News

In today’s business landscape, sustainability is not merely a trend but a necessity. EcoVadis has emerged as a vital tool for evaluating corporate sustainability practices

Companies aiming to uphold high sustainability standards can utilise EcoVadis assessments to enhance their credibility and market position.

DEKRA is a leading provider of safety and sustainability services, offering expertise in automotive business improvement, process safety, organisational reliability, and sustainability services. The website serves as a comprehensive resource for businesses seeking assessments, audits, and certifications to enhance safety and sustainability across various industries. By achieving high EcoVadis scores, businesses can significantly bolster client trust and secure a competitive edge in the marketplace. Need advisory for EcoVadis submission or improvement? Continue reading this article to learn more about EcoVadis assessments.

EcoVadis as a Sustainability Tool

EcoVadis serves as an essential platform for evaluating corporate sustainability across a range of domains. The assessment focuses on four key areas: environment, labour and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement. These comprehensive evaluations provide companies with insights into their current practices and highlight areas requiring improvement. Focusing on labour and human rights ensures compliance with international standards and enhances workforce satisfaction and productivity.

Environmentally conscious companies benefit from EcoVadis by gaining a clearer understanding of their ecological impact. This aspect of the assessment encourages businesses to adopt greener practices and reduce their carbon footprint. By addressing ethical considerations, companies can strengthen their reputation as trustworthy entities in the eyes of consumers and partners alike.

Benefits of a High EcoVadis Score

Achieving a high score in the EcoVadis assessment offers several advantages that are crucial for business growth and sustainability. It enhances client trust, as customers increasingly favour companies that prioritise sustainable and ethical operations. A strong EcoVadis rating also boosts market credibility, positioning businesses as leaders in sustainability initiatives. This can lead to increased opportunities, such as partnerships with like-minded organisations or entry into new markets that prioritise sustainable practices.

Having a robust sustainability profile through EcoVadis can serve as a differentiator in competitive industries. Companies that perform well in these assessments often enjoy better relationships with stakeholders, including investors who are more likely to support organisations with sound environmental, social, and governance (ESG) credentials.

DEKRA’s Role in EcoVadis Assessments

DEKRA is a leading provider of safety and sustainability services, offering expertise in automotive business improvement, process safety, organisational reliability, and sustainability services. As an approved partner of EcoVadis, DEKRA provides end-to-end support throughout the assessment process. Their expertise helps businesses identify areas requiring improvement and implement strategies to achieve higher scores. By conducting initial assessments and gap analyses, DEKRA experts lay the groundwork for customised action plans that drive progress.

The company’s ongoing advisory services ensure that clients maintain sustainable practices over time. Continuous support from DEKRA not only aids in achieving high initial scores but also helps sustain those ratings through consistent improvements and adherence to best practices.

Steps to Achieve a High EcoVadis Rating with DEKRA

The journey to achieving a high EcoVadis rating with DEKRA begins with a thorough initial assessment by seasoned experts. This step involves analysing current practices against industry benchmarks to identify gaps. The findings inform the development of tailored action plans designed to address specific areas requiring enhancement.

DEKRA’s comprehensive approach includes ongoing advisory services to guide businesses through the effective implementation of these plans. Their continuous support ensures that companies meet and exceed industry standards in sustainability practices. By fostering an environment of continuous improvement, DEKRA enables businesses to maintain strong performance metrics that reflect positively in subsequent EcoVadis assessments.

Conclusion

The importance of EcoVadis assessments lies in their ability to elevate business sustainability standards and strengthen market positions. Leveraging DEKRA’s expert guidance offers businesses a strategic advantage in navigating these assessments successfully. For those eager to improve their sustainability ratings, partnering with DEKRA could be the key to unlocking new growth opportunities.

Read more:
Comprehensive Guide to EcoVadis Assessments: How DEKRA Supports Businesses in Achieving High Ratings

It’s not your mom-and-pop grocery industry anymore. Companies must provide a top-notch customer experience, offer a diverse range of products, and pivot quickly to meet shifting consumer demands.

The rise of e-grocery businesses adds another layer of complexity (and competition) to the industry, making supply chain resilience and innovative Grocery Logistics necessary.

Grocery retailers face unique challenges when handling, storing, and distributing food products. They must equip their warehouses and fulfillment centers with the technology and infrastructure to support high-density goods. Factor in frozen and perishable foods, and the requirements get even trickier.

Adequate storage is at the heart of any grocery company’s material flow process. While keeping foods at the right temperature is imperative, other factors must also be considered. Space optimization and the ability to move items in and out of storage also play a role.

