Last year was full of headline-grabbing account reviews and consolidations, as blue-chip brands such as Coca-Cola, Facebook/Meta and Unilever shifted billions of dollars in business to new agencies or consolidated accounts at existing roster agencies. As 2022 gets underway, there is no reason to think the pace will slow. Already […]
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Cineworld set to close all UK screens after Bond delayed
Cineworld is drawing up plans to close all its cinemas in the UK and Ireland within the coming weeks. The world’s second largest cinema operator is understood to be writing to Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, and Oliver Dowden, the culture minister, this weekend, warning that the industry is “unviable”. Cineworld is expected to […]
The billionaire Blackburn brothers set to take over Asda
The Issas saw things differently with their company, EG Group. They agreed with the oil majors that there was no money to be made selling fuel but saw it as a means to an end: petrol stations provided a captive retail market for some of the world’s best loved brands. […]
‘People say, ‘you have a silver spoon in your mouth’, and yeah, I’ve got a whole set’
Harry Legge-Bourke grew up at Glanusk Park, a Welsh estate. Here, he enjoyed an “idyllic” childhood being taught to “ride, shoot, fish, gut a fish, pluck a pheasant”. His children, Lachlan, 17, and Serena, 12, have learnt the same skills: “Serena can back up the tractor as well as I […]
Germany set for return to growth, but cannot emerge from crisis alone
In March, as the scale of the economic impact of the crisis became clear, the German government put together an ambitious rescue package. Olaf Scholz, the finance minister, announced he was abandoning the German mantra of the “black zero” – a balanced budget with no new borrowing. Instead he threw the […]
‘Faulty Hotpoint washing machine set fire to my kitchen during lockdown’
Dear PL, What a hideous ordeal you have endured. Lockdown has been hard to bear even for those in more fortunate circumstances, so I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for you, dealing with a fire and the fallout. I’ve had many dealings with Whirlpool over the years, thanks […]
Vaccine success set to put AstraZeneca in pole position
Andrew Baum, a healthcare analyst at Citi, believes that any future financial returns on a successful vaccine is unlikely to move the dial for a behemoth such as AstraZeneca, which is both the UK’s biggest drugs firm and the most valuable company on the FTSE with a £117bn market cap. […]
Wave of new bank bosses set to shake up finance sector
Nevertheless Frumkin is confident that with a little more competition in the UK banking sector Metro can still take on the big, traditional banks. “The world is changing, but what people want from their banks isn’t,” Frumkin adds. “We need to level the playing field so challengers of scale like […]
Deadline of 2025 to be set on culling Huawei kit
The Culture Secretary is poised to announce a 2025 deadline to strip Huawei from the UK’s 5G network. On Tuesday, Oliver Dowden will make a statement in the House of Commons where he will discuss the future of the Chinese giant in Britain’s telecoms infrastructure. Ministers have indicated that they […]
Japan plans to set up virus testing center for travelers: Abe
TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday the government was considering setting up a new coronavirus testing facility dedicated to overseas travelers, as he stressed the need to reopen borders to business and trade. “The present state of ‘isolation’ has an enormous impact at a time of […]