UK academia has become the first casualty of links to dictator Col Gaddafi, as he and his sons struggle to preserve their lucrative hold in Libya.

The director of our London School of Economics (LSE) Sir Howard Davies, has resigned over his employer’s fawning support of Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, who gave a £1.5 million donation of dirty money to the LSE. Davies also acted as an advisor to the Gaddafi regime, and the LSE won a £2.2 million contract to train the Libyan civil service.

Another UK organisation benefitting from Libyan dirty money is publisher Pearson, of which Gaddafi and his family own 3% and which owns Penguin Books and The Financial Times.

An investigation into possible price-fixing of ebooks has commenced following revelations that some cost double the price of the paperback versions. One company being investigated by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is Penguin, in which dictator Col Gaddafi has a substantial stake. Another is Harper Collins, owned by News Corporation, publishers of the top investigative newspaper the News of the World.

Investigations are also going on across Europe, and in the USA.

Recent research by publisher Routledge indicates that two thirds of adults read around 2000 words of a book at bedtime.

Food producers, retailers and restaurants are taking advantage of the fact that there is no agreed definition of the word “local” – an aspect that is increasingly sought by shoppers and diners – and labelling Danish ham as from Devon, Scottish butter and French brie as from Somerset and New Zealand lamb as from Wales, a government survey of 558 products has found.

In up to a third of cases the “local” claim was found to be false, or potentially false.

It has also been established that most of the World’s most expensive spice, saffron, exported from Spain is inferior product imported from Iran, and re-labelled as the prized “Spanish” in origin. Much of it is adulterated with other parts of the crocus flower, rather than just the stamens, or with parts of other flowers, threads of dried meat or coloured gelatine, syrup and oils, to add weight. (Spain Gourmetour)

Regulator Ofcom is allowing TV channels to interrupt films and single dramas with up to 12 minutes of advertising every hour, the same as for soaps. This is against the current average of nine minutes, and a House of Lords recommendation that this should be cut to seven minutes.

The move will increase the number of people enjoying the benefit of recording programmes from commercial stations on their digital recorders and fast-forwarding through the ads. Continue reading →

Latest shot in Tesco’s gripping price war with Asda is a promise to refund twice any saving in price on a “comparable shop” that shoppers can prove they would have enjoyed by going to Asda.

Question one. Who decides how many items constitute a “shop”? Answer. Tesco management.

Question two. Who decides what constitutes “comparable”? Answer. Tesco management.

Meanwhile the John Lewis chain are coming across as equally slippery with their back-tracking on their 86-year-old “Never Knowingly Undersold” guarantee to refund price differences.

According to the Daily Telegraph it is now refusing to honour its pledge on electrical goods where it offers an extended warranty that others don’t, arguing that this makes it a different product, even if customers don’t want the extra cover, or want to buy it separately, and cheaper, elsewhere.

Proving that shoppers who just fill up their trolley at one supermarket, as all the supermarkets love them to, are seriously paying over the odds, we recently did a quick comparison of prices on just two very basic fresh items.

At budget store Aldi a large swede, and a large head of broccoli were both available at 39pence, against a smaller swede at nearby Sainsburys for 89pence (or 128% more) where a smaller head of broccoli was 99pence (or 154% more)

Investment bank UBS has warned British shoppers that the supermarkets are raising food prices faster than inflation.

If marketing is all about filling a need then the latest publication from restaurant experts Hardens will hit the spot with many parents.

Eating out with Babies and Toddlers features more than 1,000 child-friendly restaurants, cafes and pubs in the UK, as identified by eating members of the public, and rates on such aspects as availability of children’s menus or reduced portions, supply of baby-changing and breast-feeding facilities and presence of outside space or entertainments. Continue reading →

So where do the UK’s marketeers stand on the increasingly popular sport of banker-bashing?

Many politicians and business types are fervently hoping that our financial experts won’t be carrying out their threat to take their immense talents, and greed, to another country, and an equal number fervently hope they will, and screw up someone else’s economy.

Answers on a blank cheque please…