtown Long Beach. Once “the purchase of the assets and the transfer of licenses takes place,” the expansion would allow the company to consistently reach more customers, according to Gordon.
“This will allow us to introduce more consumers to a steady line of Beachwood Brewing products via retail outlets such as bottle shops and grocery stores as well as restaurants and bars throughout Southern California,” stated Gordon. “Our beers are increasingly growing in demand and this production facility allows us to expand at a rate we believe the market can sustain."
To learn more about Beachwood Brewing, click here.


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German StarOffice Does Boffo Business in GermanyBy Steven Vaughan-Nichols | Posted 2004-03-18 Email Print
WEBINAR: Event Date: Tues, December 5, 2017 at 1:00 p.m. ET/10:00 a.m. PT
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Thanks to German software distributor Markement, Sun has sold more than a million copies of StarOffice in Germany.The sales of Sun Microsystems Inc.'s StarOffice productivity suite are a shadow of Microsoft Office's. Still, prospects looked brighter Thursday as Sun announced that German OEM software distributor Markement GmbH has sold more than a million copies of StarOffice.
Markement, based in Stuttgart, Germany, sells StarOffice both as a standalone program and as part of its popular PCSuite office bundle. This German productivity package also includes CorelDraw Essentials, Norton Anti-Virus 2004 and Marco Polo TravelRouting Europe 2004, a European travel-planning program.
While StarOffice runs on many operating systems, Markement sells the Windows version.


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Using cryptocurrencies is passing fix, and Slovenian punters are improbable to return any banking problems. Slovenian bettors can too use popular online retribution methods, including commendation cards, e-wallets, and Trustly. These methods are alike free from conversion fees.
A Slovenian doer https://www.buzzsprout.com/1830385/9472017-najboljsi-nasveti-za-zmago-v-igralnici/ can caper at an online casino that accepts bitcoin. Guest support and bonus offers are substantial when choosing an online casino in Slovenia. Fortunately, Slovenians can chance safely at the solacement of their habitation with a all-encompassing alter of games, and payment methods are forever outgrowth. Many retailers likewise unsay Paysafecard cash vouchers as payment options.
Firearm it is illegal to joke 21 at land-based casinos in Slovenia, there are hatful of foreign-based online casinos that accept crypto payments. Slovenia has lately courting one of the near big cryptocurrency hubs in Europe, and the casino diligence is palmy there. Astir online casinos in Slovenia crack be huckster games, which programme the air of a real play habitation. Slovenians besides birth the survival of sporting with a homophile croupier, which is gaining popularity terminated the man. Slovenia’s gambling law is instead broad, and orthogonal online gambol sites are permitted to play in the state. This is because the unknown online casinos let licenses issued by foreign regulators. The proposed two g xx two Play Act willing not solicit gaming with hard-nosed currencies, so you can articulation these websites regardless of your vocalise situation in Slovenia. It’s luxuriate to denudation a Slovenian online casino by checking our tip of accepted websites.


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Nike Basketball has a surprise release taking place on Friday, July 18, 2014 with the launch of the Nike KD VI Elite “Supremacy” colorway. The release will take place at select Nike Basketball retailers, including Foot Locker and House of Hoops locations, but will not release online. For further release details on what stores will have these in-stock hit up Foot Locker’s launch locator to find-out how you will be able to scoop up the Nike KD VI Elite “Supremacy” release.
Nike KD VI Elite “Supremacy”
Photo Blue/Metallic Gold-Midnight Navy
July 18, 2014


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Factory orders up 2.8% in July
But investment gauge declines
Posted: September 1, 2012 at 3:17 a.m.
Orders to U.S. companies rose in July, reflecting a surge in demand for autos and commercial aircraft. But in a troubling sign of manufacturing weakness, a key orders category that tracks business investment plans fell by the largest amount in eight months.
This story is only available from our archives.
Business, Pages 33 on 09/01/2012


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ANSA Merchant Bank was the largest revenue earner for the Group, accounting for about sixty two percent of all revenue. Thirty eight percent came from the insurance segment and the general company contributed twenty per cent. TATIL Life Insurance came in with eighteen per cent.
Mr Larry Howai, Financial Services Advisor told shareholders that the bank’s profit before tax of TT$314 million for the period ended December 31, 2017, was close to being flat but still fared better than others in the industry. “It was three per cent down, which when you compare to what is happening in the rest of the industry is a reasonably good performance. The sector doubled shareholders’ equity over the last ten years from TT$1 billion to over TT$2 billion. Our earnings per share is TT$2.71”, he told shareholders.
Offering some insight at the Bank’s AGM was Managing Director, Mr Gregory Hill, who said that the bank had TT$60 billion in assets and over the last ten years had done TT$24 billion in financing in the local and regional markets. He described their 85,000 vehicle financing loans as significant.
Mr Hill went on to say that when there are difficult economic times, the Bank has been able to weather the storm. “Asset finance is the cornerstone of AMBL performance and being quite diversified, we have several other business lines with each of them pulling their weight at about seventeen per cent each.
When taking questions from shareholders, Mr A. Norman Sabga, Executive Chairman, responded that there were no immediate plans to get into the retail banking market. “Though it would certainly be an attractive area of growth and we have discussed on several occasions, retail banking licenses are not lying around idly”, Chairman stated.
Chairman concluded by saying, “We continue to grow and ANSA Merchant Bank is expanding its operations significantly. We are doing what few other successful businesses do during an economic challenge – we are investing in new products and our people – to grow our market share and capitalize on opportunities that arise”.
Corporate Communcications Department
ANSA McAL Group of Companies
Tuesday 03rd July, 2018


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Africa faces many challenges: Economists
The African continent faces many serious challenges in order to achieve successful regional integration and benefit from the advantages that result. This was the recommendation of a panel of expert economists speaking on Day 3 of the seventh African Economic Conference on Thursday in Kigali, Rwanda.
During a discussion organized in parallel with the panAfrican gathering, participants were of the opinion that African countries needed to adopt a series of strategies which would lead to the implementation of sustainable development and regional integration.
Simon Mevel, expert economist at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), said efforts at regional integration in Africa have been particularly hampered by the impact of transport costs on export options, which is not the same for every country. Mevel was speaking during a session on the theme of Strengthening regional integration in Africa. In his view, this phenomenon is especially apparent in cases where a significant proportion of domestic products are still subject to intensive levels of trade, to the detriment of imported products.


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Game developer Xaviant recently announced and surprised everyone that the sequel to their cult hit The Culling, The Culling II will be available within the next 24 hours.
The Culling II gets shocking announcement
Xaviant officially announced that the sequel to the 2016 battle royale title is finally coming within this day. It pitted a number of players against each other on a tropical island. They would have to scavenge supplies and craft weaponry just to survive.
The game will be released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Interested gamers can purchase the game for only $19.99 on all platforms. A new trailer was also revealed to celebrate the surprise release.


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WAYNE, W.Va. (WSAZ) – It may seem like bad karma to try to pull off a scam involving a haunted house, but it’s been well documented some thieves have no boundaries on who they target.
The men who run Twelvepole Manor in Wayne are thrilled to be back in operation this fall.
They had to shut down their haunted house abruptly last year several weeks prior to Halloween after fire marshals inspected and informed them several things weren’t up to code.
Necessary adjustments were made, and co-owner Travis Robinson says they’re welcoming in the largest crowds they’ve had.
“It feels wonderful to get back to doing what we love,” he said.
However, they’ve learned someone online is trying to cash in on their popularity.
“It’s very frustrating someone is trying to steal money from our customers,” Robinson said.
Robinson says customers who’ve participated in their authentic weekly free ticket giveaways on Facebook have reported a…


