Editor’s Notes: Business chiefs can do great things in politics, but what about the pay cut? November 2, 2018 Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has raised the prospect of senior business figures giving up the boardroom and joining the Foreign Office in the service of their country. When I asked a former senior diplomat, with an alphabet of letters after his name, what he made of this proposal he slapped his hands on his head [...]
WPP boss Mark Read: We’ve had a tough time for two years October 25, 2018 WPP chief executive Mark Read has said he is determined to improve the company’s performance to compete with its peers, as shares plunged on this morning’s quarterly results. The advertising business dropped as much as 22.5 per cent to 818 pence per share earlier today. Sales fell 1.5 per cent in the third quarter, following [...]
WPP loses major Ford advertising contract to US rival Omnicom October 9, 2018 WPP has been dealt a major blow as it lost a key Ford advertising contract to the agency of one of its biggest US rivals, Omnicom. The news will be a major setback for new chief exec Mark Read, who was only appointed at the start of September. Ford was one of WPP's longest-standing advertising partnerships, as [...]
Martin Sorrell says he regrets nothing months after leaving WPP amid allegations of misconduct October 1, 2018 Sir Martin Sorrell has said he has no regrets over his behaviour while in charge of WPP. The former chief executive left the firm in April after claims of personal misconduct, saying his departure was in “the best interest of the business.” In an interview with the BBC, Sorrell denied treating subordinates poorly, using company [...]
Sir Martin Sorrell seals stock market return as S4 Capital shares enter market tomorrow September 27, 2018 Sir Martin Sorrell will seal his return to the stock market tomorrow when shares in his new advertising venture start trading under the name S4 Capital. A meeting of shell company Derriston Capital earlier today saw shareholders vote through all resolutions, rubber stamping the reverse takeover of S4 and its acquisition of Dutch agency MediaMonks. Sorrell purchased Derriston in [...]
Read reshuffles WPP as he combines two leading marketing agencies September 26, 2018 Advertising giant WPP continued consolidating its business today as it said it would merge two of its leading agencies. It confirmed it would combine VML and Y&R into a new agency called VMLY&R. It will be headed up by global chief exec Jon Cook, who will report to newly appointed WPP boss Mark Read. In his [...]
M&C Saatchi: WPP needs ‘radical surgery’ for post-Sorrell future September 21, 2018 M&C Saatchi's boss has warned his firm is ready to swoop on rival ad agency WPP’s territory as Sir Martin Sorrell’s successor is busy performing “radical surgery” on the business. David Kershaw hailed surging earnings at M&C Saatchi, seeing revenue almost double to £215.4m after new accounting rules changed the way revenue from customer contracts [...]
Sorrell lays out expansion plans for new advertising venture S4 Capital ahead of market comeback September 12, 2018 Ad guru Sir Martin Sorrell today laid out ambitious plans to expand new venture S4 Capital after it starts trading shares later this month, in a move which could step on the toes of his former employer WPP. The founder of the advertising goliath is using a shell company, Derriston Capital, to launch his new business [...]
WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell shrugs off mounting fears over China’s economy August 27, 2015 WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell yesterday admitted “everyone should be concerned” about the current state of the Chinese economy – but said he remained an “unabashed bull” over the long term. Speaking to City A.M., Sorrell said that although Asia Pacific is the company’s third largest market, WPP would not be changing its strategy [...]
Is WPP’s Sir Martin Sorrell right to “remain a raging bull” in relation to Chinese growth? August 26, 2015 Andy Rothman is investment strategist at Matthews Asia, says Yes China’s stock market has experienced a significant correction, and Beijing engineered a minor devaluation of the RMB, but neither of these events reflect a worse-than-expected slowdown in the real economy, and there are no signs that the A-share correction is having a significant impact on [...]