Latest news with #IBV
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Take a look inside a vault used by the superrich to store gold, jewelry — and hard drives full of crypto
IBV International Vaults offers secure storage for valuables such as gold and bitcoin. The company serves 40,000 customers across locations in London, Dubai, and South Africa. The London branch is situated on Park Lane in Mayfair, one of the city's most exclusive districts. When you're part of the world's superrich elite, sometimes a regular safety deposit box just doesn't cut it. That's where companies like IBV International Vaults come in. IBV, which was founded in South Africa, provides secure storage for some 40,000 customers at locations including London, Dubai, and Cape Town. Business Insider recently took a tour of IBV's London facility, which boasts security features including bullet-resistant glass and biometric scanners to protect the gold, jewels, and even bitcoin hard drives in its vaults. Located on Park Lane in Mayfair, one of London's swankiest districts, here's what the vaults look like. It all started in 2002. The idea for IBV dates back to 2002 when founder and chairman Ashok Sewnarain overheard a woman at a vault in a South African bank being told that she'd have to wait three years for a safe deposit box. In 2005, he opened the first vault in a mall in Cape Town's Gateway district. Sewnarain's background is in property and budget hotels. Before that, he worked with his dad after dropping out of college. He told Business Insider the initial years were the most challenging because it was an individual trying to offer a "world-class private vault facility," rather than a bank or public institution. With help from his family and the decision to launch IBV Gold to sell and trade certified gold bullion, the business started to grow. It now has nine branches, with another in the works. The London branch is in a Grade II-listed building. IBV London opened its doors in a Grade II-listed building opposite a five-star hotel on Park Lane in 2020. The building was previously a bank branch, which Sewnarain wanted for his first UK-based vault. The company then renovated the space to make it ultra-secure. It took years to build a world-class security system. As part of the renovation, managing director Sean Hoey was recruited from Harrods, where he managed the luxury department store's safe deposit boxes. The facility has a state-of-the-art security system. Upon entering, biometric readers scan both fingerprints and irises. Glass protecting the vaults is bullet-resistant, and steel runs from the floor to the ceiling. Seismic detection sensors mean any attempt to tamper with the vaults would immediately trigger alerts. IBV provides a dual key system, whereby the client is supplied with a specialized key that only they can use. To access their vault, they are then escorted by a highly trained officer. Sewnarain said that when IBV started to design vaults, he visited manufacturers and security design companies in the US, Europe, China, and India. "The tiers of security and the level of security are extremely high as the whole ethos of our security is to be proactive rather than reactive," he said. The safe deposit boxes come in a range of sizes. IBV offers vaults in nine sizes, ranging from about enough room for a cellphone, through to an entire room. The smallest options are the most popular among members. Prices range from £600 (about $800) a year, to up to £2.5 million. Offering a similarly exclusive service, Harrods, from which Hoey was poached, is perhaps IBV's big competitor in London. Set up in 1896 and hidden behind a three-ton steel door, users come up with their own personal password and get a key. The smallest box at Harrods, which is slightly bigger than IBV's smallest option, costs £525, with the largest costing £18,250 a year. Several British banks also offer safety deposit boxes for less-well-off customers. At Lloyds Bank, prices for safe deposit boxes range from £200 to £475 a year, while those at Metro Bank start at £240 and go up to £750. IBV doesn't know what the safes contain. Clients have complete confidentiality over the contents of their safe. However, Sewnarain has an idea of the most common items stored based on what some have said. "I think the core assets in the vault are first the physical gold, silver, and platinum, followed by very high-value jewelry and diamonds and watches," he said. Sewnarain said some clients will store documents such as wills, business papers, letters of wishes, and legal contracts. "Also, now with the world of cryptocurrencies, you have cold storage, which is where the people, the investors, who are buying cryptocurrencies and bitcoins, do not want to keep the asset on an exchange or a crypto platform," he explained. "They want to download it onto a USB and make sure that USB is kept in a vault under their control." All of the vaults come with insurance cover worth up to £100,000. Clients can use a Rolls-Royce transfer service. IBV's clients are ultra-high-net-worth individuals, who Sewnarain said included entrepreneurs and wealth creators. Applicants must undergo a detailed selection process involving committee approval. Members have access to perks including networking events and Rolls-Royce transfers. IBV recently launched a wealth club, which is complimentary for clients renting the two largest safe deposit boxes. IBV buys, sells, and stores gold. As well as storing gold, IBV also buys and sells the precious metal. "Buyers and sellers love to play the game of taking profit when the price rises and also acquire when the price goes down, like currencies, like property, like equities on the stock exchange, and like crypto," Sewnarain said. 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Business Insider