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MIAMI, OKLA. (June 13, 10:15 a.m. ET) — Plastic fuel can molder Blitz USA Inc. will shut operations after unsuccessfully trying to reorganize under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since Nov. 9, 2011, according to a newspaper report. The July 31 shutdown will affect 117 employees. Blitz has been facing a storm of lawsuits blaming its products for consumer injuries caused by fires. The firm spent some $30 million on product liability suits and owes $3.5 million in legal fees.
June 4, 2013 - June 5, 2013Workforce Solutions West 2013
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More than 20 Chinese and provincial media entered Dongling
On August 1, more than 20 Chinese and municipal media, including Global Network, China Economic Weekly, China Network, Xinhuanet, Phoenix Network, Securities Times, Shaanxi TV Station, Huashang Daily, Sanqin Metropolis Daily, Xi'an Evening News, Western Network, Baoji Daily, Baoji TV Station, Baoji Radio Station, Baoji News Network, etc., entered Dongling to investigate the resumption of work and production and business development of enterprises.
At the symposium, Li Lei, Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice President of Dongling Group, introduced the development of Dongling Group. He said that in the face of the dual pressure of epidemic prevention and control and economic downturn, Dongling Group overcame difficulties, gave full play to the advantages of the industrial chain, aggregated superior resources, insisted on resuming work and production, actively promoted technological and industrial upgrading, comprehensively improved production efficiency, and worked hard to reduce operating costs. In the future, Dongling will focus on the main business of bulk commodities, and is committed to building a bulk commodity supply chain service provider based on ferrous and non-ferrous metals, based on the whole country, looking at the world, and constantly strengthening scientific and technological innovation, so as to build Dongling into a century-old enterprise with global competitiveness.
Subsequently, Li Lei, Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice President of Dongling Group, Chang Xiaohui, Vice President and General Manager of the Domestic Trade Corporation, and Li Haikuo, Minister of the Party and Mass Group, respectively, were interviewed by various media around the core competitiveness of the enterprise, business model innovation, and the implementation of the "six stability and six guarantees.
Referring to the development advantages of the domestic trade corporation, Chang Xiaohui said that the domestic trade corporation has been deeply engaged in black industries such as steel, coal and coke for many years, and has accumulated rich practical experience in the market. it has formed unique industry advantages in channels, brands, teams, systems, and so on, and is also the most valuable wealth of the domestic trade corporation. At the same time, through the implementation of the "network weaving plan", more than 40 branches have been set up in 16 provinces across the country, and good strategic cooperative relations have been established with more than 40 steel mills, dozens of coal mines and coking plants in the upstream, ranking first in the "building materials list of China's top 100 steel trade enterprises" for many years in a row.
Accompanied by Zhao Yi, Director of Dongling Group's Office, Li Haikuo, Minister of Party and Mass, and Si Yang, Minister of Propaganda, the delegation visited the Financial Square, Dongling Village Committee, Dongling International City, New Era Community, etc., and felt the development and changes of Dongling Village.
The delegation went deep into Dongling Smelting Company to visit the construction of the "garden-style" factory area and observed the product production line and processing technology on the spot. Zhao Xiaoqiang, Secretary of the Party Committee and General Manager of Dongling Smelting Company, said in an interview with the media that during the new crown epidemic, the Group concentrated all advantageous resources, from the supply of raw materials, production security, product sales and other face-to-face support, smelting companies up and down, to meet the difficulties, to ensure production, production capacity, employment, full resumption of work and production, the company's operations are stable and orderly.


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According to a statement released by the embassy, the diplomat also mentioned obstacles related to taxation, “stable policies” and the principle of equal treatment for foreign products and services.
The diplomat was speaking during a meeting with the new Secretary of State for Internationalization, Bernardo Ivo Cruz, who promised to “carefully study the issues raised”. Bernardo Cruz asked for “more support” from China for Portuguese companies interested in exploring the Chinese market and “better conditions” for their growth.
The Secretary of State also defended changes to make the China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Cooperation and Development Fund “more effective”. At issue is a cooperation fund worth nearly one billion euros created by the China Development Bank and the Macau Industrial and Commercial Development Fund.
According to the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Forum de Macau), the fund, which has been in existence for almost ten years, supported a total investment of more than four billion dollars (3.7 billion euros) from Chinese companies in Portuguese-speaking countries.
Despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, bilateral trade between the two countries grew by more than two billion dollars (1.86 billion euros) compared to 2019, said Zhao Bentang. The accumulated Chinese investment in Portugal reached 10.6 billion euros, while Portuguese investment in China exceeded 40 million euros, added the ambassador.
The diplomat called for the signing of bilateral agreements to facilitate investment in areas such as the digital economy and 'green' development, as well as joint investment in other countries.


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Tourism Industry News
US hotels tighten belt, lay-off, make tough decisions just to stay afloat
Pricewaterhouse Coopers’ 12th Annual Global CEO Survey reveals almost all US company chief executive officers have a bleak outlook for the year. According to the study, almost all CEOs have reduced growth expectations as a direct consequence of the economic crisis, with 90 percent of them saying the crisis has increased their costs and delayed growth and investment plans.
Hotel executives have already reduced budgets and cut-down staff; other innovations beyond these will have to be extra-creative or will hurt operations eventually. In one CEO survey, the answer goes back to the basics – honing talent, agility, reputation and customer service.
“We’re using this downturn as an opportunity to accelerate transformation of our company,” said Frits Paasschen, president and CEO, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide at the 31st Annual New York University International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference held in Manhattan last week. “We get out to the properties and appreciate the energy and sprit-de-corps our people have on-property. To get out there and look people in the eye is very important. We are counter-cyclical. When things are darkest out there, we look up. Markets will come back,” said Paasschen announcing the arrival of their 1000th hotel despite difficult times.
Get the full story at: eTurboNews
See Also Other News


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This estate features a swimming pool, guest house, moat and drawbridge — and the Southwestern construction looks right at home in the Texas landscape. It will sell at auction tomorrow with Decaro Luxury Auctions.
The founder of the shoe company/clothing line is selling his Park City compound, which includes a private terrain park right outside the lodge for practice all winter long. It will auction Saturday, December 5, courtesy of DeCaro Luxury Auctions.
This gorgeous ski-in eight-bedroom home features abundant fireplaces, a movie room, an outdoor hot-tub and more. Previously listed for $10.9 million, it will be auctioned off courtesy of DeCaro Luxury Auctions on Saturday, Dec. 5.


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Before ClassPass settled on the business model it employs today, the service went through many different phases.
Founder Payal Kadakia revealed to Cheddar how she had to change up her strategy a handful of times before finally finding success.
“The third iteration was the subscription, and that’s really when it took off...and became ClassPass,” Kadakia told Cheddar.
The self-proclaimed “mission-obsessed” founder reflected on how the service started as a search engine for fitness classes, but one that didn’t offer a value proposition for users. From there, she tested out a discovery model where users could try different classes around New York City. But she says learned a lot from each of these versions.
“Always question what you’re doing and keep iterating and pivoting until you get to that North Star,” Kadakia said.
ClassPass launched in 2011. The service includes access to around 8,500 studios and is available to consumers in 49 cities.
For full interview, click here.


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IAM retail workshop
Innovative Strategies for Success in Retail.February 29, 2012 | comments ( 0 ) |
The Institute of Apparel Management (IAM), an institute of apparel management promoted by Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) and sponsored by the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, recently organised a workshop titled “Innovative Strategies for Success in Retail”.
The workshop saw the launch of two new Professional Upgradation Programmes by IAM on setting up the fashion business and on strategic fashion and luxury retailing. Both these courses have been introduced for shaping industry professionals who are working in multi-brand luxury retail and aspire to achieve significant positions in the sector.
Various important issues were addressed by prominent panelists pertaining to fashion retail, like fashion and innovation for exports and retail, challenges and opportunities in the Indian retail industry and what can be done to improve the conditions. With a booming retail market and FDI on cards, it has become imperative for existing retailers, retail companies and professionals to review their business strategies to grow and survive in the future landscape. Also, with the wide array of brands penetrating the Indian retail sector and the smart consumers existing on the block, the workshop proved fruitful for professionals within this business.
- From MakeMyTrip to Cleartrip, e-travel firms to top $10 bn in bookings
- Myntra launches Italian handbag brand Carpisa exclusively on its platform
- Paytm partners insurance provider LIC
- Microsoft starts retailing of Amazon Echo devices online and in stores
- ShopClues launches its first offline store in Lucknow
- Crocs opens its 100th store in India
- Williams-Sonoma, Inc. announces partnership with Reliance Brands for India Market
- Instant noodle brand YiPPee crosses Rs 1,000 crore sales mark
- Myntra CEO & CFO quit
- Levi Strauss plans to launch IPO


