News

Welcome to this week's Client Newswrap, bringing you the latest from the world of retailers and brand owners.

Brands

McDonald's is considering offering a PhD in management as part of its attempt to shed its 'McJobs' image .

New product development and opening new stores has helped Boots to 3.2% revenue growth and an 11.6% increase in trading profit in health and beauty.

Molson Coors has launched its Different World Drinks Company. It comprises a group of 11 "beer specialists" that will work with bars to increase interest in premium beers.

Champagne house GH Mumm has set up a Gourmet Journeys website that matches different foods to an appropriate champagne.

Pendragon, the UK's largest car dealership, is looking to boost the market by offering a scheme that offers £2,000 on new cars in exchange for scrapping cars more than 10 years old.

Talks between Porsche and Volkswagen over a possible merger between the two German manufacturers have been indefinitely suspended.

Nestlé has a Go Free on-pack promotion of free family activities during the school holidays.

Snack bar brand Eat Natural has launched a bar that tastes like "Nan's homemade cherry Bakewell tarts" in a bid to tap into the retro market following the revival of brands such as Wispa.

Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph sales have risen by around 220,000 copies over four days as a result of the revelations about MP's expenses. Average Daily Telegraph sales were around 817,000 copies.

Retail

Marks & Spencer is contemplating whether to cut its shareholder dividend ahead of a results update tomorrow (19 May). M&S has also produced a new advert, entitled 'Quality worth every penny', to help celebrate its 125th birthday and in recognition of its origins as a penny bazaar.

Asda chief executive Andy Bond is set to call for constraint in attempts to address alcohol and unhealthy food consumption and carrier bag use. He is expected to  tell the British Retail Consortium behaviour change needs to be brought about via education and not restriction. The Wal-Mart subsidiary has recorded a 6.4% increase in like-for-like sales for the first quarter of the year.

A Which? survey of 2,000 online shoppers found Ocado to be the UK's favourite place to shop for food online, and that the website offered the least number of subsititions when the desired product was not available. Tesco and Asda customers were the least satisfied, the consumer group found.