A feature in The Telegraph takes a look at how Marks & Spencer won back the middle classes – with John Lewis stuck in flux. The piece follows a prediction by Retail Week that M&S could overtake John Lewis Partnership to become the nation’s seventh largest retailer by sales before the end of this year. The paper calls it “a symbolic changing of the guard” between two of the country’s most iconic brands.
John Lewis has parted company with agency behind its Christmas adverts (The Times £). Adam&EveDDB, the driving force behind the retailer’s adverts since 2009, has walked away from the department store chain, bringing the long-term partnership to an end, as revealed in Campaign magazine. John Lewis Partnership is reassessing its creative accounts and looking for a new agency.
The Telegraph follows up on The Grocer’s story that British crisp company Burts Snacks has been bought by a major French conglomerate after almost three decades of family ownership. Read The Grocer’s coverage here.
The first television campaign in seven years from PZ Cussons for Imperial Leather has helped to reinvigorate sales as the group’s half-year profits rose strongly despite cost pressures (The Times £).
Jeremy Hunt has come under pressure from the CBI to announce tax breaks for businesses at the budget as a “last chance” to help the economy avoid a recession this year (The Times £).
Jeremy Hunt must cut the tax burden on companies in his Budget next month or leave Britain diminished on the world stage and struggling to attract investment, the country’s biggest business group has said (The Telegraph). Tony Danker, the director general of the Confederation of British Industry, said Mr Hunt’s actions would make the difference between growth and recession.
FTSE 100 hits fresh all-time high as inflation and recession fears ease (The Guardian).
The London stock market hit a new all-time high yesterday amid hopes Britain will avoid recession (The Mail).
McDonald’s has signed a legally binding agreement with the UK’s equalities watchdog vowing to improve its handling of sexual harassment claims following a wave of complaints from staff (The Financial Times £).
BBC News reports on the story of a worker at a South London branch of McDonald’s who says she was sexually harassed by a manager.
No comments yet