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Smithfield’s COO Larry Pope has said that the company’s growth strategy hinges on increasing sales of value added products and expanding into new markets – primarily Europe.
The comments were made whilst addressing the Prudential Securities Back to School Conference on Wednesday (6 September).
In order to grow profits, Pope said that the company intended to expand value-added sales where profit margins are higher. “Here’s how we see our Processed Meats business growing over the next several years: relatively stable minor growth in the traditional products and the value-added and convenience products growing dramatically,” he commented.
The company has invested substantially in developing its value-added business of late and Pope signalled Smithfield’s intention to continue moving in that direction. A strategy that would pay significant dividends, he assured investors.
“From a company standpoint, what we are doing is moving the product from … that one to two cent category [fresh] to this eight and ten cent category [value added/cooked], which gives us a profit margin five, six times the margins that we can get from the fresh category. Those are the products that are growing today. Those are the products we are spending US$354m [on developing].”
Rapid growth in these areas is being achieved through bolt-on acquisitions, Pope continued. Taking the pre-cooked bacon category as an example, the meat company’s COO documented Smithfield’s intensive expansion: “I’ll have in less than 12-months a 50% increase in capacity in that one category of pre-cooked bacon and I am starving for capacity as we speak.”
Smithfield’s international operations, Pope continued, are laying the foundations for the company’s future growth. “What we are doing internationally on an operational standpoint is building this company for the future,” he said.
Smithfield has identified Eastern Europe, with its upwardly mobile economies and access to the EU, as an attractive emerging market. Smithfield has invested in buying branded operations in Western Europe, namely the UK and France, and manufacturing facilities in Eastern Europe in order to use low-cost production in the east to meet the demand for high-margin branded meat products in the west.
“You get access to Western European markets by simply producing the product in Eastern Europe, putting it on a truck and driving it over there. So you buy the branded programme -which we’ve got French operations, we’ve got UK operations – you buy the branded programmes in Western Europe and you produce the product in Eastern Europe and you take advantage of the pure economics there,” Pope said.
Warning that this strategy looked to the long-term and would not produce an immediate profit lift, Pope said that the group had identified Romania as a good production base. “Romania is a place that we are extremely excited about,” he commented.
As the economies in Eastern Europe expand, Smithfield anticipates these markets becoming increasingly attractive – meaning that the company’s presence there will put Smithfield ahead of the game. “We have the ability to develop attractive markets. … We have a unique position,” he said.


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Consumers and businesses alike are feeling the pinch on their budgets as grocery prices have increased over the past few months amid disruptions to the global supply chain.
“Flour, cooking oil and a few other necessities in our daily lives used to be so affordable,” said public sector worker Rozy.
“But now, it is so alarming to see our money go so fast after grocery shopping, and the next payday is still two weeks away.”
She goes through the time-consuming task of carefully comparing prices of sundry items with other shops to find the cheapest option.
“It is the only way to save money, or you won’t have enough to buy petrol for your car,” she told the Sunday Bulletin.
Meanwhile, housewife Len expressed her frustration suddenly having to go overbudget. “Don’t get me started on my monthly groceries,” she said.
While saying she understood that there is a global rise in food and commodity prices, she felt locally available or locally produced items should not be experiencing the same hike. “It is not acceptable,” said Len.
Government retiree Awang Manan said the hike in prices was not just on food but the majority of products imported by local businesses as well.
“As consumers, we need to spend wisely and budget monthly for groceries. Just get what the family needs and do not waste,” he said.
He said government agencies also play a role, such as the Department of Economic Planning and Statistics, which can monitor prices to ensure that retailers and suppliers are not price gouging.
“The country should tackle the over-dependency on other countries’ good while at the same time resolve or make ways to assist those with low income, particularly big families,” he added.
On the other side of the till, businessman Ikhram said despite cost increases, they are able to maintain their current pricing by cutting down on expenses.
“However, it wouldn’t be possible for all businesses to do so. Every company would have its different needs, and most require supplies or materials from abroad,” he said.
For food and catering business owner Hartiney, who has been in the industry for over 10 years, she has increased the prices on her menu “to survive”.
She said she tries to keep the increase in price minimal, to cover the rising cost of ingredients and was grateful that most of her customers are understanding.
“While we think of our customers, we also need to maintain our food quality and not dissapoint our customers, hence the slight increase in our prices is our only option. Alhamdulillah most of our customers are understanding.”
She believes suppliers or other businesses also have their reasons for increasing prices and hopes customers would be able to adapt.
“Its hard for most but it is not only Brunei facing this reality, but other countries as well,” she said.


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We’ve heard some faint rumblings about the LG Ally, but until now, fairly little has materialized on LG’s first foray into the world of Android. Well, our friends over at Android Police have gone beyond the specs we’ve been seeing floating around and have unearthed a commercial for Verizon’s next Android headliner that may inspire a few chuckles or even a ‘LOL’ or two.
In a departure from the epic ‘DROID Does’ campaign that featured anything from poignant jabs at the iPhone to Motorola DROIDs dropping from stealth bombers, Big Red’s marketing team elected to take a refreshingly comical approach. The ad ties in with the upcoming release of superhero flick Iron Man 2, and shows an Ally-toting group using the smartphone to get themselves out of a sticky situation.
Commercials aside, we’ve gone ahead and compiled the key specs we’ve come across. A few of these line items are far from confirmed, mind you, but the inclusion of Android 2.1 and that 1GHz processor are pretty safe bets. And yes, the Ally will sport a 4-row QWERTY keyboard. That we know.
• 3.5-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 800×480
• 65,000 color display
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
• Android 2.1
• 1 GHz Snapdragon processor
• Sliding 4-row QWERTY keyboard
• 5-megapixel camera w/ flash
• 720p HD DivX compatible playback
• Pre-installed 4GB MicroSD
• 3.5 mm headset jack
• Visual VM


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The cryptocurrency XRPayNet says it wants to compete with companies like Klarna and AfterPay and offer customers what it calls one of the first buy now, pay later (BNPL) options in the crypto industry.
The company announced the XRPayNet app in a news release Monday (Jan. 10), saying it would provide an interface for micropayments processed by the XRP ledger, ensuring low transaction costs and ultra-fast speeds.
“We aim to capture and overcome the current needs of real-life and on-demand crypto payment systems that are increasingly demanded by people and businesses across the globe,” the company said in the release.
XRPayNet says the app includes a payment interface for online and in-store retail transactions, business-to-consumer payments, built in solutions for direct payments and BNPL features.
However, the company says it has no interest in competing with companies like the blockchain solution provider Ripple.
“Our goal is to change the world of payments forever by focusing on transforming the world of online and in-store payments, enterprise-to-consumer payment markets (plumbers, electricians, etc.) and peer-to-peer transactions,” XRPayNet said. “Ripple and XRP are currently entering the market with a focus on the interbank and international payment markets. We aim for the market for everyday transactions and micropayments.”
Last year, Ripple unveiled plans for a platform that would let users buy, sell and hold digital assets. The Ripple Liquidity Hub will help enterprises access deep liquidity within markets and expedite the transition to cryptocurrency.
BNPL firm Affirm also announced it was entering the bitcoin space last year, with CEO Max Levchin saying his company was developing a feature that would let customers buy and sell cryptocurrencies from their savings accounts, although he did not specify a time frame for this.
“It’s time for Affirm to support cryptocurrencies in a way that feels organic to us,” Levchin said. “We will soon leverage our savings accounts to seamlessly enable crypto ownership.”


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LONDON: Exterion Media last week beat JC Decaux to win a £1.1bn contract to oversee advertising across the Transport for London (TfL) network and the company's UK managing director sees data and insights as key to its success.
In an interview with City A.M., Jason Cotterell explained that TfL's tender emphasised the London audience – its 400 stations support 30m journeys a day – and so Exterion is investing in a research tool and a workshop panel to build up accurate user data.
"Our close relationship with TfL will give us near-time, if not real-time insight into who is looking at the adverts on our assets, and we'll be able to plan and price our assets differently," he said.
While there always will be a place for traditional poster advertising, he added, a new range of large-format digital billboards will be distributed across TfL's network rather than being concentrated on just a few locations.
What will be key to their effectiveness is to understand the type of audience in those locations, Cotterell said, as he pointed to Exterion's audience behavioural insights tool, which aggregates data from the O2 telecoms network to help plan campaigns.
"We can change copy on billboards in real-time to alter the price of products featured in them," he said.
"We've got to make sure that our copy is engaging and encourages people to interact directly with our poster sites. This could be through internet beacons, URLs or radio-frequency identification. With more digital display, there'll be more dynamic copy."
It is a major opportunity – and challenge – for the company because TfL for the first time has combined advertising into a single contract across its network that includes not just London Underground, but also London Overground, Tramlink, Docklands Light Railway and the new Crossrail line once that is operational.
Shaun Gregory, chief executive of Exterion Media, agreed that the company's winning bid was grounded in being able to engage with consumers.
He told Campaign last week that TfL has huge quantities of valuable consumer data and that Exterion plans to use that information to "change the way the industry sells and is accountable to advertisers".
"It's catching up with other forms of media whether that's online or mobile. It's a coming of age for the medium," he said.
Data recently published by Outsmart, the UK out-of-home industry body, show that in the fourth quarter of 2015 digital panels accounted for £112m of advertising revenue.
Of this total, adspend on digital panels in transport environments amounted to approximately £35m, some 31% of the digital total.
Data sourced from City A.M, Campaign; additional content by Warc staff


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Watch the Super Bowl 2013 TV Commercials Here Before Game Day
No doubt you watch the Super Bowl NOT because you like football. You like the commercials. Admit it. This is where millions of dollars are spent on advertsing in a minute.
More than 100 million people are expected to watch the Super Bowl. Yes, it is because of the TV commercials.
$4 Million is estimated to be the price of a 30 second spot on the Super Bowl. And you thought your advertising budget was high.
"We don't confirm exact pricing, since all spots are sold with different considerations and often in different packages," explained CBS spokesman Dana McClintock to CNN Money. "But it's safe to say that spots are going for $4 million each, and in some cases more."
Instead of waiting for game day, watch the Super Bowl 2013 commercials NOW:
Makes you think a bit differently doesn't it?
If you can reach 100 million people for $4 Million, would you say that it is comparable to reaching 1,000 people for $40? ... or 5,000 people for $200?
How do you decide the value of a marketing investment over the course of a year?


