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Trickbot malware redirected to target international banking
 Researchers with IBM and Flashpoint warn the Trickbot Trojan is growing more potent and now targeting U.S. banks.

The Trickbot banking Trojan is now targeting U.S. banks in new spam campaigns fueled by the prolific Necurs botnet. The malware has grown more potent with the introduction of a customized redirection method as part of its attacks.

IBM X-Force and Flashpoint both recently spotted new Trickbot activity and independently published research on their findings this week.

According to the researchers, spam campaigns have been active over the past several months, with the latest Trickbot attack reported earlier this week.

While Flashpoint focused on the U.S. as targets, IBM focused on the redirection attacks used to steal login details, personally identifiable information and financial authentication codes.

“Trickbot has been responsible for man-in-the-browser attacks since mid-2016, yet the malware’s webinject configuration has only targeted financial institutions located outside of the U.S. — up until now,” according to Flashpoint researchers Vitali Kremez and Paul Burbage in research posted Wednesday.

They said the Necurs-powered spam campaign contains an “expanded webinject configuration” developed to target and infect customers of international and U.S.-based financial institutions.

Flashpoint said Necurs has been used in three distinct spam campaigns. “These malicious emails contained a Zip-archived Windows Script File (WSF) attachment consisting of obfuscated JavaScript code. Upon being clicked, the files download and execute the Trickbot loader,” according to researchers.

“Although this wave utilized malicious WSF scripts as the initial vector of infection, subsequent campaigns have evolved and appear to instead utilize malicious macro-laden documents as their attachments,” Flashpoint said.

Post infection, the malware creates a process using the “CREATE_SUSPENDED” flag before injecting its module and terminating the initial thread used to launch the Trojan, researchers said. The infection progresses, creating a folder in “%APPDATA%” where it copies itself and adds an authroot certificate file in “%TEMP%”, and adds as a service “update[.]job” for persistence in the Windows Task folder.

“Trickbot then stores an encoded configuration module in the ‘resource’ section of its binary and retrieves additional modules from its controller domains when needed,” Kremez and Burbage wrote.

In its analysis of Trickbot, Flashpoint said the malware is a successor to the Dyre banking Trojan sharing many of the same attributes. While the crew behind Dyre sits in a Russian jail, TrickBot appears to be picking up the slack with attacks against banks using a number of webinjects also found in the Dyre malware code, according to a report last year by IBM X-Force researchers.

How Trickbot Tricks

“TrickBot is the first and only banking Trojan to cover this many geographies and language zones with redirection schemes, an attack type known to be more resource-intensive to produce and maintain than dynamic webinjection schemes,” Limor Kessem wrote in technical write-up describing Trickbot’s latest developments posted Wednesday.

A basic redirection attack is typical in phishing attacks and is a technique that redirects one hyperlink to an unanticipated page loaded with a malicious payload.

“In simple redirection of browsing to a different page, the user sees the switch to the next website and can observe the change in URL. This is not what happens in Trickbot’s case. Malware redirections hijack the victim to a fake website hosted on separate servers before he or she even sees the destination page,” Kessem wrote.

What makes Trickbot unique is the use of customized redirection attacks that leverage HTML or JavaScript injections as a victim visits a financial institution online. Unsuspecting victims are redirected to malicious sites, but at the same time the malware contacts the bank’s genuine webpage and keeps a live connection with it.

“The fake page displays the bank’s correct URL in the address bar, as well as the bank’s genuine digital certificate. The user is unlikely to notice any difference or suspect that he or she reached a malicious site,” IBM X-Force researchers said.

“By seamlessly moving infected victims away from the bank’s genuine website, the malware’s operator can switch to using webinjections to steal login details, personally identifiable information and critical authentication codes on the replica site — all without the bank knowing that the customer’s session has been compromised or discovering the flow of events on the fake site,” according to Kessem.

Over the past several months, IBM X-Force said those behind Trickbot have broaden their attack scope specifically within Spain. “While the malware had previously targeted only one bank in Spain, it now targets six brands in the country,” it reported.

Indicators of compromise include the MD5 hashes 9a1d8e19b0622df7de1e0034e710b5a8 and 0e09c2aa13515fc10b5e352cbfab37b7.

Output: Trickbot malware is targeting banks worldwide in spam campaigns fuelled by the Necurs botnet, according to research by IBM X-Force and Flashpoint. The trickbot banking Trojan has now introduced a customised redirection method as part of its attacks used to steal login details, personal data and financial authentication codes, the companies said. Victims visiting a financial institution online are redirected to malicious sites, but the malware also contacts the bank's official website and keeps a live link to it, meaning the fake page displays the bank's correct URL and digital certificate.


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Amazon users' data sets adaptive prices on back-to-school goods
 Dive Brief:

Amazon’s prices changed hour-by-hour, state-by-state and shopper-by-shopper, according to a May analysis of online school supplies prices from Chrome deal-hunting extension Wikibuy. The extension searches other sites, including Walmart, Jet and eBay, and its price comparison tool pops up a potentially cheaper option, including tax, shipping and any coupons that apply for Chrome browser users. For the study, Wikibuy analyzed the prices of more than 200 back-to-school products over 30 days.

On average, prices on common school supplies were 15% more on Amazon than other sites, the study found. The research was conducted by using suggested school supply lists for kindergarten, 3rd grade, 5th grade, 7th grade and 9th grade from the Chicago Public Schools, Los Angeles Unified School District and the New York City Department of Education and found that U.S. families with 5th graders could shell out $119 million more shopping on Amazon than if they had bought the same products for the lowest available online price.

Meanwhile, another study, conducted in June by Consumer Watchdog, found that Amazon’s new comparison pricing scheme, which as of last year has meant fewer “price drops” from manufacturer list prices in favor of “was” prices, “sale” prices or prices with a line through them (“strikethrough prices”), is at least as deceptive as before. An Amazon spokesperson told Retail Dive Wednesday that the Consumer Watchdog study is "deeply flawed, based on incomplete data and improper assumptions." .

Dive Insight:

Much of Amazon’s successful disruption of the retail marketplace came from undercutting traditional retailers on price (notably books in its first retail foray). The stark price competition with brick-and-mortar retailers has largely dissipated as many now price-match (though price wars, especially in consumer products and groceries, continue).

These pricing differences aren't occurring just because legacy retailers have lowered or price-matched many items, but also because Amazon isn’t competing on price as much anymore.

“Amazon already has a bunch of other prices on its site,” Jason Goldberg, who leads commerce and content strategy at interactive digital agency SapientRazorfish, told Retail Dive last year. “Actually you generally see items being offered by 10 or 20 vendors, so Amazon already has this price competition clearly visible on the page. Those Marketplace sellers are essentially bidding for the lowest price, or the ‘fast follower’ price. [Amazon founder and CEO] Jeff Bezos’s flywheel strategy is to offer a low price, and get more consumers, more sellers and more competition in a virtuous circle.”

But consumers’ expectations that Amazon’s prices will be the best online deal, plus Prime members’ stickiness to the site, may lead many to over-pay on identical items, these studies show.

Someone searching the Amazon site for a box of Crayola crayons at 7 a.m. in Arizona, for example, was likely to see a different price than someone else searching for them later that day in New Hampshire, Wikibuy found. The prices of common back-to-school items tended to be higher in the morning, and the top 10 states overpaying on Amazon for a T1-84 calculator were Rhode Island, Iowa, Minnesota, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Washington and Tennessee, Wikibuy found.

“Parents of ninth graders spend the most on supplies,” according to Wikibuy’s study. “They should be wary of relying on Amazon for the lowest price. During our study period, they could have saved nearly $50, on average, by buying from other retailers.”

In its analysis, Consumer Watchdog said Amazon’s new price listing practice could be considered deceptive to the point of running afoul of Federal Trade Commission consumer-protection regulations, and said that it should be a factor in regulators’ scrutiny of its proposed acquisition of Whole Foods. Those conclusions, the Amazon spokesperson said, "are flat out wrong."

"We validate the reference prices provided by manufacturers, vendors and sellers against actual prices recently found across Amazon and other retailers," Amazon's spokesperson told Retail Dive by email. "We obsess over the things we believe customers will always care about – low prices, vast selection, and fast delivery – and work hard to provide all three, all the time.”

Output: Amazon's prices on back-to-school products changed according to the timing, location and browsing history of each visitor to the site, according to a Wikibuy analysis of US shoppers in May. Additionally, Amazon's school supply prices were 15% higher than other retailers on average, the report found. These customers could have saved nearly an average of $50 on their total shop by buying from other retailers, Wikibuy said.


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UK government to fund student cybersecurity programme
 The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) has announced a £20 million Cyber Security programme to train almost 6,000 teenagers, in an attempt to help combat and anticipated shortfall in cyber skills.

The government is hoping that the programme will help the UK build up its cyber defences over the coming years, with SANS, BT, FutureLearn and Cyber Security Challenge UK named as delivery partners.

The news comes as £500,000 has also been allocated for GCHQ-accredited cyber security master’s bursaries. Earlier this year Chancellor for the Exchequer, Phillip Hammond, also launched the National Cyber Security Strategy, committing £1.9 billion worth of investment - almost double what was invested over the pervious parliament.

At the time, Hammond indicated that more would be done to build up the UK’s cyber defence capabilities. He said:

We will deter those that seek to steal from us, threaten us or otherwise harm our interests in cyber space. We are strengthening our law enforcement capabilities to raise the cost and reduce the rewards of cyber criminality. Ensuring we can track, apprehend and prosecute those who commit cyber crimes. We will continue to invest in our offensive cyber capabilities, because the ability to detect, trace and retaliate in kind is likely to be the best deterrent.

