A 64-year-old mechanic from the Zurich Oberland allegedly kidnapped a municipal employee - apparently in connection with a seizure Heavily armed officers stormed a house in Hittnau ZH on Friday morning and arrested a 64-year-old mechanic The reason: the man is suspected of having kidnapped a municipal employee at gunpoint two weeks previously Witnesses reported a loud bang when the police stormed the building. "Then I heard screams," an eyewitness who observed the incident from his business across the street told theNZZ The police spent hours removing weapons and ammunition from the building It was only later that the residents learned that their reclusive neighbor was a suspected kidnapper with possible links to the anti-government scene the man allegedly kidnapped a 27-year-old employee of the municipality of Pfäffikon on February 13 the victim was a seizure officer who was apparently involved in the collection of the suspect's debts The man is said to have sat in the officer's car in a parking lot that evening and threatened him with a gun But the plan went wrong: after a short time the young man was able to free himself and flee The suspect had worked as a self-employed mechanic for decades He is said to have become increasingly alienated from society in recent years While he used to emphasize in interviews that he was resisting the "throwaway society" neighbors suggested that he had become increasingly difficult in recent years "If you said the wrong thing, he would talk for half an hour without a break and spread conspiracy theories," one neighbor toldBlick The man and his partner increasingly withdrew from public life they resigned from the local trade association without giving a reason Neighbors suspect that he became radicalized during the coronavirus pandemic at the latest President of the Zurich Association of Debt Collection Officers conflicts with state objectors are particularly problematic "They are convinced that the state has been dissolved and that debt collection officers have no legal authority," he tells the NZZ These people are well networked and exchange strategies to resist official measures a radicalized citizen in Pfäffikon shot and killed his wife and the head of the social welfare office the cantonal police have set up a special threat management team to deal with such cases the case is alarming: "The fact that an abduction has now occurred is a worrying development." The police are now investigating whether the man was active in a network of state deniers and whether there are any indications of further radicalization The 64-year-old is currently in custody - he is presumed innocent until a final verdict has been reached A local group of investors is taking over the property which was originally built for Swisscom as a conference center A regional group of investors led by entrepreneur Bruno Vogelsang is taking over Hotel Seedamm AG intend to continue and expand the business in the same way as before The property at Seedammstrasse 3 in Pfäffikon (SZ) which was once built as a training center for Swisscom is now used as a hotel with conference rooms and a restaurant The Casino Pfäffikon is located in the Seedamm Plaza You are leaving Man Group’s website and entering a third-party website that is not controlled Man Group is not responsible for the content or availability of the third-party website you will be subject to the third-party website’s terms including those related to privacy and security Stai per uscire dal sito web di Man Group in lingua italiana accederai ai contenuti disponibili sul sito web di Man Group in lingua inglese per gli utenti in Italia Investment management services are offered through Man Group plc’s regulated subsidiaries as identified in the Terms and Conditions plans to cut its basic tax rate to 15% from 17% next year It hopes to attract hedge funds that are angered by higher taxes in Britain and the public outcry against the banking industry Pfäffikon is already one of the two headquarters of Man Group the world's largest publicly traded hedge fund The Swiss bank UBS has also recently built a base in the Alpine enclave "We know that many London-based funds are not happy with rising taxes in Britain, so this is a reminder that Switzerland and Pfäffikon are positioning themselves as a hedge fund hub," said Marcel Jouault of the business promotion department at Pfäffikon "Many office buildings will be completed in 2011 and 2012 Lowering taxes will attract more businesses." has registered more than 300 businesses so far this year Highland Capital Management and Twelve Capital travel agencies and beauty centres have proliferated The city is also building a centre to host smaller hedge funds One in four hedge fund managers have moved from London to Switzerland costing Britain's public coffers an estimated £500m in tax revenue according to the consultancy Kinetic Partners have been furious about the new 50% personal income tax rate Hedge fund managers insist their moves are not only motivated by taxes as they also seek an improvement in their lifestyles "We moved from London to Zug [near Pfäffikon] not because of the taxes," said Karsten Schroeder The hedge fund community is battling against poor returns, given volatile credit and equity markets, and against forthcoming tougher regulation. A proposed EU directive is expected to impose more transparency on an industry that for years has remained mostly secretive, without having to publicly disclose their holdings. Hedge funds which manage about $2tn (£1.25tn) globally tend to be very lucrative as they charge 2% of the assets invested Following the closure of the Rosinli excursion restaurant in Adetswil ZH the business is celebrating its reopening after two months The former tenant is furious and lets everyone know Hardly anyone had expected this: Just in time for the rising spring temperatures the Rosinli excursion restaurant in Adetswil ZH is celebrating a surprising comeback the bankruptcy office in Pfäffikon ZH had sealed the doors - the tenant at the time was bankrupt But now a breath of fresh air is blowing on the mountain: a new manager is ensuring that life is returning As "Zuerioberland24" reports the owner informs us about the turbulent times in a notice at the entrance: "After the difficult experiences with the last tenant we are now forced to bake smaller rolls." In concrete terms simpler cuisine - but still run with passion Not everyone in the Zurich Oberland is happy about this. The former tenant is anything but enthusiastic about the sudden reopening. He rails on the restaurant's website: "The restaurant was reopened without our knowledge." On March 18 he had launched a crowdfunding campaign to save the restaurant - a good 6,000 francs were raised the money was "unjustifiably confiscated" by the bankruptcy office and is now to flow into the bankruptcy estate An appeal against this is currently underway at the district court in Pfäffikon ZH the bankruptcy office sold the entire inventory - allegedly worth over CHF 100,000 - to the owner for a "ridiculous CHF 5,000" "This approach is massively damaging to the creditors and to us," he writes on the website He has also lodged an appeal against this decision No further statements will be made until the court decision Despite the restaurant's difficult past, the owner is optimistic. In her letter on the front door, she praises the new manager: "Thanks to her many years of experience in the restaurant business and her training in accounting, we are convinced that she will make the Rosinli flourish again with a great deal of commitment and fresh energy." Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the world 2018 at 12:01 AM ESTBookmarkSaveLock This article is for subscribers only.As the clock ticks down toward Brexit cities across Europe are scrambling to win jobs fleeing the City of London In the Swiss village of Pfaeffikon—once one of the biggest global centers for hedge fund money—a potential influx of investing professionals is being met with a decided lack of enthusiasm understands the perils of relying on finance as an economic engine Pfaeffikon prospered as its low taxes attracted global financial firms and glass-and-steel office buildings sprang up in the meadows flanking the main street Two special situations experts have teamed up with an experienced lawyer to launch their own investment management boutique Sacha Schroff and Till Spillmann founded Argon Management in January Fredi Fischer and Schroff previously worked at Partners Group while Spillmann was a partner at law firm Niederer Kraft Frey.  Volatile Macro Fund Haidar Leads Peers With Double-Digit Gain Managers’ Bullish Outlooks Remain — But the Price of Gold Is Telling a Different Story Five Things to Watch in Energy Markets in 2025 Mega Hedge Fund Launches Are Rare — and Don’t Ensure Lasting Success Investors’ Concerns About Instability Rise Greenland Noise Could Spur Push for More Favorable Investing Policies There’s a Trump Bump for Short Sellers — At Least in One Sector Model Portfolios to Deliver Alternative Asset Exposure Open Architecture and Next-Gen Technology Help Support Model Delivery Maximizing Impact: The Role of TAMP Selection in Effective Investment Distribution What API and EIA Data Reveal About Crude Oil Markets Model Portfolios Simplify Wealth Managers’ Messaging with Clients Podcast: Exploring Options and Options-based Investing Strategies Methanol Gains Traction as an Alternative Energy Source Private Markets Investment Outlook Q2 2025: Opportunities Amid Uncertainty VC Is Down — But Private Placements for Post-IPO Companies Are Up Big Allocators Double Down on Private Credit Amid Market Volatility Upheaval “Will Create Compelling Investment Opportunities” — But That Time Is Not Now Yale’s Potential PE Sale Won’t Solve Liquidity Challenges More Deals May Be in the Works as Wilshire Names New CEO Expert Perspectives: C-Suite Insights from II’s Exclusive Forums Venture Must Move Past the ‘IPO or Bust’ Mentality Allspring Chooses CEO With Expertise in ‘Tech and Ops’ as Manager Preps for Growth Allocators: Do the Benefits of AI Really Outweigh the Costs Walton Family Consolidates Investment Offices Under Sole CIO Knight Brings Its $2.6B Portfolio Back In-House After Decades of Outsourcing The Troubles Plaguing Private Capital Create a Windfall for Secondaries Why Private Equity Wins: Reflecting on a Quarter-Century of Outperformance Funding Freezes Threaten University Endowments Rising Federal Debt and Fewer Institutional Buyers Means an Increased Need for Private Credit OCIOs Gain Major Ground With Private Schools Third Point Sifts Through Turmoil for Structured and Other Credit Investments The Trillion-Dollar Private Credit Market Faces Its First Big Test David Einhorn’s Early Bear Call Propels Greenlight to the Top Even the Savviest Investors Have a Stunning ‘Lack of Conviction’ SEC’s Hester Peirce on What to Expect From the Atkins Agenda What's Next for Global Monetary Policy Turbulent Markets Call for More than an Index Asset Managers (Not Surprisingly) Cheer Paul Atkins as ‘Enforcement-Lite’ SEC Pick Managed Futures Take Advantage of the Trump Trade Casdin Leads Life Sciences Funds in a Recovery Year Funding Continues