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Sydney brand and digital agency Protein has been appointed to handle the retail and digital roll-out of recycling company Return-It, which has just been announced as the container collection network for the ACT.
Return-It awarded the work to the 17-year strong agency, following Protein’s tender support and brand development of the retail concept.
The public-facing recycling initiative aims to change the way people interact with container returns in a retail environment.
Return-It managing director David Singh said: “Our approach to maximising customer convenience includes delivering a range of collection point formats across the territory, designed to suit the needs of different members of the community.
“It was Protein’s previous work and their approach to re-imagining the way the public interact with traditional brands that caught our eye.
“We believe that the scheme requires a creative partner who will not only exceed expectation, but has the digital and technology acumen to help rollout this experience.”
Collection point formats will include depots where containers are counted on the spot so that customers can get an immediate cash refund, as well as express collection points where customers can drop off bags of containers and have the associated refund amounts automatically credited to their account within a few days.
Protein creative director Galvin Scott Davis said: “We are excited about collaborating on the great work that Return-It are doing by creating a customer and brand experience unlike anything else in its category.
“The opportunity for us to take a traditionally industrial thought-process and create a brand, digital and educational retail experience is a welcome challenge.”
The Australian Made logo has confirmed its international appeal, with new Horizon Consumer Science research finding 97 per cent of overseas consumers have a positive first impression of the iconic green and gold kangaroo. The research, which was carried out in six diverse export markets, found that more than two thirds (70 per cent) of […]
Dulux has appointed DDB Melbourne as its sole creative and strategy agency following a competitive pitch. As a result of the appointment, the agency will lead strategy and creative for Dulux’s Decorative paints and coatings portfolio of brands, including Dulux, British Paints, and Berger. Dulux GM of Marketing, Strategy & Growth, Richard Hansen said: “Previously […]
Candice Ayad has worked with strong, powerful women leaders. But they lacked two fundamental qualities in their leadership, which, she says, will be critical within businesses going forward. The Women in Media Awards, presented by Are Media, are just days away, with the best of Australian media set to be recognised and celebrated for their […]
B2B marketers could learn a thing or two from their B2C colleagues, argues WP Engine VP APAC sales Mark Randall in this guest post. It surprises me how many B2B organisations are not quite hitting the mark when it comes to reaching their audience. When talking directly to businesses, many brands are missing an opportunity […]


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How Holzweiler is preparing for the EU's Digital Product Passport legislation
There's one brand that is a step ahead of forthcoming Digital Product Passport (DPP) regulation from the European Commision. Holzweiler has partnered with EON to make its garments more traceable, transparent and, yes, compliant.Their first digitized products, which will launch in its spring/summer 2023 collection, will feature a unique QR code that connects them to a “digital twin” in the cloud. This Digital Identity (Digital ID) gives every item a “voice,” allowing companies to build ongoing relationships with their customers past the point of sale, identify—and confirm the authenticity—of products throughout their life cycle and successfully scale resale, repair and recycling ambitions. Just as social media platforms give people unique identities online, EON’s Digital ID does the same for products.
With regulatory scrutiny on the rise, Digital ID technology is in an inflection point in brand adoption. The DPP, itself a component of the European Union’s Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, is part of the bloc’s sweeping sustainability and circularity ambitions. By imbuing products with information on their origin, composition, repair, disassembly and recyclability, products become “interoperable”, enabling all stakeholders to access the data they need.
EON is an “expert shareholder” in CIRPASS, a European Commission-backed consortium of more than 30 industry partners that aims to help brands pilot and deploy DPPs with shared rules, principles, taxonomy and standards from 2023 on. The strategy is expected to be formally approved by the European Parliament in 2024, following which details such as data requirements, data carrier types, the granularity of information and audience information will be unveiled. If everything goes according to plan, DPPs will be mandatory on all textile and textile products sold in the EU by 2030.
LINE STAXRUD ERIKSEN
CSR Manager, Holzweiler


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ST. LOUIS (KMOV.com) – Customers of a St. Louis County auto repair shop are complaining about losing money and in one case a car after taking their vehicles there.
News 4 Investigative Reporter Lauren Trager spoke with two customers who said they took their cars to mechanic Kerry Lippold of “Extreme Automotive” in South County.
One man, retired G.M. worker Alex Young, paid more than $4,000 to have a motor rebuilt. After several months, the car was returned, only to break down 20 miles after leaving the shop.
Patricia Jones took her SUV to Lippold for repairs but never got it back. The shop shut down and her SUV was taken to a tow lot where she was told it would cost $1,000 to get it back.
Trager made several attempts to get answers and comments from Lippold, but as of this story there has been no comment.
The Better Business Bureau reports about 30 complaints against the company.
Copyright 2016 KMOV (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved


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How a Jacksonville third party logistics provider is going national
Local third party logistics provider Network FOB is expanding its operations centers outside of the First Coast, opening a facility in Denver after opening one in Savannah last year.
The company, which has offered full service logistics since 1987, acquired Precision Logistics to open the Denver office, which CEO Jim Handoush said will give the company a West Coast presence to help support the network of agents operating under the N+FOB name throughout the country.
N+FOB usually recruits logistics agents from other platforms or competitors to operate under the N+FOB umbrella. The new offices will be operations facilities to support its over 100 agent offices throughout the country.
CEO Jim Handoush said in the case of Precision Logistics in Denver — and other companies N+FOB is having conversations with — it is acquiring business where the owner is nearing retirement and has no exit strategy. Network FOB makes a deal with the owner to have them maintain its customer relationship and sales, while N+FOB manages the back office and operations.
"We're finding this deal is very attractive to people," Handoush said.
Handoush said the company is looking into other ways to expand its business, and will be announcing new locations soon. He said in the next five years, the company will be three to five times larger than it is now.
Its main offices have 35 employees plus it has over 100 independent agent offices across country, each with an average of about three to four employees.
Network FOB moved its headquarters from Naples to Jacksonville earlier this year, after it was acquired by holding company Rising Sun Systems in 2012. Jacksonville-based Rising Sun takes equity positions in companies, while planning to add value and then either sell to a third party or buy the company.
Jensen covers logistics, manufacturing and defense
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Gus Wojda chose to stay in the family pizza business because it meant he could be closer to family.
Wojda has been working at Pizza Sam’s
since 2008. He didn’t start out as owner – he worked his way up from doing prep work, maintenance, and into management. When his brothers-in-law chose different career paths instead of taking over the family business, Wojda began seriously considering a move from construction into the restaurant industry.
Angela & Gus Wojda of Pizza Sam's
“[With the restaurant], I got to know where I was going to be every day rather than traveling,” says Wojda. “I also like the stability of it, instead of being on the job one day and possibly being laid off the next.”
Wojda’s father-in-law, Nick Stamas, opened Pizza Sam’s in 1960. Before moving to their current location at the corner of Main Street and Ashman Street, they were located just a few blocks southeast on Main. They’ve been there for nearly 32 years, serving as a gathering place for the community.
“It’s good to see people’s faces when they walk in and be that community staple where people run into each other while they’re here,” says Wojda. “... A lot of people from Midland who move away and come back, the first stop they make is at Pizza Sam’s. It brings back great memories and puts a smile on your face knowing that’s what a customer wants to do when they come home.”
One major change to their space is the expansion of the dining area. Once a neighboring rental became available, they were able to increase seating to nearly 110, including a banquet room available for special event rentals.
“As we’ve been blessed with business, we’ve been able to expand and give more opportunities for people to come and dine with us,” says Wojda.
Over the years, Pizza Sam’s has expanded its dining capacity to seat up to 110 people.
Like many businesses, however, Pizza Sam’s has been challenged by the pandemic. In response, they expanded their delivery area and times. Now, delivery is available seven days a week from open until close. They still face supply chain issues and staffing shortages.
“Staffing is still an issue nationwide in about every industry, but we’ve got fantastic staff right now,” says Wojda. “Always looking for more of course as the busy seasons come up, but right now, everything’s floating along pretty well.”
As for the future of Pizza Sam’s family ownership? “It’s kind of undetermined at this time,” says Wojda, “I don’t think our daughter has any interest in it at this point, but things change. She just graduated from college in the spring.”
The secret sauce for a successful pizza restaurant
Have good food, of course.
Pizza Sam’s is always trying new recipes and following food trends. Right now, they’re trying out homemade apple and blueberry pies for desserts. They often create new pizza styles and recipes in-house, and in recent years, added vegetarian and vegan options.
“We try to give everybody their own flavor,” says Wojda. He says many people enjoy building their own pizza by selecting their favorite crust, sauce, and toppings.
While Pizza Sam’s has experimented with different menu items, there are two things that haven’t changed over the 63 years they’ve been in business: the pizza sauce and crust recipes. These recipes were created by Stamas and other family members.
“Trends come and go and we try to stay with them, but we keep the backbone and the basics the same so our regular customers know you have what they’re expecting,” says Wojda. “There’s people who come in and say, ‘I’ve been coming in for 60 years; my dad used to bring me in when I was this big.’ They eat that same thing when they come in.”
Wojda's plans for Pizza Sam’s are simple.
“Just to keep serving our customers and hopefully bringing new staff and teaching them the ropes of good work ethic and customer service,” says Wojda.
Landen Wray tosses Pizza Sam’s homemade crust. The crust recipe hasn’t changed since the restaurant opened 63 years ago.
So, what’s Wojda’s go-to pizza?
“I’m kind of just a pepperoni guy for plain pizza,” he says. “If I’m going to have a specialty pizza, I really enjoy our barbeque chicken.”
Hungry yet? Pizza Sam’s
is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 9 p.m. They’re open for dine-in, delivery, and takeout. Orders can be placed online
or called in at 989-631-1934.


