Thursday 28 July 2011

NEWS FROM BEEFEATER

Tasty bit of Crumpet!

Beefeater Grill immortalises top breakfast companion Pippa Middleton in crumpets to celebrate its new breakfast menu

Surprise star of the Royal Wedding, Pippa Middleton, has today been named Britain’s tastiest bit of crumpet. To acknowledge her ‘top totty’ status, Beefeater Grill has commissioned two giant mosaics of famous Pippa shots made entirely from crumpets.

Though her sister is set to be the future Queen it is Pippa that has been crowned the nation’s number one choice to wake up for breakfast with, in a poll of 2,000 people to celebrate the restaurant’s new nationwide breakfast menu.

The striking artworks, designed and created by food artist Laura Hadland on behalf of Beefeater Grill saw a whopping 15,000 crumpets - weighing in at over a tonne - used to recreate the socialite’s likeness. More than 100 jars of spreads, including butter, jam and Marmite were used to create shading on the 13m x 20m giant mosaics. In a feat that took more than 24 hours to complete, both a close-up of Pippa’s face as well as a ‘cheeky’ recreation of the now infamous ‘backside shot’ from this year’s Royal Wedding were depicted.

She may have been beaten to rear of the year by Carol Vorderman, but Pippa has caused a stir since she was bridesmaid to her sister, Kate, and Prince William in April. More than a fifth (21%) of the adults polled voted Ms Middleton as their ideal female breakfast companion pipping both Fearne Cotton and Cheryl Cole to the post, who came in with 17% and 15% of the votes respectively. Those least favoured to share a morning meal with included reality TV star Katie Price, newlywed Kate Moss (both 3%) and Caggie Dunlop, of Made In Chelsea fame (2%).

David Murdin from Beefeater Grill said; “We wanted to do something to celebrate the launch of our new breakfast menu and thought it would be interesting to find out who the nation would most like to share their first meal of the day with. It’s no surprise that someone as striking as Pippa has ranked as the country’s top bit of crumpet! Sadly we may not be able to guarantee Pippa as part of our breakfast offering to guests, but feel confident that they’ll enjoy our extensive range of dishes, including our very own tasty crumpets and spreads, none-the-less!”

Until 31st August 2011 two children can enjoy a breakfast for free when accompanied by a paying adult purchasing a £7.99 Premier Breakfast at Beefeater Grill. The offer is also available at Brewers Fayre, Table Table or Taybarns.

For more information about the free kids breakfast offer and your nearest restaurant visit www.beefeatergrill.co.uk, www.tabletable.co.uk, www.brewersfayre.co.uk, www.taybarns.co.uk or www.premierinn.com

- Ends -

For more information, or high resolution images, please contact Paul Goodman on: whr@frankpr.it

Notes to Editors:

SURVEY: 72 POINT

2,000 RESPONDENTS SURVEYED

About Beefeater Grill:

Beefeater launched in 1974 and now stands at over 130 restaurants nationwide. The new look Beefeater Grill is warm, modern and stylish and offers guests their own personal space to enjoy their dining occasion at their leisure. Our restaurants come complete with low lighting, warm cosy booth seating, contemporary artwork and a welcome smile. Today our cooking platform centres around our chargrill which gives our food that unique Beefeater Grill taste. On our menu you will find succulent chicken and fish alongside our famous steaks as well as some fantastic vegetarian dishes, starters and tempting desserts. Beefeater Grill offers great daytime value menu which are available Monday-Saturday before 6.30pm where a selected main course from just £4.99. Evening value meals are available on Monday-Thursday after 6.30pm where two courses are priced from just £10.99

Beefeater Grill supports WaterAid, the international charity whose mission is to overcome poverty by enabling the world's poorest people to gain access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education. Brewers Fayre, as part of Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants, aims to raise £1 million for WaterAid over the next two years.

NEWS FROM PREMIER INN

BRITS WANT TO HOLIDAY TO HOGWARTS

Tourism on the rise as fans go potty for Harry Potter filming locations

The final Harry Potter film appears to have cast a spell on the nation, with Brits flocking to unusual destinations, like Hemel Hempstead, in a bid to see where their favourite scene was filmed, according to booking figures from Premier Inn.

Since ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2’ burst onto cinema screens last week, the UK’s biggest budget hotel chain has seen a significant increase in bookings at seven of their sites in the UK at wand-erful locations where famous scenes from the saga were filmed.

Rather than making the long journey across the Atlantic to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, UK fans are instead grabbing their broomsticks and racing to places nearer to home such as Bodleian Library, in Oxford and Durham Cathedral, in Durham to see the interior of the famous Wizard school.

And it is not just a piece of Hogwarts fans are after, bookings at Premier Inn Hemel Hampstead, situated near Ashbridge forest which featured as the Forbidden Forest, has seen bookings up 150% since the film’s final premiere.

Premier Inn King’s Cross St Pancras has seen an hotel booking surge of 105% as fans flock to the area to have their picture taken at the infamous platform 9 ¾ at London’s King’s Cross station.