to Slip Away From Start-Ups JPMorgan’s Paul Zummo: The Hedge Funds That Are Weathering Market Turmoil Performance of Small and Large Endowments Once Again Diverge Ackman’s Pershing Square Suffers from the ‘Passive’ Phenomenon Despite the Administration’s ‘Unconventional Approach,’ Dan Loeb Is Still Bullish for 2025 Great Results and an Uncertain Future for an Energy Hedge Fund Johns Hopkins Lands New CIO from Georgetown Greenlight Posted Its Weakest Results in the Past Four Years Allocators and Asset Managers Tell Us What Concerns Them Most the Lack of Transparency Is No Longer Okay CIOs Tell Us What Concerns Them Most in 2025 Bear Market Warning Signals Begin to Emerge and Winning Grant Funding: Tips for Nonprofits Global West Government Funds Roundtable 2025 2025 East Coast Family Office Wealth Conference Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Fort Lauderdale | Fort Lauderdale DACH Alternatives & Private Markets Symposium 2025 2025 Endowments & Foundations Roundtable East 2025 한국 글로벌 투자 포럼 2025 Korea Global Investment Forum 2025 MEII Abu Dhabi Institutional Investor Summit 2025 北京环球投资论坛 2025 Beijing Global Investment Forum  Back to Fund of Funds 50 Ranking LGT Capital Partners / $9 billion Registration for the Vertical MRO Conference in Kelowna B.C. is now open! Click here to learn more. deep in the rolling hillsides of Switzerland lies an unassuming farmhouse that contains a remarkable secret: after decades of producing apple juice and cider it’s now home to a company that’s seeking to redefine the global single-engine helicopter market and the product it’s fermenting in its barnhouse in Pfäffikon — about half an hour’s drive from Zurich — is the SKYe SH09 First introduced to the industry at Heli-Expo 2011 in Orlando the SH09 has an eye-catching clean-sheet design including a full carbon-composite airframe and an attention-grabbing “high-visibility” cockpit But while the SH09 has become an increasingly familiar presence within the industry the company behind it remains something of a mystery to many Vertical travelled to the manufacturer’s facilities in Switzerland to discover the company behind the product — and get an update on one of the most exciting developments in the industry The story of Marenco Swisshelicopter is entwined with the story of Martin Stucki — the company’s engaging founder and CEO (the name Marenco comes from Martin Engineering and Consulting) he worked for a few different companies in Switzerland before founding an engineering company — Marenco — in 1997 (This company still exists today as a separate entity to Marenco Swisshelicopter and provides its expertise to its sister company on an ad-hoc basis.) But while engineering was his day job — and one in which he was clearly gifted — the world of rotary-wing flight had never been far from his thoughts He sketched his first helicopter designs while still in school and took his first one-hour helicopter training flight (a gift from his mother) before he began his engineering degree his spare time was spent earning his private and commercial pilot licenses and then flying freelance for local helicopter companies But while he enjoyed his time in the cockpit he became frustrated with elements of the design of much of the light single fleet — a fleet that hadn’t seen a clean-sheet entrant for decades you see a lot of sometimes small things where you think you can do better,” he told Vertical he began creating the aircraft he would like to fly on computer-aided design (CAD) software Market research into the various market segments revealed a viable market in the 2.5-tonne class and Stucki formed Marenco Swisshelicopter in 2007 as the project became more serious — and the search for funding to enable the aircraft’s development began in earnest but he eventually found a group of investors who saw the potential in his design and the development of the SKYe SH09 officially began in 2009 (enshrined in the “09” of “SH09”) there were just seven people working on the project but 2013 marked a period of four years of intensive growth and it expects that figure to grow to 150 by the end of the year the company’s investors provided the funds to attract the best and brightest to the project — including Mathias Senes the company’s chief commercial officer who joined following a decade at Eurocopter (now known as Airbus Helicopters) where he had sold helicopters in more than 45 countries and introduced seven new aircraft types to the market “We have a great team of shareholders who have given us the opportunity to hire experts in each domain and I think this enables us to build a sound infrastructure in parallel to a fantastic product,” said Senes “It’s a market with very high barriers and you don’t just come into a client’s door and bring in a new product like that and claim superiority and walk away and [have had] credible success in the past.” it has welcomed a mix of youth and experience into its ranks to provide the benefits of both “For some parts of the project it’s important for us to have people who have not had years of thinking along the same tracks so you really can generate innovation,” said Stucki Marenco’s operations in Switzerland are split between the small towns of Pfäffikon and Mollis The former is the site of the company’s headquarters and engineering facility located about an hour’s drive southeast of Zurich hosts its flight test operations — and its fledgling assembly plant The majority of the company’s employees — about 90 to 100 — work in the sprawling converted farmhouse and adjoining barns that form Marenco’s headquarters in Pfäffikon It’s certainly a very picturesque location perched on the top of a fairly precipitous hillside overlooking the sleepy rural town given that the building’s conversion has left the exterior relatively untouched — with the wooden façade remaining in places — it’s still something of a surprise to pass through the front door and find a bustling open-plan office The farmhouse has been in Stucki’s family for four generations and remains his home — and not just spiritually His family name is on a plaque hanging from an otherwise nondescript door on the ground floor of the office building — and the only real indications that it’s not his office are the proudly displayed drawings from his young daughter pinned alongside it it’s OK; it’s fine,” he said of living within his office “I can also switch [the working mentality] on and off at home.  It’s also an advantage — I can hop into my apartment and have lunch with my family so there’s not just disadvantages.” New sections of the barns adjoining the farmhouse are converted to accommodate the company’s growth as needed the company uses Advanced Rotorcraft Technology’s Flightlab simulation software to study the stress loads and effects during testing and for those working on the aircraft’s component design the facility contains a laser printer and a five-axis CNC machine These allow engineers to immediately prototype parts if timing is likely to be an issue with a supplier we want to be an assembler — like Boeing and Airbus — so it gives us the flexibility to change the supplier if the quality is not good or even plan in the future local assembly lines,” said Senes we still have our own capacity of production and are able to — especially with the testing — proceed without delays.” The original Marenco — Stucki’s engineering company — also works from the same building and can be brought in to work on parts when needed Marenco utilized a wind tunnel in South Africa to confirm the design of the aircraft the aircraft’s dynamic components are evaluated using equipment including the company’s own whirl tower to test the rotorhead blades and tail boom; a Stucki-designed gearbox testing machine; a rotor blade test bench; and a hydraulic test bench The Mollis facility is largely run from a rented hangar space alongside an airfield Marenco had just broken ground on the assembly plant that is to be created in a series of modules alongside its current location The final part of the Marenco Swisshelicopter organization is in Germany where the company’s office of airworthiness is located contains 15 compliance verification engineers who work to ensure a smooth certification process with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Stucki explains his design philosophy for the SH09 as creating “a helicopter from pilots for pilots.” The result of this is an aircraft with attributes such as a large cabin pilot seats that are adjustable in height and length — and ergonomics and comfort are central to his thinking “We’re looking at what is the operator’s need and how can we can fulfill it,” he said the aircraft has been designed to fly as impressively as it looks with excellent hot and high performance (provided by its 1,020-shaft-horsepower Honeywell HTS900 engine) Marenco is looking to certify the aircraft at an empty weight of 1,300 kilograms (2,865 pounds) with a maximum takeoff weight (with an external load) of 2,800 kg (6,170 lb.) Perhaps the most eye-catching performance metric is its sling-load capacity of 1,500 kg (3,300 lb.) which is maintained while in hover in ground effect up to 3,000 meters (ISA plus 20 C) Senes said the aim is for the SH09 to be a “vertical takeoff platform” for operators “For our operators to make money with a single engine they have to be able to benefit from a platform concept where they can go from three-seater to a shuttle eight-seater and back to maybe an electronic newsgathering aircraft,” he said “This is really the essence of making the aircraft profitable for our clients.” And while Marenco doesn’t anticipate a substantial market for the SH09 among air medical operators in Europe (given their preference for twin-engine aircraft for the role) Senes said the emergency medical services market in North America “is going to be very important” for the company — with the SH09’s clamshell rear doors and high tail boom all appealing aspects for patient loading and unloading Aiding that vision of volume is the fact that the aircraft’s crashworthy Kevlar-threaded fuel tanks have been built into the walls and floor of the cargo hold opening up space underneath the crashworthy individual rear seats This allows them to be fully adjustable — even in height — and still leaves a sizeable cargo hold that Marenco claims will fit up to 10 pieces of luggage with four passengers on board which could provide close to five hours’ endurance The aircraft will be offered in different layout configurations with the baseline version including four passenger seats plus two pilot seats The high-density configuration sees five seats in the rear as well as two passenger seats alongside the pilot — but this configuration requires covering the floor window Senes said the aerial tourism operators he has spoken with said they’d rather forego the extra seat in order to keep the floor window Several aspects of the SH09’s design are aimed at reducing its noise signature including the swept back tip on the aircraft’s five main rotor blades (which also provides extra lift) and the “Maestro” — Marenco’s shrouded tail rotor it has a relatively wide diameter and a thinner chord — with the aim being to increase its visibility to