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MIAMI TOWNSHIP, OH (FOX19)- Miami
Township Police arrest a mother and son who they say were stealing purses, cash
and a phone from distracted shoppers.
Clark, 49, and her son, Andrew Burton, 31, of Goshen, were arrested on December
started when Miami Township police officers were investigating a complaint of a
purse theft that had just occurred at the Meijer store in Miami Township. Police
were also investigating the theft of a wallet taken from a shopper's purse that
occurred on November 26 at the Kroger store on State Route 28 involving
suspects that matched the same description.
A wallet was taken from a woman's purse at Kroger while the victim
was looking at turkeys just two days before Thanksgiving.
Another purse was stolen from a woman's cart at the same Kroger
store the day before Thanksgiving while the victim was distracted near the


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Ofcom has announced measures to make the cost of calling businesses and services more transparent for consumers from June 2015.
- Clearer pricing for all numbers starting 08, 09 and 118.
- Cost of service numbers will be broken down into an ‘access charge’ to phone company, plus a ‘service charge’ to the company or organisation.
- The service charge for premium rate (09) numbers will be capped.
- Consumer calls to Freephone (0800, 0808 and 116) numbers which are generally free from landlines, will become free from mobile phones too.
- Confusion around 0845 numbers - which are sometimes tied to the cost of a geographic call - will be addressed.
More top news
In a tweet on Saturday, the US president didn't give a reason for his absence but said he wished"everyone well and have a great evening".
Weather conditions remain wet and windy through the weekend.
Mr Banks has given Ukip leader Paul Nuttall an "ultimatum", saying if he is not made chairman he will stop supporting the party.


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Travelex Group, a London-based distributor of foreign-currency reloadable prepaid cards that offer consumers a locked in foreign-exchange rate, has added a text-message alert service to notify cardholders when account funds drop below 100 pounds (US$149 or 117 euros).
The service is available to new Travelex Cash Passport cardholders through a partnership with Monitise PLC, a United Kingdom-based mobile-banking and payments provider. Travelex works with multiple financial institutions worldwide that issue the MasterCard-branded cards.
“[Cardholders] like to know what’s going on with their card, and text messages are one of the essential ways to do that, especially in the European market,” Mark Horgan, Travelex managing director of card and mobile payments, tells PaymentsSource.
The service is free, but standard text-messaging fees may apply, Horgan says. Users may enroll in the service when they register their mobile-phone number at the point of purchase.
Travelex plans to roll out other mobile services in the next 18 months, including the option to add funds to the card account and receive account balances via a text message. The company also plans to launch applications for Apple Inc.’s iPhone in the next three weeks, Horgan says, declining to describe the apps.


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PEORIA, Ill. -- As average prices have fallen in the Peoria area during the past week, gasoline analysts say the trend will likely continue through the end of the year.
Average retail prices in Peoria currently stand at $3.40 per gallon while the national average comes out to $3.39 per gallon.
"While the national average continues to fall, we've done the math--the yearly average in 2012 is all but guaranteed to set all-time record highs," said Senior Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan. "In the meantime, we have lowered our forecast for Christmas gasoline prices to average between $3.25 and $3.35 per gallon."
To stay up-to-date with gas price outlooks in your area, please visit www.gasbuddy.com.


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TOBACCO giant JTI has started 2019 by introducing not one, but two new products to the growing capsule market.
Benson & Hedges Blue Dual Double Capsule will tap into the value segment, offering the UK’s lowest priced double capsule.
Sterling Dual Triple Green is the first triple menthol cigarette in the UK tobacco market, offering a new proposition for existing adult smokers.
Ross Hennessy, head of sales at JTI UK, said: “We’ve seen the capsule segment grow significantly in recent years and expect this to continue into 2019, alongside the increasingly popular value segment.”
Sterling Dual Triple Green and B&H Blue Dual Double Capsule have an RRP of £9.35 and £8.35 respectively.


