Weekly Wrap Up: The £5bn tweet

Twitter got a taste of its own medicine this week when its first quarter earnings were leaked… via a tweet. Irony aside, this was no joke: it only took four tweets of 140 characters or less to wipe more than £5bn off of Twitter’s stock in the final hours of trading on Tuesday.

So how did Twitter become the victim of its own viral reach?

Twitter was supposed to announce its first quarter earnings after close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (where the company is listed). Unfortunately for Twitter, somebody at NASDAQ, which runs Twitter’s investor relations site, decided it would be a good idea to post the results early.

Posting the results two hours early on the investor relations website might not have been such a catastrophe if no one had noticed. But a financial data platform called Selerity uses automated technology to go through the various sources and detect important events for the markets. It’s known as data scraping and it has become a powerful tool for banks, hedge funds and proprietary trading firms – in other words, those trying to get an edge over the markets.

It wasn’t the first time Selerity struck – Microsoft is among their other victims – and it probably won’t be the last. And it isn’t just Selerity that leaks earnings – according to the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg journalists are known for trying to find corporate news releases early. All it takes is typing in the web address for a company’s earnings release and then adjusting the URL to change the number of the quarter. So it seems that this problem is quite preventable with a password, firewall, or even waiting to post the results.

What the leak meant for Twitter was that the Company didn't have the chance to present the results in a formal statement, which would have undoubtedly positioned them more favourably. There was certainly some positive news in the report: Twitter surpassed the 300 million active users mark for the first time. Instead, the bad news got out while markets were still trading and Twitter completely lost control of the narrative.

The Twitter debacle demonstrates the power and influence of social media in Financial PR and investor relations. It’s an excellent way to get good news out fast, but also difficult to control. After all, apparently not even Twitter itself can prevent damaging tweets.



As well as multiple sets of client results this week, Abchaps hosted a Technology themed Market Lunch this week where the discussion included cyber securtiy, and a sector generalist one.



Edison announced three UK equity analyst appointments: Neil Basten joins its industrials team from USS Investment Management; Lucy Codrington joins the healthcare team from SC Strategy, and Eric Opara joins the technology team from M&G Investment. Meanwhile Fidelity Worldwide Investment appointed Sajiv Vaid to its fixed income investment team as co-manager of the Fidelity MoneyBuilder Income and Fidelity Extra Income funds.



"Viral Reach" – The measurement of the number of people who saw or shared a tweet or social media post. A Tweet can now potentially reach over 300 million people - which Twitter learned the hard way is not always a good thing.



Follow us on Twitter @AbchurchComms

Weekly Wrap Up: Flash Crash brings Fast Cash?

The City has been in the PR mire for some time. Since the financial crash, institutions and individuals have been scrambling to save face, only to be undermined by a stream of negative press.

This week, that negative press has been provided with the flash crash case of Navinder Singh Sarao. A self-employed day trader, he faces extradition charges to the US, where he is accused of playing a significant role in, momentarily, taking up to $1 trillion off Wall Street. In a 45 minute period, almost 1000 points were knocked from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the US’s premier exchange. The premise was simple, Sarao added sell orders which could be seen around the world, and caused others to add sell orders, panicking about a potential fall in their market. Following the cancellation of his orders, Sarao would then track the market down, and buy for supposed huge personal profits. This crime carries the potential for 380 years in prison, not something to be sniffed at.

In addition, Deutsche Bank, one of the largest financial institutions in the world, accepted a record libor fine of £1.6 billion for its role in fixing international interest rates during 2005-2010. These two crimes accurately portray the various flaws in City institutions. Firstly, the ability to undermine and subvert the system, and secondly the damage that can be done to its image.

Having been caught on the back foot when the markets fell, the financial regulators have now taken the fight to the institutions, inflicting more stringent fines. However, more needs to be done. Whilst America can be seen setting a hardline with its sentencing, 150 years for Bernie Madoff springs to mind, the UK needs to work harder at finding those who have abused the system criminally guilty.

The banks themselves, seemingly reticent to move on from their glory years, need to be seen doing more in the public eye to clear up their act. Possibly fearful of their pariah status, heads of UK banks have been notable in their absence from British screens in the last seven years. It will take strong character, but to move past the current public perception, banks need to work as never before to root out those who are abusing the system, and prove to the country and the world that this vital part of our economy is worth sustaining.



This week, Abchaps hosted multiple events including two Market Lunches, one focused on Mining and the other focused on the Environment, whilst also entertaining Northland Capital, after successfully working on TechFinancials IPO together. We also met with Richard Dunnett of Director Magazine, in order to learn more about how the magazine operates; and attended the Entrepreneurs Breakfast, a joint initiative between Smith & Williamson and freshbusinessthinking.com, which brought together multiple entrepreneurs at breakfast with keynote speaker Christopher Baker-Brian.



N+1 Singer appointed Nic Hellyer as Director in its Corporate Finance team from HSBC, whilst Nicole Martin was hired as Audit Partner in BDO’s Technology and Media practice. Meanwhile, Standard Chartered appointed Sir Iain Lobban to the bank’s board Financial Crime Risk Committee.



“Flash Crash” – A word which has entered the lexicon as quickly as the crime was purported to take. Having taken five years to work out a potential culprit, one feels that we will be reminded of the flash crash for some time to come.



If you’re an athlete you might be heading to the London Marathon this weekend. But for the less active among us, you will probably want to avoid Central London.

For those not running, there’s still a chance to celebrate England’s Patron Saint this weekend: The Mayor of London's throwing a party in his honour at Trafalgar Square on both Saturday and Sunday, where Robbie Boyd is headlining from 4pm-5pm on Saturday.

Follow us on Twitter @AbchurchComms

Weekly Wrap Up: Co-op’s Comeback: Value vs Values

The Co-operative Group, the UK’s biggest mutual owned by 8.5 million people, announced this week that it has returned to profit. This development will likely surprise anyone who remembers when chief executive Richard Pennycook was forced to admit that, '2013 was a disastrous year, the worst in our 150-year history'.

The Co-op, which once had funeral, pharmacy, insurance, banking and a supermarket among its businesses had lost a staggering £2.5 billion and faced the near collapse of its banking arm, which had a £1.5 billion hole in its finances. Former City minister Lord Myners, who resigned from the Group’s Board, blaming former managers, ‘who were allowed to run amok like kids in a sweet shop’.