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Take a look inside a vault used by the superrich to store gold, jewelry — and hard drives full of crypto
IBV International Vaults offers secure storage for valuables such as gold and bitcoin. The company serves 40,000 customers across locations in London, Dubai, and South Africa. The London branch is situated on Park Lane in Mayfair, one of the city's most exclusive districts. When you're part of the world's superrich elite, sometimes a regular safety deposit box just doesn't cut it. That's where companies like IBV International Vaults come in. IBV, which was founded in South Africa, provides secure storage for some 40,000 customers at locations including London, Dubai, and Cape Town. Business Insider recently took a tour of IBV's London facility, which boasts security features including bullet-resistant glass and biometric scanners to protect the gold, jewels, and even bitcoin hard drives in its vaults. Located on Park Lane in Mayfair, one of London's swankiest districts, here's what the vaults look like. It all started in 2002. The idea for IBV dates back to 2002 when founder and chairman Ashok Sewnarain overheard a woman at a vault in a South African bank being told that she'd have to wait three years for a safe deposit box. In 2005, he opened the first vault in a mall in Cape Town's Gateway district. Sewnarain's background is in property and budget hotels. Before that, he worked with his dad after dropping out of college. He told Business Insider the initial years were the most challenging because it was an individual trying to offer a "world-class private vault facility," rather than a bank or public institution. With help from his family and the decision to launch IBV Gold to sell and trade certified gold bullion, the business started to grow. It now has nine branches, with another in the works. The London branch is in a Grade II-listed building. IBV London opened its doors in a Grade II-listed building opposite a five-star hotel on Park Lane in 2020. The building was previously a bank branch, which Sewnarain wanted for his first UK-based vault. The company then renovated the space to make it ultra-secure. It took years to build a world-class security system. As part of the renovation, managing director Sean Hoey was recruited from Harrods, where he managed the luxury department store's safe deposit boxes. The facility has a state-of-the-art security system. Upon entering, biometric readers scan both fingerprints and irises. Glass protecting the vaults is bullet-resistant, and steel runs from the floor to the ceiling. Seismic detection sensors mean any attempt to tamper with the vaults would immediately trigger alerts. IBV provides a dual key system, whereby the client is supplied with a specialized key that only they can use. To access their vault, they are then escorted by a highly trained officer. Sewnarain said that when IBV started to design vaults, he visited manufacturers and security design companies in the US, Europe, China, and India. "The tiers of security and the level of security are extremely high as the whole ethos of our security is to be proactive rather than reactive," he said. The safe deposit boxes come in a range of sizes. IBV offers vaults in nine sizes, ranging from about enough room for a cellphone, through to an entire room. The smallest options are the most popular among members. Prices range from £600 (about $800) a year, to up to £2.5 million. Offering a similarly exclusive service, Harrods, from which Hoey was poached, is perhaps IBV's big competitor in London. Set up in 1896 and hidden behind a three-ton steel door, users come up with their own personal password and get a key. The smallest box at Harrods, which is slightly bigger than IBV's smallest option, costs £525, with the largest costing £18,250 a year. Several British banks also offer safety deposit boxes for less-well-off customers. At Lloyds Bank, prices for safe deposit boxes range from £200 to £475 a year, while those at Metro Bank start at £240 and go up to £750. IBV doesn't know what the safes contain. Clients have complete confidentiality over the contents of their safe. However, Sewnarain has an idea of the most common items stored based on what some have said. "I think the core assets in the vault are first the physical gold, silver, and platinum, followed by very high-value jewelry and diamonds and watches," he said. Sewnarain said some clients will store documents such as wills, business papers, letters of wishes, and legal contracts. "Also, now with the world of cryptocurrencies, you have cold storage, which is where the people, the investors, who are buying cryptocurrencies and bitcoins, do not want to keep the asset on an exchange or a crypto platform," he explained. "They want to download it onto a USB and make sure that USB is kept in a vault under their control." Clients can use a Rolls-Royce transfer service. IBV's clients are ultra-high-net-worth individuals, who Sewnarain said included entrepreneurs and wealth creators. Applicants must undergo a detailed selection process involving committee approval. Members have access to perks including networking events and Rolls-Royce transfers. IBV recently launched a wealth club, which is complimentary for clients renting the two largest safe deposit boxes. IBV buys, sells, and stores gold. As well as storing gold, IBV also buys and sells the precious metal. "Buyers and sellers love to play the game of taking profit when the price rises and also acquire when the price goes down, like currencies, like property, like equities on the stock exchange, and like crypto," Sewnarain said.