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Companies of all sizes have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with masses of employers having to send its workforce home. But has the outbreak affected the earnings of Intel, Verizon or Netflix in Q1 2020?
Intel recorded a 23% year-on-year increase in revenue to $19.8 billion as well as an earings per share figure of $1.27, despite the pandemic, and is forecasted to achieve earnings of $18.5 billion by the end of Q2.
Data-centric revenue, such as that which was generated by the company’s data centre and IOT groups, grew by 34%.
Achieving a data-centric approach to security requires homomorphic encryption
In 2019 there have been an estimated six-and-a-half billion data breaches. A data-centric approach to security and homomorphic encryption is required to solve this problem and give companies the confidence to move to the cloud. Read here
“Our first-quarter performance is a testament to our team’s focus on safeguarding employees, supporting our supply chain partners and delivering for our customers during this unprecedented challenge,” said Bob Swan, CEO of Intel, in the company’s earnings report.
“The role technology plays in the world is more essential now than it has ever been, and our opportunity to enrich lives and enable our customers’ success has never been more vital. Guided by our cultural values, competitive advantages and financial strength, I am confident we will emerge from this situation an even stronger company.”
Alan Priestley, vice-president, analyst at Gartner, commented: “They recorded growth on the mobile market, which is logical given the shift in demand that’s happening as people work from home, and companies have to kit out employees with equipment,” he said.
“For the first two or three quarters of 2019, the cloud market was down, but they kicked back in the fourth quarter, and it looks like that that growth has continued into Q1, which again is logical, given the shift and increase in the usage of cloud-based infrastructure in the current environment.
“The comms market has also showed growth, but these are early days, because for most data centres where people buy equipment, it’s not transactional; you don’t do it immediately, and it takes time to plan the rollouts.”
However, Priestley described the growth in enterprise and government as “surprising”.
“That had been declining over the previous quarters, and it’s impossible to tell whether [the growth] is because the OEMs were building out inventory in expectation that supply chains would be impacted, and therefore they were putting in place inventory so they can meet demand to run the rest of the year.
“The counter against this, is though they reported strong growth, they were reporting growth relative to Q1 last year. The top line numbers of around 30% growth was relative to Q1 last year, and this was very much down.
“When you dig into the detail, some of the growth has been driven by ASP increases, and quarter to quarter, Q4 to Q1, unit shipments were down on the data centre side. So I think that’s indicative that the enterprise growth wasn’t as strong.”
The earnings Verizon recorded for Q1 produced a revenue figure of $33.61 billion, which is down from the $32.1 billion recorded for this quarter last year.
The telecommunications company stated that revenue was impacted by a decline in equipment revenue, which came as a result of the pandemic.
How to avoid coronavirus disruption and lead your business in uncertain times
“We have seen considerably less churn in the consumer wireless base and lower equipment volumes and upgrade rates since the beginning of the crisis,” the company stated. “As a result of these changing customer behaviours, we experienced significantly lower equipment revenue in first quarter 2020.”
However, adjusted earnings per share rose to $1.26 from $1.20 year-on-year.
“Generally, earnings were in line with what we expected,” said Ted Chamberlin, vice-president, analyst at Gartner. “The loss of post-paid subscribers was a bit deeper than anticipated, and the Verizon Media loss was consistent with predictions.
“Overall, Verizon is feeling the effects of the first wave of Covid-19 to a similar degree as their peers. The key will be not to overact to a challenging growth environment to move from reacting and responding to redirecting to new realities. Once employees are safe and acclimated to new support models, turning attention to customers; SMB, large enterprise and government will be a necessity.
“Verizon should continue to focus on slowly reopening their retail stores, deploying planned 5G markets and supporting first responders. We believe that Verizon Media will struggle as advertising revenues plummet, but the opportunity for Verizon Business to leverage the Blue Jeans acquisition for enterprise video conferencing will be appealing.
“For many companies, the actions taken to exploit, or foster customer relationships will define the future. Verizon must continue to be work with both SMBs and enterprises to provide them with stability and cost certainty opportunities.”
Netflix recorded a figure of just over $5.7 billion for the quarter, up by around $300 million from Q4 2019, and are forecasted to surpass the $6 billion mark next quarter.
Along with a diluted earnings per share figure of $1.57, the services offered by Netflix managed to earn the media services provider 15.7 million new subscribers, a 23% increase from the same quarter last year.
The company’s earnings report cited membership growth due to home confinement, reduction in international investment due to the rise in the Dollar, and delay in cash spending on content due to production shutdown leading to improved cash flow as effects that the pandemic has had.
“With their workforces disbanded or reduced, UK organisations are striving to become faster and more agile as they pivot from survive to thrive,” said Alan Gibson, vice-president EMEA at Alteryx. “Today’s news shows organisations, both in the UK and around the world, what can be achieved when data and analytics sit at the heart of your business model.
How to modernise your data analytics strategy, according to Gartner
“Despite a fall in household disposable income, organisations like Netflix are still pulling in consumers through their advanced use of data – in this case, to provide personalised programming ideal for COVID-19 confinement.
“I urge UK business leaders not to dismiss this. Instead, they must refocus their own digital transformation efforts to champion data and analytics – expediating any strategies that can help them pivot from survival to recovery during this time.”
Jean-Michel Franco, senior director of data governance at Talend, added: “These results not only show that Netflix continues to reign supreme when it comes to delivering on-demand content, but that data is the lifeblood of Netflix’s business model – and other businesses should take note.
“While many business leaders from other industries will look at Netflix’s growth and credit this to more people staying at home due to global lockdown and quarantine efforts, in reality, this is a business also facing tough market conditions – a growth in market players, a halt on production, and de-prioritisation by customers as purse strings are squeezed. It’s here – in how Netflix tackles these challenging circumstances – that other businesses should look for inspiration.
“Netflix is a data business. It allows the massive amounts of customer data collected and leveraged to offer a personalised, real-time service – making it a quality customer experience for each user – and this has been vital to its success. Netflix, and other platforms like it, have ultra-connected products and services, meaning the more data they gain on their customers the easier it is to customise for users based on usage or experience.”


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Innovative Team at Romeo RIM Continues to Grow, Collect Accolades for Work in Custom Reaction Injection Molding
ROMEO, Mich. — Award-winning Romeo RIM (www.romeorim.com), the world’s innovative leader in custom reaction injection molding and composite solutions, continues to strengthen its talented team of manufacturing professionals with the addition of automotive industry veteran Ian Smith.
Additionally, the company’s Chief Financial Officer Michelle Bourdage was named one of three finalists for 2017 CFO of the Year by Plastics News.
“Our servant leadership culture at Romeo RIM is not only attracting incredibly talented individuals like Ian and Michelle, but it is empowering them to excel at their work at an exciting time in our company’s growth,” President and CEO Randy Johnson said.
Joining Romeo RIM in 2016, Michelle Bourdage leads the financial and IT activities at the company including controllership, business planning, and corporate reporting in a LEAN manufacturing environment. Her selection as a finalist by Plastics News came after a review by an independent panel of judges including financial practitioners, top plastics executives, and members of government and academia who selected finalists based on excellence in financial or other corporate operational management and their contributions to the community.
As a finalist, Bourdage was featured in a major article published in the Plastics News online and print editions, reaching over 45,000 readers. In the article, she discussed how Romeo RIM aligns company goals with middle management and employees and operates with shared power and vision.
“From the executive team down to the plant floor, we look at everybody as leader, not just the executive team,” Bourdage said. “We look to mentor vs. monitor.”
Ian Smith is well-versed in composites manufacturing innovation from his time as an advanced vehicle development engineer at GM and senior engineer at Roechling Automotive, in addition to serving as senior project engineer at Continental Structural Plastics. As Composite Product Development Engineer at Romeo RIM, he will be leveraging his 26 years experience with injection molding plastics, compression molding plastics, and carbon fiber to develop products and processes to achieve customer targets in design, functionality, and durability while meeting product requirements.
“There are a lot of interesting things going on here in new product development processes, materials and customers,” Smith said.
During his time in the automotive industry, Smith was very involved in long fiber injection (LFI) technology, one of the main focuses at Romeo RIM. He said he sees LFI innovation as a tremendous opportunity to supplant sheet molding composite products as options for things like body panels and exterior cladding.
“LFI has in-mold finishing ability, and conforms to structural elements on the backside so you don’t need any features like brackets or clips, for example,” Smith said.
Romeo RIM’s LFI technology uses a mix of polyurethane and chopped fiberglass in molds to create products with the unique combination of superior strength and light weight, in sizes and weights up to 11.5’ x 11.5’ and 80 pounds. Multiple smaller parts are consolidated into one mold with no seam lines or leaks, with shorter cycle times leading to cost savings for customers.
To learn more about Romeo RIM’s design, engineering, and support experience in reaction injection molding, LFI, and in-mold painting email firstname.lastname@example.org, call (586) 336-5877 or visit www.romeorim.com.
About Romeo RIM
Award-winning Romeo RIM is the world’s innovative leader in custom reaction injection molding and composite solutions. The company serves markets including transportation, heavy truck, agriculture and construction, spa, and rail car with complex engineering applications and a commitment to quality customer service. Our experienced, growing workforce combines years of technical and industry knowledge with a spirit of creativity to develop the next generation of long fiber injection (LFI) molded products and technologies. Romeo RIM’s lean manufacturing and operational excellence enables us to build a strategic connection with engineering and purchasing professionals up and down the supply chain, aligning our strategy with their strategy to form strong, lasting relationships. For more information, visit www.romeorim.com.


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The UEFA Champions League – Europe’s flagship club football competition, and the holy-grail for virtually every team across the continent – has been sponsored by PlayStation for over two decades now, and that partnership will continue through 2021 to 2024. Sony has announced that it’s renewed its collaboration with the tournament, which will see it present Player of the Match and Player of the Week awards through each game week.
Unsurprisingly, Sony will also be heavily involved with the UEFA Champions League Gaming Hub, which makes sense. “We have enjoyed a strong collaborative relationship with the UEFA Champions League for over 23 years, delivering unique football experiences to our community of PlayStation fans around the world,” said marketing bigwig Eric Lempel. “Football is integral to the PlayStation DNA, and we know many of our gamers are as passionate about football as we are.”
For those who’ve grown up watching the Champions League, it’s no surprise to see PlayStation advertising hoardings around the pitch anymore. The company did get a bit more creative with these in the past few years, promoting titles like Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End specifically, as opposed to just the brand. Last season it mostly focused on the PS5, but it’ll be interesting to see how its advertising evolves as the generation matures.