the airflow and thereby give the aircraft greater tail rotor authority The Honeywell engine will be provided with no time between overhaul (TBO) limits in keeping with the condition-based maintenance policy that will be applied to the entire aircraft (the SH09 will be delivered with a health and usage monitoring system) “The TBO has a strong impact on the cost of operation because it creates a cost of maintenance at a fixed time and creates downtime for the aircraft,” said Senes it’s basically continuous maintenance — no peak moment It flattens the cost line and it flattens the downtime.” Stucki said this has been a major consideration as the aircraft’s design has evolved as ease of access for technicians must be optimized “It’s really daily work to get it to the point where maintenance is easy,” he said “so you can get to the parts without having to remove five other parts to repair something.” The prospective lower maintenance cost is one of the aspects Marenco is hoping will offset any sticker shock at the SH09’s $3.5 million price tag — substantially higher than the Airbus Helicopters AS350 AStar which is the major presence in the single-engine utility market this price still makes it competitive with other six- to eight-seater single-engine aircraft such as the Bell 407 Vertical arrived at Marenco’s flight testing facility in Mollis as the program was finishing its first block of tests it’s a spectacular backdrop to watch a brand new aircraft being put to the test it had notched a considerable milestone — a new fastest flight speed of 120 knots — and morale was high among the testing team “It’s an absolute delight to fly,” Trueman told Vertical “It’s a big single-engine helicopter — the size of a [H]135 The cockpit environment is very light and airy It’s got very simple controls — it’s very quick to start from hitting start to being ready for takeoff was two minutes — and this was a flight test aircraft.” Trueman said pilots will likely find the SH09’s field of view and simplicity of operation its most appealing aspects “The number one ‘wow’ factor when people sit in the aircraft is just looking at the view,” he said “And it’s doesn’t just look nice it makes your job as a pilot easier if you’re trying to get close to something on sloping ground [or have] passengers doing a tour over the Grand Canyon The aircraft’s development has been embedded within EASA’s certification process Trueman said its flight envelope has been gradually opened up with the aircraft having flown at 97 percent of its maximum internal load takeoff weight and performed “very limited” autorotations The flight test campaign has been divided into three phases with first — involving work over the airfield — completed at the end of August “We’re going to go for probably within plus or minus five miles of the field,” said Trueman “We’ll shoot for about 7,000 feet and speed-wise I hope to push it up to Vne which we’ve got at 151 knots.” there will be three aircraft used in the flight testing program with P2 and P3 (the latter is currently in production in Mollis) working as the main vehicles for certification testing the two main design changes between P1 and P2 were in the rotorhead and control cables — with the latter changing from flex cables to push/pull rods P3 is due to fly before the end of this year and Stucki said there wouldn’t be any major changes from P2 [so] it’s now closer to serial production,” said Stucki [and] we optimized manufacturing — there is no conceptual change or something like that It’s really to have all the details changed and have it ready to go to the certification flight tests.” The construction of the SH09 assembly plant in Mollis will be completed in modules when the aircraft is slated for certification and first deliveries Production numbers will be progressively ramped up from an anticipated 10 to 15 units in the first year Senes said Marenco is aiming to have optional equipment certified in parallel to the aircraft Marenco has received about 90 letters of intent for the SH09 and it is now focusing on firming these up into full contracts “We have letters of intent that are not firmed up but the operators in question are so strong that if we do what we say there’s little chance that they will turn their back to us,” said Senes Air Zermatt is a regular visitor to the flight test facility in Mollis to discuss optional equipment or provide feedback on the man-machine interface “There’s a strong customer focus at Marenco on the operator,” said Trueman and where there are opportunities to improve on their current platforms.” The company is initially focusing on the North American and European markets with Federal Aviation Administration certification set to follow EASA certification That focus will likely see an assembly line established in the States “I think we will for sure do additional assembly lines,” said Stucki we will go for this and establish something there.” the company has appointed distributors in Australia and Guatemala to help develop the global market for the SH09 “We looked at what the competition has done,” said Senes “We saw that the work with partners is a good way to grow a network Stucki said a twin variant would be a logical next step with “some genes of a twin” already having been incorporated into the SH09’s basic design Entering such a closed market has certainly presented its challenges and Marenco faced a fair amount of cynicism as it sought to establish itself — and its product — within the global helicopter industry you will never get the rotor blades and rotorhead — it’s impossible,” said Stucki “And especially in Switzerland there is nothing like the culture to develop new industrial project so these voices are going down a little bit but this is something you have to live with.” Stucki is pleased with how far the project has come with the long journey from schoolboy’s sketchbook to certified aircraft almost complete “We’re showing you can get to an end with such a project,” he said “I’m achieving my professional dream — and for sure it’s really exciting!” and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Click on the button below to send an email to our team and we will get to it as soon as possible Have a story idea you would like to suggest A strategic move to enhance digital patient care in the booming European cannabis market (Pfäffikon, Schwyz/Berlin) – International Swiss-based health tech company MediCrops Holding AG (‘MediCrops’) has acquired Berlin-based company Swiss Alpinopharma GmbH (‘Swiss Alpinopharma’), a disruptive market leader in the field of medical cannabis and owner of telemedicine platform Enmedify Swiss Alpinopharma also offers doctors-certified CME training on the use of medical cannabis The acquisition consolidates MediCrops’ position in a European market that is expected to grow to EUR 4.5 billion by 2026 Swiss Alpinopharma is the first and only Swiss company to have successfully launched medicines in Germany, which is the largest medical cannabis market in Europe. Sales in Germany's medical cannabis market are set to reach approximately EUR 313 million in 2023 Swiss Alpinopharma has proven its quality and expertise having successfully launched a number of medical cannabis products The company also owns the leading telemedicine platform Enmedify which serves a large number of patients each month from dozens of locations in Germany and relies on a broad network of doctors MediCrops is planning to digitise every step of the patient journey has brought the company several steps closer to achieving this goal “This acquisition is an important milestone for our vision to revolutionise medical cannabis treatment,” says Ivan Mestrangelo Secured funding and strong medical partnerships MediCrops has already successfully completed two financing rounds of nearly CHF 20 million and is backed by a broad shareholder base of leading Swiss doctors These medical partners will play a key role in implementing a health tech ecosystem MediCrops’ digital corporate strategy prioritises the protection of patient’s health data Cutting-edge technologies and strict security protocols ensure that patient data is handled in accordance with global data protection regulations A shared vision for a digital cannabis ecosystem MediCrops and Swiss Alpinopharma are actively involved in creating a digital cannabis ecosystem and work closely with the Swiss interest group IG MedCann and the German industry association Cannabiswirtschaft e.V Ivan Mestrangelo, Chairman of the Board, mestrangelo@medicrops.com Brigitte Kaps, Rent a PR for MediCrops® Holding AG, Tel. +41 79 289 20 42, mail@rentapr.ch MediCrops® Holding AG, based in Pfäffikon (Schwyz, Switzerland), was founded in 2018 and is an internationally active health tech company specialising in prescription THC-containing cannabinoids. With the digital transformation of the patient journey and an extensive portfolio of products, MediCrops aims to improve patient care through innovative solutions. Learn more at www.medicrops.com Follow Medicrops on social media  Facebook Instagram  LinkedIn Youtube PFÄFFIKON, Switzerland, September 28, 2022 / B3C newswire / -- Pureos Partners announces the appointment of Dr Veronica Gambillara Fonck as a Partner to its team Veronica is a biotech entrepreneur with more than 15 years of experience in building and growing biotech companies developing new drugs against several diseases She was one of the core members responsible for building GlycoVaxyn’s success and its acquisition by GSK in 2015 when she became CEO and co-founder of LimmaTech a biotech spin-off from LimmaTech and successfully financed the company with a large Series A round in November 2021 Managing Partners of Pureos stated: “We are very excited to welcome Veronica as a new Partner at Pureos she brings deep operational experience to the fund from which many of our portfolio companies will be able to benefit a great deal.” Veronica commented: “I look forward to joining the Pureos team The current portfolio of Pureos comprises very exciting biotech companies I am thrilled to be able to contribute to the expansion of the Pureos franchise with both the current fund as well as future fund generations” For high resolution please click the image About Pureos Partners and Pureos Bioventures Pureos Partners is a Swiss venture capital firm and the investment adviser of Pureos Bioventures It invests exclusively in private innovative drug development companies with a special emphasis on the next generation of biological drugs and drug formats The fund’s portfolio companies are built on scientific excellence to develop therapies across a broad indication spectrum including oncology Pureos has built a team with in-depth investment that strives to impact patients’ lives by advancing innovative treatments for devastating diseases Churerstrasse 478808 Pfäffikon/SZSwitzerland a small Swiss town on the shores of lake Zurich would never suspect that they were in a hedge fund hot spot But many have followed in the wake of London-based Man Group which set up a base in the Swiss mountains several years ago "I moved when it became obvious that government spending was getting silly I knew the culture would translate into