The week in brief March 2, 2014 Cadbury in £7.5m communication campaigns launch The confectionery company has invested £7.5m in a campaign for its new Dairy Milk Ritz and Lu products. A 30-second TV ad, created by Fallon and directed by David Wilson, premiered on British TV on Saturday. Cadbury hopes this will help position the brand in the afternoon tea break [...]
Scots warned of business exodus February 27, 2014 TWO BUSINESS heavyweights have issued the starkest warning yet about the damage Scottish independence could do, claiming that it could push companies to leave the nation and start again in England to avoid financial uncertainty. The news will come as a devastating blow to Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond, who is using the value [...]
WPP falls short on margins but wins big clients February 27, 2014 NEW ADVERTISING clients have helped WPP deliver an industry-beating 18.7 per cent rise in profits for last year, though investors were disappointed yesterday by the FTSE 100 firm’s margin forecast. Sir Martin Sorrell’s media outfit said it expects margins to increase 0.3 percentage points this year, trimmed from an earlier prediction of 0.5 points. Operating [...]
London Report: RBS weighs on FTSE but Yellen drives stocks up February 27, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index edged up yesterday, lifted by positive US data and assurances from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, despite a sharp sell-off in Royal Bank of Scotland and increasing tension over Ukraine. RBS skidded 7.7 per cent as its new chief exec outlined plans for a large-scale overhaul after the mostly state-owned lender [...]
Scottish independence is WPP’s new “grey swan” threat February 27, 2014 The “grey swans”, or known unknowns, are a regular feature of WPP’s results statements. Sir Martin Sorrell’s advertising outfit said today that most of the recent global swans are becoming whiter, as Chinese fragility and the prospects for the Middle East become less of a worry. But the Scottish referendum has made an appearance as [...]
Venture capitalists pour £25m into big data firm eCommera February 24, 2014 FAST growing retail technology company eCommera, which works with huge retailers like Asda and House of Fraser, has secured a further $41m (£25m) in funding from investors, it said yesterday. The company, based in London, said investors like Sir Martin Sorrell’s WPP had put more cash into the company alongside backers such as West Coast [...]
London Report: Insurance firms start a deluge of UK earnings February 23, 2014 A BUMPER week for UK earnings kicks off today with results from Hiscox, one of the big home insurers reporting full-year figures. Figures from Hiscox, RSA and Direct Line could give more detailed estimates of losses for UK industry and themselves after recent flooding and storms. Aviva and L&G are also set to give end [...]
The West has killed its entrepreneurs and replaced them with bureaucrats February 23, 2014 IF WESTERN economies have lost considerable ground to emerging powers over the last two decades, it is not simply because we lack the cheap labour of China and India or the natural resources of Russia and Brazil. It is because we have killed our own entrepreneurs at a time when our competitors made business creators [...]
Poundland hires retail veterans to propel float February 18, 2014 DISCOUNT retailer Poundland yesterday unveiled a heavyweight board lineup and its first female non-executive director as part of plans to float on London’s stock market next month. The Birmingham-based company, which currently has around 500 stores, has recruited former Travelodge chief executive Grant Hearn and Merlin Entertainments group HR director Tea Colaianni, who will become [...]
Three year old Sorrell Capital shuts up shop January 27, 2014 SORRELL Capital, the London hedge fund founded by former Goldman Sachs banker Robert Sorrell, has closed its flagship macro fund, according to account filings. Sorrell, the son of WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell, closed the fund in May 2013. Accounts filed at Companies House in December show the parent company fell to an annual [...]