And the team at Premier Inn London County Hall have been inundated with guests asking for directions to Australia house on The Strand which features as Gringott’s Bank, the location for Harry and Hagrid’s first outing.

Premier Inn Hotel

Harry Potter location

% increase in hotel bookings

Premier Inn Durham

Durham Cathedral (Hogwarts interior)

up 140%

Premier Inn Oxford

Bodleian Library & Christchurch College (Hogwarts Interior)

up 129%

Premier Inn Kings Cross St Pancras

King’s Cross Station (Platform 9 ¾)

up 105%

Premier Inn Hemel Hampstead West

Ashridge (Forbidden Forest)

up 94%

Premier Inn Gloucester Longford

Gloucester Cathedral (Hogwarts interior)

up 80%

Premier Inn London County Hall

Australia House (Gringott’s Bank)

up 74%

Claire Haigh, spokeswoman for Premier Inn, said: “It’s great to see that the Harry Potter saga has increased tourism around the UK. Sites such as Bodleian Library and Durham Cathedral are some of the UK’s national treasures and it’s great one of the nation’s films has encouraged people to visit them.”

If you want to visit the places where Harry made his first potion, sneaked around corridors in his invisible cape and had his first encounter with Goblins, Premier Inn is offering 81,000 rooms at £29* across the county until the end of August 2011 so fans can still embrace Pottermania long after the final film.

-ENDS-

For more information please contact the Premier Inn team on 02076936999 or email premierinn@frankpr.it

About Premier Inn:

Award-winning Premier Inn is the UK’s biggest hotel brand with over 600 budget hotels and more than 43,000 rooms across the UK and Ireland. Premier Inn bedrooms feature en-suite bathrooms, TV with Freeview, and WiFi internet access. All Premier Inns feature a bar and restaurant; situated inside the hotel or adjacent, offering a wide range of food choices.

Premier Inn aims to be the largest provider of budget hotels in London (within the M25) by 2012. Premier Inn has also expanded internationally and now has hotels in Dubai and India.

Premier Inn is currently offering rooms for just £29 (restrictions apply). Visit www.premierinn.com for full terms and conditions.

Premier Inn supports WaterAid, the international charity whose mission is to overcome poverty by enabling the world's poorest people to gain access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education. Details can be found at www.wateraid.org/whitbread.

*Terms and conditions for £29 rooms

NEWS FROM AMSCREEN



AMSCREEN GOES CONTINENTAL WITH BP

Leading digital signage provider expands its forecourt network across Europe Amscreen, the UK’s largest nationwide digital media network owner, is expanding to foreign shores for the first time following a deal with BP Europe SE

The contract will see digital signage screens installed in forecourts across the continent initially in Germany, Poland, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Austria.

In just two years Amscreen has established the UK’s largest digital screen media network, broadcasting on more than 3,000 screens nationwide to an audience of 25 million a week. The decision to expand its forecourt network to Europe will see its audience increase to 40 million a week once this initial rollout with BP is complete. This exclusive five year deal will also see BP UK extending its partnership with Amscreen for a further five years.

Extensive research was carried out by Amscreen including eye ball tracking and exit interviews ahead of these developments which demonstrated several advantages for advertisers, many of whom have an existing global presence. The expansion will offer brands a pan European media network, enabling them to target a much larger audience in real time.

Jurgen Bloemers, Marketing and Cards Director Europe at BP, said: “Following on from the success of our partnership with Amscreen in the UK, it made perfect sense to mirror this onto our forecourt network across Europe. Amscreen’s unique ‘plug and play’ technology is easy for us to install and is sure to modernise digital advertising across European forecourts by centralising messaging, reducing wastage and maximising store compliance.”

Simon Sugar, CEO of Amscreen, said: “We are really excited about our expansion into Europe. After an encouraging two years in the UK we are keen to further develop the network and this deal with BP is a perfect starting ground to mark our entry onto the European market. The user friendly nature of our digital signage technology means that it can be easily rolled out across the continent and we hope to have our screens installed in over 1,800 BP and Aral sites in the coming months. This is just a start for us in Europe and we will be announcing other European forecourt partnerships in the coming months.”

-ENDS-

For further information, please contact Sophie Kay on 0207 693 6973 or sophiekay@frankpr.it

Notes to editors
About Amscreen:

Amscreen, run by CEO Simon Sugar, is the UK’s largest Digital Out of Home media company, offering a robust, end-to-end digital signage solution via its unique wireless plug and play technology. Its networks broadcast from more than 3,000 sites across the UK and are an effective communication tool for clients such as BP, Shell and WHSmith and a range of blue-chip advertisers such as BSkyB, Amex, Visa, B&Q, Camelot, Redbull and Lucozade.

As well as operating in petrol, convenience, leisure and travel locations, Amscreen provides screens to the healthcare industry. Its Healthcare network uses revolutionary software to provide customers with the ability to create and broadcast their own messages that can be viewed in prime dwelling areas such as waiting rooms, corridors and coffee shops.