Attracting talent

Today’s announcement from DCMS aims to attract thousands of the best and brightest young minds to the Cyber Schools Programme, where the successful applicants will be given the opportunity to learn cyber security skills alongside their secondary school studies through a nationwide network of extracurricular clubs, activities and an online game.

A new website has been launched where students, teachers and industry can register their interest.

The department has said that the new programme is specifically designed to encourage schoolchildren to develop some of the key skills they need to work in the growing cyber security sector and to help defend the nation’s businesses against online threats.

The UK, and countries globally, have seen an increased threat from online cyber attacks. Most recently huge parts of the National Health Service were targeted by some ransomware that took advantage of un-patched Windows XP systems, resulting in hospitals having to cancel treatments and divert patient care.

Minister of State for Digital Matt Hancock said:

Our Cyber Schools Programme aims to inspire the talent of tomorrow and give thousands of the brightest young minds the chance to learn cutting-edge cyber security skills alongside their secondary school studies. I encourage all those with the aptitude, enthusiasm and passion for a cyber security career to register for what will be a challenging and rewarding scheme.

The £20 million programme will see students take a comprehensive cyber curriculum, which will mix expert, instructor-led classroom and online teaching with real-world challenges, online games and hands-on experience.

Students will be selected for the programme via a pre-entry assessment, and the scheme will provide them with pathways into the cyber security industry via direct contact with industry experts.

Applications are open to students aged 14 to 18, with the government stating that “hundreds of house of extra curricular content” will be made available to fill a four-year programme. The target is for at least 5,700 teenagers to be trained by 2021.

DCMS has also confirmed £500,000 funding to continue a pilot to help adults who want to retrain for a job in cyber security, but taking a GCHQ-accredited master’s degree. The funding will be distributed between participating universities to help those who want to use their skills to move into a cyber security career.

Response

Claire Stead, online safety expert at Smoothwall, an internet security company that is present in over 7,000 schools across the country, is pleased to see that the government is taking a proactive approach to plugging the cyber skills gap. She said:

The new Cyber Schools Programme from the DCMS is a great opportunity to get children involved in the complex – but increasingly important and relevant world – of cyber security. According to a report recently, Europe is due to face a shortage of cyber security experts by 2022 – this new injection of £20m by the government is a real chance for the children of the UK to be at the vanguard of protecting hospitals, governments, businesses and indeed the whole country. Unless we take a look at the grass roots, this gap won’t be plugged any time soon. As coding was introduced in the national curriculum only relatively recently, it’s reassuring to see the government taking cyber issues even more seriously and we would actively encourage all students, teachers and industry members to shore up their digital skills and knowledge of cyber-related issues. As the security world is constantly shifting and IT becomes embedded in most of what we do, we cannot afford to be a nation of laggards in what is sure to be one of the most competitive and important industries for years to come.

Rob Norris, VP Head of Enterprise & Cyber Security EMEIA at Fujitsu, echoed Stead’s comments and said:

It is evident that there is a shortage of talent in security at the moment, and we can’t circumvent this. In fact, by 2022, it is expected that Europe will see a shortage of 350,000 IT security staff, and we can’t afford to continue to spiral in this way. This latest programme from the DCMS is a welcomed step in helping tackle the problem, giving 6,000 students the skills and capabilities they need to fill a role that is an essential part of the digital age we now live in. The need to nurture and grow this talent is imperative, as 71% of businesses stated that a skills shortage has been directly responsible for measurable damage. It cannot all be left to government programmes, however. Companies too need to realise that they need to invest in young talent through apprenticeships and graduate schemes, for example. That way they can bring on talent that has an aptitude for security and then nurture their skills in a way that works for the company. It’s also critical for experts in the industry to share their own stories and insights as to what security is really like as a profession, so students can start to see it as an accessible profession that brings significant career choices and opportunities. Casting the industry in this light starts brings to life the purpose of cyber security, inspiring next generation of experts to join the industry.

My take

The government needs to be doing more of this if it wants to address the skills gap. It’s important to note that the money and the recruitment figures are just targets at this stage, so we will be following the progress closely to see if its ambitions live up to the reality.

Output: The UK government is to invest £20m in its Cyber Schools Programme, which aims to train nearly 6,000 teenagers. The scheme, backed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, will help the UK boost its cyber defences and address the anticipated shortfall in cyber skills. BT, Cyber Security Challenge UK, SANS and FutureLean have already been named as delivery partners.


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Verizon video optimisation test sparks claims of 'throttling'
 Verizon Wireless customers this week noticed that Netflix's speed test tool appears to be capped at 10Mbps, raising fears that the carrier is throttling video streaming on its mobile network.

When contacted by Ars this morning, Verizon acknowledged using a new video optimization system but said it is part of a temporary test and that it did not affect the actual quality of video. The video optimization appears to apply both to unlimited and limited mobile plans.

But some YouTube users are reporting degraded video, saying that using a VPN service can bypass the Verizon throttling. The Federal Communications Commission generally allows mobile carriers to limit video quality as long as the limitations are imposed equally across different video services despite net neutrality rules that outlaw throttling. The net neutrality rules have exceptions for network management.

"We've been doing network testing over the past few days to optimize the performance of video applications on our network," a Verizon spokesperson told Ars. "The testing should be completed shortly. The customer video experience was not affected."

Netflix speed test reveals limit

Our testing appears to back this up in the case of Netflix, though there might be some instances in which users get lower-quality Netflix video, such as when they tether their phone to other devices. On a Verizon Wireless iPhone, we got a 10Mbps download speed on fast.com, which is Netflix's speed test tool. On Ookla's Speedtest app, we got nearly 82Mbps download speeds on the same Verizon LTE network.

But will that actually harm your Netflix video? Probably not, as long as you're watching on your mobile device and not tethering. Netflix says its Ultra HD quality video can require 25Mbps but that's apparently just for non-mobile devices. For mobile devices, Netflix offers a few quality settings, including "Unlimited," which it says "may use 1GB per 20 minutes or more depending on your device and network speeds."

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That number appears to be an average. But if the bitrate is relatively constant and doesn't vary much, a connection of less than 7Mbps would be sufficient for Netflix's highest mobile quality, and 10Mbps would thus be enough to stream without any noticeable limits. In our testing on the Verizon phone, we were able to play a Netflix video in the "unlimited" mobile quality with no buffering.

But what if you're tethering your Verizon phone to a device that can stream in Netflix's 25Mbps Ultra HD? That's probably an unusual scenario, but in that case, you might not get the full quality. Verizon told us that the video optimization limits are applied "the same whether you are tethered or not."

Netflix used to throttle its own video streams on Verizon and AT&T to just 600kbps in order to help users stay under their data caps. But Netflix changed that policy last year when it began letting users pick from several different quality settings on mobile devices.

When contacted by Ars, Netflix did not provide any statement specifically on Verizon throttling. “We don’t cap data and don't cap for any mobile network. We offer settings inside the Netflix app to empower our members to control their own quality preferences and data usage," Netflix told Ars.

We also contacted YouTube today and will update this story if we get a response.

YouTube problems reported

The Verizon video limits were reported by The Verge last night, following Reddit threads on the topic. There's also a Howard Forums thread in which users who checked the YouTube app's "stats for nerds" section say that high-quality videos are being hurt.

"YouTube is being throttled to 10Mbps as well," one person wrote yesterday. "In the 'stats for nerds' it would load at roughly 1,250KBps which translates to 10Mbps. Put the VPN on and that number tripled easily. Didn't have an issue playing 1080p 60fps though."

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"Confirmed here too," another person wrote in response. "1440p videos are throttled at a constant 9.59Mbps. It wasn't even able to keep up and buffered at a few points."

Verizon once said it doesn't ”manipulate“ video

Verizon appears to have changed course from an earlier statement that it passes along video in the same quality provided by the video service. "We deliver whatever the content provider gives us. We don’t manipulate the data," Verizon said when it introduced its new unlimited plan in February.

This was in contrast to T-Mobile USA, whose $70-per-month unlimited data plan limited streaming video quality to 480p or about 1.5Mbps. T-Mobile added HD video to the plan in order to combat Verizon's new offer. More recently, T-Mobile CEO John Legere claimed that the Verizon and AT&T networks "seem to be choking after we forced them to go unlimited."

We asked Verizon if the new video optimization is a change in policy from when it said, "We deliver whatever the content provider gives us."

"We're always looking for ways to optimize our network without impacting our customers' experience," the company replied. Verizon provided no further details.

Verizon's video optimization apparently also applies to Verizon's own video services, such as Go90. "It is across the board," Verizon said when asked if Go90 and other Verizon properties are affected.

A Verizon webpage about its video optimization says, "This network management technology is designed to transmit data more efficiently, ease capacity burdens on the network, primarily from video files, and improve the user experience with faster downloads and decreased Internet latency."

Output: Verizon Wireless has claimed that video optimisation tests were behind the recent "throttling" of streaming on its network. Customers on both limited and unlimited mobile plans this week reported that Netflix's speed test tool appeared to be capped at 10 Mbps, leading to fears that Verizon was blocking streaming on its mobile network. Some YouTube users also claimed video quality was affected. However, Verizon said that it was testing a new video optimisation system, which would be completed shortly. It added that customer video experience "was not affected".


