The U.K.s antitrust regulatorhas greenlighted the longstanding planned merger between two of the countrys biggest telecommunication operators.Vodafone and Three constitute two of the U.K.s four infrastructure-owning mobile network operators (MNOs), alongside O2 and EE. As such, when the duo revealed plans to merge in a $19 billion transaction last June, it was always likely to attract scrutiny. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) kicked off its initial phase 1 probein January, before progressing thingsto a full in-depth investigation in June, after conducting a market analysis and collating industry feedback.Then in September, the CMA delivered its provisional findings, concluding that the merger could lead to higher prices for consumers, diminished services, and reduced investment in U.K. mobile networks. But it stopped short of blocking the deal, instead suggesting potential remedies to appease its concerns. And this leads us to today, with the CMA finally approving the deal with conditions. It said both companies must sign binding commitments to invest billions to launch a combined 5G network across the whole U.K. In the shorter term, the CMA also said that the new combined entity would have to cap certain mobile tariffs for three years, while mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) would also continue to have pre-set contractual terms for the same period. These commitments will be overseen by the CMA and Ofcom, the U.K.s regulatory and competition authority for the telecommunications industry.Its crucial this merger doesnt harm competition, which is why weve spent time considering how it could impact the telecoms market, Stuart McIntosh, chair of the CMAs inquiry committee said in a statement. Having carefully considered the evidence, as well as the extensive feedback we have received, we believe the merger is likely to boost competition in the U.K. mobile sector and should be allowed to proceed but only if Vodafone and Three agree to implement our proposed measures.

U.K.-based legal tech startup Lawhive, which allows small, Main Street law firms to run their affairs through an AI-based SaaS platform, is on something of a tear. In April it raised an $11.9 million Seed round. Its now raised a $40million in Series A funding to expand in the US.The round was co-led by existing investor GV (Google Ventures) and TQ Ventures.Founded in 2019 by co-founders Pierre Proner (CEO), Jaime Van Oers (CTO), and Flinn Dolman, Lawhive automates a lot of the heavy lifting for consumer lawyers, speeding up their response times, allowing them to serve more customers, and, they claim, reducing costs for customers by up to 50%.They appear to be kicking at an open door. According to one report, 80% of US consumer legal needs are unmet. This equates to $1 trillion in value, annually.To date, most legal tech startups concentrate on Big Law firms. These include Harvey, Robin AI, and Spellbook. Most have avoided main street law firms, which have far smaller budgets and are harder to monetize. Proner told TechCrunch smaller firms have to manage higher costs amid a shrinking market, making them a ripe market.Proner added: Im sure well see competition emerge [in the US] but as of right now were first movers in this space.When asked what moved the needle GV, which has lately been more associated with DeepTech investments, he said: I think the fact that we combine a consumer brand with deep tech, and the deep tech aspect of what were building is our AI lawyer and the models, our proprietary models, that weve built to deploy that. The interest was in combining aspects of a consumer brand, building a global consumer brand, with R&D and a deep tech function, which is key to the progress that weve been able to make.Lawhive says its AI, named Lawrence, has passed part one of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). Lawyers can also use the platform to work with their own clients or be matched with consumers and small businesses through the Lawhive marketplace.In a statement, Schuster Tanger, Co-Founder/Co-Managing Partner at TQ Ventures, added: The US legal market, arguably the largest in the world, is ripe for disruption. The pressing need for affordable legal access makes it the perfect environment for innovative tech solutions like Lawhives.Also participating in the round was Balderton Capital, Jigsaw, Episode 1, and Premier League footballers Harry Maguire and Reece James.

