Tesco’s credit rating downgraded by S&P amid profit fears August 8, 2014 Tesco suffered a fresh blow yesterday after Standard and Poor’s (S&P) downgraded the troubled supermarket’s credit rating over concerns of rising competition in its home market and its recent profit warning. S&P said it had cut its long-term rating on Tesco to “BBB” from “BBB+”, but reiterated its “A-2” short-term corporate credit rating on the [...]
Ed Ballsed-up behind wheel but it’s (a) fine – and five points on his driving licence August 5, 2014 Ed Balls managed to swerve a driving ban yesterday, his lawyers racing away from Leeds magistrates with just a £1,000 fine and five points for the shadow chancellor. The charge? He failed to stop after hitting a parked car. Of course, the Labour shadow minister is walking (or, driving) a thin line – he’s already [...]
Sally Weavers of IPG Mediabrands’s Initiative agency on thinking laterally August 3, 2014 Liam Ward-Proud talks to Sally Weavers, UK managing director of IPG Mediabrands’s Initiative agency. Initiative holds a fairly unique place among UK media agencies. It’s big, placing thirteenth in last year’s rankings, with billings of over £169m, but nowhere near the scale of the outfits owned by the industry’s behemoths. According to Sally Weavers, [...]
Why did 7000 people just give $55,000 to a kickstarter project for potato salad? August 3, 2014 It’s funded the Oculus virtual reality device and the Pebble watch, but now kickstarter has helped fund its most ambitious, if slightly surreal, project to date: potato salad. Asking at least $1 for something which you can pick up for the princely sum of 35p at Tesco is probably more ambitious than asking people to [...]
Mary Queen of Shops flagship scheme failing to make an impact August 2, 2014 Mary Portas' government funded scheme to restore the high street has failed to have a significant impact, reports Sky News. Portas' high street revival project received £1.2m in public funding and focused on 12 town centres. Wolverhampton was one those chosen to pilot the scheme and received £100,000. The results were mixed, with five retail [...]
Lake Capital in £100m deal for Engine Group July 30, 2014 The owner of PR firm MHP Communications and ad agency WCRS, The Engine Group, will today announce its takeover by US private equity firm Lake Capital. The deal, first reported by City A.M. last week, is understood to be worth around £100m and will see Lake Capital buy out existing private equity backer HIG, leaving [...]
What does The Engine Group do? July 30, 2014 ■ Nestled in offices behind Oxford Circus, the Engine Group describes itself as an integrated marketing communications group, which owns ad agency WCRS, PR group MHP Communications, digital shop Jam and direct marketing specialist partners Andrews Aldridge, among others. ■ Engine’s UK chief executive, Debbie Klein, stressed that the group would retain its independence after [...]
Payback time but Bank of England’s bonus clawbacks are rife with pitfalls July 30, 2014 Quite literally, yesterday it was payback time for Britain’s banking industry. Regulators’ demands that lenders must force staff to hand back bonuses awarded as long as seven years earlier delivers a belated sense of justice for those clamouring for more robust post-crisis retribution. The Bank of England’s timing could hardly have been better, coming [...]
Aldi closes in on Waitrose as the discounters scent blood July 29, 2014 The challenges facing Britain’s big four grocers was further laid bare yesterday after new data revealed that Aldi was poised to overtake Waitrose to become the country’s sixth biggest supermarket. Kantar Worlpanel data released yesterday showed Aldi’s sales jumped 32 per cent year-on-year in the 12 weeks to 20 July, bringing its market share within [...]
Shapland is named Poundland chair in retail merry-go-round July 29, 2014 Poundland yesterday named Darren Shapland as its new chairman after losing its current boss to the troubled supermarket Morrisons in the latest round of retail musical chairs. Shapland joined the bargain chain’s board as a senior independent director ahead of its £750m float in March after a brief stint as chief executive of the flooring [...]