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Samsung, Android are narrowing mobile monetisation gap with Apple
 Missed the GamesBeat Summit excitement? Don't worry! Tune in now to catch all of the live and virtual sessions here.

Apple has long been dominant when it comes to the iPhone’s ability to monetize mobile games at higher rates than rival smartphones. But mobile analytics and marketing platform DeltaDNA has found in a study that rivals are closing the gap.

For a decade, the iPhone’s polished user experience has always made it the smartphone of choice for gamers, with each player generally spending more on games than an Android user does. But DeltaDNA found that smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S and Google Pixel are not only closing the monetization gap, they are actually on course to exceed the iPhone in terms of the average revenue per daily active user (ARPDAU) statistic, a key measure of how much money comes in on a daily basis from the most loyal users.

The study also looked at the percentage of free-to-play (F2P) players going on to spend money each day when using the latest iPhone, Samsung Galaxy S, and Google Pixel smartphone models. The Samsung Galaxy S8+, the most recently released smartphone in the study, is not only generating the highest ARPDAU — it also has the largest payer fraction, as shown below.

Image Credit: DeltaDNA

Earlier studies showed that newer smartphones always monetize better than their predecessors. In addition, models with super-sized screens also monetize better than their smaller-screened equals. But model by model, it’s clear that Samsung’s Galaxy S models are catching up.

“The fact that iOS games monetize better that those on Android is well known, but what’s interesting is how the screen size and performance of the device contribute massively to strong monetization,” said Mark Robinson, CEO of DeltaDNA, in a statement. “It may have taken 10 years for anyone to make a smartphone that can challenge the iPhone for games. Our study shows that gamers certainly feel that the latest Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel devices aren’t far off.”

The study is based on 1.4 million players across North America in June 2017.

“As the power and performance of smartphones [continue] to increase, we can expect game monetization to also increase in step with this” trend, Robinson said.

Output: Samsung and Google are closing the monetisation gap of mobile games with Apple, according to mobile analytics firm DeltaDNA. While the iPhone has long been the smartphone of choice for gamers, data showed that devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S and Google Pixel are soon set to exceed the iPhone in terms of average revenue per daily active user. The study was based on 1.4 million players across North America in June 2017.


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China calls for more self-discipline in insurance industry
 SHANGHAI--China's insurance regulator called for greater self-discipline in the industry to better serve the economy, as part of a broader effort to guard against financial risks.

Insurers need to "return to core business" and strive to become "shock absorbers and stabilizers" in the economy, said Liang Tao, vice chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

Mr. Liang also urged strengthening of the communist party's leadership in overseeing the industry, according to a transcript of his speech published on the CIRC website Saturday.

The industry has increased oversight of the design and sales of life-insurance products, and halted pilots for investment-type non-life insurance products, Mr. Liang said.

The message underscores China's shifting priorities in the financial sector, moving from encouraging innovation to preventing systemic risk.

China's insurance sector, with total assets of $2.4 trillion, came under tighter scrutiny from Beijing this year, following a period of aggressive growth driven primarily by high-yield and short-term investment-type insurance policies.

The former top regulator, Xiang Junbo, was investigated in April by the country's antigraft agency, while major insurers and industry executives have been probed for any possible rule violations.

Anbang Insurance Group Chairman Wu Xiaohui was in June detained by Chinese authorities investigating corruption and trying to curb risky financial behavior. Foresea Life Insurance chairman Yao Zhenhua was in February barred from working in the insurance industry for 10 years.

During a major conference last week, China's President Xi Jinping urged the financial sector to better serve the real economy and ward off systemic risks.

Yifan Xie

Output: The China Insurance Regulatory Commission has called for stricter self-discipline in the insurance industry as part of its efforts to curb financial risks. It said insurers must "return to core business" and look to become "shock absorbers and stabilisers" in the Chinese economy. There is to be increased oversight of the design and sales of life insurance products, and pilots for investment-type non-life insurance products have been halted.


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Moneysupermarket fined after sending emails to opt-out customers
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Price comparison website Moneysupermarket.com has been slapped with a £80,000 fine for sending millions of emails to people who had made it clear that they do not wish to be contacted in this way.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said on Friday that the company had sent over 7 million emails over a period of 10 days last year, updating customers on its terms and conditions. All of the people who got the emails had previously opted out of receiving direct marketing.

According to the ICO, the emails contained a section entitled “Preference Centre Update”, which read: “We hold an e-mail address for you which means we could be sending you personalised news, products and promotions. You’ve told us in the past you prefer not to receive these. If you’d like to reconsider, simply click the following link to start receiving our e-mails.”

By asking people to consent to receiving marketing messages in future, when they have already opted out of this, the company is breaking the law.

“When people opt out of direct marketing, organisations must stop sending it, no questions asked, until such time as the consumer gives their consent,” said Steve Eckersley, the ICO’s head of enforcement. “They don’t get a chance to persuade people to change their minds.”

He said that by sending emails to consumers “under the guise of ‘customer service, checking or seeking their consent,” Moneysupermarket.com is circumventing the the rules, which is “unacceptable”.

“We will continue to take action against companies that choose to ignore the rules,” he added.

The messages were sent between 30 November and 10 December last year.

A spoeksperson for MoneySupermarket said: “At MoneySupermarket, we take the protection of our customers’ data and privacy very seriously. We apologise unreservedly to the customers affected by this isolated incident and we have put measures in place to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

Output: Price comparison website Moneysupermarket.com has been fined £80,000 by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for sending 7 million emails to customers that had opted out of receiving direct marketing. Sent over a period of 10 days last year, the emails updated customers on the company's terms and conditions and asked customers whether they'd like to start receiving news, products and promotions again. By asking customers to reconsider their decision to opt out of marketing messages, Moneysupermarket.com broke the law, the ICO ruled.


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Snap publisher cuts ad creation time from months to minutes
 Two minutes. That's all the time it takes to make a Snapchat ad with the company's new tool released this week.

It used to take months, and for good reason. One of the beauties of advertising on Snapchat, since its debut in early 2015, has been a high bar for quality because the format—mobile, vertical, 10 seconds—was so new and the ad itself was so expensive.

Now, the floodgates are opening. It's a blessing for advertisers, but it could be a curse for users—and Snapchat.

Cue a flood of ads that maybe don't look that impressive, a may not even have been designed for Snap.

For the case of the Jet.com ad above, it's a simple colored background, text on screen, and features a heart icon found on Instagram (ooo, harsh).

That's a far cry from a 30-second television commercial but also much different than the early ads on Snapchat, where studios created 10-second versions of movie trailers.

With the release of Snapchat Publisher, more ads—quickly crafted, without the support of a savvy strategist—could start appearing in the app, which isn't fun for the user nor the older, experienced advertisers like those movie studios:

Credit: snapchat screenshot

But Snap's move was inevitable. We've seen it before on all the older online platforms: Google, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Instagram opened up its floodgates in August 2015, and yeah, not every Instagram ad is great.

"There will always be good eggs and bad, but hopefully Snap really leans into user feedback to keep the creative threshold high," said Mike Metzler, creative strategist at Delmondo (opens in a new tab), a creative studio and technology company that provides Snapchat analytics.

Snap is still keeping some control of the process. No ad goes live without Snapchat's review (for now), but advertisers now have much more freedom to get weird.

"Advertisers want to be able to test before making big commitments on spend. So I think this will bring in a lot of new advertisers," Metzler continued.

Those new advertisers will be crucial to Snap's future.

Instagram will make up 20 percent of Facebook's U.S. mobile revenue in 2017, according to eMarketer estimates(opens in a new tab). Snap Inc., which competes with the advertising juggernaut that is Facebook/Instagram, needs that cash boost too. And so come the easy-to-make, easy-to-buy ads.

And in the wake of it, laughable ads, like this "dancing" beer glass:

Credit: snapchat screenshot

Unlike Instagram and other social apps, there's a strange thing about Snapchat: low-quality ads may work in its favor. Laughable content may be exactly what makes a good ad because Snapchat itself is a platform for sharing fun and authentic photos and videos.

"I'm bullish on Snapchat's ability and the allusion of blending user-generated content. Things on Facebook are very obvious to me that they’re an ad," Derek Rubinstein, director at marketing agency Taktical Digital(opens in a new tab).

While Snapchat Publisher could make way for less creative ads, it's not like ads prior to this week always impressed users. For example, there was this:

Clicking away? Not remembering the name of the brand? Not good for an advertiser.

Illan Nass, founder of Taktical Digital, while first admitting his own bias as being on the agency side, said Snapchat could avoid a reputation for low-quality ads by continuing to work closely with these partners.

Snapchat "doesn’t sell all their own goods, someone else sells it for them," Nass said. "The more Snapchat cares about the guys and girls on the ground, the better."

Output: Snap's new publisher cuts Snapchat ad creation time from months to just two minutes, but this could prove a negative for the messaging app. Snapchat has had a high bar for quality since its launch in 2015, as its vertical 10-second format was new and the ad itself was expensive to make. The release of Snapchat Publisher means more quickly-made ads are likely to start appearing in the app, potentially lowering the quality threshold. However, no ad will go live without review, meaning Snap retain some control of the creative process.


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Global mobile user numbers to be over 70% by 2022
 According to Forrester Data, global mobile device usage is expected to reach more than 5.5 billion users by 2022.

Powered by rising mobile adoption in Asia Pacific and Africa, mobile penetration is expected to reach 70% by 2022, which is almost double the total number of users in 2008.