abe bet Oyun Dnyasna Adm Atn!abe bet Oyun Dnyasna Adm Atn!Tanma Kazan Balangc ile esiz bir atlma hazr olun! Bugn http://www.ozelkartepetuanakizyurdu.com/ ve muhteem frsatlarn keyfini karn! ansnz katlamak iin bu teklifi karmayn. Bu esiz frsat, belirli bir dnem boyunca geerlidir, bu yzden hemen harekete gein! abe betin gvenilir ekibi, size birinci snf oyun deneyimini temin etmek iin hazr bekliyor. Nefes kesen oyunlar, cazip bonuslar ve abuk demeler sizi bekliyor!Tevik Unsurlar ve Yararlarlk para gnderiminiz ile birlikte, sizlere verilen teklifler sayesinde oyun yolculuunuzu glendirebilirsiniz. Aada, seebileceiniz dller hakknda avantajlar bulabilirsiniz. Bu harika bonuslar ile kazanmaya balamak annda mmkn.Avantajl Teklif eitleri%75 Bonus (750 TLye kadar)%200 Bonus (2000 TLye kadar)%350 Bonus (3500 TLye kadar)%500 Bonus (5000 TLye kadar)%750 Bonus (7500 TLye kadar)%50 Bedava Spin750 TL Para adesi%75 Yatrm Bonusu (750 TLye kadar)%50 lk Yatrm Bonusu (500 TLye kadar)300 TL Hediye ParasBu teklifler, oyun keyfinizi oaltarak daha fazla kazanma ans elde etmenizi salar. Kazancnz artrmak iin hemen adm atn. ansl dl SeenekleriEkstra hediyeler ile birlikte, oyun deneyiminizi daha da unutulmaz hale getirebilirsiniz. Aada ek avantajlar ile kazancnz oaltma imkann karmayn:150 free spinzel yelik paketiYatrmsz bonus imkanEkstra kazanlarBu sunulan frsatlar, yeni balayanlar iin baar yolunda gl bir adm atmanz salar. Bu zel avantajlarla ansnz maksimize edin!Kazanma Taktikleri ve Yntemlerdlleri elde etmek olduka zahmetsizdir. u admlar uygulayarak hemen frsatlardan istifade edebilirsiniz:Basite hesap oluturunKiisel bilgilerinizi tamamlaynHesap bakiyesi ykleme ileminizi gerekletirindl otomatik olarak hesabnza aktarlacakBu basit ilemleri tamamladktan sonra, avantajlarnz annda hesabnza eklenecek ve elenmeye balayabileceksiniz. Hzl ve keyifli bir ekilde abe bet ile tann!Bonus Kullanm artlarDikkat edilmesi gereken hususlar:Avantaj 60 gn iinde geerlidirEn dk 250 TL deme artGenel oyun art: 20x bonus tutarst limit alnabilir tutar: 2500 TLSadece belirli oyunlarda faydalanlabilirBu koullara dikkat ederek, hediyenizi en optimal ekilde kullanabilirsiniz. Unutmayn ki her bonusun belirli kurallar vardr!abe betn Sunduu mkanlarabe bet, yelerine sunduu eitli zelliklerle sektrde benzersizdir. Aada, abe bet tercih etmeniz iin baz faktrler bulabilirsiniz:Kaliteli platformAnlk yardmeffaf bonus politikalareitli oyun seenekleriKolay para yatrma yntemleriKazanl dllerMobil uyumlu platformBu nitelikler sayesinde, hem salam hem de tatmin edici bir oyun deneyimi yaayacaksnz. abe bet ile oyun keyfini karmak iin doru adrestesiniz!Hemen Kayt Olun ve ansnz Deneyin!Hemen ye olun ve heyecana merhaba deyin! abe bet ile kazanmann keyfini karn. Karlmayacak avantajlar annda kullann. abe betn heyecan verici dnyasna imdi tann!done 240244 Bets10 Yeni Abonelik Al mkn!Balang Kazan Balangc ile fevkalade bir heyecan dolu yolculua hazr olun! Vakit kaybetmeden Bets10 ve harika hediyelerin keyfini karn! Oyun dnyasna kazandran bir balang yapn.Bets10 Kayt Bonusu le Byk Kazan!lk Buluma kramiyesi ile mthi bir oyun yolculuuna hazr olun! Derhal Bets10 ve sra d ayrcalklarn keyfini karn! Bets10 ile kazanmaya balamak hi bu kadarGrandpashaBet Canl Casino ve Bahis Oyunlar Grandpashabet Canl Casinonun ne kan zellikleri Grandpashabet Bahislerinde En Popler Oyunlar Slot Oyunlar Canl Bahisler Grandpashabet Canl Casinoda Yeni Balayanlar in pular 1. GrandpashabetCasibom Casino Yeni Giri Adresi ve Gncel Giri Bilgileri Casibomda Yeni yelik in Gerekenler Casibomda Promosyonlar ve Bonuslar Casibomda Popler Oyunlar ve Nasl Oynanr? Slot Oyunlar Canl Casino Oyunlar Casibomda Para Yatrma veCasino-Elit Ho Geldin Avantaj Zaman!Casino-Elit Ho Geldin Avantaj Zaman! Karlama Hediyesi ile olaanst bir gzergaha hazr olun! Derhal casinoelit ve olaanst imkanlarn keyfini karn! Casino-Elitin sunduu bu esiz frsat