Warehouse automation allows companies to meet these challenges head-on. Once you know what solutions are, you can work toward a storage environment that saves space and acts as a centralized hub for your fulfillment operation.

Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (ASRS)

Grocery goods are bulky. Even small items are typically packed together in large boxes or crates. That’s why maximizing warehouse space is so hard in grocery fulfillment centers.

An ASRS is one of the most commonly used warehouse solutions that companies have implemented to solve this problem. They’re designed with vertical isles that accommodate high-density items and robotic shuttles that move through the system to retrieve items. The automated shuttle system eliminates the need for forklifts, reducing the space required for storage.

Flexibility is another benefit of ASRS. Shelving units are modular, meaning you can adjust them to accommodate various product sizes. You can also adjust the height of shelves to fit your product line without wasting space. Along with changing the configuration, you can add or remove automated robots to meet higher demand or save energy during slow periods.

These systems are highly effective in refrigerated or frozen warehouses. They provide product insulation and reduce the strain on human workers by eliminating the need for manual retrieval in extreme temperatures. The automated robots can function in any temperature zone. This allows for optimal productivity in 24/7 operations.

In addition to space optimization, ASRS helps move goods from storage to fulfillment zones. They connect with automated conveyors to transport food items quickly and with the utmost care, reducing the chance of product damage.

Automated Cube Storage Solutions

Space optimization is complex if you operate a small warehouse and fulfillment center. Every square inch matters in an environment with limited space, especially when handling high-density grocery products.

Cube storage is a perfect solution for these environments. Unlike ASRS setups that utilize isles, cube storage offers a compact grid system with square cartons that store goods—imagine a giant Rubix cube with items in each little box.

Doing away with isles creates more warehouse space without compromising storage availability. Cube systems also support fast and accurate goods retrieval through automated robots. However, instead of moving through isles, these AI-driven robots glide along the top of the cube, grabbing items and transporting them to the next stage in the fulfillment process. You can configure the system so that frequently used products remain at the top for fast retrieval.

Cube storage is an attractive solution for refrigerated or frozen warehouses. The compact design keeps food at the right temperature while reducing energy consumption. It’s also perfect for a Fulfillment Center that supports an e-grocery operation. The small size allows robots to pick and replenish items quickly, speeding up the entire goods-to-person process.

Major grocery outlets use cube storage systems to provide consistent service and reduce labor costs. They also benefit from spacious warehouses conducive to efficient end-to-end material flow.

Perfecting a Palletizing System

Inbound and outbound processes are no joke in grocery fulfillment centers. High-density goods are heavy, awkward, and take up lots of space. An innovative palletizing system eliminates these problems by supporting seamless goods receipt, storage, and shipping.

Imagine if your warehouse employees didn’t have to touch the goods coming into your facility on pallets. This would significantly reduce the physical strain needed to do their job and reduce the risk of workplace injuries. Automated palletizing makes this a reality. This technology incorporates AI-driven robots that do all the heavy lifting. They can de-palletize goods, log them in the warehouse inventory system, and integrate them into the material flow––no errors or messy receiving docks.

Palletizing systems have sensors that detect the size of goods and produce a logical space-efficient configuration. Robotic arms stack items based on the configuration and ensure goods are packed tightly. This eliminates the chance of wasted space, which is common when pallets are stacked manually. It also secures food items so they’re not damaged.

Automation works on the outbound side, too. AI-driven robots sort and stack wrapped items on pallets and load orders onto trucks. Sensors ensure maximum space optimization during the loading process, which improves shipping efficiency.

Like ASRS, automated palletizing allows for customization so you can create a system that meets your specific needs. Several palletizing robots are on the market, each with different specs. You can add or remove these modular tools to maintain complete control over your goods receipt and shipping processes.

Warehouse Management Software (WMS)

Regardless of your storage solution, you’ll need warehouse management software in place. This is the brain of your Food Logistics operation and plays a vital role in space optimization.

Innovations in warehouse management software have revolutionized the way fulfillment centers function. Integrating artificial intelligence, machine learning, digital blueprints, and data tracking allows you to get the most out of your storage solutions.

The capabilities of WMS are vast. It gives you complete control over your warehouse, allowing you to streamline every aspect of your grocery logistics system. This is important when storing and handling products with hard expiration dates.

WMS provides an overview of your inventory and reorganizes automated storage systems to align with demand fluctuations. This maximizes space utilization and eliminates congestion throughout the goods-to-person process.