higher taxes and more problems," says the boss of a fund with more than $500m under management who recently moved from London to Pfäffikon This mobility and freedom enjoyed by hedge funds will be scrutinised during the forthcoming G20 summit in Pittsburgh World leaders are looking to keep them under control: US President Barack Obama publicly blamed them for blocking a restructuring deal at Chrysler sending the auto maker into administration while the British government was aghast to see them making millions by betting on a fall in RBS shares during the worst of the credit crunch But chances are that whatever politicians do, the hedgies, as they are known, are likely to be a step ahead. In Switzerland some of them are forming small communities outside the traditional financial centres of Geneva and Zurich "If they doubled my taxes in Switzerland I wouldn't go back to London," said the hedge fund manager who recently moved to Pfäffikon "I don't want to spend my life commuting through the Blackwall tunnel and I don't particularly appreciate paying my tax when I get nothing back." With a personal income tax rate of 18% and about 10,000 inhabitants but its well-dressed employees are hard to miss in the village which is being transformed by a boom in construction "There's no recession here – there's no empty office space," said Marcel Jouault Jouault's fund moved from Frankfurt to Pfäffikon four years ago when only a few firms had followed Man Group into town He quit the industry last year "because I could see all the trouble coming" and to drive his Porsche – by no means the only one in town "The relationship with the tax person here is very personal and open," Jouault said but they treat you as if you're paying their salary This tax competition [between Cantons] is beautiful because everywhere you go Jouault is building a luxurious health spa targeting the financial industry's staff and their families "Sometimes the partners who have moved here don't know what to do," he said Newcomers are bringing business with them: the local butcher at the centre of this tiny Alpine spot says sales have soared by 25% said her quiet life changed every lunchtime when she and her staff rushed to serve a queue of as many as 200 English-speaking employees of financial services firms I get a lot of roast beef sandwich requests," she said "I never needed to speak English here before Her central location and lack of competition have also given her the upper hand in other industries: knowing that a customer was trying to work in finance she introduced him to another client at her shop who happened to be a "big boss at one of the big firms," she said the quietness and the skiing are other things that attract hedge funds to Pfäffikon to be near the central European market – and the mountains," said Lars Förberg His Swedish hedge fund opened offices in Pfäffikon two years ago and he now employs about 10 people there – while only one person works for the firm in London Cevian Capital was one of about 10 hedge funds that had moved to Pfäffikon through the Business Development Centre a venture that had facilitated the arrival of about 200 firms over the past few years The integration has not always been smooth as hedge fund managers "They have a special opinion about themselves," Cavallini said Some locals also prefer grass to the glass and gloss A centrally located carpenter is refusing to sell his wooden shop for a hefty fee claiming that he wants to preserve the town's spirit sitting on a sofa on the roof terrace of an office building that hasn't been completed yet Karsten Schroeder said: "We wanted to get out of London – we didn't like London; personally the public transport is bad – living there is not great Now I live by a lake and the mountains." His $1bn futures fund moved from London to Zug at the end of last year attracted by the lower taxes and better lifestyle although you wouldn't go to Switzerland for the regulation you also have very good recruitment opportunities." about 15 funds have expressed an interest in relocating to Switzerland following the British government's announcement of a higher rate of tax The firm had already moved 23 funds to Switzerland in the past 18 months While regulators around the world fight over how to tackle them Wed 18 Nov 2009 01.05 CETShareThe following correction was printed in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column We said in the article below about the Dignitas centre in Switzerland that the director of public prosecutions for England and Wales is "working on reducing the likelihood of being prosecuted for assisting a suicide" The Crown Prosecution Service would like to make clear that the publication of new interim guidelines by Mr Starmer's office does not reduce the likelihood of someone being prosecuted but rather details the public interest factors Ludwig Minelli is explaining the best techniques for an efficient suicide when the doorbell goes and he pauses to answer via an intercom and heavy rain is beating at the glass roof "Would you excuse me for a moment?" he says "A taxi driver tells me that Greek persons are coming and they want to speak with me." shaking out his black anorak which is glistening with rain knowing not a single word of German and no English have come to Zurich." Standing on his doorstep in the pouring rain the Greek woman has somehow made it clear that she would like him to help her to die Such peculiar intrusions happen every month or so because Minelli is now famous around the world as the founder of Dignitas the not-for-profit assisted suicide organisation that has helped 1,032 people to die since 1998 he saw a German taxi parked at the side of the road the driver asking a passer-by for directions "I stopped because I knew there could only be one person they were looking for," he says Inside there was a woman in her 90s who had taken a 300km taxi ride from Munich and who told him: "I am now here." Another time there was a young man from Germany who rang him and said: "I am in front of your house "I do not like these incidents," Minelli says "It is not very agreeable either for me or for the people looking for help." He has sent the Greek woman away telling her he cannot help her since she has made no appointment but he is dismayed at the suffering that has driven her to travel from Athens to seek out his home in a suburban village outside Zurich There are established procedures that must be followed in order to receive Minelli's assistance in securing a swift death with a 15mg dose of a lethal drug Merely turning up on his doorstep is not the correct way you need to become a member of Dignitas; anyone can join if they pay an annual fee of 80 Swiss francs (£47) you need to send in copies of your medical records a letter explaining why things have become intolerable and £1,860 These files are dispatched to one of Dignitas's affiliated doctors who considers on the basis of the medical history whether or not he would be ready to write a prescription for the fatal dose then a "green light" is given to the member and they can contact staff at the Dignitas headquarters who will schedule a date and offer advice on hotels the individual must pay £620 for two appointments with the doctor (to check their records and prescribe the drugs) and a further £1,860 to pay for two Dignitas staff members to organise and witness the death Those who cannot afford the fees may pay less but not euthanasia (the difference being that the person who wants to die must actively take the dose himself) and the subsequent death is videoed by the Dignitas companions who stay behind to deal with the police and the undertakers in the hours that follow For those unable to lift the glass to their lips there is a machine that will administer it Minelli and his colleagues repeatedly question whether the individual really wants to die As long as we are able to help them in the direction of life we help them in the direction of life," he says "We are ready to help them in the other direction." The vast majority of people who visit Dignitas are the terminally ill or those with an incurable motor neuron disease or multiple sclerosis and they are telling us 'I don't like to live some weeks or months until the terrible end' then it is quite clear and we have no difficulty in saying yes," Minelli says Then there are those people who are just tired of life With life expectancy growing and medical sophistication improving people are increasingly worried about whether they will be "condemned to linger on" "forced to end their lives in an institution But it is not always as simple as he suggests Minelli's vision goes beyond helping the infirm to shorten a painful end; his views are much more radical He believes the right to choose to die is a fundamental human right and travelled this summer to Dignitas to die together with his wife Joan who had terminal liver and pancreatic cancer prompted questions over why he had been allowed to die too – when he was virtually blind and increasingly deaf The same questions were asked when Daniel James Minelli offers dry cinnamon-and-nutmeg biscuits and an unusual Chinese tea – white monkey paw – which he has meticulously prepared setting a digital alarm for five minutes to allow the tea to brew before decanting it into a vacuum flask Then he sets out his vision like this: everyone should have the right to end their life and he passes no moral judgment on their wishes We are just working of the atheist basis of self-determination," he says Section 115 of the Swiss Criminal Code says that anyone who acts on selfish motives to assist someone to kill themselves can be punished with up to five years in jail The law has been interpreted by Dignitas and other assisted suicide organisations as meaning that assisted suicide is not illegal as long as there is no selfish intent (such as helping an aunt to die in order to get her inheritance) But the Swiss medical regulations inhibit Minelli's more radical ideas prohibiting doctors from prescribing drugs to healthy people and restricting involvement in assisted suicide for the mentally ill – making it practically impossible for Dignitas to help people who are profoundly depressed to die This is a prohibition that Minelli is fighting So far there have been no prosecutions following any of the suicides he has helped organise (for people from more than 60 countries 132 from Britain) but Minelli is involved in a handful of legal battles with the Swiss government determined to clarify the law which governs suicide "We have a lot of members [who have had] depression for years and years and years 'We have tried so many treatments and they haven't worked.' If they tell you 'I have been depressed for 15 years and I don't intend to be so for another 15 years' who should say no to that?" In extremis he will offer advice on how to end one's life efficiently at home Three firmly held beliefs lie beneath this practice his conviction that once you give someone the freedom to talk about suicide this reduces their desire to go ahead with it of an assisted suicide gives someone who is in pain a lot of relief – they know that their future no longer rests on a decision between enduring "the hell of their