Jackson, Wyoming, is known for at least a few things, among them its charming town square lined with mom-and-pop shops that light up the night sky with neon signs. Many of the storefronts in downtown Jackson have seasoned wood finishes, emblematic of the towns Old West style, a feature that architects at HGA recently found inspiration in. A short walk from Jackson Town Square, HGA and Prospect Studio, a local office, have finished a new museum. The space at 175 East Broadway Avenue tells the story of the larger geographic valley of Jackson Hole. Gallagher & Associates, a New York studio, was responsible for exhibition design.Jackson Hole History Museum has timber columns, wood siding, and an economical material palette, reducing its carbon footprint. Thick insulation, VRF mechanical systems, and triple-planed glass also help reduce energy consumption. All in all, the wood construction is meant to help tie the building into Jacksons cowboy roots, HGA said.The building has a front porch, much like the other buildings in downtown Jackson. (Albert Vecerka/ESTO)A small retail shop is located in the lobby. (Albert Vecerka/ESTO)Previously, Jackson Hole History Museum was called Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum. This new building by HGA and Prospect Studio offers the institution a new purpose-built home that, moving forward, will foster important community gatherings and conversations. This collaboration required a delicate balance of design languages to honor the full history of Jackson Hole. We sought to distill this character within a modern museum design that reflects Jackson Holes present and future, Joan Soranno, design principal and project lead at HGA, said in a statement.The new 13,200-square-foot museum occupies a quarter-acre site. Its broken up into three structures that center a 3-story museumtwo of the main buildings stories go below ground. Two historic cabins are on site as well, augmenting the Old West experience.A small exhibition space lines East Broadway. (Albert Vecerka/ESTO)By the numbers, Jackson Hole History Museum contains 7,200 objects, 19,200 photographs, 8,200 records, and 460 oral histories. This ephemera is available to locals and visitors alike so they can form a meaningful connection to the region and those who have inhabited it for millennia, HGA said. The design team opted to bring drought-resistant native plantings to the site; this limits irrigation needs while low-flow fixtures further minimize water consumption. Water-impervious surfaces were minimized on the exterior vis--vis a wooden boardwalk public entry plaza to help channel stormwater runoff.Jackson Hole History Museum hosts community gatherings, and workshop for children. (Albert Vecerka/ESTO)A flexible space can accommodate a range of programming. (Albert Vecerka/ESTO)Furthermore, the new museum is sited near public transit options; this is meant to help reduce congestion in the downtown area, and further supplement the buildings ecological merits. During design, there was a recognition that there was an opportunity for History Jackson Hole to be an open and welcoming community hub, expanding upon how the museum formerly functioned, said David Wilson, HGA senior project designer.The building uses attractive and economical materials. (Albert Vecerka/ESTO)Wilson continued: Its a space where you want to spend time before and after viewing the exhibits, whether its an educationalprogram on the rooftop terrace or grabbing lunch from one of the neighboring cafes and having a picnic on the front plaza or back patio overlooking Cache Creek and the green space.Jackson Hole History Museum has a verdant green space in the rear, with two log cabins. (Albert Vecerka/ESTO)Morgan Jaouen,History Jackson Holes executive director, added: Jackson Hole is a community brought together, enriched and strengthened by compelling connections to the history of the region and the preservation of its resources,and now the newly designed history museumcampus furthers this vision by expanding itscapacity and reach.