If you use an automated storage and retrieval system or cube storage, WMS manages the autonomous robots to ensure no unused spaces. This provides more storage capacity and allows you to add or remove aisles in your warehouse.

Facility simulation is another feature of WMS that benefits space optimization. The software can analyze your current warehouse and show you a simulation of a more efficient layout. This technology often prevents companies from investing in a costly expansion by showing how to use their existing space better.

It’s All About What YOU Need

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all storage solution in the grocery industry. Most warehouses and fulfillment centers are set up to align with a company’s unique needs and long-term goals.

The good news is that automated storage technology can be custom-tailored to your specific grocery logistics system. This takes the headache out of upgrading your storage infrastructure and helps you create a flexible operation that’s ready to handle business growth.

Read more:
Warehouse Solutions for High-Density Storage in Grocery Logistics

The history of football clubs employing a fierce rivalry makes for a fascinating history as to why these clubs made major decisions inside the boardrooms, such as which players to buy, retain, or sell.

Every decision made transfers like a game of strategy, forming a part of a larger plan where every action of a club has a reaction strategized against it. It’s more than just soccer; it is a war of honor, status, and intelligence.

Rivalries as a Catalyst for Bold Transfers

The club rivalry has been a constant factor for players to move between clubs utterly inaudible, reaching new standards and breaking expectations. Such strategic moves often influence betting on football, as they can shift team dynamics and alter the balance of power within leagues. A club may recruit a highly competitive player to strengthen its squad while simultaneously targeting its opponent’s chances in more than one season.

Luís Figo illustrated this perfectly in 2000 when he left Barcelona and joined Real Madrid. This was no ordinary operational procedure; it declared war on their fiercest competition. It’s not difficult to understand how deals like this become iconic, even almost legendary, when they are fully fueled and powered by fans’ or players’ furious emotions.

Maintaining Dominance Through Strategic Signings

Clubs that compete against each other aggressively use transfers to stay on top of their competitors and remain in contention for trophies. These decisions are made with a strategic and well-thought-out plan, keeping two crucial aspects in mind: adding key players to strengthen the squad and staying on top of their competitors. The core approaches comprise:

Signing Talent in the Early Stages: Clubs have to expand their scouting base as a vertical.
Capitalizing on Other Teams Weaknesses: Acquisitions are done in this manner to counter a competitor’s weak points.
Preventing a Key Player Acquisition by Another Team: Occasionally, a club purchases assets to gain a competitive advantage.

These tactics show how competitions shape every decision to ensure the club is always on top.

Legacy of Rivalries in Recruitment Trends

Rivalries are not only limited to the heat of battle; they also shape the clubs’ thought processes for the next game. Recruitment is a blistering counter-movement responding to an opponent’s strong position or glaring weakness. From strategic marketing moves of high-profile transfers to scouting, all decisions made under the influence of a rivalry are indeed imprinted on the transfer window in Football.

Targeting Key Players to Undermine Rivals

Sometimes, clubs are looking for players not to strengthen their game, but to weaken the opponent significantly. Discussions in communities like https://www.facebook.com/groups/381879567540312 often highlight such strategic moves and their impact on club dynamics. For example, when Arsenal bought Sol Campbell from Tottenham in 2001, it was not considered a transfer. Instead, it was considered a hit on Spurs’ morale.

Such tactics are concerned with psychology and, like any strategy in this domain, have a decisive aim of delivering a psychological blow: One club can ruin the ventures of the other. When Juventus signed Gonzalo Higuain from Napoli, it was not only about goals. Trying to crush Napoli’s hope to win a title was a goal. These transfers are more than just Football; they are political within the fans and the teams.

Avoiding Transfers That Strengthen Rivals

Rival teams don’t sell top players to their real competitors, as doing so hurts the competition. For example, when Cristiano Ronaldo wanted to leave Manchester United in 2022, the team denied consenting to his move to any of the Premier League, prioritizing their long-term interests over immediate financial gains.

For instance, overseas transfers may strategically weaken a rival, such as Chelsea, who might want to dispose of Eden Hazard to Real Madrid. It’s a tactical and strategic exchange to prevent enemies from profiting off players they once owned. The decisions depict how rivalries constrain every level of recruiting that takes place within.

Financial Impact of Rivalry-Driven Transfers

Fiercely competing clubs do not hesitate to go back to the transfer market and pay exorbitant fees for players that could change the game for them. Barcelona was hit hard by losing a pivotal player to their fiercest rival, Real Madrid. At the same time, the latter kept claiming to be in control with the purchase of Brazilian professional footballer Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain at a record fee in 2017.