India Today
07-06-2025
- Health
- India Today
IIT Guwahati develops low-cost way to measure COVID-19 using clay
A research team at IIT Guwahati has come up with a new way to detect the virus that causes COVID-19 -- using clay and salt water. This method doesn't rely on heavy lab equipment or complex tests. Instead, it watches how a mix of clay, virus, and salt water settles over time, a process known as study, led by Professor TV Bharat from the Department of Civil Engineering and Professor Sachin Kumar from the Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, explores the use of Bentonite for sticking to pollutants, this clay also binds with viruses when placed in the right environment -- room temperature and a neutral pH.'Think of it like watching mud settle in a glass of water,' Prof. Bharat explained. 'The way the clay falls can tell us if a virus is there and how much of it is present.'The team tested the method using a virus similar to coronavirus and the Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV). They checked the results using existing detection tools like RT-PCR and plaque assays. The clay-based approach gave matching results -- without the need for expensive method could be useful not just for detecting COVID-19 but also other viruses, like those affecting poultry farms. It could be especially handy in places that don't have access to high-end researchers now plan to team up with medical labs and industry players to test this approach on real-world samples. If all goes well, they hope to turn it into a simple field kit for future idea -- watching how fast clay sinks -- could become part of how we deal with virus outbreaks in the future, especially in areas that need quick, low-cost solutions. advertisement
Cision Canada
07-05-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
IBM Report: Canadian CEOs Embrace AI Français
Canadian CEOs leading in AI adoption, transforming workforces, and securing data 72% adopting AI agents ahead of global peers 50% hiring for AI-related roles which did not exist a year ago 14% of AI initiatives have scaled enterprise-wide, compared to 16% globally MARKHAM, ON, May 7, 2025 /CNW/ -- Canadian CEOs are making bold strides in the global race to unlock AI's potential, according to the 2025 IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) CEO Study. Productivity gains are the key driver behind leaders' desire to adopt generative AI, including the ability to automate routine tasks, optimize workflows, analyze data, and provide actionable insights. The study, which surveyed 2,000 CEOs across 33 countries and 24 industries — including 80 Canadian C-Suite leaders — shows 72% of Canadian CEOs are actively adopting AI agents and preparing to implement them at scale, compared to 61% globally. Yet, these leaders also say only 14% of AI initiatives have successfully scaled AI across their organizations. Further, only 27% of AI initiatives have delivered expected ROI. "Canadian CEOs are taking bold steps to integrate AI into their operations, signalling a clear understanding of its transformative potential," said Rob Wilmot, General Manager and Managing Partner of Consulting, IBM Canada. "But this isn't just about adopting AI – it's about embedding it thoughtfully and effectively across the organization. The IBM study indicates that Canadian businesses have the ambition. Now it's time to focus on execution." Vancouver International Airport (YVR) is an example of leadership in AI adoption, leveraging it and digital twin technology to drive operational efficiency and situational awareness in real time. By integrating predictive AI capabilities, they are enabling proactive issue resolution and data-driven decision-making. Every employee will be equipped with a trainable AI assistant, an AI Buddy, fostering cross-functional collaboration and creating a connected support ecosystem. "AI has been business needs-driven to ensure that we can start small and scale – that we can test its adoption, get people working on it, and then scale it across our operations," said CEO Tamara Vrooman. "Data as a single source of truth that everybody can see has been transformational for partnerships," Vrooman added. "It's helping us work better together and uncover ways to grow." Canadian CEOs Prioritize Data and Risk-Taking as Keys to AI Success The study indicates success in AI adoption hinges on a strong, cohesive business data strategy, and Canadian CEOs are prioritizing data as the foundation for innovation and global competitiveness. Key findings reveal: 76% of Canadian CEOs are investing in technologies before fully understanding their ROI, compared to 64% globally, underscoring a willingness to experiment. 69% are willing to take more risks than competitors to maintain a competitive edge. 43% identify poorly integrated or insufficient data as a significant barrier to AI innovation. 68% agree proprietary data is critical to realizing the full potential of generative AI. 79% view integrated enterprise-wide data architecture as vital for enabling AI-driven transformation. Canadian CEOs: Workforce Upskilling a Key Priority for AI Adoption Insights from the report indicate that, to stay competitive in an AI-driven future, Canadian CEOs are adopting innovative strategies to address workforce challenges, including reskilling existing talent, hiring for emerging AI-related roles, and integrating AI assistants into workflows. With 50% of Canadian CEOs hiring for positions that did not exist a year ago and 58% planning to use automation to bridge skill gaps, it is clear that workforce transformation is a priority. Rapid AI training is also becoming essential, as CEOs say 33% of the workforce will require retraining to meet the demands of an AI-powered world. As Canadian organizations accelerate AI adoption, preparing employees to adapt to the operational and cultural shifts brought by these technologies has become a priority. YVR's Tamara Vrooman emphasized how empowering employees is essential to building confidence and capacity for AI adoption. "How do we set our people up for the future? We feel it's by giving them the confidence to use AI in different situations as part of their own development," she said.