own suffering or attempting a high-risk suicide by themselves" His research shows that 80% of those who get the green light to go ahead with an assisted suicide do not go through with it he argues that providing a service to help people kill themselves properly will reduce the large number of catastrophically failed suicides He is appalled by the prevalence of botched suicides committed in isolation by desperate people who do not have the expertise necessary to succeed He points out that it is now very difficult to kill oneself by overdosing on tablets – instead they ruin the functioning of their liver and trying to use a gun also tend not be very effective frequently leaving the individual alive but in a terrible state physically These failed suicide attempts end up putting a heavy burden on a nation's health service another motivation for his organisation's work "If we want to reduce the number of suicides and suicide attempts We should not say suicide should not happen we should say suicide is a marvellous opportunity given to man to withdraw them from a situation that is unbearable for them," he argues His fondness for describing suicide as a "marvellous opportunity" is very irritating to conservative Swiss officials who object to the country's new image as a suicide tourism destination (Minelli brushes off the suggestion that his work has damaged the nation's reputation with a typically acid aside: "Switzerland was already famous for tax-evasion tourism.") Whilst in Britain the director of public prosecutions is working on reducing the likelihood of being prosecuted for assisting a suicide the trend in Switzerland is edging in the other direction The Swiss government last month announced that it would consult on whether to ban one of Minelli's opponents in the public prosecutor's office has told him that there will eventually be a "biological solution" to the problem of Dignitas hinting that he hopes Minelli will drop dead Minelli courts controversy with some of his more inflammatory comments Condemning the Swiss government's campaigns to regulate the arrival of suicidal foreigners he remarks: "In the second world war they closed the borders to Jews and those Jews who wanted to come here were repelled And now we have people looking to end their lives in Switzerland and they are sent back and forced to live on leaving behind a career as a human rights lawyer has its roots in a childhood memory of witnessing his dying grandmother begging her doctor in vain to help her end things The experience inspired an attachment to the concept of a good death and I can now go to the other side,'" he says To illustrate how a good death should take place Minelli offers a visit to the apartment where Dignitas members can come to die he arrives to collect me the following morning blue silk cravat and socks beneath his Velcro-strapped sandals He has been up since 5.15am at his computer driving several miles to see whether a Greek restaurant owner might be persuaded to volunteer as an interpreter should the suicidal Greek woman return As we drive through the autumnal Swiss lakeside landscape wooden chalets with neat green shutters and cascading red geraniums he describes the multiple difficulties he has had in finding a permanent place to carry out the suicides Neighbours at earlier apartments complained at the constant presence of undertakers while another flat in a purely residential area was shut down by the local council Permission to offer his own sitting room as a venue was refused suicides were carried out in hotel rooms and a few people from Germany decided they would prefer to die in their own cars in a motorway lay-by A new flat in an industrial area was so brutal in its simplicity that several relatives were horrified by the surroundings and one was so upset that he wrote a book denouncing the experience J'ai Accompagné Ma Soeur (I Accompanied My Sister) very ugly," Gall tells me over the phone The conditions were monstrous." Minelli shrugs off the complaint lightly retorting that someone accustomed to staying in five-star hotels would probably have been unimpressed by the earlier flat the two-storey house in Pfäffikon was bought for around €1m (£880,000) – much of it raised by donations from members A newsletter sent out this month to members has pictures of the site with alluring captions: "Beside lies a tiny lake; a little waterfall dabbles." After the Heidi-esque scenery we have driven through blue-metal construction is rather a surprise in the shadows of a vast grey machine-components factory; to the left there are factories It's not that the place is exactly charmless guests make their way across wooden decking over a large goldfish pond (which does have a tinkling water feature) with a hospital bed (which reclines electronically) in one corner There is another room with a second bed to die in across the hallway By the bed there is a CD player and a few CDs – Offenbach's Gaîté Parisienne and Vivaldi's La Stravaganza – left by former clients There are open boxes of tissues ready on the tables The former owner had the constellation of Orion picked out in halogen lights in the ceiling On the shelves there is a kitsch stone statue of a cherub There is nothing funereal about the place; instead the space is sunny "We think that if you go to a location for your last moments It should be nice and dignified," Minelli says People who travel to Switzerland to die with Dignitas are encouraged to come with family and friends who stay with them as they drink the lethal dose; one person brought 12 friends with him Dignitas staff are happy to give advice on good restaurants for a final meal nearby cinemas and excursions to the mountains but they observe that usually members are keen just to get on with dying Staff suggest that everyone should arrive at the flat at 11am (that way the police formalities which happen after the death can take place during office hours which keeps the local officials in good humour) Minelli says he is never present at the deaths a paid member of Dignitas staff who now works in the head office but has been a companion at more than 20 deaths and believes strongly that she is performing an important role in society "They need to know that they can go home at any time I'm constantly asking if this is what they want I have to be clear that this is the really the moment," she says On more than one occasion she has helped people return home who have changed their mind "One woman still calls me to say thank you," she says where the two Dignitas companions sit with family members and the individual who is about to die to discuss the procedure a lot of documents must be signed setting out the desire to die It is up to the members to decide when they are ready to take an anti-vomiting drug to prepare the stomach You must tell me when it is time for me to prepare the drugs,'" Bucher says "If someone wants to talk about their life for six hours we will never hurry them," Minelli says We are servants of their desire for self-determination." Bucher stays with the family and goes through the documents "Sometimes they will sit at the table and talk about their family and their life and we have a nice time Sometimes the person who is going to die will appear to be angry and quite bossy but I know it is not how they are feeling inside," she says She has to judge when the time is right for both the person who wants to die She came with her daughter who was perhaps 25 The mother was very firm that she would go quickly and that it was not a problem She told the daughter that she was not to cry and made her go and stand in the kitchen you should not tell your daughter she cannot cry," she says Staff also suggest that relatives stay to witness the death because they believe this helps with the mourning process because if they die sitting up at the table their mouth drops open and their body slumps and it is harder for the family to watch the process "Then we install the film in the video camera but I am always asking 'Do you need more time?' Usually they are calm Most of them are in a lot of pain and they know that this drink will end it forever." The 15g of white powder is mixed with water and drunk from a small glass Bucher advises people to say anything they need to say because after there is not much time – usually just between one to three minutes before they sleep "Some people say thank you and tell their family they love them that they have had a really good life and that they are grateful that they can die," she says She warns them that the drink will be bitter and some people choose to neutralise the taste with a chocolate It's like before an operation – they feel woozy," she says there was a mother who clearly did not have a good relationship with her two daughters who were with her she took them in her arms and said 'I love you They said it was the first time she had hugged them like that That was a good moment for me – it was not too late for her to show how she felt." there is a television for the police to watch the video and a box with some folded clothes and shoes belonging to recently dead people and predicts that things will get a bit busier in the run up to Christmas "We have had good weather for the last few weeks so people don't call us so much," she says Minelli meets people here occasionally to discuss their desire to die but mostly his work is concentrated on the court cases and campaigning he describes with enthusiasm a new technique for painless death he is experimenting with; one which uses a chemical that is easily available without the need for a doctor's prescription He requests that we do not publish details of the chemical or the technique The method can be administered easily by staff and using this he could circumvent using doctors altogether just as he struggles with keeping apartments; most are nervous about co-operating with Dignitas for fear of losing their licence Costs from the various legal battles cost around £100,000 every year money which is raised through the annual membership fee and periodic appeals to supporters for funds Minelli says he does not pay himself a salary "I have made a lot of debt in order to maintain Dignitas." who worked for several years helping with the suicides lost faith in the organisation and told the police around five years ago that Minelli was making money from death and the fear of it and criticised him for running "a production line concerned only with profits" Police investigations found nothing suspicious remarks that she and her sister will have no inheritance when her father dies because everything has been spent on his campaigning work more sensitive to criticism of her father than he is on his own behalf ("He doesn't mind people throwing tomatoes at him," she says.) Disturbed by the claims she offered to help him gather feedback from the relatives of people who have died and now she is responsible for sending out forms and compiling responses The overwhelmingly positive replies have reassured her and she collects a few from the pile of new post and spreads them out over the worn red-checked tablecloth from Britain who recently came to witness a relative's death describes the process as a "calm day filled