China has toppled the Indian smartphone makers with strategic innovation and marketing already. The continuous reduction of smartphone prices by the Chinese brands will be one factor in leading smartphone subscribers to reach 3.8 billion by 2022, crossing the 50% mark for smartphone penetration by population in 2017. Most of the incremental growth in the subscribers is coming from APAC region, where India remains the fastest growing market

The Drum spoke with Satish Meena, senior forecast analyst at Forrester Research as to what does this mean for global smartphone sales. He said, “Developed countries are witnessing very limited upside in number of new subscriber addition. The main source of sales in these markets is replacement rate. Due to no significant launch with improved features in last few years, the replacement rate is going down, leading to people using handsets for more time than they had in the past.

"The net new sales are coming from APAC and African markets which have issues like pricing, use case for shift to smartphone, battery and high cost of data plans. So overall with increasing adoption the growth rate of global sales is going to remain in single digits in coming years," added Meena.

This increased adoption of smartphones, especially the large screen phones, is leading to a decline in tablet sales and total tablet installed base is predicted to decline at a CAGR of 1.1% from 2017 to 2022, declining from 615 million in 2016 to 579 million in 2022, according to Forrester.

In terms of mobile operating system around 94% smartphone market is captured by Android and iOS and is expected to remain the same in coming years with no clear direction from Microsoft currently. The research also found that, with the rise of Chinese-made phones, the Android ecosystem would continue to rise. By 2017, Android is expected to capture 73% of the market, with Apple claiming 21% and Windows 4%.

Output: The number of global mobile users is expected to reach 70% of the world's population by 2022, around 5.5 billion people. The number has almost almost doubled since 2008. Growth is driven mainly by the Asia Pacific and Africa, where mobile adoption has spiked dramatically in recent years. China's persistent shrinking of smartphone prices, in particular, had an impact on the projection.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Spain’s Ecoalf converts plastic litter from the sea into clothing
 Three miles off Spain's Costa Blanca, Vicente Sana and his crew pull in their first catch of the day, but as the nets are opened onto the deck, plastic and rubbish tumbles out with the fish.

Fisherman Paco Perez points out a bit of old tyre, a diver's fin, water bottles and yoghurt pots.

He tells me this is normal, that they're seeing more plastic in the Mediterranean now than in the past.

"Why?" I ask.

"I don't know," he replies. "I guess people are throwing away more, but we notice it more in the summer."

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 3:33 Why fishermen are recycling for eco-fashion

A recent survey by Greenpeace found 96% of litter floating on the surface of the Mediterranean was plastic. Globally, it is estimated that as much as 12.7 million metric tonnes of plastic enters the ocean each year.

Vicente and his crew, along with about 2,000 fishermen in Spain, are now working with clothing company Ecoalf to turn plastic found in the sea into fabric.

"We make our living from the sea so we have to clean it up," he explains. "Everything we catch, instead of throwing it back, which would be easy, we just separate into bags and in the afternoon we deposit them in the container."

Image: Paco Perez picks out a tire caught from a haul of fish

Environmentally, working on a trawler causes controversy, so some of them see the project as doing their bit.

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The rubbish that is collected onboard is thrown into bright yellow bins in the port. The plastic is then separated and taken by Ecoalf to be broken into chips and then pellets, which can eventually be spun into thread.

The end results include jackets, trainers and backpacks - all made from recycled plastic.

At the company's store in Madrid, founder Javier Goyeneche explains how his dismay at the amount of waste produced by the fashion world made him want to make a clothing line that was more sustainable.

Image: The fishermen's livelihoods depend on cleaning up the water

So far they have transformed 30 million used bottles into material but Mr Goyeneche says the pollution is widespread: "We did a trial test with a thousand divers (in Thailand) in January and we took 7.5 tons of waste in one day out of the ocean, 7.5 kilos per diver.

"It's not a problem of Spain or of Thailand, it's the same problem in Mexico, Columbia, in Hawaii. This is a worldwide problem."

Of course, it is not just fish swimming with plastic. Thousands of holidaymakers pack onto the popular beaches of the Costa Blanca each year.

The fishermen tell me tourism had increased the pollution in the sea.

Image: Recycled plastic is eventually turned into jackets like this one

The fishermen's livelihoods depend on cleaning up the water. The pollution is killing off their product. In Vicente's words: "No fish means no work."

The rest of us won't go untouched; the plastic that is filling up our seas will eventually end up on our plates.

Sky News launched its Sky Ocean Rescue campaign earlier this year aimed at reducing the amount of plastic waste that ends up in the world's seas.

:: You can find out more about the Sky Ocean Rescue campaign and how to get involved at www.skyoceanrescue.com

Output: Ecoalf, the Madrid-based clothing firm, is working with 2,000 fishermen off the coast of Spain to convert plastic waste from the sea into fabric and ultimately clothing. The collected plastic is converted into chips and then pellets, before being spun into thread used to create backpacks, jackets and trainers. The company has so far transformed 30 million bottles into material. A survey by Greenpeace in June found that 96% of surface litter in the Mediterranean sea was plastic waste. An estimated 12.7 million metric tonnes of the material enter the ocean each year.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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UK faces risk of ‘unprecedented’ winter rainfall: Met Office
 January rainfall record

The observed and modelled January rainfall totals for south east England are shown in Fig. 1. Prior to January 2014, observations do not provide a precedent for the totals seen in 2014. The observed rainfall and two examples of model simulations are shown in Fig. 1a. Both model simulations show variability that appears similar to the observations. One set of model simulations shows no rainfall totals outside of the spread of observations. However, the other shows a month with rainfall far greater than had yet been observed—and even greater than was observed in the current record month of January 2014.

Fig. 1 Unprecedented monthly rainfall. a South east England January monthly rainfall totals from 1979 to 2014, in mm (black) and two examples from model simulations (red). The black dashed line indicates the unprecedented January 2014 observed rainfall total. b Distribution of south east England January monthly rainfall totals from observations (grey) and the model (red). The box represents the interquartile range and the range of the whiskers represents the minimum and maximum monthly rainfall totals. The grey dot indicates the record observed monthly rainfall of January 2014 and ticks on the upper end of observations show the values in the upper quartile of previous events. Ticks on the model line indicate months above the observed record prior to 2014, and red dots indicate even higher totals Full size image

The distribution from all 4200 modelled January monthly rainfall totals is shown in Fig. 1b alongside the observed January rainfall. There are many model months with greater rainfall than had been observed prior to 2014, and several even exceed the January 2014 total and are therefore unprecedented. This shows that the level of rainfall seen in January 2014 could have been expected and these simulations could be used to calculate chance of exceeding current record monthly rainfall totals, assuming the climate is stationary over the observational period used.

Model fidelity

In order to accurately calculate the chance of unprecedented monthly rainfall, the model must be able to provide a realistic representation of the range of states available to the real world19. While this high-resolution climate model is able to represent weather patterns that lower resolution models struggle to simulate, e.g. Atlantic blocking20, it is still not perfect and is unable to fully represent fine scale orographic enhancement that often gives rise to flooding for example21. However, over many regions, including south east England, model error due to orography is small. We apply tests to ensure that the model represents observations accurately enough to look for unprecedented rainfall events.

To assess the model fidelity we use the Met Office NCIC data set7 covering 1981–2015, the same period as the model simulations. Later we discuss the use of longer observational data sets. The modelled and observed distribution of the monthly rainfall totals for the winter months, October–March, for south east England are statistically indistinguishable (Fig. 2a). We assess the mean, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis (‘Methods’). The skewness and kurtosis measure the shape of the distribution—the symmetry and weighting of the tails. If any of the four measures were unrealistically high in the model then too many unprecedented extremes would be identified, leading to an overestimation of the likelihood; if they are too low then the likelihood would be underestimated. As we are looking for events in the extremes of the distribution it is important to ensure the behaviour in the model tails is indistinguishable from the observations. Proxy time series are generated by sampling the climate model data for sets of equal length to the observed record. The observed value is then compared to the distribution of values from the proxy time series. In south east England the observed values all lie within 95% of the model distribution (Fig. 2b–e) and hence the model is deemed to be statistically indistinguishable from the observations.

Fig. 2 Model and observed rainfall totals are indistinguishable. a The distribution of October to March monthly rainfall totals (in mm) of observations from the Met Office NCIC data set, 1981 to 2015, and the model simulations for south east England. b–e The distributions of proxy south east England model time series mean, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis compared to the observed values indicated by the black vertical line Full size image

Risk of a monthly rainfall record

In January 2014 the observed monthly rainfall record was exceeded by 30%7. The model simulations (Figs. 1b, 3) show that there was a 7% chance of an unprecedented rainfall total in a given winter, suggesting that the January 2014 rainfall could have been anticipated under the current climate, with the exact timing and occurrence determined simply by natural variability. The number of unprecedented monthly rainfall totals shown by the model varies between months, with December showing the largest number of unprecedented rainfall events (Fig. 3). This suggests that the observed record for December has been fortuitously low, and that the south east of the UK has been fortunate in not experiencing a wetter December in the past 35 years. Considering the whole winter, the chance of a record rainfall in any month in south east England is 7%; therefore, in the current climate, a new record is likely to occur there in the next decade. January 2014 is the wettest month in the observational record but even this event is exceeded by the model, suggesting that even greater rainfall is possible.