These transfers also alter lucrative sponsorship arrangements and ticket sales. Following Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer to Juventus, the club reported considerable global exposure and increased shirt sales. Transfers within rival businesses are sometimes risky financially. It is sometimes possible to win championships and make money, but when you lose, the impact lingers for many years.

The Driving Force Behind Transfer Strategies

Soccer rivalries go beyond the pitch, influencing boardroom politics and player signings. These intense rivalries determine recruitment patterns, financial plans, and even sneaky psychological moves to outwit opponents. The history of such rivalries means that every transfer has a significant meaning.

Read more:
How Historical Club Rivalries Influence Modern Transfer Policies

There has been a significant transformation in artificial intelligence (AI)-powered translation, shifting from static outputs to dynamic, user-driven customization.

Traditional machine translation models have often lacked accuracy, context, and nuance, operating under a one-size-fits-all paradigm. The future of AI translation, however, lies in adaptability—where AI evolves based on user needs, industry requirements, and cultural contexts.

MachineTranslation.com by Tomedes is at the forefront of this revolution, surpassing generic machine outputs by offering a highly refined, user-driven, and customizable translation experience. Unlike traditional AI translation tools, it incorporates personalized learning capabilities with an interactive AI Translation Agent that remembers user preferences and adapts to them over time, ensuring translations are consistently aligned with individual needs and brand voice.

Delivering translations with 85% professional quality at 90% less cost, MachineTranslation.com ensures accurate, context-aware, and brand-consistent translations—enhancing precision and flexibility for diverse user needs.

The Evolution of Machine Translation: From Static to Adaptive AI

Machine translation has undergone remarkable advancements. From early rule-based translation systems to statistical models and neural machine translation (NMT), the field has continuously evolved. Yet, even NMT has its shortcomings, especially in handling industry-specific jargon, tone variations, and contextual accuracy.

The next frontier is adaptive AI, which learns and refines translations based on user input. This enables businesses and professionals to maintain linguistic precision, cultural relevance, and brand consistency across their communications.

How MachineTranslation.com’s AI Translation Agent Stands Out

MachineTranslation.com was developed by Tomedes to embody the company’s vision to make AI accessible to everyone. Identifying a gap in the market, Tomedes created the platform to offer personalized, feedback-driven AI translations, ensuring users can find the best translation options tailored to their needs. Ofer Tirosh, CEO of Tomedes, highlights the importance of adaptive technology in achieving true accuracy and contextual understanding, emphasizing a customer-centric approach. By empowering users to refine translations through feedback, this technology ensures results that are both precise and tailored to individual needs.

“We are not just building an AI tool; we are creating a dynamic language solution that adapts to real-world needs,” says Tirosh. “Our goal is to simplify a complex process while delivering high-quality results. With the AI Translation Agent, users can customize translations to match their style, as the system learns and adapts to their preferences over time.”

This vision drives the innovation behind MachineTranslation.com’s AI Translation Agent, setting it apart in the industry.

It learns from the user’s edits, remembers their preferences, and adapts translations to their style—delivering more accurate and consistent results over time. This minimizes the need for post-translation edits while ensuring consistency and accuracy over time.

This ability to recall and apply user preferences is groundbreaking. Businesses no longer need to manually correct the same phrases repeatedly—MachineTranslation.com ensures consistency automatically. Whether for technical documents, marketing materials, or legal contracts, the AI Translation Agent optimizes translations to fit specific use cases seamlessly.

Why Businesses Need Customizable Translation Solutions

Globalization has made multilingual communication essential, but not all translations serve the same purpose. A legal firm requires compliance with legal terminology, a fashion brand prioritizes tone, and customer support translations need cultural appropriateness and clarity.

A rigid, one-size-fits-all machine translation approach does not address these varying needs. Businesses require AI-driven solutions that offer:

Terminology Management:

Defining key terms and industry-specific jargon.

Tone Customization:

Adjusting formality, creativity, or technical clarity.

Brand Consistency:

Ensuring translations align with a company’s established voice.

Scalability:

Managing high translation volumes without quality loss.

MachineTranslation.com’s AI Translation Agent enables real-time learning, making it an essential tool for industries such as finance, healthcare, e-commerce, and law, where precision and context are critical.

Breaking Language Barriers While Preserving Cultural Nuances

Maintaining cultural sensitivity and context is one of the biggest challenges in AI translation. For example, a global e-commerce brand once struggled with translating product descriptions into Japanese, as direct translations from English failed to capture the nuances of polite customer engagement.

