Latest news with #NickBell
BBC News
04-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Part of Kent hit with water supply issues for third day in a row
About 500 properties in an area of Kent are still facing water supply issues for a third day in a Wednesday, South East Water said up to 3,000 customers in Whitstable, Seasalter and surrounding areas had no water or low pressure due to the recent company says there are still hundreds of homes in the area facing "intermittent supply".Nick Bell, incident manager at South East Water, said: "We're unable to confirm at this stage when supplies will be fully restored to all customers, but we're working hard to address this as soon as possible." The company has been using four tankers to inject water directly into its network and this has helped restore supplies to some customers in the South East Water is still trying to remove trapped air from its pipes, which is preventing water from reaching all its users."This takes time to remove airlocks and get water flowing through the pipes again," Mr Bell said.A bottled water station is reopening at Sainsbury's in Reeves Way in Chestfield and the company is delivering bottled water to customers in the impacted areas, including those on its priority services register. Earlier in the week the company issued an urgent appeal to residents in the South East to reduce their water usage.
BBC News
03-07-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Whitstable and Seasalter water supply problems continue
Thousands of homes in East Kent still have problems with their water East Water has apologised, blaming the heatwave for the supply problems which began on Thursday morning it said about 4,000 customers in Whitstable, Seasalter and the surrounding area were still suffering from "intermittent supply".Incident manager Nick Bell said the bottled water station at Sainsburys in ReevesWay, Chestfield would reopen from 08:30 BST "for customers who may still need to collect bottled water due to issues with their mains supply". Bottled water will also be delivered to vulnerable customers who are registered on the company's Bell said: "We're continuing to use tankers to inject water into our network to support the Whitstable area and help get drinking water back to customers' taps as soon as possible."Once again, we're sorry for the inconvenience to customers and we'll continue to work hard to restore supplies as soon as we can."
Forbes
19-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
What Trading Cards Tell Us About The Future Of The Creator Economy
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA – February 19, 2019: Baseball cards typically display an image of the player ... More with identifying information including statistics and biographical information. Baseball card production peaked in the late 1980s however, baseball cards are still one of the most influential collectibles of all time. For years, creators have been chasing virality and hoping the money follows. But today, the most successful creators are flipping that script by monetizing directly through community, content and commerce. Fanatics Live, a livestream platform built for trading card enthusiasts, is a great example of what's possible when creators are given the tools to operate like entrepreneurs. According to CEO Nick Bell, Fanatics Live is 'the place where card collecting meets entertainment,' combining the real-time thrill of QVC, the social energy of Twitch and the gamification of Candy Crush. It's content and commerce wrapped in community. Live commerce is already well established in Asia, where it accounts for more than 20% of all e-commerce sales. In the US, it's on a steep upward curve, with McKinsey forecasting growth to $68 billion by 2026, driven largely by vertical platforms in collectibles, fashion and beauty. Bell sees the momentum: 'Live commerce has grown incredibly rapidly in China over the last 10 years… I think when it comes to collectibles, I would really look at it as like the difference between watching a sports game alone at home versus being in a packed stadium with other fans.' At its core, Fanatics Live gives creators, called 'breakers', the ability to host livestreams where they open card packs, engage fans and transact in real time. Bell explained that the platform's technology, LiveOS, is 'purpose-built for the collectibles industry' with integrated tools that let creators 'sell breaks, run giveaways, polls, quizzes' all in a deeply gamified, vertical-specific environment. Rather than building for everyone, Fanatics has focused tightly on the trading card category. 'Rather than other platforms that go much wider… we're very, very focused on trading cards,' Bell noted, underscoring a strategy that puts community depth above generalized reach. What's particularly striking is how Fanatics Live prioritizes creator empowerment. Bell emphasized, 'Our creators are entrepreneurs. They're building communities, not just audiences. That's where the business is.' This isn't hyperbole, Fanatics Live sees over an hour of average watch time per user per day, suggesting that fans are sticking around. That sense of stickiness is by design. 'You speak to collectors who use Fanatics Live on a daily basis… they have their two or three favorite creators. And it's not just the creator… it's the community that forms around that,' Bell explained. He described how users show up for the creators as much as the product—'these are people that are their friends.' Fanatics Live's ambitions go beyond digital. In its recently launched London flagship store, it unveiled a professional-grade Fanatics Live Studio where creators can book slots and go live directly from the retail floor. 'We provide the prime location and professional-grade equipment for creators to shine,' said Bell. 'It's about empowering the community, fostering genuine connections, and delivering exhilarating live experiences.' Fanatics The studio functions as a production hub, storefront, and creator coworking space, a model that could easily extend to other verticals in the future. Fanatics Live may have launched in the UK most recently, but its model is globally relevant. Bell, who grew up in the UK, noted that while sticker collections were once popular playground currency, trading cards represent something longer-lasting: 'Collecting is this kind of journey that you go on over a long period of time… these things live on for years and years.' He added that 'people build their collections for years… it becomes a form of art,' pointing to a recent example where a Paul Skenes debut patch card sold for $1.1 million on the platform. As Bell put it, 'Gone are the days where people are just going to post a video, hope it gets a load of views and hope that they get a few pennies out the bottom from ad revenue.' Instead, Fanatics Live creators are operating like small businesses. Here are a few key takeaways for creators: 'Find something that you're really passionate about,' said Bell. 'Something that you want to be doing evenings, weekends, every waking moment, and go deep on that.' Fanatics Live proves that trust and familiarity drive more revenue than virality. 'It's not just the creator that [viewers] move towards… it's the community that forms around that.' Fanatics Live's LiveOS was built from scratch for this vertical. 'We're building a connected ecosystem… that helps collectors enjoy what they do and removes all the boring bits,' Bell said. Top-performing creators on Fanatics Live show up regularly, not sporadically. 'Building a business is not easy,' Bell admitted, 'and it's got to be something that you want to eat, sleep, and breathe every single day.' Fanatics Live might focus on trading cards, but it's modeling a broader truth, the most successful creator businesses are built on depth. By combining real-time commerce with community and infrastructure, Fanatics Live is showing how creators can own their audiences, their earnings and their futures. And as Bell aptly put it, 'We're giving creators the infrastructure to build meaningful, sustainable businesses.' This article is based on an interview from my podcast The Business of Creators.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Water supply returns after almost a week
All properties in parts of west Kent that were without water for almost a week have had their supply restored. A power cut on Sunday shut down a water treatment works that supplies 5,000 properties in Sevenoaks, Hildenborough, Bidborough and Tonbridge. South East Water said a small number of isolated properties were still experiencing low pressure issues or intermittent supply on Friday morning, but supplies had since returned to all those affected. The firm apologised to affected customers. "We know supply interruptions of any length of time, but especially this length, are extremely distressing," Nick Bell, head of operations, said. "We thank customers for their patience while we've worked to restore supplies as quickly as possible." Teams worked to remove localised air locks, which had been causing the issues for the isolated properties, the firm added. South East Water previously said it was looking into how compensation for affected customers will work. All bottled water stations have now been closed. Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. Hundreds get water supply back after six days 'Get it fixed' - anger as water outages continue Water outage disruption 'unacceptable', says MP South East Water
