City Moves for 14 January 2016 | Who’s switching jobs January 14, 2016 Capital Access Group Investor engagement adviser Capital Access Group has announced that Bruce Packard has joined its investor analytics team. Bruce has 15 years’ experience in the City and has been part of several highly ranked banks’ teams. Having covered the UK banking sector since 2000 at Credit Suisse, ING, Societe Generale, Evolution and Seymour [...]
Deceptive demographics: Attitude matters more to marketers January 11, 2016 Here's a shocker for you. There are actually 19 year-old guys who watch Dance Moms, and 73 year-old women who watch Breaking Bad and Avengers,” Netflix’s Todd Yellin told the SxSW conference in Texas last year. Marketers have long recognised the limitations of segmenting consumers demographically. Finding out a customer’s age and gender data, Yellin argued, [...]
Deal spree to provide relief to the City with Shire on verge of tie-up with Baxalta January 11, 2016 A string of mega deals is set to provide welcome relief to the City after a rocky start to the year saw £85bn wiped off the value of the UK’s biggest firms in the first trading week of 2016. London-listed pharmaceutical giant Shire is on the verge of inking a £22bn deal with US rival Baxalta, [...]
City Moves for 8 January 2016 | Who’s switching jobs January 8, 2016 Whistl Postal operator Whistl has appointed home delivery specialist Christine Key to grow its packets and parcel division. Previous roles held by Christine in the delivery sector include sales director at Yodel/ Home Delivery Network, sales director DPD/GeoPost UK and commercial director at Parcelnet. Earthport Earthport, the cross-border payment specialist based in London, has appointed [...]
Vodafone joins Apple and Google in slamming UK government’s Investigatory Powers Bill, warning that the snoopers’ charter risks undermining trust January 7, 2016 Vodafone has slammed the government’s so-called snoopers’ charter, warning that the proposed legislation to monitor communication risks undermining trust in British telco firms. Vodafone has expressed concern that authorities’ power to tap into and access its network would be a “major imposition on the freedom of an operator”. In a submission to the Draft Investigatory [...]
Orange and Bouygues Telecom share price soars on confirmed merger talks but French telco deal faces competition probes January 5, 2016 France’s largest mobile operator Orange has confirmed merger talks with rival Bouygues, marking the latest step in European telco firms’ race towards consolidation. A deal between the two, merging France’s largest and third-largest operators, has been estimated to be worth €10bn (£7.3bn). Rumours of the talks were first reported by French newspaper Journal de Dimanche [...]
EE boss Olaf Swantee will step down after BT deal with Marc Allera named successor January 4, 2016 EE boss Olaf Swantee will step down following the mobile network's soon-to-be completed £12.5bn merger with BT. Swantee, chief executive since 2011, will be succeeded by Marc Allera, currently chief commercial officer at EE. “As we approach the imminent completion of the deal with BT and the start of an exciting new chapter for EE, I’ve taken [...]
ITV share price falls as Comcast pours cold water on NBCUniversal takeover talks December 22, 2015 US cable company Comcast has poured cold water on speculation it's in talks for its entertainment arm NBCUniversal to takeover the UK's biggest broadcaster, ITV. ITV's share price closed nearly three per cent down on Monday, after a news report suggested the two companies had discussed a potential deal. It lost most of those gains, opening as [...]
Ladbrokes Coral merger: The Competition and Markets Authority launches its investigation December 16, 2015 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) today announced it may carry out a 'fast track' investigation into the proposed merger between Ladbrokes and Coral. Today is the first day of the CMA's investigation to explore the effects on market competition if the two bookies merge as planned. The process normally takes 40 days, but the CMA said [...]
The science of branding: Neuro-Insight CEO Heather Andrew on brands and brains December 14, 2015 Emotion is not enough, says Heather Andrew When Cadbury’s drumming gorilla was unleashed in 2007, its soundtrack and surrealism allowed the confectioner to draw a line under its salmonella scare, and boosted sales by 9 per cent. But an entertaining advert is not enough. The role which branding plays within the advert is crucial, [...]