Fig. 3 Unprecedented monthly rainfall in all winter months. South east England monthly rainfall totals from observations (grey) and the model (red) for October to March. The box represents the interquartile range and the range of the whiskers represents the minimum and maximum monthly rainfall totals. Red dots indicate model months with greater total rainfall than has yet been observed and ticks on the upper observations line indicate values in the upper quartile of events. For January the ticks on the model line indicate months above the observed record prior to 2014 and the grey dot above the observations indicates the record observed monthly rainfall of January 2014 Full size image

A statistical model could be used to calculate the probability of unprecedented rainfall from observational data alone using extreme value theory22,23,24. However there are many advantages of using a dynamical model. The observations are poorly sampled at the tails due to the limited length of the record; simply extrapolating from the available observations using extreme value theory would give large errors, as explored later. A statistical model can also lead to physically unrealistic results whereas a dynamical model provides physically plausible limits, but a statistical model may reduce sampling uncertainties by providing a parametric description. In this study both a statistical approach and a dynamical model are used. As the dynamical model provides global fields of many climatic indicators it allows calculation of the likelihood of concurrent climatic events in different locations, for example, the associated storm depths or extreme wind speeds. A dynamical model also allows investigation of the mechanisms of extreme events and remote precursors, which can aid prediction. This is discussed further in the next subsection.

We now quantify the probability of unprecedented rainfall in south east England as an example of our analysis (Fig. 4). Using the dynamical model rainfall data we use both a ranking method and extreme value theory to estimate the chance of record rainfall (‘Methods’). Both methods are in good agreement, indicating a 7% risk of a record monthly rainfall total in any winter month of a given year, as we previously noted. The horizontal line at 1% indicates an event with a 1% annual probability would be 20–25% wetter that the current observed monthly record. Note, for south east England longer observational records are available; this is not true for all regions globally. We have also assessed the risk using the longer time series from 1880 to 2015, containing 100 times fewer station records25, finding a likelihood for an unprecedented rainfall total in at least one month of a given winter of 6%—similar to the values using observations from the model period alone.

Fig. 4 Improved risk estimates of the chance of unprecedented rainfall. The chance of an event exceeding the observed maximum monthly rainfall total in south east England in winter (October to March) of any given year from two methods, ranking (red) and extreme value theory (blue) on the model simulations. The uncertainties indicate the 95% range Full size image

Engineers and hydrologists are likely to need the absolute magnitude of extreme events for design purposes. Figure 5 shows the chance of absolute monthly rainfall totals, calculated from both the model simulations and the observations. For the model we have calculated the uncertainty using the full model data (Fig. 5, red). By subsampling the model to the length of observations, 35 years (Fig. 5, grey), we show how uncertain results calculated using the observations alone are. This can be compared to the parametric uncertainty range calculated from observations (Fig. 5, blue), showing that the spread is similar to the subsampled model curve. The model indicates a slightly lower chance of exceeding the record than observations. From the upper limits of the subsampled model curve (Fig. 5, grey) there is a 1% chance of at least 234 mm precipitation in at least one month of a given winter, using all available model data the chance of rainfall at this level is much lower with only two events above this threshold—a 0.05% chance. The figure shows that using the large ensemble of model simulations we are able to greatly constrain the uncertainties compared to using observations alone. We can use Fig. 5 to assess the chance of different precipitation totals. The model simulations suggest a 1% annual probability of monthly rainfall of 205–210 mm. In January 2014 south east England experienced record monthly rainfall of 205 mm; Fig. 5 suggests the chance of such event is just over 1% per year.

Fig. 5 The chance of specified absolute rainfall totals. The chance, in south east England, of at least one month in a given winter (October–March) exceeding absolute rainfall totals (in mm) using extreme value theory. The 95% uncertainty cone of the model using the full model data is shown in red. Limiting the sample length to 35 years, as is available from observations, is shown in grey. The limits of the uncertainty range from the observations alone are shown in blue Full size image

Dynamics of extreme rainfall

The dynamical model provides global fields of dynamically consistent variables, allowing us to investigate the atmospheric circulation associated with extreme events. To illustrate this we investigate the sea level pressure fields over the North Atlantic and Europe for four extreme rainfall months (Fig. 6). A one-to-one mapping between the monthly circulation patterns and rainfall does not exist and a similar circulation pattern could cause a range of rainfall, especially for a region as small as south east England. Nevertheless, the model patterns show circulation patterns that appear feasible in the real world and enable us to see a range of conditions that could lead to extreme rainfall over south east England.

Fig. 6 Observed and not yet realised climate states. a, b The sea level pressure anomaly fields (in hPa, relative to the January mean sea level pressure field) of the two observed Januarys with highest rainfall totals, 2014 and 1988, using the ERA data set35. c–f The sea level pressure anomalies of four extreme simulated Januarys, one of which d presents a potential new record rainfall scenario Full size image

The observed patterns from January 2014 and from January 1988, the two wettest Januarys in observations, are shown (Fig. 6a, b). The two are similar, showing patterns that would be expected to cause high rainfall as they have low pressure over the UK. Four examples of model Januarys with extreme rainfall are shown (Fig. 6c–f). Two of the extreme rainfall months show a similar pattern to observations, with low pressure centred near the UK (Fig. 6c, d), showing the model is able to simulate realistic flow patterns. This pattern represents storms repeatedly tracking across the North Atlantic and over south east England—as was observed in January 20141. However, there is variation in the sea level pressure patterns leading to extreme monthly rainfall. For example, the circulation patterns in Fig. 6e, f project onto a negative North Atlantic Oscillation, not normally associated with wet and stormy conditions over the UK26. In these cases moist air from the subtropics moves northwards bringing rainfall to the UK. These examples serve to highlight that a variety of large-scale circulation patterns, some of them perhaps not yet realised, can drive UK regional extreme rainfall events. Future work could further investigate the dynamics of extreme and unprecedented rainfall and assess how the chance of regional rainfall extremes relates to the large-scale atmospheric circulation.

Output: The risk of record-breaking monthly winter rainfall in England and Wales, similar to that responsible for the flooding in 2014, has risen to one in three, according to the Met Office. Computer modelling reflecting natural variability combined with global warming was used to estimate the risk. The analysis also revealed a 7% risk of a monthly record extreme event in Southeast England over the next few years, and a 34% chance of an extreme event in at least one English or Welsh region each year. The research showed that such events might also break current records by up to 30%.


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Bank of England concerned by 'complacency' over consumer debt
 The Bank of England has told banks, credit card companies and car loan providers that they risk fresh action against reckless lending as it warned of a looming “spiral of complacency” about mounting consumer debt.

In its toughest warning yet about the possibility of a rerun of the financial crisis that devastated the economy 10 years ago, Threadneedle Street admitted it was alarmed about the increase in the amount of money being borrowed on easy terms over the past year.

“Household debt – like most things that are good in moderation – can be dangerous in excess”, Alex Brazier, the Bank director for financial stability, said in a speech in Liverpool. “Dangerous to borrowers, lenders and, most importantly from our perspective, everyone else in the economy.”

Brazier’s said there were “classic signs” of lenders thinking the risks were lower following a prolonged period of good economic performance and low losses on loans.

The first signs of the Bank’s anxiety about consumer debt came from its governor, Mark Carney, a month ago, but Brazier’s comments marked a ratcheting up of Threadneedle Street’s rhetoric.

“Lenders have been the lucky beneficiaries of the benign way the economy has evolved. In expanding the supply of credit, they may be placing undue weight on the recent performance of credit cards and loans in benign conditions,” Brazier said.

The willingness of consumers to take on more debt to fund their spending helped the economy grow strongly in the six months after the EU referendum, a period when the Bank expected growth to fall sharply.

Over the past year, Brazier said, household incomes had grown by just 1.5% but outstanding car loans, credit card balances and personal loans had risen by 10%.

He added that terms and conditions on credit cards and personal loans had become easier. The average advertised length of 0% credit card balance transfers had doubled to close to 30 months, while advertised interest rates on £10,000 personal loans had fallen from 8% to around 3.8%, even though official interest rates had barely changed.

The past decade has seen the number of cars bought with a personal contract purchase (PCP) plan – under which the car is effectively leased – increase from one in five to four in five. Companies risk losing money if used car prices fall and Brazier said banks involved and the shareholders of car companies would “want to think very carefully about the risks”.

He added that developments in mortgage debt had been much less striking than those in consumer debt and car finance, with lending for home loans up by just 3% over the past year. “But even here there are some tentative signs of boundaries being pushed,” he said.

Strong competition for business was resulting in more lending at higher loan-to-income (LTI) multiples, with the share at an LTI above 4 increasing from 19% to 26% over the past two years.

“Lenders have not entered, but they may be dicing with the spiral of complacency,” Brazier said, noting that as credit became cheaper it was taken up more widely and was serviced more easily.

“The spiral continues, and borrowers rack up more and more debt. Lending standards can go from responsible to reckless very quickly. The sorry fact is that as lenders think the risks they face are falling, the risks they – and the wider economy – face are actually growing,” Brazier said.

The Bank director said banks and building societies were being supervised and had to prove to the regulator that they had safeguards in place against entering the spiral of complacency. Lenders were also being regularly stress tested to ensure that they could deal with very severe recessions without cutting back on their lending.

In addition, the Bank had forced lenders to hold more capital in order to make them more resilient to losses on their loans.

“By September we will have assessed whether the rapid growth has created any gap in the line. If it has, we’ll plug it,” Brazier said.

Brazier said the defence lines did “not eliminate the risks that borrowers and lenders take on when entering into a loan” but that they “safeguard everyone else – the wider economy – from collateral damage. They mean there’s every prospect that we can make the economy a safer place than it has been in the past and that we can stop watching endless repeats of Debt Strikes Back.”