If it wasn’t bad enough that mismanagement had almost run the mutual into the ground, there was also the matter of the Co-op Bank’s former Chairman Reverend Paul Flowers being charged with drug offences. The Group received extensive coverage not just on the business pages but across the front pages thanks to the so-called Crystal Methodist.

In short, it was a very public, very ugly meltdown.

The Group subsequently introduced a turnaround plan – Rescue, Rebuild, and Renew. So this week’s announcement that they are back in the black marks a major milestone for the troubled group: it’s the end of the Rescue phase of the program.

Now it remains to be seen if the Co-op can build on this momentum and successfully complete the turnaround. The group has returned to profit because it sold its pharmacy and farming businesses but there is still a lot of work to be done. What sets the Co-op apart from other businesses is that it promises that it is ‘not just about profit’. Before the Co-op became plagued by scandal, the Group’s 2012 accounts even stated, ‘In line with our member-owned model, investment decisions are not driven by the purely financial demands of shareholders, but by the wider concerns of our members’. And that promise is also exactly why this turnaround can’t just be about profit.

In order to restore its tarnished image, the Co-operative also has to find a way to regain the respect, loyalty and trust it once held. In other words, the comeback has to be as much about restoring these values as it is about restoring value to its businesses.



During this short Easter week, Abchaps hosted a Market Lunch, attended the Third Annual Nowruz Commission Gala Dinner at the Institute of Directors and caught up with Man Group.



Westhouse Securities announced that Andy Crossley will be joining as Managing Director from Peel Hunt. Meanwhile, Mike Falvey moves from Four Seasons Health Care to partner of the performance team at KPMG. Baring Asset Management also appointed Edmund Chong, previously of HSBC, as Head of Sales, Client Service and Business Development, distribution for Asia ex. Japan.



“Crystal Methodist” – A Methodist minister with a penchant for crystal meth and cocaine. A phrase whose origins can be traced back to the Daily Mail, if only because of the high number of headlines featuring the UK’s very own Crystal Methodist, Paul Flowers.



This Saturday is, of course, all about the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race. It's always quite the spectacle, so make sure you pick out a good spot along the river to watch the race unfurl. Not into the whole Oxbridge rivalry? Perhaps the Oxford Cambridge Goat Race is more your thing.

Head to the Garden Museum in Lambeth for an exhibition about the New Covent Garden Flower Market. Listen to excerpts of interviews about the market, what it’s like for people working there, the connection to the old Covent Garden Market and the changes that are happening now.

Grab a bargain on Sunday at Judy’s Affordable Vintage fair, at York Hall in Bethnal Green, with a selection of hand-picked stalls packed with affordable vintage fashion, accessories and homewares.

Follow us on Twitter @AbchurchComms

Weekly Wrap Up: Minimise risk to your Corporate Reputation

The value of a good corporate reputation cannot be understated. It’s one of the main reasons businesses invest in communications and public relations. That’s why tracking media trends and watching for developments that signal risks, as well as opportunities, should be part of any corporate communications strategy.

This week there was a prime example of exactly why this matters so much. CEO of fashion retailer Next, Simon Wolfson, made headlines when he criticised an organisation dedicated to urging businesses to pay a so-called living wage. He claimed that £6.70 an hour is enough to live on for some people. Coming from a man titled Lord, worth an estimated £100 million and who took home a £4.6 million pay package last year, this out-of-touch comment would have been a PR disaster at the best of times. However, his outrageous remark came on the same day that Next posted bumper annual figures: pre-tax profit increased 12.5% to £794.8 million and the dividend rose by 16.3%. These results should, and probably would have, dominated media coverage of Next if not for Lord Wolfson’s poor judgement.

It would have helped if Lord Wolfson, or his communications advisors, had been paying attention to just how controversial living wage discussions have become. In the US, for example, Walmart and McDonald’s were among the major corporations that were villainised in the press due to their refusal to pay a living wage. Low paid employees at both companies even went on strike to demand a better wage.

Corporate missteps like this naturally generate plenty of bad publicity and are detrimental to an organisation. But arguably the worst part is that this damage could have easily been avoided by tracking recent media trends. If that had happened at Next, maybe they would have realised that someone who makes £4.6 million a year should refrain from providing “thought leadership” on the living wage debate.



This week Abchaps welcomed some of our UK IPREX partners to our offices, to discuss how our complementary services can further benefit our clients; joined Equity Development for an evening where they hosted three exciting and innovative company presentations within the media and technology sector for the City and PCIM community; and also attended Gorkana’s breakfast briefing, hosted by Director magazine. This newly relaunched title offers a direct line to C-Suite occupiers, and with its new look, Director does away with the usually drab vision of the board room.



Simon MacKinnon has been appointed Asia strategy adviser at the asset management firm Old Mutual Global Investors. Panmure Gordon has hired Patric Johnson as head of securities. He will also serve on Panmure’s Board.



“Living wage” - the amount an individual needs to earn to cover the basic costs of living. So maybe Lord Wolfson does know a thing or two about a living wage? His £4.6 million pay package should be just about enough to survive in London.



What says Hipster more than food served from a van? Get your kicks this weekend at Urban Food Fest, a revolving cast of food stalls and trucks serving a UN worth list of food cultures. All taking place in a Shoreditch car park, it could only be more zeitgeist if it came with a moustache.

Continuing the theme of facial hirsuteness, it is currently impossible to be more than six feet from a man with facial topiary. Love it or hate it, it has become part of our culture. So celebrate or castigate at Somerset House, whose exhibition Beard is open until Sunday.

Benedict Cumberbatch may have been taken off the market, but the Museum of London is still offering the opportunity to Sleep with Sherlock. Included in this all night event are a plethora of themed opportunities, ranging from a three course dinner, talks from detective specialists, right through to ghost stories told in the depths of the museum.

Follow us on Twitter @AbchurchComms

Weekly Wrap Up: This will blow your mind

With a headline like that, how could you NOT read this blog post? After all, that’s the point of click bait, the internet phenomenon made popular by websites such as Upworthy and Buzzfeed. Click bait essentially exploits the curiosity gap by omitting a key piece of information to entice someone to click and/or keep reading.