with the deepest sorrow I have ever felt" before thanking Dignitas for its assistance Another person who also travelled earlier in the autumn from Britain says the experience was "a time of sadness "Long may you continue your good work," another writes The doorbell rings again and it is the Greek woman back again with her uncle and a translator who she has managed to find somewhere in the city Minelli invites her in; they sit in the main room out of sight but her anguished voice can be heard clearly Mr Minelli!" she keeps interrupting him as he tries to explain that she needs to bring him a complete medical history before her case can be considered As it becomes clear that he will not help her to die explaining once again that she must come fully equipped with her medical records so that a doctor can consider whether to prescribe a drug promising to return from Greece with more documents in the spring Minelli explains that she suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and is determined to die Whether he will be able to help depends on whether a Greek psychiatrist can write a letter that says she is capable of rational thought He is despondent at the desperate steps that people are forced to take in their search for a painless death steps which he compares with the measures women once had to take if they wanted an abortion and happily recounts stories of other applicants who have been persuaded to change their minds When the depressed young German man arrived on his doorstep some years ago and spent a day or so explaining why suicide was not the answer when the young man said once again that he wanted to die telling him: "If you really want to die but it is very risky: if you are found too early you will live on but as an idiot because the blood will have stopped flowing to your brain but if you are found too early you will lose your legs Or you can stop eating and just drink tea and water." I will die by starvation.' He was completely happy It was a 180-degree change," Minelli says They drove together to a bathing resort 30km away and they spent the afternoon swimming together "We came back here at midnight and looked through my telescope up at Jupiter with its four Gallilean moons and Saturn We discussed cosmology and astronomy and I sent him to bed." The man went home to Germany where Minelli put him in touch with a psychiatrist His crisis passed and the two remain in occasional contact I know life is a speciality that is known only on earth and is something that is very rare and so we have to care as much as we can for life," Minelli says "But we must also accept that a feeling human being must have the opportunity to say: This has been it I have had now enough and I will now stop." Canton of ZurichArchaeologists found a rare intact medieval gauntlet for the right hand someone in Switzerland threw down their gauntlet archaeologists excavating a site near Kyburg Castle in Pfäffikon Switzerland have found it — in surprisingly good condition “The previously known gauntlets from museums and collections mostly date back to the 15th century at the earliest. Older examples from the 14th century, however, are extremely rare,” the Canton of Zurich announced in a press release about the find only five other gauntlets from this period have been found during archaeological excavations in Switzerland although none of these pieces is anywhere near as well preserved and shows as many details of design and decoration as the Kyburg gauntlet.” It’s made of individual iron plates that lay atop each other like scales and are held together with side rivets the gauntlet would have been affixed to some kind of pliable material like leather Whoever wore it would have had the flexibility to make a fist or hold a sword “The discovery is sensational due to its age and condition,” Lorena Burkhardt, the project leader, noted of the gauntlet, according to The Jerusalem Post Archaeologists also found the left-hand gauntlet the left-hand one has largely broken apart Canton of ZurichArchaeologists found this pair of gauntlets but only the right-hand one is in good condition And that’s not all they found at Kyburg Castle The Jerusalem Post reports that archaeologists came across a medieval weaving cellar destroyed by a fire sometime in the 14th-century they also found a blacksmith’s forge that contained a number of metal objects Kyburg Castle first appeared in the historic record in 1027 as “Chuigeburg.” This translates to “cows-fort” and suggests that the fortification was originally used as a place for livestock It was probably constructed during the 10th century and its immediate history was one of destruction and revival it was rebuilt and became the center of the county of Kyburg it’s considered one of the most expansive medieval castles in all of Switzerland And because its defensive walls once stretched beyond the village of Kyburg it’s also a site of historical importance Any construction in the village requires an archaeological examination first Roland zh/Wikimedia CommonsKyburg Castle is one of the most expansive medieval castles in Switzerland and the site of significant archaeological interest The gauntlet makes up one small and fascinating part of Kyburg Castle’s history just five 14th-century gauntlets have been found in Switzerland Experts aren’t sure why so few have been discovered though it’s possible that they were melted down archaeologists aren’t sure who the recently discovered gauntlet may have once belonged to But their gauntlet is certainly evocative of a long-ago era which archaeologists hope to learn more about as they excavate sites near Kyburg Castle After reading about the well-preserved 14th-century gauntlet discovered in Switzerland, discover the remarkable story of the Bronze-Age prosthetic hand discovered in Switzerland. Or, learn about the chest of stolen Nazi silver that was discovered at a 14th-century Polish castle The TimesA sharp rise in cases of euthanasia to end psychological suffering in the Netherlands has prompted a debate about the practice among young people Almost 10,000 patients died by euthanasia in the Netherlands last year there was a 60 per cent increase in cases involving psychological suffering and a 10 per cent rise in deaths overall As Britain debates the right to die making 5.8 per cent of the total number of deaths There is growing controversy over young people given lethal injections for psychiatric illnesses sometimes to prevent them from taking matters into their own hands which specializes in the marketing of exclusive residential property is adding a branch in Pfäffikon (SZ) to its existing locations in Küsnacht (ZH) "At the new location at Eichenstrasse 2 in Pfäffikon we are part of a real estate hub with general contractors specialists in asset management and technical building consultancy," says COO Julia Greber The address is also the headquarters of the Vögele Real Estate Group which primarily develops and realizes commercial properties "We welcome the team from Wüst und Wüst as our new neighbors at the Vögele Real Estate Group's operational headquarters and look forward to working together particularly in real estate development," says Chairman of the Board of Directors Paul Vögele Office neighbors are a general and total contractor as well as the building consultancy firm SEM Solutions AG a specialist in energy and sustainability consulting Wüst und Wüst also has "excellent contacts in the Pfäffikon region and in-depth knowledge of the market from upper Lake Zurich to Zurich will change hands at the beginning of 2023 Lagardère Travel Retail International Retail will acquire 100% of the shares in Marché International AG the holding company of the Marché group Suggestions & comments to info@food-service.de 14.10.2024 09:00:00 CEST | EMD - European Marketing Distribution | Press release 14/10/2024 - European Marketing Distribution announces a new associate member: Lotte from South Korea one of the most important players in the Asian markets is cooperating with EMD with immediate effect EMD is consistently continuing its dynamic development with the cooperation now agreed with the prominent new member Lotte the trade alliance now represents and bundles the interests of 12 companies on three continents EMD's central projects include international procurement of Private Label products as well as the introduction of its vast network of suppliers to its members worldwide The Lotte Group conglomerate manages its business volume from two headquarters in Tokyo Having started out as a manufacturer of chewing gum the company now operates in 30 countries and is active in retail beverages and retail which alone contribute around 20 billion euros to the Lotte Group's total turnover of over 50 billion euros The Lotte portfolio also includes a well-known European confectionery brand such as Guylian from Belgium Recognising and leveraging intercontinental opportunities opening access to new markets and working closely with EMD procurement teams  In accordance with the EMD Partnership Statutes consumers in Asia and Europe can now also benefit from this new intercontinental cooperation For the EMD member companies already involved there will be more opportunities to source and market interesting product concepts in Asia while Lotte's purchasing teams will gain new and valuable access to European manufacturers and their goods business By joining forces and working closely with EMD's headquarters in Pfäffikon new opportunities can be developed in all international sourcing and sales markets Lotte firmly established itself as one of the prominent players in South Korea Lotte's very high status in its Asian home markets is illustrated by the following key figures: with more than 1,100 stores of all sizes the retail division Lotte Mart & Super in South Korea Vietnam and Indonesia generates an annual turnover of around 12 billion euros the company is a major player with 60 department stores (one of the world's largest department stores is located on the outskirts of Seoul The joint venture with convenience store specialist 7-Eleven which operates nearly 14,000 stores in South Korea Lotte procures goods for this dense distribution network One of the objectives of the ongoing cooperation with the EMD alliance for Lotte is the targeted expansion of the private label range While these private label products currently account for 6 per cent of the total range Lotte can now work with EMD's private label department which has extensive experience and proven expertise in developing successful private labels.    "We warmly welcome the new associate member Lotte to our intercontinental alliance and look forward to a successful collaboration," states Philippe Gruyters "We at Lotte are also extremely happy about the business partnership that has now been agreed; EMD was our partner of choice from the very beginning," emphasises Sunghyun Kang Note: The company name "Lotte" can be traced back to the admiration of the then South Korean company founder for the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and his main character Lotte in the novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther has been recognised in the consumer goods industry as an efficient and powerful partner for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) since 1989 it develops and procures highly efficient and sustainably produced private label concepts for the benefit of consumers on three continents The EMD head office also supports and realises global partnerships in the area of on-top agreements with the largest brand manufacturers Including the new and associated member Lotte from South Korea Asia and Oceania currently represent an accumulated external retail turnover of over 220 billion euros The member companies of European Marketing Distribution (EMD) are active in the following markets:  Australia: WoolworthsNorway: Unil/NorgesGruppen ASAustria: MARKANT Österreich GmbHPortugal: EuromadiPortCzech Republic: MARKANTSlovakia: MARKANTDenmark: Dagrofa a/sSouth Korea: LotteGermany: MARKANTSpain: EuromadiItaly: ESD Italia S.r.l.Sweden: Dagab/AxfoodNew Zealand: Countdown (Woolworths)Switzerland: MARKANTNetherlands: C.I.V Superunie B.A the newly associated member Lotte is also active in the retail business in China EMD also partners with the Belgian Colruyt Group for the international procurement of private-label products Colruyt is active in France and Luxembourg Subscribe to all the latest releases from EMD - European Marketing Distribution by registering your e-mail address below Swede elected new Board President of leading retail alliance Neuman with years of broad retail experience from Dagab and the Axfood group is a private label specialist highly reputed in the industry Dmitry Bogod from Lenta elected new Board member Pfäffikon/Switzerland There is a new President at the helm of European Marketing Distribution AG: Swede Johan Neuman (51) was unanimously elected as successor to the previous incumbent Maniele Tasca at the EMD Shareholder Meeting After two very successful terms in office since 2017 the Italian Tasca joins the Board of Directors of the leading international retail alliance as an active member an experienced top manager once again takes over the presidency at EMD The General Manager Private Label at Dagab the purchasing and logistics company of the Swedish EMD member Axfood is known as an outstanding expert in the procurement and development of high-performing Private Labels Sourcing and Procurement Director at Russian Retailer Lenta appointed new Board member Axfood Manager Johan Neuman elected new Vice-Chairman Maniele Tasca President of ESD Italia continues as Chairman Pfäffikon/Switzerland European Marketing Distribution AG (EMD) announces several changes to positions within its Board of Directors: during the shareholders' general meeting in Stockholm the Swedish Axfood Manager Johan Neuman was elected vice-chairman Neuman took the office over from Franz-Friedrich Müller from Markant AG who retired after many years of actively supporting and guiding EMD as vice-president Müller will remain member of the EMD management board The management body also welcomed a new member: Jaap van Vreden (Dutch national Van Vreden has extensive experience in buying category management and merchandising and serves as Sourcing and Procurement Director at Lenta Switzerland: The European Marketing Distribution AG (EMD) welcomes a new partner: Homeplus Co is from now on closely cooperating in the sourcing of private label products with the leading European associated group The agreement signed on Wednesday 23 January in Zürich by Homeplus’ CEO Lim Il-Soon provides also for the option of cooperation in other areas of intercontinental cooperation 14.10.2024 09:00:00 CEST | news aktuell GmbH | Press release Note: The company name "Lotte" can be traced back to the admiration of the then South Korean company founder for the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and his main character Lotte in the novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther" The member companies of European Marketing Distribution (EMD) are active in the following markets: uwe@rosmanith.de rosmanith@bettercommunications.mt Subscribe to all the latest releases from news aktuell GmbH by registering your e-mail address below Prague – 05.05.2025 - The Czech company eM Client has launched a new version of its eponymous email application positioning their software as the primary rival to Microsoft Outlook in the email app market also incorporates the most popular features from Postbox an email application developed by Postbox Inc. which has ceased operations and was acquired by eM Client in 2024 ORTEN Group remains independent and will serve as TRENTAR MOBILITY’s growth platform in Europe Expansion of competencies in future mobility solutions and technological expertise TRENTAR MOBILITY is exploring additional strategic growth opportunities and is interested in acquiring further manufacturers in Europe for growth in the future mobility sector The company announced its successful approval by the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the manufacturing testing and release of recombinant Cas9 nuclease from its headquarters site Cas9 is an essential component of CRISPR-based gene editing therapies including CASGEVY® (exagamglogene autotemcel) developed and launched by Vertex Pharmaceuticals Germany should be restored to a growth path and should give new impulse to innovation Because prosperity is a significant guarantor of a stable democracy Digital sovereignty is the anchor of a strong Europe Germany can once again be a country of pioneering innovation and a pacesetter for the continent comprehensive modernization of the state is indispensable The Bertelsmann Stiftung presented its proposals at the annual press conference 2025 Acousia Therapeutics GmbH announced that it has successfully enrolled 50% of patients in its ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating ACOU085 (INN: bimokalner) for the prevention of cisplatin-induced hearing loss in patients with testicular cancer undergoing chemotherapy In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases documents and other relevant information about us Figures released by Dignitas also show that one person travelled from Ireland to Switzerland last year to end their life. Since 2003, ten Irish residents and almost 500 people from the UK have made the journey. Dignitas, which was formed in 1998 by the human rights lawyer Ludwig Minelli, said it now had a supporter base of more than 11,000 people. Irish membership has grown from 36 in 2016 to 67 in 2021. Ten Irish people were among 642 new members to join the nonprofit last year. Separately, research by Dignity in Dying, the UK-based campaign group, has found there are 17.1.2025 13:00:00 EET | European Marketing Distribution AG | Press release the European Marketing Distribution (EMD) network is once again demonstrating the additional benefits that cooperation between renowned distributors can generate for customers in the retail sector: The latest example is a new cooperation on the joint procurement of private labels in France with the renowned buying group Francap including the French operations of EMD's Belgian partner Colruyt.As a result French consumers can now enjoy even more attractive private label product ranges in the affiliated Francap shops - and suppliers in France gain new and valuable access to the global sales markets of the EMD retail alliance In order to clarify the dynamics for all the stakeholders involved it is worth taking a closer look at the networked structures which has been operating successfully in France for over 60 years has 10 members-retailers that currently represent 2,215 outlets in France and are particularly successful with customers when it comes to local shopping offering a full range of products. Francap is recognised in France as a reliable purchasing organisation for supermarket chains such as Coccinelle Supermarché is already operating 102 supermarkets in France Francap also supplies well-established local supply specialists such as Rapid’ Market Viveco and Marché Minut’. Including the revenues of Colruyt France the Francap Group represents a cumulated consumer turnover of 3.5 billion euros The primary objective of the collaboration recently initiated by Francap under the aegis of the EMD alliance is the joint procurement and marketing of high-performance private labels These products are experiencing increased popularity in the discerning French food market The Francap Group already has a range of well-established own brands (such as Belle France while EMD can enrich the product range of its new purchasing partner Francap with its large portfolio of highly sought-after private labels under the EMD Eurolabel The cooperation between Francap and EMD concerns only private label products: no collaboration on the international marketing nor procurement of A-brand products is in the scope of the collaboration The networking of all the aforementioned partners has triggered a number of significant developments who now have an even more appealing selection of very good and always affordable private labels at their disposal The combined professional expertise of Francap is incorporated into EMD's international product group tenders by the joint purchasing teams EMD itself is opening up a new route into the French food market for international own-brand manufacturers while French manufacturers can look forward to new opportunities in EMD's intercontinental distribution area which celebrated its 35th anniversary in the past 2024 together with all its members and partners from industry and trade will remain a particularly reliable and cooperative partner in the international procurement and marketing market also in the new year 2025.   