Trade body Portman Group cracks down on ‘offensive’ marketing of alcoholic drinks March 4, 2019 UK drinks body Portman Group has urged alcohol brands not to create ‘offensive’ adverts in a bid to crack down on discriminatory marketing in the industry. The trade group has laid out new rules to ensure a drink’s name, packaging and any promotional material does not cause serious or widespread offence, with producers urged to be careful [...]
Theresa May accused of ‘Brexit bribe’ over launch of £1.6bn fund for Leave-voting areas March 4, 2019 Theresa May has been accused of "bribing MPs" with a £1.6bn government fund for pro-Brexit towns in England in a bid to secure their backing for her deal when it is voted on later this month. £1bn of the pot will go towards less well-off towns in England while £600m will be available for communities [...]
Serious Pig founder George Rice wants to pair craft beer with better snacks in British pubs March 4, 2019 The craft beer scene is big business. Hundreds of challenger brands have emerged over the past decade or more to take a bite – well, sip – out of the market share of the mainstream breweries. Some craft beer-makers have become established names, such as controversial Scottish brand BrewDog, while others have been snapped up [...]
Ranked: The high street banks with the most IT outages March 4, 2019 UK banks are suffering IT outages or security failures at a rate of more than one a day, new figures from the financial watchdog have revealed. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) now requires banks to publish information on IT failures. Read more: Barclays down: Banking app outage hits customers Analysis conducted by Which found there [...]
How the Independent Group can build the brand for their new political party March 4, 2019 Who'd want to be a political party right now? The Conservatives are accused of becoming “Blukip”, while Labour fights a seemingly losing battle against growing allegations of antisemitism. Throw in an increasingly chaotic Brexit backdrop, and it’s not surprising that a breakaway faction has spotted the opportunity to launch a new political movement. Spotting the opportunity [...]
Sadiq Khan’s junk food advertising ban will hurt TfL and marketers, but fail to fight childhood obesity March 4, 2019 Last week, a divisive political leader brought an end to a scourge that threatened our everyday society. No, I’m not talking about Donald Trump, whose summit with Kim Jong-un unfortunately failed to achieve the denuclearisation of North Korea. I’m talking instead about London mayor Sadiq Khan, whose ban on junk food advertising on the Transport [...]
Uber cars stock children’s books to boost bedtime reading for World Book Day March 4, 2019 Long known for getting time-poor commuters from A to B, Uber today launched a scheme to help London parents get home in time to read bedtime stories to their children. The ride-hailing company has teamed up with Penguin Random House imprint Puffin and the National Literacy Trust to launch a “mobile libraries” programme ahead of World Book Day, on [...]
‘Chicken king’ Boparan to close a third of Giraffe and Ed’s Diner restaurants March 4, 2019 Giraffe and Ed’s Diner have become the latest casualties in the struggling casual dining sector after the restaurant chains’ owner said it will close a third of their branches. The Boparan Restaurant Group (BRG), which is owned by ‘chicken king’ Ranjit Singh Boparan, is widely reported to have entered a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) that will [...]
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct makes offer for Findel March 4, 2019 Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley is looking to continue his retail spending spree after announcing a £139m offer to buy Findel this morning. Sports Direct, which is currently Findel’s largest shareholder, said in a note to the London Stock Exchange that it has offered to purchase the remaining shares in Findel that it does not already [...]
My way or the highway: Interserve stock plunges again as chairman says revised rescue deal is ‘only viable option’ March 4, 2019 There was more misery for Interserve investors on Monday as shares plummeted nine per cent in morning trading, after chairman Glynn Barker said the firm’s controversial proposed rescue deal is the “only viable option”. The debt-laden outsourcer put forward a renewed rescue plan last week which doubles investor control, with five per cent of the [...]