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Irn-Bru Makers To Scrap Bottle Refund
19 August 2015, 10:19 | Updated: 19 August 2015, 12:07
The makers of IRN-BRU has announced they're getting rid of the 30pence payback for glass bottles.
A.G Barr say the returns will stop at the end of the year.
Bosses have announced an investment of £5million in its Cumbernauld facility with the installation of new, high-speed filling capability for its glass bottle range.
The planned investment means the company will no longer have the infrastructure to handle returned bottles.
Barr has seen a significant reduction in the number of bottles being returned in recent years as consumers increasingly choose the convenience of recycling at home.
Barr saw 90% of its bottles returned in the early 90s, but now only half of bottles are being returned.
Jonathan Kemp, Barr's Commercial Director, said: "We know how much our consumers love the taste of their favourite soft drink flavours in our iconic 750ml glass bottles. This significant investment allows us to continue to offer our consumers their favourite products in glass, well into the future.
"With improved kerbside recycling, only one in two of our bottles are now being returned, meaning that the process of handling returned bottles has become uneconomic. We will continue to offer the same quality products in the 750ml bottle for the long-term, but the bottle will no longer be returnable."
This investment will replace Barr's current glass line, which is almost 20 years old, with faster more efficient glass filling capability, and will see the energy-hungry returnable glass bottle washing equipment decommissioned.
Barr will continue to accept bottles until the 31st December 2015 and consumers can continue to return their bottles to retailers until this date. From the 1st January 2016 consumers should recycle their bottles through their household recycling scheme or using 'on-the-go' public recycling facilities.
Kemp comments: "From the beginning of October, information on the change will be carried on the bottle label and we will work with retailers to display materials in their premises to ensure our consumers understand what is planned.
"This exciting investment in the future of our glass filling capability will ensure that our loyal glass bottle fans can continue to enjoy their favourite soft drinks, exactly as they are, for many years to come."


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Ofcom Threaten BT’s Premier League Buying Power with Policing of Broadband Margins
June 20, 2014
The ability for BT to spend large money during the next Premier League broadcast rights auction is under threat after regulator Ofcom proposed restrictions on their broadband profits.
With the launch of BT Sport, sports rights such as the Premier League have become a big part of BT’s way of winning further broadband customers.
For the first time, Premier League football was made free last year, when BT offered BT Sport for free to their broadband customers.
However, now Ofcom, the government-approved regulatory and competition authority, has proposed tighter controls over the wholesale prices for “piggy-backing” on its broadband network.
In a report in The Guardian, telecoms expert James Barford at Enders Analysis said: “This is a watershed. It discourages BT from spending a lot more money in any future auction, including the Premier League.
“From Sky’s perspective this is excellent news. TalkTalk is very pleased because it gives some comfort that BT will stay honest.”
Ofcom have warned they will police the margin between the wholesale price of BT fibre optic and the retail prices they are charging the customer.
This will stop BT undercutting their rivals such as TalkTalk and BSkyB, who rely on BT’s connection network to sell their own broadband services.
In the Daily Telegraph, a BT spokesman commented: “There is strong competition in the UK broadband market and we are confident our pricing will pass any regulatory test that may be put in place.”
A TalkTalk spokesman added: “We’re really pleased that Ofcom proposes to start regulating fibre more effectively. We have long maintained that the time has come for fibre to be more robustly regulated, starting with a margin squeeze test.
“What matters most is ensuring a level playing field and competition for fibre in the future.”
A BSkyB spokesman agreed and commented: “Ofcom’s new rules are a significant step towards ensuring more effective competition in superfast broadband.
“We want the market to be as competitive as standard broadband so that customers can enjoy better choice and value.”


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AWS Exec: Machine Learning’s Undergoing a ‘Renaissance’
NEW YORK — Machine learning is undergoing a “renaissance” now thanks to the increasing shift of data storage to the cloud, according to Matt Wood, Amazon Web Services (AWS) GM-artificial intelligence (AI).
That’s because “the cloud has enabled machine learning and customers to overcome the single largest point of friction, which is almost always around scale,” he told the AWS Summit Aug. 14 during a keynote in which AWS also introduced the new machine-learning based security service Amazon Macie and announced new cloud service client wins that included Hulu.
“When you’re working with machine learning and training machine learning models, you need tons and tons of data — the more the merrier,” Wood said. The concept is simple. “The more data you put in, the more likely it is that your model is going to be accurate,” he said.
When you have all that data, you then “need to be able to train it at scale – typically using high-end” graphics processing units (GPUs), he said. “Once you train those models, you need to be able to perform predictions against them, also at scale, both in the cloud” and “at the edge through connected devices or on mobile apps,” he said.
AWS has been “addressing these challenges for customers for over a decade,” he went on to say, noting that its customers have been “aggressively migrating everything out of their data centers up to AWS as quickly as they can,” and nearly all the new data “has been generated in the cloud by default.”
Earlier in the keynote, Wood pointed out that “it’s never been cheaper, easier or more cost-effective for customers to be able to pull data from their program applications, their web applications, their IoT applications – even their data centers – and load it up onto AWS.”
Once that data is in the cloud, “customers typically want to be able to get some value out of that data,” he said, explaining: “They want to be able to analyze and they want to be able to compute against it. They want to be able to ask questions and get answers back in a reasonable time.”
Before, “inside the constrained walls of the data center” on premises, that was “extremely challenging” because companies were “stuck with a fixed set of resources unless” they wanted to make large capital investments, he said. So, customers typically “ended up being crammed inside that same box,” inside the walls of their data centers, he said.
However, he said: “In the cloud, those data center walls – they just disappear. And so, customers can start to collect the data that they need, aggregate it at the right level and ask the questions which are truly important to their data.”
Over the past 10 years, AWS has “built out probably the largest and broadest set of … capabilities available anywhere” that address customer demand, including Amazon Athena, Wood said, pointing to the pay-as-you-go, serverless interactive query service that his company introduced last year.
Athena makes it easy to analyze data directly in Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) using standard Structured Query Language (SQL), according to AWS. With a few clicks in the AWS Management Console, customers can point Athena at their data stored in Amazon S3 and start using standard SQL to run queries and get results in just seconds.
With Athena, there are no clusters to manage and tune; nor is there any infrastructure to set up or manage, and customers pay only for the queries they run. Athena “scales automatically – executing queries in parallel – so results are fast, even with large datasets and complex queries,” Amazon said last year while announcing it.
Regarding Amazon Macie, Wood told the summit that Netflix was among the AWS customers already using the new machine-learning based security service.
Macie combines concepts developed by Harvest.ai, a San Diego-based startup Amazon bought late last year, with AWS’s existing machine learning technology. Harvest.ai’s MACIE Analytics provides “the confidence and dependability in protecting your business’s most important assets, protecting user accounts from compromise and preventing theft of data and intellectual property” (IP), according to the Harvest.ai web site.
Its features include patent-pending AI-based ability to track intellectual property across an organization’s network, including emails and other content derived from IP, according to Harvest.ai.


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Infotech Lead Asia: Samsung has devised strategies to gain market share in enterprise segment in Southwest Asia.
The Korean consumer electronics major is planning to achieve 10 percent of its revenue from enterprise business in 2013 in Southwest Asia.
By 2020, the smartphone major targets 23 percent of its total global revenue from B2B segment.
Samsung Director (IT Business) Uday Bhat says the company will focus on verticals like education, healthcare, hospitality, retail and financial services.
According to Ovum, enterprise smartphone shipments are expected to reach 32.9 million in 2012 from 26.8 million in 2011 globally.
Samsung KNOX, a mobile enterprise solution that provides security, will also assist the company to gain market share in the enterprise smartphone space.
For enterprises, Samsung KNOX provides security and protects confidentiality of enterprise data.
For retail users, it provides security of personal data while keeping it separate from enterprise data, and facilitates a simple, intuitive user experience.
Meanwhile, Samsung’s Technology Enterprise program (STEP) ensures that partners are certified and prepared to sell and service Samsung’s enterprise solutions.
One of the main focus areas of Galaxy Note 510, a new tablet, will be enterprises.
Powered by a 1.6 GHz A9 quad-core processor, the new entrant in the Note category features a 5 megapixel rear camera and a 1.3 megapixel front camera and runs Android 4.1.2 Jellybean.
In 2012, Samsung achieved sales of approximately $200 billion. In Southwest Asia, the company tripled its growth rate over the past three years and achieved more than 35 percent sales growth in 2012.
Recently, Sunil Dutt, managing director for India at BlackBerry, said:
“With BlackBerry 10, we have re-designed, re-engineered and re-invented BlackBerry to create a new and unique mobile computing experience, and we are uniquely positioned to change the way in which our customers view mobile technology.”
According to media reports, Nokia started winning back enterprise smartphone market share with several Lumia deals. Nokia has bagged deal from enterprises such as Coca-Cola in Vietnam and Cambodia, London’s estate agent Foxtons and United States’ retail and entertainment complex Mall of America.