By leveraging MachineTranslation.com’s AI Translation Agent with its user-driven customization and contextual refinement features, the system learned to refine honorific expressions and context-specific phrasing, ultimately improving customer engagement and brand perception in the Japanese market.

Language is deeply rooted in history, emotion, and cultural significance, shaping communication and interpretation across societies. Understanding these nuances allows businesses to build stronger global connections. By ensuring translations capture these nuances, businesses can foster stronger connections with their global audiences. Poorly translated content can distort the intended message, causing misunderstandings or even offense. By ensuring that translations are culturally nuanced and contextually accurate, MachineTranslation.com helps businesses navigate linguistic complexities while preserving brand integrity.

Adaptive AI translation solves this problem. By incorporating user-driven input and memory-based learning, MachineTranslation.com’s adaptive AI ensures that translations go beyond literal word conversions by accurately reflecting cultural nuances, idiomatic expressions, and regional preferences—enabling businesses to communicate authentically in global markets.

The Future of AI-Powered Translation: What Lies Ahead

Ofer Tirosh believes that AI-powered translation must go beyond automation to truly serve global businesses. He envisions a future where AI translation tools not only deliver accuracy but also democratize linguistic and cultural intelligence, making AI accessible to everyone. Through the AI Translation Agent, users can actively participate in refining translations by selecting or suggesting the most suitable phrasing for their needs, while the AI seamlessly implements these revisions, ensuring both precision and personalization

As AI translation technology evolves, future developments will include:

Deeper Personalization:

AI will better understand individual user preferences.

Real-Time Adaptive Translation:

Context-aware translations in live conversations.

Cross-Platform Integration:

AI-powered translation embedded in various digital ecosystems.

Ethical AI and Bias Reduction:

Enhanced models to minimize linguistic biases and ensure inclusivity.

MachineTranslation.com is committed to driving these advancements, ensuring AI-powered translation is more accurate, efficient, and user-centric than ever before. Looking ahead, the platform plans to further enhance its adaptive AI capabilities by integrating real-time learning mechanisms, such as automated feedback loops where user corrections directly improve future translations.

Advancements in multilingual datasets will enhance support for niche languages, significantly reducing translation errors in low-resource language pairs and ensuring broader linguistic coverage. These improvements will ensure that users experience more precise, contextually aware, and industry-specific translations over time. It will continue expanding its multilingual datasets while refining user-driven customization features, ensuring translations remain context-aware, industry-specific, and culturally relevant. These advancements will enable businesses and professionals to achieve even greater control over their translations, setting new benchmarks in AI-assisted global communication.

Conclusion:

Language should be a bridge, not a barrier. AI translation with user-driven customization unlocks global opportunities while preserving communication authenticity.

The shift from static machine translation to adaptive AI is not just a trend—it is the future. By prioritizing user-driven customization, MachineTranslation.com is shaping the future of AI translation—delivering high-quality, adaptable, and accurate translations that meet the evolving demands of global communication.

 

Read more:
The Future of AI Translation: Why User-Driven Customization is the Key to Global Communication

Deliveroo has dismissed more than 100 riders as part of an ongoing effort to tackle illegal immigration within its workforce.

The food delivery giant confirmed to MPs that 105 workers had been removed since April 2024 for illegally sharing their accounts with undocumented migrants. The company has faced increasing government scrutiny over the issue, with concerns raised about the widespread abuse of the substitution system, which allows riders to appoint others to deliver on their behalf.

In response to mounting political pressure, Deliveroo and other gig economy giants—including Just Eat and Uber Eats—have been ordered to strengthen employment checks. Many platforms now require riders to regularly submit selfie or video verification to ensure the registered account holder is the one completing deliveries.

Paul Bedford, Deliveroo’s director of policy, outlined the company’s crackdown in a letter to the Commons business and trade select committee, stating:

“We have off-boarded 105 Deliveroo riders since April 2024 due to their substitutes providing invalid right-to-work documents. To be clear, a substitute rider must have their right-to-work status verified before they can complete any orders with Deliveroo.”

Government figures suggest that 40% of delivery riders stopped during random checks in April 2023 were working illegally. Some asylum seekers who had crossed the Channel were found to be earning up to £1,500 per month from food deliveries while staying in government-funded hotels.

The issue of illegal working within the gig economy has become a political flashpoint, with both major parties committed to cracking down on exploitation.

Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick previously accused the substitution system of fueling illegal immigration and compromising public safety due to lax right-to-work checks. Labour has since taken up the initiative, with employment rights minister Justin Madders receiving a dossier from Deliveroo outlining its efforts to tackle the issue.

A Whitehall source described Deliveroo’s workforce as an “area of concern” for the government, which is continuing to push for tighter controls across the industry.

A Deliveroo spokesperson defended the company’s actions, saying: “Deliveroo has led the industry in taking action to secure our platform against illegal working. We were the first to roll out direct right-to-work checks, a registration process, daily identity verification and now additional device checks for riders, including substitutes.

“We take our responsibilities extremely seriously and continue to strengthen our controls to prevent misuse of our platform. We would encourage the Government to ensure all major platforms urgently adopt the same standards.”

As gig economy platforms face increasing scrutiny over employment practices, Deliveroo’s efforts to tighten its verification systems may set a precedent for the industry. However, concerns remain over the extent of illegal working and whether further regulatory measures will be required.

Read more:
Deliveroo sacks over 100 riders in crackdown on illegal workers

A former DeepMind scientist who helped develop AlphaFold, the AI model that revolutionised protein structure prediction, has raised $50 million to launch Latent Labs, a startup focused on using artificial intelligence to design new proteins.

Simon Kohl, a German-born physicist and machine learning expert, founded Latent Labs in 2023 with the ambition of “achieving computational mastery over biology.” The company aims to partner with biotech firms to accelerate drug development by replacing traditional experimental methods with AI-driven protein design.

The funding round, completed in December, was led by Radical Ventures, an AI-focused investment fund, alongside Sofinnova Partners, known for its life-sciences investments. High-profile backers include: Jeff Dean – Google’s chief scientist, Aidan Gomez – co-founder of generative AI firm Cohere and Mati Staniszewski – co-founder of AI audio startup ElevenLabs.

With an earlier $10 million in start-up capital, Latent Labs has now secured a total of $50 million to scale its operations.

Kohl, 34, previously worked at DeepMind, where he played a key role in the second iteration of AlphaFold—technology that has been recognised with a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. While AlphaFold enables scientists to map existing protein structures, Kohl believes the next step is to design new proteins from scratch using generative AI.

“[AlphaFold] allows you to look at the catalogue of existing natural proteins, but it doesn’t allow you to make new ones,” said Kohl.

His goal with Latent Labs is to develop AI models that eliminate the need for traditional laboratory techniques, making drug discovery faster and more precise.

Latent Labs is assembling a team of top AI and biotech researchers across London and San Francisco, including four former DeepMind scientists. The company is actively hiring more specialists as it expands.

By applying generative AI to protein and molecular design, Kohl believes Latent Labs can reduce failures in clinical trials, a key challenge in the pharmaceutical industry.

“There are still lots of failures in clinical trials, and in some ways, you can trace the issue back to how the drug was originally discovered,” he explained.

“If you can design proteins and molecules with a higher degree of control and precision, the idea is that in the future, we will see fewer failures.”

Kohl acknowledged concerns over the ethical implications of AI-generated proteins, calling it “an important question” that requires broader discussion. However, he stressed that current AI technology is not yet advanced enough to surpass what human experts can achieve in a well-equipped lab.

As for when Latent Labs’ AI will outperform traditional methods, Kohl admitted it was difficult to predict.

“Our north star is that our AI systems will eventually be so advanced that they no longer require experimental lab validation,” he said. “At that point, you will have quite powerful technology on your hands.”

Latent Labs is entering a competitive but still emerging field where multiple startups are exploring how AI can reshape drug development. Kohl compared the landscape to a space race.

“It feels like quite a number of rockets are being launched right now, and they may all reach orbit,” he said.

While Latent Labs has not disclosed its current projects or clients, the startup’s rapid funding and high-profile backing suggest it is poised to be a key player in the future of AI-driven drug discovery and protein engineering.

Read more:
Deepmind scientist raises $50m to use AI in protein design revolution

More than a third of UK entrepreneurs are concerned about the financial impact of Donald Trump’s proposed trade tariffs, according to a new survey by entrepreneur network Helm.

The poll, conducted between 10 and 11 February among Helm’s 400 members—who collectively generate £8 billion in revenue—found that 37% of respondents fear the tariffs could add “significant costs” to their operations.

The US is the UK’s second-largest export market, accounting for 22% of total UK exports, making it a crucial trade partner for British businesses.

