PR change at Somerfield

Published: 23 July, 2008

Emma Wellings PR has been unceremoniously dropped as the public-relations agency for Somerfield with only two weeks' notice, and Phipps PR has been appointed as a replacement.

According to Shona McGill of Somerfield, this changeover has been brought about mainly by budgetary concerns and is not related to the performance of Emma Wellings in any way.

The announcement was made just over a month before Somerfield's New Range tasting was due to take place, but this has now been postponed from 23 September until 2 November. Emma Wellings told Harpers: This came completely out of the blue, particularly since we had already started working on the scheduled range review tasting.' She continued: I was, and still am, shocked and disappointed at Somerfield's conduct. I understand that circumstances change, but I would have appreciated a proper notice period of four weeks. Needless to say, I have binned my Somerfield customer-loyalty card!'

On the other side of the fence, Lisa Grimley of Phipps is delighted' to have gained the account, and she attributes Somerfield's decision to the success of their previous collaboration in 2003, which saw the palate of Angela Mount, Somerfield's chief wine buyer, insured for 10 million.

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