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LEHI, UT – Today, Founders of global wellness leader XANGO, LLC joined with hundreds of Mexican distributor leaders to celebrate the opening of a new state-of-the art office in Mexico City. The office will allow for continued strong growth for XANGO in Mexico where, in just five years, the company has surpassed more than 100,000 customers and distributors. Mexico is among the five largest markets worldwide for XANGO and a key hub for the company’s future expansion into other countries in Latin America.
“We are excited about the future of XANGO in Mexico, where we’ve seen our distributor base continue to grow throughout many regions of the country. The inauguration of this office is another opportunity to demonstrate XANGO’s commitment to a successful, long-term presence in Mexico,” said XANGO President and CEO, Robert Conlee. “With a uniquely branded office, our distributors can build their businesses with confidence, supported by a rapidly growing number of in-market employees.”
The state-of-the art, 3,000 square foot office is located in the heart of Mexico City’s business district. With two-thirds of the office dedicated to distributor use, the space features several meeting areas, including a multimedia room that can seat 120 participants. The headquarters for XANGO’s expanding Mexicooperations will also accommodate an expected 400 percent increase in corporate staffing through the remainder of this year and beyond.
“This new office is one of several recent strategic investments in our international markets and symbolizes the success of XANGO in Mexico as we look toward future expansion within this country and in other parts of Latin America,” said XANGO Founder and Chairman Aaron Garrity. “Our success in Mexico, led by our talented distributor leaders, is providing hope and opportunity in this wonderful country.”
In conjunction with the opening of the new office, XANGO also announced the launch of XANGO® Reserva in Mexico. A premium companion to global market leading mangosteen beverage XANGO® Juice, XANGO Reserva features a richer, smoother texture and flavor profile designed for special occasions. Reserva’s proprietary formula includes a higher concentration of xanthones and other phytonutrients from the mangosteen. Currently available in the U.S. and a handful of markets worldwide, Reserva is the newest product available in Mexico.
XANGO remains committed to the children of Mexico through its partnership with Operation Smile. Since 2008, XANGO has donated more than $500,000 to support cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries. Hundreds of distributor volunteers and company executives have supported these medical missions – projects which have provided more than 600 surgeries to children in need in Mexico. XANGO and Operation Smile next visit Guadalajara, Mexico on May 23-28, 2011. To learn more about XANGO’s commitment, visit the XANGO Goodness Foundation.
About XANGO, LLC
A leading global nutrition company, XANGO, LLC is a recognized leader in health and wellness products. Currently expanding into a wider range of botanicals, XANGO was the first company to market a premium mangosteen beverage, XANGO®Juice, to consumers worldwide. Its roster of premium, functional products now includes XANGO® Reserve, the XANGO 3SIXTY5® multi-vitamin with a powerful Active Defense Complex featuring Primactive™, Glimpse® Topical Skin Nutrition, Eleviv® for natural, youthful vigor and Juni by XANGO® Family Care with natural, toxin-free personal care products for the entire family. XANGO is privately-owned and powered by a global network of more than 1 million independent distributors in the U.S. and more than 30 international markets such as Canada, Mexico, Japan, Germany and Malaysia. For details, visit http://www.xango.com.
Photo caption: XANGO Founder/Chairman Aaron Garrity (center) joins fellow Founder/Board Member Joe Morton (right) and Senior VP, North America Scott Smith in a ceremonial ribbon cutting of new company offices May 16, 2011 in Mexico City. Hundreds of the company’s distributors also participated in the ceremonies. The new office will facilitate continued company expansion in Mexico.
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- 3% excise tax on items disposed of in wastewater, such as toothpaste, cosmetics, toilet paper and cooking oil: These products wind up in the water stream and require clean up by sewage treatment plants.
- 0.5% excise tax on pharmaceutical products.
- 0.15% tax corporate profits over $4 million.
- 4 cent per container excise tax on water-based beverages.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
It had to happen: Federal Toilet Paper Tax
Posted by Ben Cunningham at 10:19 AM


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Just how well does Sony’s E3 showing from last year hold up now?
This year's PSX was a bloated show but is it really just a product of marketing trends?
Blood flies, as well as the environment of Karnaca is introduced.
Turn 10's Ryan Cooper talks about topping Forza Horizon 2 and catering to fans.
Rare's Nick Burton talks extensively about the company, Microsoft and much more.
Producer Lianne Lim talks about the newest Need for Speed.
'We had enough content to do two big shows.'
It's a bit of a long survey though.
Xbox One platform manager Richard Irving details the various ways the UI will be sped up this Fall.
Another hands-off demo planned for showcase at Gamescom.
That was quick!
So there's that, I guess.
The pricetag is a bit steep, but there's apparently lots of new content.
"We can't just be a company that's only about gigantic big things."
Franchise development director says the E3 showing was "not intended to be playable by the public".
Uncharted 4 also nets a few awards including "Best Console Game".
The company now pushes for games that can run on the target machines and are playable.
SCEE CEO Jim Ryan talks focus on nostalgia at E3.
Plus bonus mid-boss battles.
No Elder Scrolls VI next year, then?


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Personal debt has reached a record $2.6 trillion. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, U.K. household debt as a percentage of annual disposable income hit 159% in 2005 -- the last year for which data is available -- compared with 135% in the U.S.
The article expresses concerns about England's consumers ability yo keep spending when their household debt levels are at 159% of disposable income.
I raise the point as one of comparison to the US. I have expressed concern about US household debt levels for some time. However, there is no magic economic line where where household debt prevents an increase in consumption expenditures. It's really just a best guess scenario.
That being said, if England's consumers can continue spending at a household debt/disposable income level of 159%, than US consumers obviously can continue to spend at 135% household debt/disposable income ratio.
The article also has this graph which shows the hh debt/disposable income ratio in other countries. The US is far from alone.
In other words -- the US may continue shopping.


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Tesco set to axe office jobs and sell assets in revamp
Dave Lewis, Tesco's new chief executive, is poised to take an axe to the company's cost base - putting thousands of head office jobs at risk - and set out a plan to sell off assets in an effort to revive what was once Britain's most successful supermarket.
Mr Lewis, who was parachuted in to replace Philip Clarke in July, and revealed a pound260m hole in the company's profits just months later, will set out his strategy for reviving the fortunes of Britain's biggest retailer next week.
Known as "Drastic Dave" for cutting costs at his previous employer Unilever, Mr Lewis is expected to announce hundreds of millions of pounds in savings when he updates investors on Christmas trading on Thursday, according to several people familiar with the situation.
His moves are expected to involve trimming employment at Tesco's head office, and reducing the number of Tesco UK offices from the current level of 23. Mr Lewis said in October that the retailer, which is Britain's biggest private sector employer, had scope to be "streamlined".
Cutting costs would make it easier for Mr Lewis to offer additional discounts at a time when Britain's grocery stores are locked into a bitter price war.
Tesco is also expected to brief investors on plans to strengthen its balance sheet after its investment grade credit rating was put at risk in December by its fourth profit warning in six months. It has brought in Goldman Sachs to advise it on its options.
Mr Lewis is expected to try to extract value from Dunnhumby, the data analysis business that helped create Tesco's Clubcard, which the group now owns. The business could be worth pound1bn-pound2bn, and Tesco could look at a partial or possibly a full sale, according to people familiar with the situation. Several private equity groups, as well as WPP, are said to be interested in the business, although the advertising group declined to comment.
Other options include a sale or float of part of Tesco's Asian businesses. According to bankers, the bulk of the value is in the Thai business, which could be worth pound5bn-pound6.5bn. The Korean business could be worth pound2.5bn, they estimate. Selling off a minority stake in Tesco Bank would also raise funds to shore up Tesco's balance sheet, although bankers say this would be more complicated.
The retailer could announce the sale of Blinkbox. The Financial Times reported last week that TalkTalk was the frontrunner to acquire the video streaming business. Other non-core assets expected to have come under review are Dobbies Garden Centres and the Harris and Hoole coffee shop chain.
Tesco declined to comment on any of its plans. The board will meet next week to finalise the conclusions of the strategic review, and it is possible the discussions could result in changes.
Additional reporting by Arash Massoudi, Jennifer Hughes and Robert Cookson.
(c) The Financial Times Limited 2015