Punch's acquisition of Spirit was a win-win situation for its 37 year old " beaming" (Independent, 2/12) Chief Executive, Giles Thorley. Rendering Punch the UK's biggest pub owner in one fell swoop, the deal was also viewed favourably by the City, analysts and the media, as reflected in the next day's headlines: "Punch tops pub league with £2.6bn Spirit takeover" (Daily Telegraph, 2/12); "Punch toasts £2.7bn deal to buy Spirit" (Scotsman, 1/12), "How Punch fought its way back to number one place in the beerage" (Independent, 2/12)...

GCap's strategy to slash advertising and play more music to tempt back listeners to the ailing Capital FM may be viewed historically as doing a 'Ratner'. Acknowledging an "extremely disappointing set of results" (Daily Telegraph, 25/11) as well as falling audience figures and a halved interim dividend, GCap CEO Ralph Bernard attempted to put a gloss on his " high risk" (The Times, 25/11) strategy, pointing out that similar action had improved audiences at Classic FM, and that the £7m hit to 06/07 revenue should be regarded as long-term investment...

At face value the compromise deal struck between the FA Premier League (PL) and the European Commission (EC) last week appeared to provide a winning scenario for all the parties involved, not least for BSkyB which, despite the forthcoming breakup of its monopoly over English football rights, is likely to remain the dominant broadcaster under the new auction scheme. "BSkyB has scored all the goals in the EU's Premiership carve up"(Scotsman, 19/11)...

The British Medical Association provided quickfire comdemnation to the news that Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt intended to extend prescription rights to suitably trained nurses and pharmacists from spring 2006. "Wider prescribing by nurses is too risky, say doctors"(Telegraph, 11/11). However, despite the BMA being "out of the blocks with lightning speed"(Press & Journal, 11/11), and openly damming of the Government's proposals "This is an irresponsible and dangerous move. Patients will suffer"(Dr Paul Miller - BMA, Times, 11/11), little could dampen the enthusiastic response from nursing and pharmaceutical groups...

Pity the poor pink 'un. Already struggling with declining sales and advertising revenues, a perceived loss of authority in the City and a lack of focus on UK issues, the former 'City's bible' (Independent on Sunday, 6/11) was dealt a further blow last week with the forced resignation of its editor, Andrew Gowers. " Very rapid and a little blunt … not the way they normally do things at the FT" noted the Times (5/11): " Blood at the pink 'un" echoed the Daily Telegraph (4/11)...

Another week and the Google powerhouse was still unable to keep itself out of the headlines . "They are clearly riding a rocket ship right now,"commented analyst Derek Brown (Pacific Growth Equities, Observer, 30/10). Last week the company 'secretly' unveiled to the world a new project called Google Base, which sent the media and bloggers "speculation-o-meter … [into] overdrive"(digital-lifestyles.info, 27/10)...

Imagine the outcry if a well-known company like BA or P&O or Railtrack were to announce it was making nearly one third of its employees redundant. Picture the banner headlines, the union protests, the quotes from embattled management, the PR damage...

WH Smith CEO Kate Swann successfully combined two tactics when she announced the company's worst results in 200 years. At the helm of the ailing High Street business for under a year, she used the twin-track strategy of holding her predecessor responsible and 'kitchen-sinking' - getting the bad news over in one go - to full effect...

The Secret Intelligence Service put necessity over secrecy: it donnned a new guise, learnt a new lingo and launched itself into cyberspace. "Licensed to surf: MI6 comes out of the shadows and on to the web"(Times Leader, 13/10). There was an undeniable irony about an organisation that must protect its secrets, embracing a medium of transparency and openess yet, given that only a decade ago the SIS did not officially exist, Friday's web launch was momentous. "MI6 not-so-secret service … seeks to recruit spies"(Personnel Today, 13/10)...

First Kate, now Rose. Burberry seems to be losing its leading ladies. But while the media were sanguine about Kate Moss' exit from the iconic fashion house, rumours of Burberry's CEO Rose Marie Bravo's departure prompted concerned headlines...

Ken Livingstone stood unrepentant over his decision to extend London's congestion charge area in 2007, despite fierce backlash from business and transport groups, Westminister Council and London Assembly opponents. "Congestion zone doubles as mayor ignores objectors"(Telegraph, 1/10)...

The failure last week of Equitable's £700m legal claim against former auditor Ernst & Young and subsequent mudslinging disgraced both parties, disgusted media commentators and "shattered the dreams" (Scotsman, 23/9) of thousands of policyholders. Reporting of the "biggest climbdown in UK legal history" (icWales, 23/9) focused on whether Equitable Chairman Vanni Treves and CEO Charles Thomson should resign, with sympathy evident in some quarters: "Treves must stay, despite the climbdown" (thisismoney.co.uk, 25/6)...

The failure last week of Equitable's £700m legal claim against former auditor Ernst & Young and subsequent mudslinging disgraced both parties, disgusted media commentators and "shattered the dreams" (Scotsman, 23/9) of thousands of policyholders. Reporting of the "biggest climbdown in UK legal history" (icWales, 23/9) focused on whether Equitable Chairman Vanni Treves and CEO Charles Thomson should resign, with sympathy evident in some quarters: "Treves must stay, despite the climbdown" (thisismoney.co.uk, 25/6)...

The Lancet spoke in the quietly respectable tones expected from a leading scientific journal, the "bible of the world's medical industry"(Times, 9/9). Yet when its September 9th Editorial "respectfully ask[ed] Reed Elsevier to divest itself of all business interests that threaten human, and especially civilian, health and well-being"(The Business, 9/9), there was little doubt in commentators' minds over the severity of the request...

Combative rhetoric bloomed in the budding digital download arena last week, as two music retail giants drew their opening battle lines . "HMV and Virgin to do digital battle in days", hailed Silicon.com (31/8), while The Sun focused on the core issue, "Downloadsamoney: Two tribes go to war"(1/9)...

Phoney war or "one of the most aggressively personal takeover bid battles in recent years" (Sunday Times, 28/8)? Sir Gerry Robinson's intended bid for Rentokil woke up the sleepy August City pages, but many commentators were sceptical about the timing, credibility and value of Sir Gerry's intervention...

Another summer holiday season, another BA strike. For the third year running, the weekend papers carried the now familiar scenes of angry passengers, chaos at Heathrow, TGWU banners and a PR disaster for BA. " It really is a flight mare" (The Sun, 13/8), " Food fight grounds BA" (Guardian, 11/8) " No-fly zone" (The Mirror, 12/8) ran typical headlines, although there was considerable media sympathy for BA and departing CEO, Sir Rod Eddington, who just weeks ago announced record profits, having guided the airline through the 9/11 fallout as well as two previous summer strikes...

The recently announced nuptuials between industry giants Adidas and Reebok were variously described as, "Adidas sprints toward Reebok acquisition"(The Manufacturer, 3/8) and "Massive global brand sells out to, er ... other massive global brand"(Observer, 3/8). However, the significance of the amicable link-up between the two previous rivals was not lost in the rhetoric...

There was little positive in the news that Granville Technology Group, parent company of the Time, Tiny and Computer Shop businesses, called in the administrators last week . "Time runs out for Tiny: a British system failure"(Independent, 31/7)...

Muggles worldwide greeted the latest episode of the Hogwarts adventure with an unprecedented level of enthusiasm, "Harry Potter and full-blooded mania"(Sunday Times, 17/7). The figures emerging from Bloomsbury's carefully orchestrated launch of the penultimate boy wizard saga, spoke reams, with record breaking sales of 8.9 million in the first 24 hours and estimated revenues of £20 million for author JK Rowling...

News of London's successful bid for the 2012 Olympics prompted an outpouring of euphoria across national, regional newspapers and trade press alike. Every one was keen to flag up the multiple benefits of the Games to London and beyond, and get a slice of the Olympic pie...

The collapse of the railway tunnel under a Tesco development site at Gerrards Cross seemed to provide all the right ingredients for a good media bashing: a giant retailer overriding local residents and retailers in a quest for more square metres and higher profits; the Deputy Prime Minister's personal authorisation of the controversial development; the necessary re-routing of mainline services; commuter misery; campaigners' delight...

Co-operative Bank, noted for its strong stance on ethical issues took the moral high ground last week, when its presented right-wing religious group Christian Voice with its marching orders, "Co-op shuts "anti-gay" group's account"(dehavilland.co.uk, 24/6). Christian Voice was asked to take its business elsewhere, because its anti-homosexual "discriminatory pronouncements"(Sunday Times, 26/6) were deemed inappropriate for a bank proud of its commitment to "diversity and dignity"(ekklesia.co.uk, 25/6)...