The digital era has created a wealth of opportunity to reach a much wider audience. But there has also been a struggle to understand how, exactly, one should go about doing so. This is certainly true for the PR industry, but also for traditional news organizations and even businesses, and it makes the extraordinary success of the click bait strategy all the more enviable.

So it came as somewhat of a surprise this week when Business Insider reported that Upworthy's cofounder Peter Koechley apologized for the sensational headlines that made him rich – and his website famous - at the Guardian's Changing Media Summit in London this week. Going forward, he’s saying “good-bye to click bait”.

Upworthy successfully embraced the digital disruption – so why change strategy now?

The problem with Upworthy’s click bait headlines is that they tend to over promise and then under deliver. And eventually readers will catch on and stop falling for the same trick.

On the other hand, if your headline is incredibly boring it doesn’t matter if your content over delivers – no one will bother reading it. That’s exactly why click bait headlines shouldn’t be so easily dismissed. They do offer something. After all, they get people reading.

So here’s where your mind is blown: the solution is actually quite simple, and Koechley pointed to it at the Guardian event. He went on to say that Upworthy’s new approach would include sharing powerful stories “…that put you in someone else's shoes to help you see the world in other people's eyes."

The Upworthy example underscores that any piece of writing in the digital era – whether it’s a press release, news article or even blog post - needs to not only capture a reader’s attention but also deliver on content.

So go ahead and write an intriguing headline that sparks interest – just make sure your writing actually fills that curiosity gap.



This week Abchurch hosted two successful market lunches and had insightful discussions with City advisers on the sentiments of the IPO market and the potential effect the 2015 election will have. We also hosted the Allenby Capital team for an enjoyable evening, as well as travelling to Newcastle to celebrate Quantum Pharma’s successful floatation on AIM party.



Investec Investment Banking appointed Serge Rissi as a director of financial sponsor transaction group, whilst Sarah Owen-Jones joined Rathbone Brothers as chief risk officer from RBS. Meanwhile, Baker Tilly appointed Rowan Williams as head of its professional services group.



"Click bait" – exploiting the curiosity gap by omitting a key piece of information to entice someone to click and/or keep reading.



If you are a beer drinker, you can’t miss this weekend Over the Hop Festival at the White Horse in Parsons Green. There will be live music, an outdoor BBQ and Six Nations screenings on Saturday.

Fancy a bit of Asia this weekend? Silk Road travels to Marylebone for one long weekend. The seventh annual Asia House Fair will feature dozens of exhibitors that represent the best in arts, crafts, fashion and design from across the pan-Asia region.

Whether you are a rugby lover or hater, the Six Nations Championship concludes on Saturday with three teams (Ireland, Wales & England) in contention for first place. Italy play Wales first at 12.30, followed by Scotland versus Ireland at 14.30, with finally England playing France at 17:30. If you are a rugby hater, we would recommend avoiding the pubs at those times!

Follow us on Twitter @AbchurchComms

Weekly Wrap Up: Throwback to 1999

The financial world is, on the surface, abuzz this week as the FTSE 100 broke two records that have stood for over 15 years. On Tuesday, the FTSE 100 reached a new intraday high of 6,958.89 and also bettered its previous closing record by finishing the day at 6,949.63. While this is undoubtedly good news, undertones of uncertainty remain over what the repercussions of this success might be.

There is currently a great deal of talk about the strong tech start-up bubble that is forming around London. In 1999, Britain was in the peak of the dotcom boom, with telecoms and technology firms accounting for 23.4pc of the FTSE 100 index. However, that figure has now fallen to just 6.7pc. Nowadays, the index is dominated by raw materials: between them, the oil & gas and mining sectors account for 22pc of the FTSE compared with 15.1pc at the turn of the century. This shows that for a start, to compare the two periods is difficult due to the fact that the FTSE 100 is very different to the one in 1999.

But what does this new all-time high really mean for the real world? Guy Ellison, head of equities at Investec Wealth & Investment, said that the record is largely “symbolic” and that the London index is likely to kick higher in coming trading sessions. This was proved yesterday when the FTSE reached a new closing high of 6,949.73 – helped by a surge in the share price of the Asian focused bank Standard Chartered who announced the appointment of new Chief Executive, former JP Morgan investment bank boss Bill Winters.

Many will breathe a sigh of relief with the new records. As they have been so long in the making, the event holds great psychological significance, seeming to draw a line under the duel traumas of the dotcom bubble burst and the financial crisis. However this has led to speculation that the highs of the FTSE are a sign of a bubble, meaning that the burst might be around the corner. Peter Sullivan, head of European equity strategy at HSBC, said the new record “inevitably raises questions about how sustainable it is and whether it has got ahead of itself. Is this a sell signal? Absolutely not in our view.” Another reason why the 2015 high cannot be compared to 1999 is that the earnings picture is completely different. Sullivan adds that “earnings are 99pc higher than they were in 1999” meaning that we should be pleased and not worried that the FTSE is back to its best. Current earnings mean that we can start to worry when the index nears 10,000, which, according to Professors Elroy Dimson and Paul Marsh and Dr Mike Staunton of London Business School, has a 50pc probability of happening by the end of 2022 and a 50pc chance it will take longer



This week Abchaps hosted a market lunch, and enjoyed Shore Capital’s wine tasting wine event. The team is also hosting and attending the IPREX Global Leadership Conference in London, where our partners from all over the world are coming together to discuss integrating a wide range of modern services, channels and techniques in pursuit of client results and agency success.



Olswang appointed senior corporate TMT partner Mark Bertram as head of corporate, who has been at the firm since 2007. Charlie Jolly became accountancy firm Baker Tilly’s head of private equity, whilst Jurga McCluskey joined Deloitte from PwC as partner and head of its UK immigration practice.



A monthly late opening of the Natural History Museum and temporary exhibitions continues tonight. This event includes free entry to the Central Hall and Images of Nature gallery, changing discussions on timely themes, open-mic performances by up and coming musicians throughout the evening and British farmers’-market style food and drink in the pop-up restaurant.

For sports lovers, the Six Nations Championship is back on our screens this weekend with Scotland playing Italy (at the moment for the wooden spoon) and France versing Wales, both on Saturday. Then pick between the possible Championship decider on Sunday with England playing Ireland or choose to watch the footy, as Chelsea and Tottenham fight for the first major trophy of the football season, the Capital One Cup.