associate member Lotte is also active in the Chinese Donati & RosmanithUwe RosmanithTriq ir-Rumani XLN1431 MaltaPhone: +49 171 9706644uwe@rosmanith.derosmanith@bettercommunications.mt it develops and procures highly efficient and sustainably produced private label concepts for the benefit of consumers EMD announced new memberships in Germany (RTG International) and in South Korea (Lotte) Woolworths Australia left the cooperation end 2024 Including the associate member Lotte from South Korea the EMD member companies in Europe and Asia currently represent an external retail consumer turnover of approx Subscribe to all the latest releases from European Marketing Distribution AG by registering your e-mail address below EMD's central projects include international procurement of Private Label products as well as the introduction of its vast network of suppliers to its members worldwide · Swede elected new Board President of leading retail alliance · Neuman is a private label specialist highly reputed in the industry · Dmitry Bogod from Lenta elected new Board member - Cooperation will start in the private label business - Global supply chains offer increased opportunities for growth to the distributors and industrial partners involved - retail customers benefit from a larger assortment variety Pfäffikon - Cross reference: Picture is available at AP Images (http://www.apimages.com) - Homeplus is the second largest company in the South Korean retailer market with a turnover of 9.7 billion US dollars (2017) The Homeplus Group owned by the Asian private equity firm MBK Partners operates currently 752 retail ou Tietosuoja 24.6.2021 11:00:00 CEST | EMD - European Marketing Distribution | Press release Neuman has been a member of EMD's Board of Directors since 2007 he has proven himself as one of the key initiators of EMD's industry-recognised Private Label range which offers industrial companies attractive tenders for the worldwide placement and marketing of Private Labels is continuing its course for a partnership-based cooperation with manufacturers also under the new President Johan Neuman the delegates warmly congratulated Johan Neuman on his unanimous election to the EMD top position and expressly thanked Maniele Tasca for his extremely constructive and future-oriented guidance EMD has continuously expanded its role as the leading trade association group in the internationally organised retail trade EMD also announces a new appointment to the Board of Directors: Dmitry Bogod (36) the Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer of Russian EMD member Lenta was newly appointed to the Board replacing Jaap van Vreden who resigned from the management committee of the affiliated group Dmitry has held multiple executive positions at Lenta prior to his latest appointment Dmitry was responsible for Lenta’s overall transformation Dmitry was an associate partner in McKinsey’s Moscow office where he focused on strategy and marketing projects for Russian and international retailers and FMCGs the EMD Board of Directors continues to include the top decision-makers Jaime Rodriguez (Euromadi) Franz Friedrich Müller (Markant) and Dick Roozen (Superunie) The EMD head office in Pfäffikon is under the direction of Managing Director Philippe Gruyters.  The member companies of European Marketing Distribution (EMD) are active in the following markets: Italy: ESD Italia                                         has been acknowledged since 1989 as an efficient and high-performing partner for Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) by the consumer goods industry The leading associated group operates now together with its member companies in 20 countries in Europe 24.6.2021 11:07:24 CEST | news aktuell GmbH | Press release Switzerland): There is a new President at the helm of European Marketing Distribution AG: Swede Johan Neuman (51) was unanimously elected as successor to the previous incumbent Maniele Tasca at the EMD Shareholder Meeting The EMD head office in Pfäffikon is under the direction of Managing Director Philippe Gruyters a subsidiary of the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) institutions and associations with effective access to both the media and consumers and supports the organizations in telling their stories easily and successfully Utilizing the digital tools “ots” and “zimpel” PR content reaches all media formats wide-reach online portals or social networks news aktuell publishes all of its clients' PR content on www.presseportal.de one of Germany's widest-reaching PR portals all relevant multipliers are reached worldwide ranging from editors and digital influencers to specialist bloggers and interested consumers Communications specialists from all over Germany rely on the expertise of the dpa subsidiary news aktuell has been on the market since 1989 and employs over 135 people 13.6.2019 12:09:37 CEST | EMD - European Marketing Distribution | Press release European Marketing Distribution AG (EMD) announces several changes to positions within its Board of Directors: during the shareholders' general meeting in Stockholm Maniele Tasca will continue to be President of the EMD Board of Directors Tasca: “We extend to Jaap van Vreden a very warm welcome and we look forward to a fruitful cooperation Jaap has played a leading role in building up the internationally acknowledged purchasing divisions of Lenta and will strengthen our Board of Directors with immediate effect.”  The EMD Board of Directors comprises now the following members and functions: -      President: Maniele Tasca -      Vice-president: Johan Neuman (Axfood) -      Franz Friedrich Müller (Markant AG) -      Jaime Rodríguez (Euromadi Iberica) -      Dick Roozen (Superunie) -      Jaap van Vreden (Lenta) has been acknowledged since 1989 as an efficient and high-performing partner for Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) by the consumer goods industries The member companies of European Marketing Distribution (EMD) are active in the following markets:  Picture is available at AP Images (http://www.apimages.com) Cooperation will start in the private label business Global supply chains offer increased opportunities for growth to the distributors and industrial partners involved – retail customers benefit from a larger assortment variety (Pfäffikon Switzerland): The European Marketing Distribution AG (EMD) welcomes a new partner: Homeplus Co – Cross reference: Picture is available at AP Images (http://www.apimages.com) - Homeplus The Homeplus Group owned by the Asian private equity firm MBK Partners operates currently 752 retail outl mehr Themen Pfäffikon/Switzerland (ots) - Experienced French retail specialist to head EMD's Branded Products Department EMD extends further its expertise in strategic cooperation with the A-Brand industry - Deeper focus on partnership with the industry and retailers The leading European purchasing and marketing alliance EMD increases its personnel strength: Eric Lemercier (49) joined the Branded Products Department as Director Business Development at the European Marketing Distribution AG in Pfäffikon Eric Lemercier previously held senior management positions at Carrefour and Intermarché in France also worked for leading retail players in Europe He has been Managing Director of the International Agreements Department at Agenor for many years The last 4 years he was a reputed consultant at GloBuyOne in Geneva He has extensive expertise in the cooperation in international on-top agreements and global partnerships with the Industry Eric Lemercier heads the team of Peter Arnolds and Jürgen Barthelmä working both very successfully since many years as Directors Branded Products for EMD In the context of the continuous growth strategy EMD invests in the development of new services such as data sharing Eric Lemercier on his new role: "EMD's platform offers to our suppliers increasing opportunities to develop their business with our members The growth in the number of partner suppliers shows the interest in our business model" Rosmanith & RosmanithThe Art of CommunicationUwe RosmanithUnter den Eichen 7D-65195 WiesbadenPhone: +49 171 9706644 uwe@rosmanith.de Pfäffikon (ots) - EMD and Asda terminate their collaboration by amicable and mutual agreement left the EMD alliance by the end of the year 2017 one of the leading retailers in the United Kingdom joined EMD at the beginning of 2016 it has made significant changes to its buying model Asda is prioritising direct relationships with its suppliers and has strengthened IPL Social Media: Rituals opened the new store on September 18 in the Seedamm-Center; the store covers 160 sqm The Seedamm-Center is considered to be the largest shopping center on Lake Zurich's upper shore: 48 stores are located on the approximately 20,100 square meters of retail space It is well connected to public transport and also has 1,500 parking spaces The real estate services provider had already brokered the company's first Swiss location on Marktgasse in Zurich as well as a store in Shoppi Tivoli and the cosmetics brand now operates more than 600 stores in 27 countries worldwide the store network is expected to grow to 1,000 stores Im #DealMonitor für den 8. Februar werfen wir einen Blick auf die wichtigsten, spannendsten und interessantesten Investments und Exits des Tages in der DACH-Region. Alle Deals der Vortage gibt es im großen und übersichtlichen #DealMonitor-Archiv Startup-Jobs: Auf der Suche nach einer neuen Herausforderung? In der unserer Jobbörse findet Ihr Stellenanzeigen von Startups und Unternehmen The Swiss Casinos got four new licenses issued by the Federal Council. The licenses are issued for the casinos in Zurich, St. Gallen, Pfäffikon The casinos will be able to operate under these licenses from 2025 to 2044 However, the operator didn’t get the license for the Oftringen, and it didn’t apply for the Casino Schaffhausen The casino will close its operations by the end of next year The employees will have a chance to join other casinos within the Swiss Casinos Group or the casino in Winterthur The company is very satisfied with the licenses they received which led to the federal government issuing the licenses The decision is positive for the operator despite the failure in Oftringen The company’s officials are aware that it was a very challenging process The Swiss Federal Gaming Commission (SFBC) wanted the country to be divided into 23 gaming zones as stated in the report that was submitted to the Federal Council but they required the right to make the decisions such as issuing the licenses in particular cases in case they comply with the Gambling Act and the action is justified That Court’s decision made the company apply for the Oftringen license The municipality is located in the Basel area The company thought the new casino would be welcomed especially while keeping Mittelland and Oftringen in mind the company stated that even though they regret this the Winterthur casino is a great addition to its traditional industrial history It will be situated in the hall in the Lokstadt The casino will be a perfect mix of the industrial traditional and modern casino culture so it will be a gem in this thriving region When it comes to the St. Gallen zone It had to be decided between the casino that is operated by Swiss Casinos and already exists in the area and ACE Holding’s casino According to the source they commented: “We are relieved that the Federal Council has acknowledged our experience and our careful management and has given preference to our application we will open the casino at the new location halten and offer an attractive nightlife offer for the region Casino Pfäffikon also includes the online casino (swisscasinos.ch) which has established itself as a very successful online casino Casino Zurich offers a large and regularly changing range of games and is an important player in the city’s nightlife offerings.” The concessions are issued for twenty years Notify me via e-mail if anyone answers my comment. it has vanishedAll that's left are shards of stoneAnd one faithful manWho hasn't yet let goThe universe swallowedEvery single thing he lovedAnd the planets don't know ohWhy he's holding onYou might also likeThe world ohWhy he's holding onHold on to a fraction of your sanityHold on go onOn the sixth day of nothingSalvation was announcedIt rang allowed in his headOnly for him to hearSurrounding him vast nothingnessThe punishment's at haltAnd all that he could ask himselfWas why did I hold on?EmbedCancelHow to Format Lyrics: To learn more, check out our transcription guide or visit our transcribers forum Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning 5 ContributorsAncus LyricsANCUS EÐÐI TRĀTU IN MEDÍEI SĪROBIVOTŪTOSYou might also likeEmbedCancelHow to Format Lyrics: