Latest news with #businessimpact
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How Trump's China tariffs are threatening your glitter nail polish
The ink was barely dry on President Donald Trump's April tariff missive, when owners of independent nail polish brands sounded the alarm that the changes could chip away at their businesses. This new tax deduction in Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' lets people cash in on charitable donations up to $2,000. Here's what to know Housing market 'red flare': Moody's chief economist sees home price declines spreading Your dog could save us from America's most annoying invasive species That shocking executive order ushered in sweeping tariffs of as much as 145% on Chinese imports. Much has changed since then. In May, the U.S. struck a trade deal with China that included a 90-day truce and reducing tariffs to a still-high 30% for most imported goods; then, in June, President Trump said a trade deal with China is 'done' and tariffs on goods imported from China will total 55%, while Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the level won't increase again. There's currently a pause on tariffs of goods imported from China, effective until August. But the prolonged chaos of the past few months has dragged small beauty brands into the middle of a big trade war. And it's created uncertainty that could leave a long-lasting smudge on business. Even the latest news doesn't provide much reassurance, says Rachel Wraith, founder and owner of Rogue Lacquer, a Phoenix-based indie line of nail polishes. 'It still feels like a slap in the face and I never feel certain with any 'set' decisions because everything seems to change, regardless' she tells Fast Company. Waking up each morning lately, Wraith says, has meant bracing herself for what news might come that day that will affect her livelihood. Hurdling one obstacle, she adds, makes her question what the next one will be. 'The uncertainty is very hard and very stressful.' Going rogue For more than a decade, Wraith has been making customized nail polishes and she launched Rogue Lacquer in 2018. The business is a primary source of income for Wraith and her husband; he works full-time for the business, while she also has a full-time job in healthcare. The powdered pigments that Rogue imports from China are a crucial component for Wraith to create the customized nail polish colors that she sells in small batches. And there aren't really alternative locations to source these pigments, which meant news of tariff increases left Wraith with little option but to pay up. This is a broader problem for the beauty industry as a lot of manufacturing is concentrated in China, adds Sucharita Kodali, a vice president and principal analyst at Forrester. 'The issue right now is there is no definitive place that is an alternative to China because you don't know what that situation is going to be in three months or six months,' Kodali says. 'Until the dust settles, no one knows.' Advantages for big brands Even as tariff increases rocked indie beauty brands, the impact was less severe on the industry's biggest players. Thanks to margins of about 80% to 90% on many beauty products, some companies are able to absorb higher tariffs without making price increases, Kodali says. But the longer-lasting impact tariffs will have on the beauty industry remains to be seen, notes William Curtis, senior industry and risk analyst at IBISWorld. 'In the short-term, the big winners will be the companies with a more diversified, more domestic manufacturing base.' Curtis points to L'Oréal, which has been actively diversifying where it produces its broad array of beauty products in recent years. Two-thirds of the L'Oréal products sold in the U.S. are now produced in the U.S., according to company figures. Of course, moving production elsewhere isn't an option for small beauty brands. Business owners could have taken a lesson from Trump's handling of tariffs during his first administration, Kodali says, and their options now are rather limited, which means some will face irreparable harm. Adds Wraith: 'Did anybody think to ask a small business how these decisions would affect them?' Pushback on pricing After Trump's announcement of tariff increases in early April, many brands—including Rogue, Lurid Lacquer, Atomic Polish, and Dam Nail Polish—posted candidly on social media that their businesses would be directly impacted, even if they weren't quite sure then by how much. Comments from customers were overwhelmingly positive, with people empathizing about the stress the uncertainty was causing. Some of that sentiment has since changed as brands have begun testing just how much they can increase prices without their polishes losing luster in the eyes of consumers. Mooncat, an indie brand of nail lacquers, announced it would increase the price of its polishes by $1 to $2 each while also upping the free shipping threshold. Most bottles of Mooncat lacquer now retail for $16 to $18—an amount some customers will happily pay, but a bridge too far for others. 'I cannot ever imagine paying almost $30 (including shipping and tax) for one bottle of polish,' one person posted on a thread discussing the price changes on the RedditLaqueristas subreddit. Other customers have complained in comments on Instagram that, amid the price increases, there's no longer transparency about how much money is going to benefit cats in need of new homes, the brand's charitable mission. Mooncat declined a request for an interview for this story. Brands embrace transparency ILNP and Cirque Colors have also recently announced price adjustments, with both brands opting for selective, rather than across-the-line, increases. Most bottles of ILNP polish now retail for $12.50 each, while many of Cirque's polishes start at that same price but also go up to as much as $16.50. The reception to these price changes has generally been more positive among the 940,000-plus members of the RedditLaqueristas community. Some people commended ILNP's transparency and others noted that Cirque's hasn't raised prices in several years. For beauty brands already struggling, tariffs have introduced a 'wild card' that could make their future more uncertain, says Curtis. In May, the owner of Dimension Nails announced she was shutting down her store effective June 30, though she didn't specifically cite tariffs as a reason. The owner of Triple O Polish announced in mid-April that she wouldn't be able to keep her business open if the highest-planned tariffs went into effect, though she's still operational amid the tariff pause. What works best While the community of indie nail polish brands is niche and very friendly—a group where Wraith might seek out guidance or compare notes—she's intentionally not monitoring what other brands are doing in the wake of tariff announcements. 'I don't want to make a decision based on somebody else's business model,' she says. 'You just have to figure out what works best for your business.' The risk of mirroring price increases taken by other brands, Wraith says, is that doing so could lead to a drop-off in sales in a year that's already proven to be a bit weaker. That appears to be a broader trend, as L'Oréal reported that U.S. sales of beauty products were 'more challenging than anticipated' in the first quarter. For now, the biggest change Wraith has made—which she announced in April—has been to increase the threshold on orders eligible for free shipping, from $75 to $100. For those polishes made with high-end pigments, Wraith has bumped up prices by 50 cents, but she's resisted across-the-line price adjustments and most bottles of polish retail for $12 or $13. Navigating a new normal Prior to the initial tariff announcements, Wraith says she was fortunate to have a lot of pigments on-hand, and she's since limited imports to only those supplies she really needs. She has paid tariffs twice since April, including when they were at the highest level, and in this period of flux, she's opted not to branch out so much with the range of products she's creating. By keeping costs more consistent, Wraith is optimistic that Rogue can ride out this period of uncertainty. But it's hard to make decisions, she says, when there's the very real possibility that she could place an order one day, and tariffs could change the next. This is characteristic of the 'chaotic' rollout of tariff increases that's created a lot of confusion for small businesses, as Kodali notes. 'My hope is that in six months, all of these business owners will be in a better place.' Even if nail polish is a 'luxury item,' creating lacquers—first as a hobby, now as a business—has brought Wraith a lot of joy over the years because she enjoys making other people happy. 'And people need that more than ever right now.' This post originally appeared at to get the Fast Company newsletter: Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Guardian
4 days ago
- The Guardian
‘We got upset, then we got angry': the couple who took on one of the UK's biggest cold-call scams
Michael and Jan Reed can remember the moment their family business received its first indelible blow. It was 2015 and three of their regular customers were standing in the reception of their accident repair centre in County Durham. It had been a busy period and, unusually, all three had come to collect their cars at the same time. One had got a call from an accident management company trying to persuade him to make a personal injury claim. Unusually, the caller knew the make and model of the car and the date of the accident. The second man said the same had happened to him. By the time the third customer confirmed he had also got the cold call, the three of them were pulling out their phones. 'One of the guys said: 'Well, what number was it?'', says Jan, brow furrowed at the memory. 'They were just getting the mobiles out and saying this number, and then asking me if I knew it. I said: 'No, I don't know that number at all'. And they asked: 'Well, where did they get it from?'' The men did not have insurance with the same company, had used different brokers and their accidents were unconnected. 'And then all three of them turned around,' says Michael. 'They went: 'Well, it must be you guys.'' Cold callers are a nuisance, whether they are asking about repairs to your property or trying to persuade you to make a personal injury claim. But what happens when those calls threaten to bring down your business? Last month, after a 10-year investigation, eight men were convicted for their part in a conspiracy that ran one of the biggest nuisance call operations seen in the UK. The people who precipitated their downfall? A husband and wife from County Durham, who just wanted to protect their business. The 10-week trial at Bolton crown court, which brought to an end the largest investigation into cold calls carried out in the UK, shed light on a murky world. A jury found Craig Cornick, 40, a well-known businessman in the north-west, guilty of stealing personal data, having earlier found him and Thomas Daly, 35, not guilty of hacking into computer systems. Daly had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring to steal personal data. Of the six remaining men, all admitted stealing data, and four admitted hacking into computer systems. The names, numbers and details of people involved in accidents may seem like rows on a spreadsheet, but they provide lucrative spoils. That information is sold to claims management firms hoping to generate leads for personal injury cases. The cold-calling gang targeted a million people and hundreds of accident repair garages between 2014 and 2017, according to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). The Reeds' role in exposing them starts almost a decade ago, in 2015. The couple run Alan Reed Ltd, set up by Michael's father in 1970 and joined by Michael when he left school at 15. It is a family effort: Jan is in charge of customer care, her daughter Debbie does the accounts, and Michael's daughter Megan works in parts. After the painful confrontation with their three customers, the complaints kept coming, and the couple worried about their reputation. 'You get upset,' says Jan. 'Then we got quite angry about it, didn't we? Thinking, well, we're not to blame. We used to talk about it all the time. We were just going inside out with it.' They were not naive about data. They worked with bluechip insurance companies, and underwent training in how to protect personal information. They got their centralised IT car logging system, used widely in the industry, inspected twice, but were told nothing was wrong. They trusted their 40 staff – they had known half of them since they started as apprentices – but thinking they were the only garage affected, they started to wonder if they had been betrayed. After months of complaints, they had had enough. Michael remembers the exact moment. The couple were in the car and Jan was upset. 'I said: 'I can't do this any more, we've got to do something',' she recalls. But then she had a thought. 'I said: 'How about we put our information into the computer?' And Michael said: 'Right. We'll give it a go.'' They input their own numbers in spring 2016, alongside details of fictional accidents, and waited. At first, nothing happened. But then, 11 days later, Michael's phone started ringing. 'I literally walked through to say: 'Jan, I've got somebody on the phone',' at the same time Jan's phone rang, says Michael. 'I said: 'Just go and answer it,' and then we looked: it was the same number.' Michael spoke to the cold caller, asking if they knew the date he'd had an accident. When they confirmed the date, they put him through to a solicitor. Michael eventually made his excuses and ended the call. After a letter from the solicitors arrived, they were ready to go to the authorities. 'Obviously, we thought it was going to be over in weeks,' says Michael. 'We didn't think it was going to be nearly 10 years.' Andy Curry is the head of investigations at the ICO, which investigated and prosecuted the criminal case under powers bestowed by data protection legislation. He is not an excitable man, but when he talks about the scale of Operation Pelham, as the investigation was named by the ICO, his eyes light up. 'This is the biggest criminal investigation and prosecution the ICO has ever undertaken,' he says. Thanks to the information provided by the Reeds, alongside hundreds of other garages, ICO criminal investigation officers carried out nine raids in Macclesfield and Manchester in 2016. They seized 241,000 emails, 4.5m documents, 144,000 spreadsheets, 1.5m images and 83,000 multimedia files. Among the devices taken was an iPhone, which, according to the ICO's prosecuting barrister, 'opened Pandora's Box' and provided 'a clear window into the extent of the criminality' of the gang. Curry says: 'We uncovered a vast, murky criminal network where crash details were stolen from garages across England, Scotland and Wales and traded to fuel distressing predatory calls. It was an enormous and complex case.' Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Did it make these men rich? 'We think over £3m has been obtained through this activity,' says Curry. 'So, a fairly significant amount of money.' Evidence put before the jury painted a picture of a group of men who thought they were untouchable, boasting in texts about the personal data they could obtain. In a conservation from September 2016, one asks: 'Do you still get insurance data? I have someone interested in purchasing off you on a weekly basis bro.' The reply came 29 minutes later: 'Don't have anything for sale atm bro but just got a new kid who can get me anything I want from anywhere so soon as he up and running will let u know bro.' A few minutes later there was another reply: 'Decent u data King now haha.' Another key piece of evidence came in the form of a selfie video, filmed by Mark Preece, who admitted conspiring to hack computer systems and steal personal data. 'I've got the full garage list. I've got all the passwords for everything,' he says. 'All the data [...] I'm going to be rich, well, I am rich.' Curry says the messages were a crucial aspect of building the case. As for the video, it was a gift. 'When you watch this you think, how stupid do you have to be to film yourself basically admitting to a criminal offence on this large scale?' he says. 'But great for us.' Some of the men said they were involved in legitimate businesses. Thomas Daly and Adam Crompton, the directors of a now-dissolved company called Cheshire Finance UK, listed under 'call centres' on Companies House, had used their company to mask the 'purchase, sale and harvesting of unlawfully obtained data', the ICO argued in court. Cornick is listed as a director of 15 businesses on Companies House since 2013; nine have been dissolved, two liquidated and four are active. His listed address, a large mock Tudor residence with an electric gate and prominent CCTV, is in Prestbury, an affluent village in Greater Manchester known for its mansions owned by footballers and millionaires. In a statement after his conviction, Cornick said that during the period on which the trial focused 'data trading was a common industry practice' before regulations were tightened, 'reinforcing the need for businesses to closely scrutinise where their data originates'. He was 'relieved' to be cleared of computer hacking, but rejected 'any notion of wrongdoing' and said he would appeal against his conviction. There has been a clampdown on cold callers in recent years. The UK moved to ban cold calls offering financial products in 2023, so anyone being contacted out of the blue can assume they are a scam. But people are still bombarded with billions of unwanted calls every year. According to data from Hiya, a spam blocker service, UK residents received an average of three spam calls a month between January and June last year, equating to about 195m spam calls in the UK every month. Despite taking almost 10 years, Operation Pelham is not over. The ICO confirmed that one man, 33-year-old Jamie Munro, who is wanted on three counts related to the case, has disappeared and is thought to be overseas. And a second phase of the investigation is looking into the role of people in insurance firms and claims management companies. Curry says the ICO will continue in its efforts to 'untangle this web of illicit data trade. We will be relentless.' So what now? What consequences will this 'vast, murky criminal network' face? The ICO says it will go after any proceeds of crime; it will probably also push for a red flag to be placed on each of the conspirators, preventing them from becoming directors of companies in the future. However, all of the men are likely to avoid prison when they are finally sentenced next April. Offences under the 2018 Data Protection Act, including stealing data, are punishable by fines. Those convicted of hacking under the Computer Misuse Act will probably receive suspended sentences. 'We have no involvement in sentencing,' the ICO's legal team said. 'The court must sentence within the confines of the maximum sentence available in law.' Since it began, Operation Pelham has swallowed hundreds of hours of investigators' time. Asked why it took so long, the ICO said it was a complex case, and had been affected by the pandemic and a year-long adjournment. As to how much it cost, the body said it was carried out as part of its normal regulatory functions. 'We do not record costs for specific investigations,' a spokesperson said. Back in County Durham, the Reeds say they are proud of the role they played, but mostly they just want to get on with their lives. 'Businesses like ourselves are the backbone of this country. We need to stand up for ourselves and not get swallowed up,' says Michael. He shows a black and white picture of his parents, smiling outside the original garage. 'When you've been going for 55 years and you look at all the different things you've dealt with, well, this is just something in that timeline,' he says. 'It's been dealt with, we've dealt with worse. Everything we do is challenging – if it was easy, I don't think it would suit the Reed family.'
Forbes
5 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Turning Cyber Risk Into Boardroom Metrics That Matter
Bridging the gap between cybersecurity and the boardroom, organizations are translating technical ... More risk into dollars and business impact to drive smarter, ROI-focused decisions. Cybersecurity has always come with a translation problem. Technical teams speak in terms of vulnerabilities and threats, while boards want to understand risk in dollars and business impact. As attacks become more costly and regulatory scrutiny grows, however, the gap between technical risk and business accountability is shrinking fast. The Boardroom Is Asking New Questions Boards and executives increasingly want to know: How much risk are we taking on, in real financial terms? Are cybersecurity investments justified? Are we actually reducing exposure—or just reacting to the latest crisis? All fair and valid questions. The pressure to answer these questions isn't just external. Internally, organizations are moving away from blank-check security budgets. Leaders expect to see risk—and progress—quantified in business language: dollars, business impact, and return on investment. From Jargon to Dollars It is an eternal struggle. For most companies cybersecurity is a cost center, not a revenue-generating function. The better cybersecurity is at achieving its stated objectives, the less necessary it seems—if there are no successful attacks, why spend so much money on defending against them? Cyber risk quantification is quickly gaining ground as a bridge between IT and the C-suite that addresses this challenge. The promise is simple: turn technical scenarios into dollar-based outcomes so everyone is on the same page. CRQ platforms don't just talk about possible vulnerabilities—they show what a breach could really cost, how an investment reduces exposure, and where risk is shifting across the organization. This approach is becoming the new standard as boards and regulators demand clear evidence of measurable progress. A New Player in the US Market The changing landscape is driving international players to expand their presence. Squalify, a Munich-based cyber risk quantification provider, just announced its U.S. entry, launching with a Bay Area healthcare customer. The company's platform, backed by Munich Re's cyber loss data, aims to help organizations move from reactive, compliance-based security toward proactive, ROI-driven strategies. Asdrúbal Pichardo, CEO of Squalify, told me that the timing is no accident. 'We're entering the U.S. market at a critical inflection point for cybersecurity leadership. There's a growing mandate—from regulators, boards, and shareholders—for CISOs to connect cybersecurity decisions with business performance. That means moving beyond technical jargon and translating cyber risk into financial terms,' he explained. Squalify's platform is designed to help organizations model risk across subsidiaries, run simulations on the impact of new controls, and deliver concise, visual board reporting. Pichardo emphasized the importance of aligning security and business outcomes: 'We help leaders go beyond checklists and into financial strategy by giving them the ability to express cyber risk in the same terms used by the CFO and board: dollars, probabilities, and business impact.' Henry Meds, Squalify's first U.S. customer, uses these insights to align security investments with business continuity, patient trust, and regulatory expectations—demonstrating measurable progress to their board. As Brian Cook, senior IT & security manager at Henry Meds, puts it: 'It's the first time I've been able to show my Executive Board, with confidence, that we're focused on the right threats and making measurable progress.' Features That Matter to the C-Suite Multi-entity risk management lets large organizations assess and compare risk across subsidiaries—key for groups operating in highly regulated sectors. Decision simulations allow CISOs to model how new investments or business moves might alter the company's risk profile. Executive dashboards translate complex technical data into clear, actionable insights for leadership. For many security leaders, this ability to speak the same language as finance and risk teams is a potential game-changer. It makes cybersecurity not just a technical requirement, but a strategic lever. Security as a Business Function This shift is happening as industries from healthcare to manufacturing face greater regulatory and operational risk. Boards now expect transparency, defensible metrics, and ROI-driven decisions—not just technical assurances. As Pichardo puts it, 'Compliance is necessary, but it's not sufficient. We help CISOs shift from being viewed as a cost center to being recognized as a business enabler.' Accountability and ROI The U.S. market is especially primed for this shift. High-profile breaches and increasing regulatory demands are pushing organizations to show that security spending delivers real value. The rise of financial metrics doesn't eliminate risk—but it makes it easier to justify, prioritize, and manage across all levels of leadership. Cyber risk quantification isn't a silver bullet. But as companies look to move from checklists to strategy, and from compliance to confidence, quantifying cyber risk in dollars may finally allow boards and security leaders to have the same conversation.