His speech came just a fortnight before the 10th anniversary of the start of the global financial crisis in August 2007.

“Ten years ago, an unsafe financial system caused financial crisis and economic disaster”, he said. “The western banking system had expanded rapidly. Banks – and their regulators – had been blind to the basic fact that more debt meant greater risk of loss.

“Complacency gave way to crisis. Companies and households were unable to refinance their debts. The result was economic disaster. In this country alone, close to a million jobs were lost and more than 100,000 businesses failed. Too much debt made the financial system, and the economy, unsafe. Too many people paid the price when those risks materialised.”

Output: The Bank of England has warned that credit card firms, banks and car loan companies could face action if they do not curb reckless lending in the face of a “spiral of complacency” around increasing consumer debt. The comments by Alex Brazier, the Bank’s director for financial stability, follow remarks expressing anxiety about such debt by governor Mark Carney last month. Brazier stated that, while household incomes had risen by just 1.5% over the past year, credit card balances and loans had increased by 10%.


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Redrow Redrow agrees to pay stamp duty on remaining Moulton homes
 Redrow stumps up stamp duty on remaining Moulton homes

Only two homes remain for sale at Redrow’s stunning Carey Fields development in Moulton.

And if that isn’t enough to get people flocking to the Northamptonshire village in a last chance bid to buy one of these beautiful properties – news that Redrow has agreed to pay the stamp duty on the perfect pair most certainly is.

“Homes at Carey Fields have been snapped up almost as soon as they’ve been put on the market, with many selling months ahead of build,” said Tonia Tyler, sales director for Redrow Homes (South Midlands). “So it really is no surprise that we are down to our final two houses there.

“The specification and quality of the homes, plus the idyllic location, have very much played a part in that, as the development is close to both beautiful countryside and excellent transport links, making it perfect for families and commuters who want a better life balance.”

But while it is last, it is certainly not least, for the dazzling house duo.

“One of the properties is the hugely popular four-bedroom Richmond style house and the other a fabulous five-bedroom home; both detached and both absolutely amazing homes,” added Tonia.

“I can’t imagine either will stay on the market for very long – especially considering that with Redrow paying the Stamp Duty it means savings of an incredible £18,398 and £16,988 respectively.”

First to feast on is the five-bedroom Marlborough at £539,950. An extensive executive home, it has oodles of style and space. Downstairs there’s a heart-of-the-home kitchen and dining area together with a lounge and separate snug, as well as a utility, cloakroom and integral double garage.

Upstairs there are five bedrooms, two of which have an en-suite, and a luxurious family bathroom.

Or buyers may prefer the four-bedroom Richmond, at £567,950, again swimming in style and sophistication, while retaining a cosy charm demanded by a family home.

Carefully crafted and designed, the Richmond has a kitchen, dining room and family room overlooking the rear garden of the delightful property, complemented by a spacious lounge, cloakroom and utility – not forgetting again, of course, the integral double garage.

On the first floor, the Richmond offers four bedrooms, two of which have en-suite, and with the master bedroom benefiting from a walk-in wardrobe too.

Situated on Northampton Lane North, Carey Fields boasts natural surroundings while being just four miles from the centre of Northampton and with easy access to the M1, A45 and A14.

Nearer to the development itself is a superb selection of shops, including a post office, plus pubs, a theatre and sports complex with activities for all ages and abilities. Moulton Primary School is within half a mile of Carey Fields, plus there are plenty of other schools for all ages in the surrounding area.

To find out more about the final two homes, visit the sales centre open Thursday to Monday inclusive, from 10am to 5.30pm. Alternatively, visit redrow.co.uk/carey.

Output: Redrow Homes has agreed to pay the stamp duty on the final two homes for sale at the Carey Fields development in Moulton, Northamptonshire. The house builder's decision will mean savings of £18,398 ($23,947) and £16,988 for buyers of the properties, according to Tonia Tyler, sales director for Redrow Homes (South Midlands).


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Sinclair Pharma Katie Price uses Silhouette Lift
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Get daily celeb exclusives and behind the scenes house tours direct to your inbox

(Image: London Bridge Surgery)

Katie Price is no stranger to cosmetic surgery, and now the 39 year old mum of five has gone one step further, unveiling the results of her first ever face lift.

The reality star, who is married to Kieran Hayler, underwent the pioneering treatment 'silhouette' face lift last week, costing £5,000.

The treatment - designed to boost sagging cheeks - and is the first time the Loose Women presenter has had a facelift, and she's clearly delighted with the results, posting about it on Twitter to her 2.14m followers.

In a video - taken just four hours after her surgery - Katie commented: “So this is literally four hours after. And look, not a bruise, not a mark - fantastic!”

(Image: London Bridge Surgery)

She added: “I absolutely love my threading. Love it. So good! If you’re ever going to do anything, do it subtle. It’s just that I like to show everyone what I’ve had done."

Katie's facelift is the latest in a long line of cosmetic procedures, which began with the first of eight breast augmentations in 1998.

She’s also undergone rhinoplasty, teeth veneers, bum lifts, liposuction and has a regular Botox and dermal filler regime.

The procedure was carried out by leading UK cosmetic surgeon Chris Inglefield at London Bridge Plastic Surgery & Aesthetic Clinic.

(Image: ITV)

Commenting on her reaction, Mr Inglefield said: “Katie was a joy to have in the surgery and we’re naturally delighted she’s so happy with the outcome.

“Our Silhouette Lift features threads that do no dissolve in the skin - unlike other silhouette lifts - giving you the option of repeated lifts over a period of five years."

The Silhouette Lift is performed under local anaesthetic in an out-patient setting without the need of hospitalisation, and takes around 45 minutes for the face and less than 25 minutes for the neck.

Output: Reality TV star Katie Price revealed that she has undergone a facelift using Sinclair Pharma's Silhouette Lift at London Bridge Plastic Surgery and Aesthetic Clinic, carried out by Chris Inglefield. He said: 'If, like Katie, you are late thirties to mid-forties or over and have started experiencing facial sagging and less sharpness in the oval of your face and neck, then you will benefit from a Silhouette Lift".


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Sinclair Pharma Katie Price uses Silhouette Lift
 Katie Price has stunned fans after revealing her first ever facelift.

The reality star, 39, underwent a pioneering new procedure last week called a 'Silhouette Face Lift' designed to boost sagging cheeks and costs around £5,000.

Using permanent surgical threads that remain in Katie's skin tissue, she'll also be able to have her face retightened every year for up to five years.

And despite a long history of cosmetic procedures, this is the first time Katie has ever gone under the knife for a facial rejuvenation.

In a video posted on social media - taken just four hours after her surgery - Katie gushed: 'So this is literally four hours after. And look, not a bruise, not a mark - fantastic!'

Katie during the procedure which uses special thread sutured under the skin to manipulate her face and reduce sagging skin

Just four hours after the procedure - which leaves no bruising or scarring - Katie showed off her new look. Katie on Loose Women later that week.

In another clip from a few days later, Katie explains to her fans: 'I just wanted to let you know I had a facelift last Friday [July 14]. This is five days after. Yes that's right, facelift!

'It doesn't end there, because although he has put the threads in, in six weeks time he will pull them and my face will look even fresher.

'I know you all think I'm mad, I am mad but I'm preventing ageing.'

Katie's facelift is the latest in a long line of cosmetic procedures, which began with the first of eight breast augmentations in 1998.

SILHOUETTE FACELIFT PROCEDURE Performed under local anaesthetic the 'Silhouette Facelift' procedure takes around 45 minutes for the face and less than 25 minutes for the neck. Threads are attached to tiny cones which grip the soft tissues and lift the sagging tissues. They are then anchored to the firm fibrous tissues at the scalp either side of your head. This is achieved with a small incision in the hairline where the sutures are placed. The threads do not dissolve which means there is an option of repeated lifts over a period of five years. Advertisement !- - ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/ru/femail/none/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 - ->

She's also undergone rhinoplasty, teeth veneers, bottom lifts, liposuction and has a regular Botox and dermal filler regime.

The procedure was carried out by cosmetic surgeon Chris Inglefield at London Bridge Plastic Surgery and Aesthetic Clinic who said he was delighted that Katie is so pleased with the results.

He added: 'If, like Katie, you are late thirties to mid-forties or over and have started experiencing facial sagging and less sharpness in the oval of your face and neck, then you will benefit from a Silhouette Lift.

'The rejuvenation also keeps all your expressions alive.'

The procedure which is performed under a local anaesthetic uses threads that do not dissolve in the skin - unlike other silhouette lifts - giving you the option of repeated lifts over a period of five years.

'And it's a procedure that's becoming more and more popular, purely because it's so versatile and leaves virtually no scarring,' Dr Inglefield explained.