The launch of BT's hybrid mobile / landline phone appeared to push all the right buttons for a successful PR launch. The aptly named Fusion was heralded by BT as a world first, offering customers value, convenience and seamless switching between a mobile network and a home-based broadband connection...

There was a poor start to the week for Woolworths as it admitted a like-for-like sales downturn of 4.4% over the 18 weeks to June 4th, evidence for some of a deeper malaise in the high street, " Woolworths adds to UK retail gloom"(FT, 7/6). Indeed Kevin Hawkins of the British Retail Consortium asserted that Woolworths figures, "should remove any lingering doubt that we are now in a consumer-led recession"(Guardian, 7/6)...

The planned flotation of Partygaming.com, the hugely successful online poker company, raised the spectre of a dotcom bubble mark II. The similarities were quickly spotted: the dazzling growth, the anticipated high stock market valuation, the likely FTSE ranking alongside bricks and mortar companies, the young techies set to become billionnaires. " Poker float rush revives memories of dot-com bust" noted The Independent (3/6), while The Times predicted that " a second round of dot.com hysteria is descending" (2/6)...

Reviews aside, three issues surrounded the final Star Wars epic. Firstly, its phenomenal box office success, "This is an unprecedented achievement"(Paul Dergarabedian - Exhibitor Relations, reuters.co.uk, 21/5). Secondly, the speed and ferocity of pirate copies in both internet download and DVD format, "Sith is Attacked by the Clones"(thisislondon.co.uk, 20/5)...

Nokia's PR machine can congratulate itself on a job well done. The launch of its N91 'mobile jukebox' generated a slew of headlines suggesting it could replace the iPod as the nation's digital multimedia device of choice. "Nokia takes on Apple's iPod"noted The Independent (28/4); "Nokia unveils iPod killer"warned Forbes (29/4) in similar vein, while consumer technology magazine Stuff's editor predicted that "this is definitely the beginning of the end for the iPod"(The Times, 28/4)...

Why, when the FT sagely headlined Manchester United "Shareholders delighted as tycoon puts club in a league of its own", (J Cumbo, FT, 14/5), would fans and Shareholders United recoil in horror, encourage Malcolm Glazer effigy burning, sponsor-boycotts and produce alternative merchandise sales, promising "a rolling and growing campaign"(Sean Bone, Shareholder's United, Independent, 15/5) to "really hit Glazer where it hurts"(u.tv, 14/5)...

Capital Radio, born 32 years ago as one of the UK's first commercial radio franchises, finally threw the towel in and joined West Country rival GWR to form Britain's largest radio group - GCap - a name according to Marketing's media commentator Ray Snoddy " perfect for any future diversification from commercial radio into contraceptives" (05/05).

The headlines, "Google earnings soar past estimates"(FT, 22/4) and the analysts' buoyant appraisal, "The quarter was nothing short of phenomenal"(David Garrity - Caris & Co, Times, 22/4), told nearly all of Google's, alias "the internet goliath"(sharecast.com, 25/4), recent story. Revenue doubled, profits climbed almost six-fold, there was an enthusiastic run on shares, together with dominant market share and a ticket to ride on one of the fastest growing advertising outlets...

Tesco's £2bn profits announcement revealed a strong media backlash against the retail giant and its impact on the High Street, the environment, the Third World and suppliers. Sentiments such as "Time to tame Tesco"(thisismoney.co.uk), "Every little helps on the road to crushing your retail rivals"(The Times, 12/4) and "The supermarket that ate Britain"(Independent, 12/4) firmly took the gloss off Tesco's record profits / jobs creation / international expansion news...

Last weekend's trade unions' action against ITV proved to be a battle on two fronts: the conflict of planning and resources versus the battle of words. ITV won the first round: its use of overtime payments; freelancers; the pre-recording of popular 'live shows' and loan of a BBC studio kept the City on side during the dispute. It was noted, even after the weekend's events, that "ITV … worked hard to offset the impact of the strike on its on air schedule"(Swiss Broker UBS, iii.co.uk, 11/4)...