However, since the proposed tariffs mainly target goods rather than services, the majority of Helm members (63%) remain unconcerned. Many believe Trump’s trade threats are primarily a negotiating tactic, while others are unaffected as they either do not trade in the US or primarily export services, which are currently exempt.

Helm’s CEO, Andreas Adamides, noted that British entrepreneurs are sharply divided on the issue. He said: “While some fear rising costs and supply chain disruptions, others see potential opportunities as trade routes shift,” he said. “The resilience and adaptability of UK entrepreneurs will be crucial in navigating these uncertainties.”

Syd Nadim, founder of digital solutions firm Clock, which derives 40% of its revenue from the US, dismissed Trump’s rhetoric as “mostly bluff and bluster.”

“Canada and Mexico have learned to manage these threats. Since services are excluded from the tariffs, we’re confident they won’t affect us directly, though the broader economic impact is still a concern,” he said.

Meanwhile, Maz Darvish, CEO of AI firm Cognition Hub, pointed out that removing the de minimis threshold—which currently allows imports below $800 to enter the US duty-free—could level the playing field for American SMEs.

“If the UK and EU followed suit, it could boost local e-commerce and protect consumers from unsafe imports,” he said.

However, some entrepreneurs remain deeply concerned about rising costs and supply chain challenges.

Harry Zalk, co-CEO of infrastructure firm Matrix Group, warned that tariffs would “significantly increase costs for our imports and exports,” while the potential removal of the no-duty threshold would further strain e-commerce businesses.

For Tobi Schneidler, founder of computer accessories brand Bouncepad, the potential impact is clear.

“The United States is a major market for us. Tariffs would add to the challenges of Brexit, making US exports even tougher for us,” he said.

As Trump’s trade policies remain in flux, UK entrepreneurs will be watching closely to assess the potential impact on their businesses. Whether the proposed tariffs become a reality or remain a political bargaining tool, British exporters will need to remain agile in an increasingly uncertain trade environment.

Read more:
Third of UK entrepreneurs fear Trump’s proposed tariffs will hit business costs

TikTok is once again available for download in the US, after former president Donald Trump granted a 75-day extension on enforcing a law that would ban the app unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, sells its US operations.

The popular video-sharing platform, which has more than 170 million American users, briefly disappeared from Apple and Google’s US app stores last month as the original ban deadline loomed. However, following Trump’s executive order postponing enforcement until 5 April, the app was reinstated after assurances were given that Apple and Google would not face liability for allowing downloads.

The legislation banning TikTok was originally signed into law by former president Joe Biden, with bipartisan support in Congress. The US government had argued that the platform could be used by Beijing for espionage and political manipulation—claims that both TikTok and the Chinese government have repeatedly denied.

Despite his earlier stance in favour of banning TikTok, Trump appeared to shift his position last year during the presidential race. He expressed a “warm spot” for the app, highlighting the billions of views his campaign videos attracted on the platform. When TikTok resumed operations in the US, users received a pop-up message thanking Trump by name.

TikTok’s chief executive, Shou Chew, reportedly met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago after his electoral victory in November and later attended his inauguration.

Trump has floated the idea of a joint ownership model, suggesting that a buyer could take over TikTok and “give half to the US” in exchange for a permit to operate.

Among the potential buyers linked to a takeover are Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and billionaire Elon Musk, who also leads Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. Other names in the mix include billionaire Frank McCourt, Canadian investor and Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary, and YouTube’s biggest creator, Jimmy Donaldson—better known as MrBeast—who has claimed that investors approached him after he expressed interest in acquiring the app.

With the ban deadline now pushed to early April, the coming weeks could determine TikTok’s future in the US. Whether a sale materialises or a compromise is reached remains uncertain, but for now, American users can continue scrolling, creating, and engaging on the platform.

Read more:
TikTok returns to US app stores as Trump delays ban enforcement

Concerns are mounting that UK businesses could face steeper trade taxes after former US president Donald Trump announced plans to introduce “reciprocal tariffs” that factor in VAT.

Trump has instructed his team to develop a system where tariffs on imports match levies imposed on US goods, potentially affecting trade with the UK. While Britain was previously considered less exposed to tariffs than other nations, the inclusion of VAT in tariff calculations has raised fresh concerns about its impact on British exports.

Analysts suggest that tariffs of 20% or more could be applied to the UK, alongside the European Union. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has warned that key industries—including automotive, pharmaceuticals, and food and drink—could be “significantly hit” by these new measures, announced by the White House on Thursday.

The Trump administration’s latest move broadens the scope of US trade retaliation, targeting not just traditional tariffs but also “unfair or harmful acts, policies, or practices.”