Telegraph
15-07-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
European energy rationing is a dire warning for net zero Britain
It was the first country to develop a stock market. And it was among the first to create joint stock companies, global banking, and trading houses that could span continents. The Netherlands has always been one of the pioneers of business and capitalism, a place where new ideas are perfected. The trouble is, it is now pioneering something entirely different in electricity rationing, a policy that will make it very hard for companies to operate in and impossible to expand. And let's not kid ourselves. Now that rationing has been imposed by the Dutch, it will almost inevitably be imposed in Britain as well, with catastrophic consequences for the economy. If you are running a restaurant in Amsterdam, a factory in Rotterdam or a shop in Eindhoven, it is probably the worst news you could have feared. The power you need to keep your business running is no longer just expensive – it might not be available at all. Why? The Netherlands, like so many European countries, is rushing ahead with ambitious green energy targets, while failing to make sure that adequate supplies of electricity are available as older systems are shut down. The massive Groningen gas field was closed down last year, and while that might make sense once the wind and solar needed to replace it are on stream, it means in the meantime, there is not enough juice to keep all the lights switched on. The result? More than 11,000 businesses are stuck in a queue for access to the network, and it is growing longer all the time. If you need power, forget it. It is even worse for private individuals, with thousands of new homes waiting to be connected to the grid. It is, of course, not just the Dutch. Spain and Portugal suffered a massive blackout earlier this year, with the entire power system shutting down for the day. While the reasons for the failure are still not entirely clear, it looks as if relying on solar power without enough back-up capacity may have been a big part of the problem. Likewise, shortages are emerging in Belgium and France, and Germany may not be far behind. We should not kid ourselves that this is an issue restricted to the Netherlands or to continental Europe. The UK will almost certainly be next in line, and we are already seeing the early warning signs of that. Industrial electricity prices have soared to the highest level in Europe, and that has forced many heavy industries to close. It is a form of rationing, except by price. The electricity companies have already imposed smart meters on households in the hope that a nagging little dial in the corner of the kitchen warning how much power the dishwasher is using might persuade you to use less, as well as experimenting with off-peak rates to encourage us to use less power in the main part of the day. Indeed, given that the Dutch are generally a lot more organised than we are, they might simply be getting on the front foot by putting formal rationing in place early in the process. In the UK, it is more likely that there will be sudden blackouts, with towns and cities potentially plunged into darkness. This could then be followed by rolling blackouts for 'non-essential' industries on a sporadic basis. Whichever form it takes, the main point is the same. But hold on. This is crazy. It is inconvenient for a household, but most of us can have a sandwich for supper and read by candlelight if we have to. We can live without power for a day or two. However, a restaurant, shop, warehouse or factory simply can't operate without electricity. If rationing does become the new normal, there are two big problems. First, it will push many businesses over the edge. We already know that pubs and restaurants are closing at record rates, hammered by the rise in employers' National Insurance. If they have to close down a couple of nights a week because their zone is offline, it may well finish them off. After all, their costs will remain the same, but a couple of days' takings will be lost. Likewise, many retailers are struggling to survive as they struggle with rising business rates, new packaging levies, as well as fines if customers don't buy enough healthy food. A day or two of trading lost every week will be the final straw. As for industry, it is already in full-scale collapse. With rationing to contend with, it is hard to imagine that anything will survive. Next, it will deter investment. What is the point of spending tens of millions on a new factory or warehouse if you can't guarantee power supplies? Or building new homes if they won't be connected to the grid. In reality, this needs to be stopped in its tracks. Most of us agree that climate change is a serious issue and one that needs to be addressed. But we need to plan the transition to green energy in a way that makes sure it is affordable and reliable, as it has been for the last 100 years.
CBC
14-07-2025
- Business
- CBC
Roadwork is costing Montague businesses some customers, store owners say
Provincial road construction on the main drag in the eastern P.E.I. community of Montague began in early June and is set to continue until the end of July. Local businesses say both traffic and purchases have slowed. CBC's Gwyneth Egan reports.