In a sudden turn of events, Vancouver Art Gallery is halting the construction of its new building and cutting ties with Herzog & de Meuron, the architects behind it. Construction on the museum, to be located on the corner of Cambie and West Georgia Streets in downtown Vancouver, was already underway. The design by Herzog & de Meuron is far too expensive, the Vancouver Art Gallery said. The building designed by Herzog & de Meuron would cost $600 million to constructthis number is nearly double the original projected budget of $350 million from 2014. Moving forward, Vancouver Art Gallery will seek out a new architect to work with.For the past decade, we have had the benefit of collaborating with the esteemed Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron on plans for a new Gallery, noted Anthony Kiendl, CEO of Vancouver Art Gallery. However, in view of our reassessment, the Gallery Associations Board has made the difficult decision to part ways with Herzog & de Meuron.In response to the decision, Herzog & de Meuron told AN: We are disappointed that the Vancouver Art Gallery has decided to pause their building project and part ways with Herzog & de Meuron. Since starting the project in 2014, we have valued the collaboration and have enjoyed working closely with the diverse groups of people involved, always open to adapt to the evolving requirements of the city, community and leadership.Herzog & de Meuron have remained committed to this project throughout, strongly believing in the public value this building could bring to Vancouver. We wish the gallery and its supporters all the best in this new endeavor, the Swiss firm continued. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Vancouver Art Gallery, our project partners, the Coast Salish Community, and especially our employees for the joyful and intense collaboration, their commitment and dedication.Stop OrderThe decision to cut bait with Herzog & de Meurons design came at the final hour. Shovels had broken ground on the project in March 2023. But construction was stopped last August when museum personnel saw an uptick in costs. The new building was supposed to open in 2028 but now, its unclear when that will happen, what the new building will look like, and who will design it.Anthony Kiendl cited post-pandemic inflation as a major factor in Vancouver Art Gallerys decision. The choice to cut ties with Herzog & de Meuron came after lengthy discussions between Kiendl, artists, supporters of the gallery, and stakeholders, CBC reported. Our goal is to create a building that embodies a diverse and inclusive artistic vision while ensuring financial sustainability within a fixed budget, Kiendl said in a statement. We recognize that inflation has put tremendous pressure on our plans, as it has done with many capital projects following the pandemic. It has become clear that we require a new way forward to meet both our artistic mission and vision and our practical needs.Over the coming months, Kiendl continued, we will schedule a series of opportunities at the Gallery to share more about the next phase of the project and discuss it with our [members] and communities.Howd We Get Here?A new building for Vancouver Art Gallery was first proposed in 2008. The provincial government of British Columbia pledged $100 million for the project. Herzog & de Meuron joined the design team in 2014, and the Vancouver office of Perkins&Will jumped in as the projects executive architect.The Swiss offices design ultimately went through a number of revisions. Initial renderings were released by Herzog & de Meuron in 2015, as reported by AN. The project cost at that time was $350 million. In 2019, Herzog & de Meuron issued a new batch of renderings. That design was equally expensive, listed at $350 million, but noticeably different from what Herzog & de Meuron ultimately proposed.Two years later, in 2021, Herzog & de Meuron unveiled yet another iteration: A 350,000-square-foot, 9-story building clad with a thin, copper facade that invoked Coast Salish weaving methods, an Indigenous weaving technique.In September 2023, a ground-awakening ceremony was held to inaugurate the building before construction started. Shovels then broke ground that March, but came to a stop in August, culminating in this weeks final decision to terminate Herzog & de Meurons design proposal.