Katie has had multiple surgeries over the years including eight on her breasts, rhinoplasty, liposuction, Botox, fillers, veneers and a bottom lift

The mother-of-five is no stranger to the surgeon's chair and has increased and decreased her breasts leaving some scarring

KATIE'S SURGERY TIMELINE 1998: Aged 20 she had a breast augmentation going from a B cup to C cup. Katie Price has had multiple surgical procedures over 16 years 1999: She had two surgeries in one year, going to a D cup, before later an ample F cup. 2006: After the birth of her three children, Harvey Price, 15, Junior Andre, 12, Princess Tiaamii Andre, 10, Katie had another boob job taking her up to a G cup. 2007: Katie had rhinoplasty surgery but later said she liked her original nose. 2008: Katie expressed an interest in smaller breasts and went down to a 32C. 2012: After the breakdown of her marriages to Peter Andre and Alex Reid she went up to an F-cup. 2015: She announced she was having her breast implants removed and went au natural reducing them from a 32G to a natural 32B. 2016: Katie revealed her biggest implants yet when she revealed she had travelled to Belgium to go up to a 32GG. 2017: Along with the new silhouette facelift. Katie, who wears hair extensions and wigs has also had 3D liposuction, a bottom lift, veneers, lip fillers and Botox. Advertisement !- - ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/ru/femail/none/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_2 - ->

A face naturally begins to sag with age as the skin loses its elasticity and collagen while fat deposits decrease and becomes displaced by gravity, The Silhouette Lift helps to reposition this displaced skin, fat and muscle to achieve a subtle and more youthful appearance.

The Silhouette Lift is performed under local anaesthetic in an out-patient setting without the need of hospitalisation, and takes around 45 minutes for the face and less than 25 minutes for the neck.

The treatment itself sees threads attached to tiny cones, which grip the soft tissues and lift sagging tissues.

The threads are anchored to the firm fibrous tissues of the 'temporal fascia' - the scalp either side of your head - or behind the ear in a neck, and provide long-lasting results.

To achieve this, a small incision is made above the hairline, where the sutures are anchored.

Output: Reality TV star Katie Price revealed that she has undergone a facelift using Sinclair Pharma's Silhouette Lift at London Bridge Plastic Surgery and Aesthetic Clinic, carried out by Chris Inglefield. He said: 'If, like Katie, you are late thirties to mid-forties or over and have started experiencing facial sagging and less sharpness in the oval of your face and neck, then you will benefit from a Silhouette Lift".


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Onshore wind energy costs fall in UK: Arup
 Onshore windfarms could be built in the UK for the same cost as new gas power stations and would be nearly half as expensive as the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, according to a leading engineering consultant.

Arup found that the technology has become so cheap that developers could deliver turbines for a guaranteed price of power so low that it would be effectively subsidy-free in terms of the impact on household energy bills.

France’s EDF was awarded a contract for difference – a top-up payment – of £92.50 per megawatt hour over 35 years for Hinkley’s power, or around twice the wholesale price of electricity.

By contrast, Arup’s report found that windfarms could be delivered for a maximum of £50-55 per MWh across 15 years.

ScottishPower, which commissioned the analysis, hopes to persuade the government to reconsider its stance on onshore windfarms, which the Conservatives effectively blocked in 2015 by banning them from competing for subsidies and imposing new planning hurdles.

Keith Anderson, the firm’s chief operating officer, told the Guardian that onshore wind could help the UK meet its climate targets, was proven in terms of being easy to deliver, and was now “phenomenally competitive” on price.

“If you want to control the cost of energy, and deliver energy to consumers and to businesses across the UK at the most competitive price, why would you not want to use this technology? This report demonstrates it’s at the leading edge of efficiency,” he said.

The big six energy firm believes that with a cap on top-up payments so close to the wholesale price, onshore windfarms would be effectively subsidy-free – but the guaranteed price would be enough to de-risk projects and win the investment case for them.

“What we are asking for is a mechanism that underpins the investment risk,” said Anderson.

The group believes that any political sting for Tory MPs concerned about public opposition to turbines in English shires would be removed because such a low guaranteed price would see only the windiest sites coming in cheap enough – which means windfarms in Scotland.

“You put these projects in the right place, you will get the correct level of resource out of them to keep the costs down and you will get public acceptance of people liking them,” Anderson said, citing the example of the company’s huge Whitelee windfarm near Glasgow.

Dr Robert Gross, director of the centre for energy policy and technology at Imperial College, said: “Onshore wind has been coming in at remarkably low prices internationally, so a contract for difference price of around £50-60 per MWh looks perfectly feasible for a good location in the UK, one of the windiest countries in Europe.

“Windfarms generally need fixed price contracts in order to secure finance, otherwise volatile electricity prices can make investing in wind risky.”

The Conservative manifesto was seen by some in industry as softening the party’s stance on onshore wind, saying that it did not believe “more large-scale onshore wind power is right for England” but not mentioning Wales and Scotland, which have some of the best potential sites.

The party also promised a review of the cost of energy which the Guardian revealed last week was likely to be led by the University of Oxford economist Dieter Helm, a critic of the cost of today’s renewable and nuclear power technologies.

However, Anderson said he saw the report, due in October, as a good opportunity.

“I would find it surprising if anybody else doing a costs review of the energy sector comes to a fundamentally different argument [to the Arup report],” he said.

Leo Murray, of climate change charity 10:10, said: “It looks increasingly absurd that the Conservatives have effectively banned Britain’s cheapest source of new power.”

Output: Onshore windfarms could cost no more than gas power stations and be half as expensive as Hinkley Point C, according to engineering consultants Arup. The consultancy found that the cost of the technology had fallen so far that developers could deliver turbines at a cost that would be effectively subsidy-free in terms of household bills. While France’s EDF was awarded a top-up payment of £92.50 ($102.49) per MWh over 35 years in relation to Hinkley, Arup’s data indicated that windfarms could be delivered for £50-£55 per MWh over 15 years. Onshore windfarms were effectively blocked by the Conservatives in 2015.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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FedEx, without cyber coverage, signals Petya will hurt earnings
 FedEx said that it may not be able to recover all the systems affected by the Petya cyberattack and that the financial hit is unknown but "it is likely that it will be material" since the company didn't have cyber insurance.

On June 28, FedEx's global operations of its TNT unit were disrupted by the Petya attack. TNT operates in the European Union. Petya infiltrated FedEx via a Ukranian tax software product. FedEx said no data breach or data loss has occurred based on the company's current knowledge.

FedEx isn't the only company struggling to recover. Other enterprises also have recovered most systems, but may not fully restore the ones hit hardest by Petya.

Read also:

In FedEx's filing, the company said its TNT depots, hubs, and facilities are operational with most services, but customers are seeing service and invoicing delays. FedEx has had to use manual processes for a "significant portion of TNT operations and customer service functions." FedEx couldn't say when TNT services will be fully restored.

As for FedEx's recovery plan, the company said it focused on operations, finance, back-office, and secondary business systems. FedEx couldn't put a price tag on the attack fallout, but it did note:

Given the recent timing and magnitude of the attack, in addition to our initial focus on restoring TNT operations and customer service functions, we are still evaluating the financial impact of the attack, but it is likely that it will be material. We do not have cyber or other insurance in place that covers this attack. Although we cannot currently quantify the amounts, we have experienced loss of revenue due to decreased volumes at TNT and incremental costs associated with the implementation of contingency plans and the remediation of affected systems.

The company said it is still committed to boosting operating income by $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion in fiscal 2020 relative to fiscal 2017.

Related stories:

And more on securing the mobile enterprise:

Output: FedEx announced that the Petya ransomware attack that hit its subsidiary, TNT, will materially impact its financial results, as revenues have suffered. The firm said it had no insurance in place that covers the attack and could not estimate when, or even if, all services will be fully restored. Revenues have been impacted by decreased volumes at TNT, the cost of implementing contingency plans and efforts to get the affected systems back on track. Currently, while its services are available, widespread delays continue to plague TNT, which is said to be manually processing much of its operations and customer service functions.


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Novartis’ gene therapy for cancer poised to be first to market
 One of those patients, Emily Whitehead, now 12 and the first child ever given the altered cells, was at the meeting of the panel with her parents to advocate for approval of the drug that saved her life. In 2012, as a 6-year-old, she was treated in a study at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Severe side effects — raging fever, crashing blood pressure, lung congestion — nearly killed her. But she emerged cancer free, and has remained so.

“We believe that when this treatment is approved it will save thousands of children’s lives around the world,” Emily’s father, Tom Whitehead, told the panel. “I hope that someday all of you on the advisory committee can tell your families for generations that you were part of the process that ended the use of toxic treatments like chemotherapy and radiation as standard treatment, and turned blood cancers into a treatable disease that even after relapse most people survive.”

The main evidence that Novartis presented to the F.D.A. came from a study of 63 patients who received the treatment from April 2015 to August 2016. Fifty-two of them, or 82.5 percent, went into remission — a high rate for such a severe disease. Eleven others died.

“It’s a new world, an exciting therapy,” said Dr. Gwen Nichols, the chief medical officer of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, which paid for some of the research that led to the treatment.

The next step, she said, will be to determine “what we can combine it with and is there a way to use it in the future to treat patients with less disease, so that the immune system is in better shape and really able to fight.” She added, “This is the beginning of something big.”

Output: A US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel has recommended that the regulator give the green light to a cancer treatment from Novartis that genetically alters patients' own cells to fight leukaemia. "Living drug" treatments mobilise the immune system against cancer cells. If the panel's recommendation is accepted by the FDA, which is said to be "likely", it will become the first gene therapy to reach the market; others are then expected to follow. Novartis plans to apply for EU approval later this year.


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TalkTalk Power outage causes issues for TalkTalk
 TalkTalk customers have reported that e-mail and internet services are down today

TalkTalk is down for hundreds of customers today, with users reporting internet, e-mail and phone issues.

Independent website Down Detector has registered hundreds of TalkTalk customers saying they are experiencing issues with the service today.

TalkTalk’s official Twitter page has also been busy today responding to customers saying they are experiencing issues with the service.

The TalkTalk official status website said there has been a power failure at one of their sites which is causing system issues.