If you want a trip back in time on Sunday, head to Judy’s Affordable Vintage Fair at Lambeth Town Hall in Brixton. Browse hand-picked stalls packed with affordable vintage fashion, accessories and homewares.

Follow us on Twitter @AbchurchComms

Weekly Wrap Up: A booster for energy companies’ PR

Public contempt for UK energy companies has hit an all-time high since the Great Recession. In fact, energy bosses managed to achieve the impossible: they became an even greater embodiment of greed than the bankers who actually caused the financial crisis.

So how did energy companies knock banks off the top position and assume the role of public enemy number one?

Well it certainly didn’t help that energy bosses decided to impose steep price hikes on a UK public enduring the longest ever squeeze in living standards. It helped even less that the decision to raise prices was apparently not a necessity but simply a way to increase profits. The average profit that energy companies made per household tripled from £30 in 2011 to roughly £105 by 2014. Those figures certainly make it difficult to fathom the claims by energy companies that the price increases were beyond their control.

Public outrage over the nearly 75% increase in profits has made the UK’s so-called ‘big six’ energy companies an easy target for both media and politicians. As some politicians began to call for an energy price freeze, the media gleefully produced a slew of damaging headlines about the evil energy companies.

This week is a prime example: news outlets published a number of stories highlighting the fact that energy companies are actually punishing customers for their loyalty after a report by the Competition and Markets Authority revealed that dual fuel customers were over-paying by up to £234 per year – for Londoners that amount is even higher at nearly £350.

Bad publicity isn’t just coming from the media: some politicians have jumped on the anti-energy company bandwagon, which means that depending on who wins the May 2015 General Election, there could be an energy price freeze. If this happens, the energy companies will finally really lose: they won’t be able to raise prices if they actually need to and the good publicity that lower energy bills will generate goes to the politicians that implemented the freeze.

This makes the recent drop in oil price a very interesting turn of events. It presents a massive opportunity for energy companies to turn around their battered image without hurting their bottom line, since oil and gas prices are expected to stay low until at least 2017.

Yet none of the big six have managed to do this. Yes, some energy firms announced price drops at the beginning of this year. But oil prices have been nearly halved since last June’s peak of $115, and the biggest reduction announced, by British Gas, was a measly 5%. EDF only cut prices by 1.3%. What’s more, these lower prices only come into effect at the end of this month – in other words when the worst of the winter cold is over and energy bills will reduce anyway.

This week the CEO of British Gas owner Centrica hinted that the company could cut prices again later this year, it will probably be too little too late.

Energy companies need to act fast. Passing savings onto the customer would generate plenty of good headlines and could relieve some of the political pressure. After all, if a company is not price gouging its customers with unjustifiably high bills, it is much less likely to incur the wrath of media, politicians and watchdogs.

Energy companies have certainly managed to dig themselves into a hole. But there’s a very good opportunity for any one of the big energy companies to turn this around, especially if they are the first to act. It seems almost incomprehensible that a business would not take the simple steps of following the law and introducing fair pricing and rewards for loyal customers. And since these are conditions that will very likely be enforced soon anyway, why not take the bull by the horn and benefit from all the good publicity that would follow?



Northland Capital partners appointed Mark Treharne, previously of Daniel Stewart & Co, to its corporate bank team, whilst FinnCap appointed Christian Hobart as Sales Director, who joins from Cenkos Securities.



"Price gouging" – a situation in which a seller prices goods or commodities at a level much higher than is considered reasonable or fair. In other words, a synonym for UK energy companies’ pricing methods.



This week we moved from horse to sheep, and not just in a Tesco Shepard’s pie. With the celebration of the Chinese New Year and the changing of the Zodiac, London will be awash this weekend with paper dragons, red envelopes, and Shou Sui. Our pick of the lot is the traditional Chinatown display, which is the largest in the world outside of China.

Love the history of the Tower of London but find the crowds something more akin to Dante? Well this weekend you’re in luck, as the Tower has just relaunched their twilight tours. Be guided round this 1000 year old castle by a yeoman warder, and see a side of the White Tower you’d never usually get to see.

Finally, if you like nothing more than a quiet beer on a Sunday, but Fosters isn’t quite your brew, Truman’s is your best bet. Craft Beer Rising are hosting their annual festival at the Old Truman Brewery, with 70 different producers in attendance, all hoping to remove the usual Sunday fear from your day.

Follow us on Twitter @AbchurchComms

Weekly Wrap Up: Steering tech coverage in the right direction

It looks like soon Britons won’t have to worry about driving home from the pub after having had a few too many. At least that’s what the Daily Mail coverage of the UK Government’s decision to allow driverless cars to be tested on public roads suggests.

In case you missed this story, the self-driving vehicles that will be seen in the UK as of next summer are like traditional cars but can also sense their environment and navigate without human input. The driverless cars that will be tested on UK roads, however, will be required to have a fully qualified test driver who could take over, should anything go awry.

Still, the Daily Mail jumped on the news, writing that occupants of driverless cars, “…won’t even need a driving license. And even those now considered ‘unfit’ to drive will be eligible.” In the same article, the writer eventually concedes that current laws actually prohibit this, but not without mentioning that this could change in the future.

And it wasn’t just the Daily Mail that presented driverless technology in the most horrifying way possible. The Telegraph responded with a headline asking, “Driverless cars sound great, but can we stop the sat nav driving us off bridges first?”

This headline refers to concern about whether vehicles controlled by software can be hacked, causing cars to crash into each other or “drive off a bridge”. Then again, human driven cars already crash and there’s no software update that will ever prevent this.

The press coverage of this new technology demonstrates how much the media enjoys a good technology scare story. Findings by the Pew Research Centre, an American think-tank, support this theory: research shows that the press has a tendency to express wariness about the effects of technology on our lives. In other words, it’s common for the press to take the “robots are taking over” angle when it comes to reporting on technology. This is certainly true for the coverage of driverless cars in the UK, and exactly why it’s especially important for technology to be presented in a way that showcases the benefits, of which there are usually many.

The truth about driverless cars is that they won’t just make life easier by perhaps allowing people to have a few drinks before getting behind the wheel, or reading, surfing the internet and even taking a nap all while driving – these cars will actually save lives.

In reality cars with a human driver behind the wheel are the real danger: a staggering 90% of car crashes are caused by human error. That is one of the main reasons the UK insurance industry supports driverless technology.

Consider airplanes for a moment: It’s a well-known fact that you are much more likely to die in a car crash on the way to the airport than you are in a plane crash. That’s mainly due to the fact that airplane technology has advanced considerably in recent decades that planes basically fly themselves on auto-pilot, except at take-off and landing. In recent years almost all plane crashes have been due to human error, not the auto-pilot.

Furthermore it’s not just airplanes that have been improved by technology: Driverless underground systems already exist all over the world. And while this technology was met with resistance, it has proven to be safe and cost efficient.

In addition to significantly improving safety, driverless cars would be a boon to the British economy if this technology was developed here and exported. The industry is expected to be worth £900 billion by 2025, which is why the UK government wants to embrace the technology. The value of British car exports has nearly doubled in the past decade, but it could become vital to embrace driverless technology in order to maintain this momentum.

In short, driverless cars are poised to significantly improve our lives. However the negative media coverage seems to be having a significant impact on public opinion: 48% of the population would be unwilling to “drive” an autonomous vehicle, according to a survey by the price comparison website uSwitch.com. Of those surveyed, 16% were “horrified” merely by the idea of a driverless car.

There is an important lesson in the media coverage of driverless cars for tech companies: technology is an easy target for scaremongering. This is true not just for driverless cars, but all technology that will result in significant change, regardless of whether that change is positive or negative. When the media gets a hold of a good scare story, the facts can often become muddled. So the best approach for tech companies is to get ahead of the story and steer it in the right direction because even when it comes to reporting the facts, it’s almost always human error that results in disaster.



This week Abchaps attended the CIPR Speaker lunch where Chris Blackhurst of the Independent and Evening Standard was guest speaker. The event was very informative, discussing topics ranging from the future of journalism to current affairs. We also enjoyed an evening at the 48 Group Club Chinese New Year Icebreaker dinner.



Cantor Fitzgerald announced Deven Sthankiya as new managing director in its debt capital markets team. This appointment sees him move from HSBC. Edison, the investment intelligence firm added David Stoddart, Victoria Pease and Sara Welford to its research team. Finally, Robin Wilson, previously of Rightmove, was appointed Taylor Wessing’s new chief operating officer.



“Scare story” – the media’s tendency to take an issue wildly out of context in order to generate headlines.



Held almost every year since 1854, The Royal Photographic Society’s International Print Exhibition is the longest-running display of its kind in the world. With plenty of novelty on show, the photography ranges from documentary to natural history. The exhibition is free to view for people attending Royal Albert Hall performances or can be visited for free by the general public between 10am and 1pm on Saturday February 14.

Another exhibition, promising to be extremely thought provoking, is Mapping the City at Somerset House. This display of cartographic representations will allow you a glimpse of how more than 50 internationally recognised artists, from the graffiti and street art scenes, view the home towns they use as their canvas. Using digital technologies, illustration, sculpture, paintings, video presentations and even performances, its a very contemporary way to view cities from around the world.

Are you fan of Sunday’s involving kicking back and watching a good film? Head to the Barbican cinema where there’s a screening of The Hound of the Baskervilles (1921), with a live piano accompaniment by Neil Brand.

Follow us on Twitter @AbchurchComms

Weekly Wrap Up: Can Tesco turnaround its tarnished image?

Say what you will about Tesco, but there is no denying that the UK’s biggest retailer has been very good at least one thing in the past few months: generating headlines. The problem is most of that press coverage was not exactly positive. In fact, it has been pretty bad.

Tesco’s trouble really started last year, when it faced a string of profit warnings amid falling sales as the British supermarket giant struggled to compete with Lidl and Aldi’s low prices, which led to the ousting of the Company’s directors. By the end of year, it went from bad to worse for Tesco when it was revealed that an accounting “error” led the Company to overstate its profits by a cool £250 million. (That number has since crept up to £263 million.) Not surprisingly, Tesco became one of the UK media’s favourite villains of 2014.

The New Year was looking like a fresh start for Tesco when investors actually responded quite well to new CEO Dave Lewis’ proposed turnaround plan. The plan, which involves slashing prices and closing stores, should save the company £250m per year. This led to a 22% increase in Tesco’s share price in the past month despite the fact that Tesco’s underlying business performance doesn’t seem to have improved significantly during this time and that the rating agency Moody’s decided to downgrade the supermarket’s credit rating to junk.

The increase is pretty good news for Tesco, especially after such a dismal 2014, and the jump in share price suggests that the market believes in Lewis’ overhaul plan. Yet a quick scan of the headlines shows that these positive developments are still being overshadowed by negative stories.

The turnaround plan has certainly been getting plenty of press coverage, but mostly because it has been revealed that 43 stores will be closing and thousands of employees will be losing their jobs. The positive story there though was that the turnaround plan has led to Tesco cutting prices, which is news that will definitely make consumers happy.

But the bad news just keeps coming. This week Tesco has again made headlines after a new investigation was launched by Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) into allegations that the supermarket has not been paying suppliers and in some cases even charging them for preferential treatment. In fairness to Tesco’s new management this is probably not something that happened under their tenure.

Another story that made headlines this week was that Tesco has agreed to pay its former CEO and CFO, who were in charge at the time of the accounting fiasco, a combined £2.1m. So-called golden goodbyes such as these tend not to go down all too well with shareholders. And really, why would they? A CEO can run a company into the ground and yet is still entitled to a big pay-out when he or she is fired. It’s certainly a good way to generate press coverage – just not the kind any company would want. But this is where Tesco actually deserves some credit – they did try to withhold the pay-out. Ultimately, the legal battle would have been pricier and that’s obviously not good for shareholders. So Tesco should really try and get that story out, along with the fact that they may even try to recover that payment.

What Tesco really demonstrates is the uphill media battle that most companies trying to make a post-scandal-comeback face. To give another example, since the financial crisis, many banks became and still remain easy targets for the media and key cultural influencers; Russell Brand springs to mind, to keep generating negative headlines and sentiment. So that’s why a company’s external message communications, and ultimately media relations are paramount. It will be a challenge, but Tesco’s promising turnaround plan and jump in share price gives the Company every opportunity to reposition itself in the media.

For now, it’s almost guaranteed that we will keep seeing Tesco headlines. It remains to be seen if these will be good or bad.



This week Abchaps were out and about at Zeus Capital's Evening with Sir Ranulph Fiennes at Claridge's; celebrating Aquatic Foods Group's IPO at the London Stock Exchange, and hosting a Market Lunch.



This week N +1 Singer made two new hires, Lauren Kettle joining the corporate finance department as a senior associate, having previously worked at Merchant Securities and Northland Capital Partners. Alex Laughton-Scott also joins the corporate finance team, arriving as an associate from PwC. Finally, Richard Hickinbotham, previously of Charles Stanley joins Cantor Fitzgerald Europe as their head of European equity research.



“Turnaround”: The financial recovery of a troubled company. Investors can profit from a turnaround by accurately anticipating the improvement of a poorly performing company



Are you a fan of vintage film? Is so, the BFI will be your nirvana this weekend, as Katherine Hepburn takes centre stage for her very own season, celebrating one of Hollywood’s most iconic leading ladies.

How about afternoon tea, like the little sandwiches but find the whole affair a little staid? Well you’re in luck, as Kettner’s in Soho is doing what Soho does best, and is offering a High Societease, the opportunity to enjoy scones, tea, (and of course Champagne) whilst being entertained by burlesque, cabaret, and circus performances.

Finally, if you feel you haven’t seen enough of the City this week, how about jazz inside the Gherkin? Usually the preserve of its own private members club, this Sunday you have the opportunity to see the inside of this iconic building, enjoy fantastic music with performers who shared stages with the likes of Jools Holland and Van Morrison, all with a free cocktail.

Follow us on Twitter @AbchurchComms

Weekly Wrap Up: McDonald’s turnaround

To say that the world’s most famous fast food chain, McDonald’s, is in financial trouble might seem a gross exaggeration. However the US giant is certainly in an unfamiliar and uncomfortable position. In 2014, the Company recorded its first annual decline in global same-store sales in a dozen years.

The tip of the iceberg (lettuce) is their most recent announcement stating that British Steve Easterbrook will replace current Chief Executive, Don Thompson in March. The Brit will have to find a way to turn around one of the biggest challenges the $87bn company has faced in its 60-year history.

During the recession, the company profited from customer demand to eat cheaply, as well as staff that were happy to put up with low wages, simply glad to have a job. A couple of years later however, America witnessed strikes by its lowest-paid workers, which included Mcdonald’s. Due to the Company’s global status, it was one of the most targeted by the media. And because of their initial refusal to increase wages, they were also one of the worst affected. It angered some regular customers, who took their money elsewhere. This, along with a failed PR twitter campaign in 2012, ‘Tell us what you think of us’, begins to answer another question – why are McDonald’s struggling?

In recent years, Mcdonald’s has found more and more competitors encroaching on their turf. In addition, the shape of the market is changing. Consumers are no longer interested in food that is just fast – amongst other things, they want healthy, fresh and natural. The consumer is willing to pay more, changing ‘fast food’ into what is becoming known as ‘fast-casual’ food.

McDonald’s are falling behind competitors in an overcrowded market. However, the company has introduced campaigns over the years promoting fresh produce or healthy salads. And they are currently running a transparency campaign to give more insight into how their food is made and what goes into it. Predictably, this has brought even more negative press, as the horror of what goes into their food has been revealed.

It seems that McDonald’s should delve deeper into their brand positioning to redefine their 60-year old reputation. As the Company’s former Chief Brand Officer in charge of marketing and menu innovation, Easterbrook seems perfectly tooled to take on this challenge. Perhaps cleaner processes, less junk and better quality ingredients will finally be on the menu. Single figure ingredients for their fries would be a start.



This week, Abchaps welcomed London and West Country Lawyers Thrings to our Sky Bar to exchange our shared areas of expertise. We also hosted a Market Lunch where the outlook and opportunities of AIM was discussed.



Panmure Gordon made two appointments to its research team: Jonathan Leinster as consumer analyst from UBS and Mike Stewart, formerly of Shore Capital, as retail analyst. Erik Anderson, previously of Investec, is joining its corporate broking team. Meanwhile, at Hamlins, Charles Bezzant has been appointed as partner, and he joins from Reed Smith.



"Fast-casual": A fast-casual restaurant is a type of restaurant that does not offer full table service, but promises a higher quality of food with fewer frozen or processed ingredients than a fast-food restaurant.



This weekend, see the inside of one of London’s most iconic film sets. Aldwych tube station has been used in Atonement, V for Vendetta, and Bond, and this weekend is being opened by the London Transport Museum for a rare insight into London’s past.

From underground to up in the air, London is currently playing host to the inimitable Cirque du Soleil, with their new show, Kooza, tickets are still available, but they’re going fast.

Finally, as only Shoreditch can, Floripa is holding a carnival brunch from 12pm – 6pm, promising beach burgers, samba, and potentially some margharita’s!

Follow us on Twitter @AbchurchComms

Weekly Wrap Up: Hostile takeover of an iconic recipe

When Cadbury was acquired by Kraft Foods a few years ago, many British chocolate lovers immediately feared the worst: the American company would tinker with the recipes of their beloved treats.

Well this month that nightmare became a reality.

It all began with reports that a new batch of Creme Eggs “tasted different”. So in an instance of sound investigative journalism, The Sun newspaper contacted the company, whose name has been changed to Mondelez International since the takeover.

A Mondelez spokesperson confirmed the worst. The Creme Egg recipe has indeed been altered, meaning the iconic Easter egg will no longer be made with Dairy Milk chocolate. The shell will now be made of a standard cocoa mix chocolate.

What unfolded next was nothing short of a PR disaster. Online outrage and calls for a boycott of Creme Eggs and Cadbury were followed by a slew of negative press coverage. One man from Liverpool was so angry he started a petition demanding that Mondolez change the recipe back.

Clearly, there is such a thing as bad publicity. City A.M. pointed out this week that the YouGov Brand Index Buzz score, which indicates if a respondent has heard something very positive or negative about a company, has plummeted since the revelation. The purchase consideration metric, which shows whether a respondent would buy an item, also dropped after the change in recipe was announced.

This whole mishap could easily have been prevented. It seems Mondelez failed to have an adequate PR plan in place. Also, they only confessed that they had meddled with the recipe once confronted by The Sun. There was almost certainly a better way to deliver the bad news. Perhaps Mondelez should have picked up on the anger and resentment that arose when an American company took over this beloved UK brand. If the company had done more to understand that to the British consumer the Creme Egg is iconic, maybe they would have realised they probably shouldn’t ‘Americanise’ the recipe. In that respect, the way to avoid all this bad publicity is actually quite simple: don’t change a recipe that has served the company extremely well for over 50 years. Or, to put it in more American terms: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.



Zeus Capital announced three appointments: Nick How has arrived from Oriel Securities as corporate finance director; Hugo Chance joins as director and head of family offices having previously headed up the angel investor forum Angels and Equity under Truestone Group; and Claire Frangou joins from Deloitte as business development director. Meanwhile, PwC appointed Naomi Saragoussi, previously of Mercer, to develop its private healthcare and group protection advisory business.



Americanisation: The influence the United States has on other cultures. It’s a term often considered to be synonymous with progress and innovation, although British consumers of Cadbury’s Creme Eggs might disagree



Felt the toll of the worst week of the year (it’s a scientific fact…)? Well try to escape blue Monday with the LOCO London Comedy Film Festival – based at the BFI on the Southbank. With every genre of comedy covered, from Ealing classics to brand new British films, LOCO’s mission is to kickstart the next generation of British comedy film-writers, why not try out the world premiere Lost in Karastan?

If film’s your thing but you fancy something more cerebral, why not try BAFTA, Backstage, the latest photographic exhibition from the BAFTA archive. With an exclusive insight into the backstage workings of Britain’s most impressive film event of the year, see candid shots of such disparate stars as Annette Bening, Brad Pitt, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. As an opportunity to see behind the film industry’s visage, this is not one to be missed.

Or, if you like nothing more than a wander to your local on a weekend, why not try wandering to someone else’s? Random London Walk’s, a tour which plays out by luck and chance more than judgement, have offered a Pub Special for this weekend. With where you go completely put in the hands of fate, you pick a card, and it tells you where you’re going. With a starting point near Covent Garden, this tour is for those who are confident they can get themselves home after a night out, where ever they end up!

Follow us on Twitter @AbchurchComms

Weekly Wrap Up: The Great Firewall of China

Will economic ambitions force Beijing to liberalise internet policy?

In the build-up to the unveiling of China’s answer to Apple, Xiaomi’s new smartphone this week, a source leaked to Reuters that they had previously been approached by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about a possible investment, but that the deal fell through.

The meeting between Zuckerberg and Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun came ahead of the smartphone maker’s $1.1 billion fundraising last month. That brought the company’s valuation to $45 billion, making Xiaomi the world’s most valuable start-up just four years after being founded. In fact, Xiaomi now comes in just behind Samsung and Apple in sales, meaning it is one of the top three smartphone makers in the world. So it’s pretty obvious why Zuckerberg was eager to go into business with Xiaomi.

Why, then, did the talks fail? It was said that part of the reason Lei turned down the offer was due to the potential political fallout of selling a stake in his company to Facebook. The U.S. social network is banned in China. It’s all part of a bigger effort by the Chinese government, which is afraid of the impact of a free internet. This has led to the implementation of all sorts of controls, dubbed the ‘Great Firewall of China’, and the blacklisting of a number of popular social media sites. In 2009, Facebook was added to that list.

Facebook is hardly alone in this regard. A more recent example came at the end of 2014 when Google’s Gmail was blocked. There was a huge outcry, including complaints from business travellers who could no longer access their email. Their Chinese counterparts were also frustrated with the increasing difficulty of conducting business internationally.

Both the failed Facebook/Xiaomi deal and the Gmail ban highlight the difficulty that international companies can face when investing in China. It is essential that any PR strategy takes into account that many means of communication are banned. Words must be carefully chosen because both domestic and international companies can have their online presence shut down completely if they violate the ban.

It is a delicate balancing act. Consider the example of Yahoo!, which decided to comply with China’s restrictions. Yahoo! then came under fire in the U.S. and found themselves defending their decision to Congress. The Company then had to admit that that it could not protect the privacy of its Chinese customers from authorities. One customer whose identity was turned over to authorities was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Obviously, when this news leaked it resulted in plenty of bad press for Yahoo! outside of China. 

The internet ban is certainly something to consider for any company wanting to do business in China. Ultimately, the economic implications of this firewall could be a far greater threat to sentiments amongst citizens than any online communications would have been. In order to facilitate cross-border investments, it is vital for the CCP to revise its media policy. For a little advice, Communist Party leaders might want to Google the phrase, “it’s the economy, stupid.” Oh wait. They can’t.



This week Abchaps hosted a market lunch with a focus on Asia. The group discussed the market sentiment and how Asia-based companies are developing in the London market in order to gauge future investor interest. Abchaps also celebrated David Brennan’s recent promotion at Gowlings to celebrate his. We congratulate him again on reaching Partner at the firm.



Charles Stanley appointed Peter Geikie-Cobb, formerly at F&C to head its Matterley business, with a new bond fund to be provided. Meanwhile, Ian Williams, previously at SGH Martineau,joined Baker Tilly as the International Lead for its Restructuring and Recovery service line. Eric Pang joined JLL to lead its UK markets group China desk.



“Great Firewall of China”- a term to describe Internet Censorship in China under a variety of laws, administrative regulations, and execution effort



Celebrate having Scotland as part of the UK tonight by attending the Ceilidh Club Burns Night – London’s biggest Burns Night event. With three hours of energetic ceilidh dancing and a buffet dinner of traditional Scottish haggis, neeps and tatties, it is a great way to socialise, exercise and have a laugh with friends!

If you are around Greenwich over the weekend or next week pop into the Royal Observatory which hosts the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. The free exhibition showcases remarkable feats of astrophotography entered into four categories: ‘Earth and Space’, ‘Our Solar System’, ‘Deep Space’ and ‘Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year’ for under-16s.

Take the opportunity over the weekend to visit The Nation Gallery’s exhibition which has become one of London’s biggest attractions since opening last week. ‘Rembrandt: the Late Works’ shows just four self-portrait canvases and a tiny etching by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, all made during the last 11 years of his life. This may not sound like a great deal but tell that to the queues outside the National Gallery!

Follow us on Twitter @AbchurchComms

Weekly Wrap Up: Cyber Abuse

Cyber abuse has become an ever growing problem that has mirrored the internet’s growth over the last decade. With the introduction and vast uptake of social media in recent years, cyber abuse has become a popular topic, prompting discussions on cyber bullying and trolling. This week, Twitter announced new anti-trolling tools in an attempt to combat online trolls. ‘Trolling’ is a description for when a user’s account or post (on Twitter, Facebook etc.) is bombarded with insults, provocations or threats. Cyber bullying sees the ‘traditional’ form of bullying (physical and mental abuse) move online. This has a number of consequences: The most obvious being that it's much harder to control, monitor and discipline those partaking in cyber bullying, particularly as cyber abuse is often faceless and nameless. This means that recipients often don't know who is attacking them over the World Wide Web.

The anonymity of cyber abuse intensifies the insults because abusers feel they have the autonomy to behave without repercussion. Would they say the things they do if they were standing in front of the individual they were abusing? The internet and social media has allowed individuals to connect with a much greater audience than ever before, connecting with people who you may never meet or see face to face. This therefore makes it easier to insult another individual via keyboard. It takes away individual responsibility for what a person says as well as and more importantly, the consequences it has to the individual or the group the insult is intended for.

This also ties in with the concept of gang culture. ‘Pack mentality’ is as equally apparent online as it is in real life. More people are likely to join in if one person starts abusing a group, product, person, video or picture. For example, where avid followers of a band or artist have been seen to attack (online) journalists or individuals simply because they criticise said band or artist. What makes this scenario more worrying is the age of the online abusers and some of the deviant phrases posted. So as much as the young can be the targets for cyber abuse, they can just as easily be the culprits.

However, cyber abuse is not limited to certain categories such as age or profession. It encompasses anyone who has access to the internet. Being a part of a social media platform will also increase an individual’s chance of being targeted. Twitter in particular, has broken down barriers in terms of the contactable audience, placing every member on an even playing field. An example of this is the constant abuse aimed at celebrities on Twitter. Celebrities were once seen (and still are in some cases) as ‘untouchables’ – someone who would never be in contact with the ‘average Joe’. But with the increasing popularity of Twitter, it has been seen as a way for celebrities to connect with their fan base and stay in the public eye. It is now far rarer for example to find a celebrity who isn’t on social media than one who is.

After Robin Williams’ (comedian and actor) death earlier this year, his daughter Zelda Williams was driven to delete twitter after the intense online harassment she suffered following the suicide of her father (at least two people sent her “photoshopped” images claiming to show her father’s body). A more recent example occurred last month: Olympic gold medallist Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill received death threats via Twitter, after she said she would request her name to be removed from a stand at Sheffield United if it offered a new contract to convicted rapist Ched Evans. These are extreme examples of how easily anyone can be reached and targeted by online abuse with the even more troubling question remaining – can anything be done about it?

Twitter’s new anti-trolling tools announced this week is a good step towards abolishing internet trolls and bullies. Now a user can simply now click on a tweet and select ‘block or report’, then click through a list of reasons explaining why they wish to do this. The previous system meant the person had to fill out a report describing the alleged harassment. Users witnessing abuse will now also be able to report it. Twitter has improved their behind the scenes procedures so that reviewing and responding to abuse occurs faster. This is one step in the right direction as the attempt to eradicate this type of behaviour continues.

In the UK, there is no legal definition of cyber bullying, however a number of laws exist that can be applied to cases of cyber bullying and online harassment. In India on the other hand, cyber bullying is a bailable offence, punishable with three years of imprisonment and a fine; however the complainant and police can interpret what constitutes offensive behaviour. Perhaps using India as an example, the only way forward is to be harder on cyber abuse, making examples of the worst cases. With the internet and social media continuing to expand at such a rapid rate, cases of cyber abuse are likely to continue to rise with them. This may be the only way to turn online trolls and bullies into the equivalent of outdated technology.

Organisation All Rise are currently undertaking research into cyber abuse and collecting data on how wide spread it is. There's a short survey here which needs your input: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LRWKGJ9



This week, Abchaps attended the Pre Xmas Social Drink of the East meets West Club in Kensington Gardens. Abchurch and East Meets West Club share the interest of connecting businesses in Asia and the West. As well as joining Stickland Tucker's Christmas Drinks, we also participated in Gordon Dadd’s tech roundtable event, where we contributed our insights into the UK tech scene, especially on London tech IPOs.



Edison Investment Research appointed Hans Boström to its global healthcare team in London, who joins from Goldman Sachs. Meanwhile, Jim Muir has joined Baker Tilly as its new head of Financial Services. Muir Joins from KPMG. Finally WH Ireland have create the position of head of Risk for James Baptise. Baptise joins with 20 years’ experience in the industry, having previously worked for Espirito Santo Investment Bank.



‘Cyber Abuse’-Using the internet or digital media platforms to deliberately cause harm or harrass another individual or group, often repeatedly.



Starting with something a bit different, The London Illustration Fair returns with a three-day event of artist-led stands, workshops, live DJs and pop-up food stalls. Showcasing the most innovative and exciting illustrators, printmakers and draftsman working in London today, the fair also champions four invited designers as part of its Affiliated Artists scheme, which this year includes Mr Bingo and Louise Pomeroy.

Continuing with the weird and the wonderful, if you are set on spreading the Christmas cheer this Saturday, then join in with Santacon. Dress up as the man of the moment and run around London at this 'non-profit, non-political, non-religious and non-sensical' celebration of Christmas cheer. Santacon is a flash mob-style gathering that sees three huge groups of Santa’s wandering through the city, giving out gifts and free hugs, singing carols and occasionally popping to the pub. Towards the end of the routes the groups join together into a huge throng of merry Santa’s (plus a few elves and reindeer – they're allowed to join in, too).

Finally for a relaxed Sunday away from the high street crowds of Christmas shoppers, Spitalfields City Farm is the place to go. The farm is hosting stalls selling handmade cards and non-massed-produced presents, as well as Christmas tress themselves, and will be invoking a non-jarring festive atmosphere with carol singing, mulled wine and seasonal family activities.

Follow us on Twitter @AbchurchComms