A remote village of southern China has become this practices testing ground for blending traditional methodologies with digital toolsSuperposition was shortlisted for the AR Emerging awards 2024. Read about the full shortlist hereWhat are the parallels between Hong Kong Island and Ireland? Both are surrounded by water, former sites of British colonial rule and feel like villages, say Superposition co-founders Donn Holohan and Elspeth Lee. The pair have been working across these twogeographies for more than 10 years, abalancing act prompted by a teaching appointment at the University of Hong Kong. They first visited Peitian, in southern China, during a trip with students in 2015, and have since undergone aseries ofprojects in the village. Operating under sustained dialogue with the local community, each project combines digital technologies and vernacular craft techniques.Their first intervention is a bridge builtto reconnect farmlands that were isolated after access platforms were washed away during aflood. Superposition draws ontraditional joinery to articulate an interlocking timber bridge that stretches and slopes across astream. The covered bridge unfolds in aseries of elongated steps, allowing people topause and sit along its span. Holohan, acabinet maker by training, is adamant thatin order for craft to be preserved, itmust bepractised. In this project, 265 unique elements were digitally modelled andthen joined by hand, under the supervision of local carpenters. The process ensured the joints could betroubleshooted and tested prior to construction; the idea isthat digital tools can help reduce the high level of training and labour of traditional methodologies, to demonstrate their viability. Countering the often nostalgic viewof vernacular building techniques, thearchitects see the ancient village as apragmatic place, where people need andwant to modernise.Superstudios second gathering space inPeitian is a pavilion on anoutcrop in a passion fruitplantation. Thewoven shell undulates asymmetrically, with its openings designed not to obstruct views to the nearby ancestral tombs. Thestudio worked with the last remaining bamboo weaver of the village to rescale the application of his declining craft, usually reserved for small objects such as baskets and mats. Digital software was used to map the lengths of bamboo canes, which were then cut by a CNC machine. Thefinal form is evocative ofthe sun hats worn by rice farmers, and itshelters workers from the sweltering heat.Beyond advocating the preservation of regional trades, Holohan and Lee remain curious about what they could become. Nowhere is this more evident than in their ongoing living museum project, housed in the only two-storey building in Peitian. This disused rice store is becoming a workshop for local carpenters with no formalised place to sustain their practice. Superposition usedLight Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) mapping to scan and digitally model the existing building so that they could graft a tailored timber frame into it with precision, adapting to the earthen walls. Speaking to both the past and the future, the building will become a site of daily work, where traditional construction techniques can be discussed and evolved.

All images Victoria Rose Richards, shared with permissionAerial Embroideries by Victoria Rose Richards Teem with Harmonious DetailDecember 4, 2024CraftNatureJackie AndresLately, Victoria Rose Richards has taken a liking to spatial harmony. In the form of crop circles, classical gardens, and rice terrace steps, the South West England-based artist crafts striking views from above guided by geometric shapes.I find symmetry very comforting and calming it scratches an itch in my brain, Richards shares. While previous works were driven by meandering lines and random organic shapes, the artist adjusted her process for her most recent pieces. I had to use exact measurements with a ruler to draw it out which is quite alien for me in my work!, she says.Following a radial approach, Richards experimented with starting from the center of circular or ovoid embroidery hoops and working her way outward, playing with different shapes and paths. Each aerial landscape is then stitched with meticulous detail, from single lines of thread mimicking bridges to a gold cog inserted at the heart of a teeming garden to resemble a fountain.Richards is looking forward to creating more winter pieces as the cold weather settles in and is also working on a larger project still under wraps. Keep an eye on the artists Instagram for updates, and see her website for more.Previous articleNext article