Journalists and headline writers had a field day as DTI-led talks in Shanghai about investment and the future of MG Rover (MGR) 'stalled' over Chinese fears of a pensions 'black hole'. But the weekend-breaking story left copywriters bereft of quotable sources from the main protagonists, although the Sunday Times found an un-named DTI official who described the task as " a very difficult brief with little ammunition" (03/04)...

The National Audit Office investigation into the liberalisation of the Directory Enquiries (colloquially DQ) market offered little sanguine cheer for either Oftel or the 118 Service Providers. The spending watchdog dourly surmised that while deregulation of 192 Directory Enquiries had produced more choice and additional services for customers, it was at the cost of "an increase in average prices and uncertainty over improved quality"(Sir John Bourn - Auditor General, Daily Mirror, 18/3)...

Mars' announcement that it was axing 700 jobs as part of a European restructuring was almost as smooth as its chocolate. Employees were banned from speaking to the media in a tightly controlled operation that ensured management messages about the voluntary and generous nature of redundancies, the need to remain competitive and a £45 million investment in state-of-the-art facilities were uppermost in coverage...

Transport for London's (TfL) announcement of plans to make its Oyster card a vehicle for e-payments generated favourable but low level media exposure: "Oyster card could shell out for small purchases"(FT, 5/3). Reports were fuelled with key statements from TfL spokespeople, while Ken Livingstone's support encouraged headline reviews. "London's mayor aims to replace cash with Oysters"(Retail Bulletin, 5/3)...

Abbey's latest image overhaul reflecting its new Spanish ownership was greeted with weary scepticism by City commentators. Coming just 17 months after the previous rebrand - dubbed "the sort of desperate nonsense that companies are prone to when they utterly lose the plot"(Independent, 26/2) - pundits predicted that Banco Santander Central Hispano's decision to make its mark would be met with "knowing looks in a marketing world long convinced Abbey has lacked a consistent identity"(thisislondon, 27/2)...

"Smarties Reach the End of the Tube,"lamented The Scotsman (18/2 ). "Quite simply, the worst catastrophe to befall modern man. Don't do it, Smarties!!"begged Helen (bbc.co.uk, 18/2). But Nestlé chiefs stood firm on Friday 18th February, the day on which, for Smartie lovers the nation over, the only colour that could possibly exist in the new 'hexatube'was black...

Reporting of the disastrous opening of the Edmonton Ikea store may sound some warning bells for the Swedish retailer. Beyond the predictably negative headlines was an undercurrent of hostility towards the flatpack pioneer. The Ikea consumer experience, deemed to come a poor second to low prices, was singled out for particular criticism: "Ikea treats its customers so badly, a riot is the least it might have expected"wrote The Guardian (10/2), cataloguing an absence of internet ordering, insufficient stock, poor customer service, and lengthy queues...

A bumper results season got into full swing last week with Shell's £9.8 billion earnings announcement, "Shell's £1m an hour profit"(Evening Standard, 3/2). Predictably, the large profit statement bought with it castigations for unseemly profiteering, calls for a 'windfall tax', and demands for greater social responsibility . "Britain is still suspicious of wealth creators", noted The Times (4/2)...

Proctor and Gamble (P&G) took the market and the media by surprise last week when it announced its $57 billion dollar acquisition of Gillette. "Another mega-deal eludes the media"(Tom Bawden, Times, 29/1)...

By now old hands at handling a crisis, P&O's PR team handled their latest embarrassment - luxury cruise ship Aurora's extended stay at Southampton Docks due to mechanical problems - with relative ease. Despite a smattering of predictable headlines about the "Cruise from hell"(Daily Record, 15/1), the message appearing most frequently was that passengers on board last year's Communication Directors Forum venue were sanguine about the delay to their world cruise, and happy to enjoy P&O's hospitality in luxurious surroundings...

The BBC's decision to broadcast Jerry Springer - The Opera was always likely to be controversial, given the recent reaction to the play Behzti by the Sikh community in Birmingham. Positively, the show attracted 1.8 million viewers, still less than Match of the Day, but certainly a wider audience than might normally have been expected to watch this "important piece of contemporary musical theatre"(BBC statement, bbc.co.uk, 10/1)...

The New Year City pages returned almost immediately to the pre-Christmas big story: the bid by Deutsche Boerse for the London Stock Exchange. Uppermost was the news that the Boerse was prepared to up its bid and compromise on every aspect of the deal, including the location of the new organisation's headquarters...