In addition, the live Amscreen mapping system allows advertisers to locate screens across the UK. Visit http://www.amscreen.co.uk/digital-advertising/mapping_tool.html to view the live mapping link for further information.

If you are a forecourt owner and are interested in learning more about Amscreen’s forecourt network and how this could benefit your business, please email info@amscreen.co.uk

About BP Europe SE:

BP is one of the world's leading international oil and gas companies, providing its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemicals products for everyday items.
BP Europa SE covers the countries Austria, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland with more than 3, 700 BP and Aral branded filling stations.

For more information on BP Europa SE visit www.bp-se.eu or www.bp.com

Monday 25 July 2011

NEWS FROM FOSTER'S

Two of Australia’s most famous exports, Foster’s lager and actress Holly Valance have joined forces to launch a new premium bottled lager, Foster’s Gold.

This tie up will see the gorgeous Aussie join Foster’s favourite beach blokes, Brad and Dan, to front a multi-million pound TV and print ad campaign, that embraces the Foster’s ‘Good Call’ mentality and highlights Foster’s Gold as being perfect for when you want to impress on mixed sex drinking occasions.

Since Holly Valance burst onto TV screens in 1999 in the popular Australian soap opera Neighbours she has become a poster-girl favourite and even ventured into the music world, with her first single debuting at number one.

With its stylish embossed bottle, Foster’s Gold is designed to appeal to men drinking at all events, from formal parties to summer barbecues.

Holly Valance said "It is with great pride that I'm working with such an iconic Australian brand! And it helps that I'm a loyal beer drinking Aussie girl myself!"

Gayle Harrison, Marketing Manager, Foster’s at brand owner Heineken UK, said:

‘We are delighted to be working with an Australian icon like Holly. Like Foster’s, Holly is down to earth and easy going but occasionally she wants to ‘dress to impress’ which makes her the perfect girl to launch new Foster’s Gold.”

Foster’s Gold is 4.8% ABV easier-drinking premium bottled lager with a crisp, refreshing taste. It is available in supermarkets and off-licences nationwide from this month and the new TV advertising featuring Holly Valance will be live from the end of August.

-Ends-

For further information please contact the Foster’s team at Frank PR on 02076936999 or email fosters@frankpr.it

Thursday 7 July 2011

NEWS FROM JEWISH CARE


‘SEIZE THE DAY’ VOTED TOP BIT OF ADVICE
Latin phrase from 23 BC still as relevant today

‘Make the most of every day’ has been named as the nation’s favourite piece of advice, in a new survey conducted by UK health and social care charity, Jewish Care.

The phrase, often referred to as ‘Carpe Diem’, is over 2000 years old and topped the poll with 29 per cent of Brits voting it the most valuable pearl of wisdom handed down from older generations. ‘Believe in yourself and be brave’ came in second place, voted as essential life advice for 16 per cent of people, followed by ‘having no regrets' (12 per cent) and ‘never stop learning’ (10 per cent).

These wise words, which were shared by a group of 14 elderly care home residents for Jewish Care’s ‘Pearls of Wisdom’ viral campaign, were ranked in order of importance by 1000 respondents. The top five pearls also included ‘do not judge any man until you have stood in his shoes’ – voted for by 9 per cent of respondents.

Surprisingly, having sex before marriage came last on the list, which calls into question the perceived promiscuity of younger generations. However it does appear that respondents have not learnt from the recent failings of the economy, with only 3 percent of those questioned placing importance on the need to ‘only spend what they can afford’.

The candid group, aged between 83 and 100 (with a combined 1,271 years between them) became the latest unlikely stars of the web after the ‘Pearls of Wisdom’ video was spotted on Twitter by a host of celebrities including Jonathan Ross, Sarah Brown, Claudia Winkleman and Lord Alan Sugar. Watch the films on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/JewishCareCharity.

Our top ten favourite words of wisdom were revealed as:
1. Make the most of every day: 29%
2. Believe in yourself and be brave: 16%
3. Don’t regret a thing: 12%
4. Never stop learning: 10%
5. Don’t judge any man until you have stood in his shoes: 9%
6. Each day you spend leaves you with one less, so spend them wisely: 8%
7. Take care of your friends, you never know when you might need them: 6%
8. Always look forward, but every so often take a glance back: 5%
9. Don’t buy things that you can’t afford: 3%
10. Have sex before marriage! Try it out: 2%

Ends

Frank PR 0207 693 6999

Notes to editors:

Jewish Care is the largest health and social care charity for the UK’s Jewish community, caring directly for over 7,000 people every week. Jewish Care runs 70 centres and specialist services throughout London and the South-East. The organisation provides a wide range of services for people who are elderly, mentally ill, physically disabled, visually impaired, as well as Holocaust survivors and refugees. Jewish Care also offers support and guidance to families, carers and the bereaved, as well as programmes for children and young people.