The UK Ministry of Defence recently published its Global Strategic Trends report which sets out the developments that will shape the world over the next five years. These provide an insight into some of the challenges that CISOs and cyber security teams will face.The first threat is that of global and regional political instability. As regional and global power competition intensifies, we may see growing authoritarianism and a decline in democracy. The capabilities of violent extremist organisations and organised crime groups to cause harm will increase. Access to data will become a key component of global power for both state and non-state actors, all of which will require greater vigilance from cyber teams.The second area of concern comes from the expanding attack surface, The exponential reliance on data and connectivity across states, organisations, and individuals in an increasingly connected world will significantly expand the attack surface. With stretched resources from dealing with an ageing population and climate change, nation states may not be able to provide the increasing level of direct support needed for cyber defence operations.A further trend driving cyber threats is the technological arms race. The increased reliance on data and connectivity, coupled with advances in Quantum and AI, will escalate the arms race between cyber exploiters and victims. This shift is already being seen in the rise of zero-day attacks. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), in collaboration with cyber security agencies from the US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and others, identified that most of the top 15 vulnerabilities exploited in 2023 were initially targeted as zero-day attacks. This trend has continued into 2024, highlighting the evolving tactics of cyber adversaries and the increasing availability of advanced exploitation tools.Given these trends, the most pressing challenges for CISOs in the next five years will be related to the rise of AI, building a culture that fosters secure behaviours, the threats from insiders, data management and patching and monitoring, as well as the ongoing need for operational resilience.The rise and risk of AI is increasing as adversaries weaponise AI for malicious purposes, using it to create undetectable malware, automate reconnaissance, and execute deepfake-based scams. Organisations are rapidly chasing the AI dream, looking at ways in which it can deliver significant business benefits and CISOs will need to make their voice heard at the planning stage to avoid security being seen as a secondary consideration.Organisations invest heavily in protecting their digital systems, physical assets, and people from adversaries with software solutions to detect cyber threats, restrict access to buildings and safeguard sensitive employee information. However, up to 95% of security incidents typically result from human actions, whether through unintentional errors or intentional breaches. A technical solution alone is not going to keep the future organisation safe. To protect what matters most CISOs should look to leverage the power of their people by embedding the right security behaviours into organisational culture to create an effective first line of defence. A robust security culture ensures every individual within the organisation understands their role in maintaining security and takes proactive steps each day to enhance it.Insider threats, whether stemming from intentional actions by malicious employees and contractors or unintentional mistakes by negligent staff, remain a significant source of security breaches. These risks are further amplified by the rise of hybrid work models, which reduce organisational control over devices and network environments. These create additional vulnerabilities that security teams must address through more joined up approaches to physical and cyber security.Data management and protection is ever more critical as there is more data and greater connectivity to manage. CISOs need to know what their critical data is, where it is located, who has access to it, how it flows, how it is protected, and where it is vulnerable. Understanding their own systems and their residual risks, as well as the risks to their data when it is in the hands of others, is crucial. CISOs also must have confidence in their supply chain and its ability to protect assets properly. Networks and data sources must be appropriately protected both in transit and at rest. Ransomware and phishing remain a persistent and evolving danger, with attacks becoming more targeted and destructive. Meanwhile, the advent of quantum computing poses a looming threat to traditional encryption methods, compelling organisations to prepare for a transition to post-quantum cryptographic standards.The increasing use of effective zero-day exploits means that we need to stay on top of patching and monitoring, which itself will occur at a faster pace. CISOs must get smarter with protective monitoring so that they can identity suspicious system behaviour as early as possible. They should also make better use of AI and machine learning tools as they develop.As all these threats increase, security teams will have to prioritise operational resilience so they can respond to natural disasters, geopolitical instability, and supply chain disruptions that can compromise infrastructure and data availability. The growing reliance on third-party vendors and services heightens the risk of supply chain attacks, exposing organisations to vulnerabilities that lie beyond their direct control. Ensuring rapid recovery and effective business continuity will increasingly become central to security strategies.Many of these threats are not new but their number and impact is growing and it is clear that the task of the CIO is only going get harder in the next five years.The Computer Weekly Security Think Tank looks aheadMike Gillespie and Ellie Hurst, Advent IM: CISOs will face growing challenges in 2025 and beyond.