On the official TalkTalk website, they said: "Due to an unexpected power outage at one of our centres we're experiencing issues handling some of your calls, this issue is also impacting some of our websites such as Help, My Account, Webmail.

"We'd like to apologise for any inconvenience caused, we appreciate your patience during this time and would like to assure you that our engineers are working to resolve the issue asap.

"We'll continue to update you on our progress right here so check back for updates."

Output: TalkTalk was reportedly down for hundreds of customers today, with users reporting internet, e-mail and phone issues. The firm's website said: "Due to an unexpected power outage at one of our centres we're experiencing issues handling some of your calls, this issue is also impacting some of our websites such as Help, My Account, Webmail. We'd like to apologise for any inconvenience caused, we appreciate your patience during this time and would like to assure you that our engineers are working to resolve the issue asap. We'll continue to update you on our progress right here so check back for updates."


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Redrow [2]: Jewson supports NHS sunscreen for construction workers campaign
 Construction workers are being urged to “Cover Up, Mate” and protect themselves against ultraviolet (UV) damage as part of a new NHS campaign being supported by Jewson.

This initiative is designed to encourage men who spend a lot of time outdoors to protect themselves against the sun and reduce the risk of skin cancer.

Skin cancer rates are rising in Britain. A recent Imperial College study, commissioned by Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) estimated that construction workers made up the highest number of deaths (44 per cent) from melanoma skin cancer over the course of a year. Across Britain there are 48 deaths and 241 cases of skin cancer per year caused by UV rays from the sun at work.

The NHS "Cover Up, Mate" campaign (which launched on the 19th of June 2017) targets male construction workers, amongst others, who often don't use suncream.

David Kilby, Operations Director at Jewson, said: “We know builders don’t have much time on their hands, so prioritising something like sun care isn’t always easy – especially given Britain’s unpredictable weather. But with construction workers often outside for long periods of time, they can be at a much higher risk of exposure to UV rays than most. We’re showing our support to the Cover Up, Mate campaign to help raise awareness of the dangers of being in the sun without protection.”

Jewson joins a line-up of campaign supporters, including: the Met Office; IOSH; the National Farmers Union; Mole Valley Farmers farming supply retailer; and sun cream manufacturer, Debs.

NHS England Medical Director, Nigel Acheson, said: “You can’t feel UV radiation, so it’s very easy to get sunburnt in the UK, even when it’s not particularly warm. But sunburn causes skin cancer so it’s important people take more care, especially men and those who work outside. They need to use at least factor 15 sunscreen with good UVA protection and apply it generously on all exposed skin.”

Official NHS advice on staying safe in the sun is:

• spend time in the shade if you can

• try not to go out in the mid-day sun

• cover up with suitable clothing and sunglasses

• wear light, breathable fabric clothing where possible

• use at least factor 30 sunscreen

To find out more about how you can protect yourself on site, visit: http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/skin/pages/sunsafe.aspx

Output: Jewson is supporting the “Cover up, Mate” NHS campaign, which is aims to get construction workers using sunscreen to reduce the risk of developing skin cancer. Construction workers account for around 44% of UK melanoma skin cancer-related deaths each year, according to an Imperial College study that was commissioned by Institution of Occupational Safety and Health.


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RhythmOne US bill introduced to close copyright gap on pre-1972 sound-recordings
 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Legislation was introduced this week to close a long-standing quirk in copyright law: Sound-recordings made before 1972 do not get federal protection.

It’s long been a source of complaint among artists, musicians, and record labels, among others, particularly with the dramatic changes in revenue streams in the digital age. It has created confusion in the marketplace for oldies radio, as streaming services depend on the classic recordings popular with their subscribers.

The Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs, Service and Important Contributions to Society Act (CLASSICS) was introduced by a group of House Republicans and Democrats, including Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.). Issa is the chairman of a key House Judiciary subcommittee on intellectual property, and Nadler is the ranking member.

“This is an important and overdue fix to the law that will help settle years of litigation and restore some equity to the inexplicable gap in our copyright system,” Issa said in a statement. “It makes no sense that some of the most iconic artists of our time are left without the same federal copyright protections afforded to their modern counterparts.”

Supporters are hopeful for the bill’s prospects, citing its support among groups from the music industry like the Recording Industry Assn. of America, musicFIRST and the Grammys, and those that at times have a divergent agenda, like Pandora and the Internet Assn.

It was not until 1971 that Congress put sound recordings under federal copyright protection, but they applied only to works made after Feb. 15, 1972.

That has created confusion, as artists and labels have instead turned to state laws to establish copyright protections, but it has created a patchwork of different state laws.

The legislation would make the owners of the pre-1972 recordings eligible for royalties for digital broadcast. The legislation also ensures that artists are entitled to the same share of royalties regardless of whether a label and a digital music platform reach an agreement on payment.

SoundExchange would distribute the royalties for the pre-1972 recordings, just as it does for music after that date.

The legislation does not address another contentious issue that has long been a source of dispute: Broadcast radio stations do not have to pay royalties to artists and labels for airplay, even though the music industry has long sought legislation to require compensation for broadcasts of performances.

Output: A bill was introduced in the US this week to close a longstanding gap in copyright law around sound-recordings made prior to 1972, which currently fall outside of federal protection. The Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs, Service and Important Contributions to Society Act (CLASSICS) would make the owners of the pre-1972 recordings eligible for royalties for digital broadcast. It would also ensure that artists are entitled to the same share of royalties, regardless of whether a label and a digital music platform reach an agreement on payment. SoundExchange would distribute the royalties. The issue that broadcast radio stations do not have to pay royalties to artists and labels for airplay will not be addressed by the legislation.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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RhythmOne [4]: Warner Music Group buys select assets of music platform Songkick
 CelebrityAccess provides in-depth Artist Analytics for over 250k+ Celebrities Worldwide - and unparalleled, detailed information on over 100k Entertainers Speakers, Celebrities, and their Representatives, as well as hundreds of thousands of Records for Venues, Agents and Managers, including their Direct Phone Numbers and Emails Addresses. Members can instantly access 500k+ Dates of Live Bands on Tour, Artist Avails, News Archives, and UNLIMITED Box Office without worrying about Pay-More Restrictions!

Already a member? Click here to Sign In.

Output: Warner Music Group (WMG) has purchased "select assets" from live music platform Songkick, including its concert discovery app, website and the Songkick trademark. The platform will be run as a standalone brand overseen by WMG's artist and label services division, WEA. Some of Songkick's employees involved in running the concert discovery app will join the WMG team. Songkick's ticketing business and associated pending litigation, including its lawsuit against Live Nation over the alleged theft of trade secrets, are not included in the deal, financial details for which were not disclosed.


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Redrow Nigel Palmer joins Redrow as MD of West Country division
 South West Property Stephen Farrell

Housebuilder Redrow has appointed a new managing director for its West Country division to strengthen its presence in the region.

Nigel Palmer has been appointed to the role at the company's divisional head office in Exeter, with responsibility for the developer's sites across the West Country.

Palmer joins from Linden Homes, where he spent the last 15 years as the commercial director and managing director of Linden Homes Bristol, and more recently as the South West managing director.

He will lead the expansion of Redrow West Country, which was launched only three years ago and is the newest division of the national housebuilder.

Nigel Palmer said: "My priority is to continue to build the Redrow brand in the West Country. The division has seen significant success in its first few years and my aim is to accelerate that expansion and increase the number of new homes we deliver each year, targeting prime land in desirable locations for high quality developments."

Output: Nigel Palmer has been named as the new MD of Redrow's West Country division. He joins from Linden Homes, where for the last 15 years he served as commercial director and managing director for Bristol, and more recently, as South West MD. Palmer will work out of Redrow's divisional head office in Exeter and is responsible for leading the expansion of Redrow West Country, the housebuilder's newest division nationwide.


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Regus [3]: Keep in touch with remote workers to boost efficiency, bottom line: Regus
 Managers are being urged to make more effort to stay in contact with employees working remotely as the number of home workers continues to grow. Flexible workspace specialists Regus believes the solution to productivity concerns is a more open and regular channel of communication between workers.

84% of professionals agree that managers should speak with remote workers several times a week, and while phone calls are the most immediate way to make contact, it’s not always the most informative or regularly convenient. More than half think bosses should check in via video chat at least once a week, while nearly three quarters admitted that workers should be available through direct messaging service rather than email to ensure they can respond quicker.

Highlighting the importance of face-to-face discussion, 84% of respondents believe remote staff should be required to attend monthly meetings with managers if they’re expected to spend too much time out of the office. As many firms are embracing remote working opportunities for employees, Regus wants to remind managers that maintaining supervision outside of the office could help boost efficiency and reduce the risk of distracted workers.

“The challenge for business leaders is to establish reporting and measurement strategies to effectively manage this dispersed workforce,” said Richard Morris, UK CEO of Regus. “Regular assessment of tools and techniques is essential in order to take advantage of developing technologies and to ensure that employees continue to feel supported and engaged.

“Striking the right balance will deliver immediate benefits to both parties – and to business bottom-lines.”

Output: Regus suggests that managers should make more effort to keep in touch with employees working remotely, speaking several times a week, with a combination of phone, video chat and direct messaging mentioned as suitable mediums. If they are expected to spend too much time out of the office, remote staff should be required to attend monthly meetings with managers, according to 84% of respondents. “The challenge for business leaders is to establish reporting and measurement strategies to effectively manage this dispersed workforce,” said UK CEO of Regus, Richard Morris.