One of Trump’s primary justifications for imposing tariffs has been trade imbalances, where countries sell more to the US than they import. However, both the UK and US claim to have trade surpluses with each other due to differences in data collection methods. The introduction of VAT into the tariff equation adds further uncertainty over how British businesses might be affected.

Trump’s statement described VAT as an “unfair, discriminatory or extraterritorial tax.” The UK’s VAT system applies a standard 20% tax on most goods and services, regardless of whether they are imported or domestically produced.

George Saravelos, global head of FX research at Deutsche Bank, warned that if US tariffs were calculated based on VAT and existing tariffs combined, UK businesses exporting to the US could face duties of 21%.

“If reciprocal tariffs are applied on a VAT basis, European countries would be much higher on the list of impacted nations,” Saravelos said.

William Bain, head of trade policy at the BCC, noted that while the UK had some “insulation” due to exporting fewer goods to the US compared to other nations, the proposed changes would still “create more cost and uncertainty” and “upend established trade norms.”

Paul Ashworth, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, argued that most experts see VAT as a non-discriminatory tax, as it applies equally to domestic and imported goods. However, one of Trump’s advisers has suggested that VAT disadvantages US businesses, as America applies much lower sales taxes at the state level.

Ashworth noted that Trump now appears to favour a country-specific tariff approach, rather than imposing a blanket tax on all US imports.

The potential impact of these proposed tariffs remains uncertain, with legal experts warning that the term “reciprocal” may not mean what many assume.

Caroline Ramsay, partner and head of international trade at law firm TLT, explained: “It does not mean that the USA is going to check what the UK tariff is on paper imports and match that tariff percentage for paper exports to the US from the UK.”

Instead, the US is likely to determine tariffs based on its own interpretation of what constitutes a fair trade policy.

Bain stressed that it is “vital” for the UK government to engage in negotiations with Trump and avoid being “sucked into a trade war of tit-for-tat tariffs.”

Meanwhile, senior UK government minister Pat McFadden urged caution, stating: “The most sensible thing to do with all of these announcements is to digest them, see if they actually come to pass, and then decide what you do.”

As uncertainty looms over the future of UK-US trade relations, businesses across multiple sectors now face the prospect of increased costs and potential disruptions to transatlantic commerce.

Read more:
Trump’s tariff threat: UK businesses could face higher trade taxes

The government has issued new guidance instructing public sector buyers to make it easier for small businesses to win a larger share of the £400 billion spent annually on goods and services.

The national procurement policy, which comes into effect on 24 February, encourages 20,000 public agencies to simplify tendering processes for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as voluntary, community, and social enterprises. The move is designed to reduce bureaucracy, drive social change, and help small businesses compete for government contracts.

The Cabinet Office has told buyers to “maximise procurement spend” with SMEs without compromising value for money or quality, as part of broader efforts to boost economic growth.

With SMEs already receiving around 20 per cent of public procurement spending, the reforms could unlock billions of pounds in contracts for smaller firms. The 2023 Procurement Act, set to take effect at the end of the month, will introduce greater transparency, potentially saving over £4 billion a year, according to the National Audit Office.

“Businesses tell me that the current system isn’t working. It is slow, complicated, and too often means small businesses in this country are shut out of public sector contracts. These measures will change that.”

The new rules also require government departments to conduct spot checks to ensure large suppliers are paying subcontractors within 30 days.

A “public interest” test is also being introduced, determining whether government departments and local authorities should outsource contracts or deliver services in-house to improve efficiency and value for money.

The Cabinet Office is also exploring ways to allow local councils to prioritise SMEs in their communities over national suppliers, even when larger firms offer lower prices.

Emma Jones, chief executive of Enterprise Nation, welcomed the changes, saying: “By setting new standards in creating social value and reinforcing 30-day payment terms, this new approach could see many more opportunities opening up for the UK’s small business community to grow.”

Increasing SME contracts to 40% by 2030

A Goldman Sachs report this week urged the government to increase the share of procurement contracts awarded to SMEs to 40 per cent by 2030. The Institute for Government has estimated that SME public sector spending remained at around 20 per cent between 2018 and 2023, highlighting significant room for improvement.

Jones believes that reserving contracts for small businesses will provide a major boost to local economies, ensuring that public sector spending supports innovation, sustainability, and job creation in communities across the UK.

With the government looking to drive growth and support smaller firms, businesses will be watching closely to see if these reforms translate into real opportunities.

Read more:
Government urges public sector buyers to award more contracts to small businesses