The big news from online marketplace Notonthehighstreet.com (NOTHS) in the build-up to peak trading is its new partnership with delivery platform Deliveroo, announced in September.NOTHS is one of the early wave of non-food-specific retail businesses partnering with Deliveroo to add speedy fulfilment options to their offering. Screwfix led the charge in 2023, and others such as B&Q, Ann Summers, Wilko, and The Perfume Shop have followed suit in 2024, opening up rapid delivery via the Deliveroo app to London consumers who need their items pronto.Launching with 15 brands under the umbrella of NOTHS, the partnership enables Deliveroo customers to order personalised gifts on-demand for the first time via the presence of luxury jewellery and accessories retailer and NOTHS partner Hurley Burley on the app as well as access to goods from a variety of small non-food businesses.Paul Wilkinson, Deliveroo product director, paid compliment to his companys integrations team on a LinkedIn post in October, saying their work means consumers have up-to-date product and availability information at their fingertips from launch.These use a new dedicated API [application programming interface] that we have designed from the ground up for grocery and retail partners, and it has taken a whole village of amazing people to build and ship this, he wrote. Contrastingly, the direct tech integration with NOTHS is non-existent at present, according to Dan Lake, vice-president for technology at the online marketplace. The hardware and software integrations are through the NOTHS brand partners, with a NOTHS logo accompanying brand pages on the Deliveroo app to signify the connection.Its an obvious brand partnership that is beneficial to the business, Lake says of the Deliveroo tie-up, which he says generates unprompted NOTHS brand awareness.Weve not invested anything from a tech point of view, but if it goes very well and we want to scale across the UK, there will be some tech investment needed. This approach buys us time to make our platform easier for integrating into third parties.And therein lies the crux of the technology challenge NOTHS faces right now. So much of the focus for the business in its 18 years of operating, since being founded by Holly Tucker in 2006, has been on the consumer experience and its front-end capabilities.But in the past two years, since Lakes arrival from high-flying fitness brand and retailer Gymshark, simplifying behind the scenes and exploring where a buy, not build approach to technology might be more appropriate has been the name of the game.Weve underinvested in the back end, Lake says.In the two years Ive been here, weve gone through a lot of change and been purposeful. Its about going back to what the company was about in the first place shouting about and supporting small businesses in the UK.From a tech perspective, he says, it has been important to articulate NOTHSs definition of customer is a dual definition encompassing the end consumer, but also the small brands selling through the platform.It sounds obvious and it is obvious internally but it can get missed on how we decide what were going to focus on and invest into, he says.Lakes senior leadership position reports directly to CEO Leanne Osbourne, and he has the responsibility of looking after tech products across the organisation. He acknowledges he joined NOTHS primarily for the tech challenge, identifying it as a reverse job to what he faced at Gymshark, where he was engineering director.When Gymshark went through its exponential growth period, which resulted in its 2020 unicorn status as a 1bn-valued privately-owned business, it needed to internally build out tech to support its core Shopify foundations. At NOTHS, theres a need to more comprehensively work with tech partners and stop relying on building everything in house.At NOTHS, were trying to end up in the same space but from the opposite end, Lake says, adding that the business is looking to buy more tech rather than build it in house.My view is we should only invest in or own things that are strategically important to us or we would have operational challenges without we have too much stuff that falls into the commoditised bracket.In what might be welcome news for the retail technology ecosystem, NOTHS is now looking for products on the market where there is commoditisation. Albeit, there is not a bottomless pit for investment.Lake talks of the need for products within a retail organisations tech stack to contribute to strategic and operational performance. With so much built in house, NOTHS finds itself with components that are no longer contributing to either and are holding us back its a typical retail legacy system tale of entanglement.Everything is owned and maintained, so my focus is on identifying whats now been commoditised and what have other people done a better job of building and we can then think about what we can chop away at.After all, were not a tier one tech company.NOTHS has already started its journey of modernisation under Lakes stewardship. The marketplace has migrated promotional capabilities to a third-party engine platform Talon One.Although pretty simplistic in approach compared to most businesses, it represents the first time weve gone out and bought a capability and integrated it in a composable MACH tech way, Lake says.Its a fundamental shift in thinking internally for the engineering and product teams. We deprecated and removed the old promo engine which surprise, surprise we had built. It did one thing and we had the age-old problem that you never come back to it you go on to the next priority and it becomes a problem for people.This change will support in the running of campaigns, but is also set to be a capability utilised as NOTHS explores its options around building a loyalty proposition.This takes a number of things the tech team shouldnt need to be involved in off their plate, so we can focus in the investments we want to make, Lake adds.With e-commerce stack technology, the most commoditised area of retail tech, according to Lake, theres lots of focus on what to bring in to the NOTHS business in this area:Were headless already, but some better decisions probably could have been made you should own the user experience as it can contribute to strategic differentiation.What we hadnt done in the move to headless was consider the service or integration layers just under that, so we built a load of microservices, some with thin veneers into the monolithic platform. We hadnt thought about how to take off parts we shouldnt really own which can be a distraction and they take time with maintenance on bugs.NOTHS is using Contentstack from a headless content management system point of view, but a stream of work currently well under way with Kin + Carta and Valtech is focused on better optimising the digital experience.Lake says the NOTHS search and discovery process starts with its brand partners putting product data in and this is an area where improvements are sought.For trade reasons, we focused on very outer edge of search and discovery and how results had ranked and reranked and were using Google Vertex AI, he adds.Search went live last year and there have been marked improvements there. Were doing tests on browse currently.We have circa 450,000 products on the platform, and surfacing the most relevant of those is a big challenge and we have built a load of tech that doesnt really lean into surfacing the most relevant thing.That is being addressed using Google Vertex, and the work with Kin + Carta involves improving data quality and product information management processes so NOTHS can augment the effects of the AI.In terms of AI strategy, a lot will depend on finding the most suitable partners.A lot of the third-party companies we might buy into will be bringing AI to us because they are integrating it into their products and thats great, Lake says.Thats the benefit you find yourself in as a D2C or online business. You can see the pressure on fellow CTOs working for SaaS businesses because there is a race to market and there will be a number of misses, but we can benefit from that.Lake admits NOTHS was looking at how to use AI for search and discovery, but then Google Vertex came along. He predicts this type of situation will continue to happen for a while as the AI hype and focus continues.Once we have solved some problems and operational issues and removed friction for partners and internally we can think about how to utilise AI for something that is really interesting, he says.Lake describes his team as a lean 40-45 people covering tech and product, and says his leadership style follows a teach-a-man-to-fish mentality.Its no good me steaming in and saying, Cut that out, remove this, and go and buy this, as it wont build the sustainability in the approach we need, he says, adding that the team is realising this new working method is aimed at making their lives easier as much as it is part of a method for driving the business forward.The team covers IT infrastructure, cyber security, and support, with delivery managers, and an engineering team overseeing online, back and front-end, and mobile work across iOS and Android. There are members of the team focused on data analytics and data science, and those looking after platform infrastructure and product management.Good people get bought into the culture, Lake adds.It is their job to ensure the tech serves the five to six million customers NOTHS has in the UK, but under Lakes leadership, they are also increasingly focused on making the lives of circa 5,000 marketplace sellers some of which have started their journeys with Deliveroo this autumn easier and more fruitful.Read more about retail technologyRetail tech leaders from Sweaty Betty and Selfridges discuss levers to pull and tactics to adopt when influencing the boardroom on transformation projectsNew tech from supply chain companies, M&A activity among logistics firms, and H&Ms new fees show product returns is the retail industry debate that keeps coming back

Tired of losing your AirPods Pro? This inexpensive product provides a snug fit and uninterrupted listening pleasure.