NEWS FROM G-SHOCK

The Battle Lines are Drawn!

G-Shock is Proud to announce that the Secret Wars Euroleague Grand Final has finally arrived…

On Saturday 15th January 2011 from 8pm, the eagerly anticipated Secret Wars Euroleague Grand Final will storm into East London’s Village Underground. Age old rivals Birmingham and Amsterdam, will take each other on in a 90 minute battle of epic proportions, on the biggest Secret Wars wall ever created.

The grand final will be the culmination of over 60 Europe-wide battles held throughout 2010 and will see the winning team crowned Euroleague Champions! They will then be granted the chance to create their very own limited edition G-Shock watch design and will also qualify to fly to New York in the spring to compete against team USA, in the biggest battle in Secret Wars history.

Taking place in the darkest corners of each city, the Secret Wars art battles were originally set up and promoted through word of mouth alone, with those in the know spreading the word to artists and art fans. With 16 amazing European locations, including London, Berlin, Amsterdam and Barcelona, the Secret Wars Euro League blazed a trail of black marker pens and staggeringly creative, humorous designs, from country to country during 2010.

The rules of battle are simple: there are 90 minutes on the G-Shock clock, during which an artist is placed either side of an invisible line. Only black paint can be used on white walls, with no sketches or pencils allowed! The battles are judged by two guest judges and a crowd vote, which is measured using a decibel reader. It is a clean and fair fight, to find the best of Europe’s burgeoning artistic talent.

Tim Gould, Marketing Director for Casio UK, commented, ‘G-Shock have been thrilled to sponsor the Secret Wars Euro League in 2010 and we are eagerly anticipating the results of the grand final. As a brand, we have a passion for true innovation and creativity, which lends us an affinity with Secret Wars. We whole-heartedly support the way it champions the raw, burgeoning talent that can be found in the underground art scene, and we can’t wait to see the watch design that the winning team creates for us!’


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For further information please contact the
G-Shock Press Office at Frank PR
Tel: 020 7693 6999 email: gshock@frankpr.it

Follow us on Twitter @GSHOCK_UK

www.g-shock.eu

NEWS FROM PREMIER INN

PREMIER INN CHANGES NAME TO 'PREMIER INN-INGS' IN TRIBUTE TO ASHES WINNING ENGLAND SIDE

To celebrate England’s victory against Australia during The Ashes, the UK’s biggest hotel chain, Premier Inn, is changing the name of one of its 580 hotels to ‘Premier Inn-ings’ to honour the teams’ triumph.

Premier Inn London Victoria, which is close to the Lords Cricket Ground, is recognising the 24 year long-awaited win of the England cricket team over in Australia by re-naming the site ‘Premier Inn-ings’ until the team make their way over to India for the World Cup in February.*

Karin Holmes the General Manager of London Victoria Premier Inn-ings says ‘We are delighted to pay tribute to England’s fantastic performance in The Ashes, and what better way than adopting a cricket themed name for the hotel! We thought it would be a fun way to give our guests a chance to celebrate this win with us!'


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For further information, please contact Frank PR on
0207 693 6999 or email premierinn@frankpr.it
Notes to editors:
*Premier Inn London Victoria will return to it’s original name on 12th February 2011

Award-winning Premier Inn is the UK’s biggest budget hotel brand with over 580 budget hotels and more than 42,000 rooms across the UK and Ireland. Premier Inn bedrooms feature en-suite bathrooms, TV with Freeview channels, 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.

In 2008 Premier Inn launched in Dubai and is now open in Bangalore, India. On a domestic front, Premier Inn aims to be the largest provider of budget hotels within the M25 area by 2012.

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. Premier Inn, as part of Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants, aims to raise £1 million for WaterAid over the next two years. Details can be found at www.wateraid.org/whitbread

NEWS FROM HOVIS

Snack Attack
Research reveals British women will consume over one thousand
unhealthy snacks in 2011

The average British woman will devour 1,092 unhealthy snacks this year, from crisps, sweets and biscuits to cakes and chocolate, according to research released today by Hovis Wholemeal. The study[ii], involving 2,000 British women, reveals that an average of over 129 packets of crisps, more than 127 chocolate bars, over 77 cakes and more than 133 biscuits will be consumed by every female in 2011 alone.

As the nation grapples with New Year’s resolutions and healthy eating regimes, the research also reveals that over half of all women (54%) can’t resist snacking on unhealthy treats at least twice or three times per day, with a staggering four million women in the UK[iii] (one in seven) potentially eating five or more sugary and salty snacks each and every day.

The research, commissioned by Hovis Wholemeal to mark the launch of the Hovis Stop Snacking Facebook app at www.facebook.com/hovisbakery, also showed that over half (55%) of women wish they could give up their unhealthy snacking vice, 48% admit that mid-morning hunger pangs are the culprit for them reaching for the biscuit tin, and the sofa (49%) and the office (33%) are the most popular places to indulge.

Developed in conjunction with Hovis ambassador and Olympic gold medallist Victoria Pendleton, the Hovis Stop Snacking app will help encourage women to ditch their daily snacking vices. Victoria said, “As an athlete I understand how important it is to stay motivated in January and most importantly start the day the right way, which is why the Hovis Stop Snacking app is great. The app will encourage women to try a Hovis Wholemeal breakfast and then set a snack-related challenge in return for daily prizes, rewards for completion and a range of recipes and motivational advice from me.

She continues, “The basic facts are simple, Hovis Wholemeal is rich in fibre which can help you feel fuller for longer and could help stop snacking. I have it for breakfast and it works for me! ”

A trial[iv] conducted on behalf of Hovis showed that 64% of women who swapped their regular breakfast for Hovis Wholemeal felt fuller for longer and 86% agreed that eating Hovis Wholemeal for breakfast helped them snack less on naughty treats in-between breakfast and lunch. To help resist the lure of the biscuit tin this January, sign up to the Hovis Stop Snacking app at www.facebook.com/hovisbakery.
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For more information, recipes and images contact: Frank PR on 0207 693 6999 or e-mail hovis@frankpr.it

Notes to editors:
This January Hovis Wholemeal Challenge is encouraging women to try Hovis Wholemeal for breakfast and provides a range of quick & tasty recipes that provide a great start to the day and are around 300-350 calories. Just two slices of Hovis Wholemeal provides your daily intake of wholegrain and its rich in fibre which may help you feel fuller for longer and could help you stop snacking.
Hovis Wholemeal is available from Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons, Somerfield, Waitrose, Co-op, Budgens and other independent food outlets across the UK.
Victoria Pendleton is a British Olympic and world champion track cyclist and face of the Hovis Wholemeal Campaign.
[1] UK research conducted with 2,000 female adults, between 14th and 15th December 2010 on behalf of Hovis
[1] Office of National Statistics 2008 data based on 31,000,000 women in the UK
[1] Commissioned by Hovis with 50 bloggers

NEWS FROM OCADO

THE FUTURE’S BRIGHT: THE FUTURE’S FRIDGES
Ocado explores the future of the domestic fridge

Forward-thinking online supermarket Ocado (www.ocado.com) is working with the University of Central Lancashire’s future development ‘Product Design’ team on the fridge of the future.

The team forecasts that fridges could evolve into something truly cerebral, offering predictive, fully automated shopping (courtesy of a link to the Ocado website,) robotic ‘stock’ rotation, self-cleaning routines and waste food management – all of which could change the way we eat forever.

Ocado has partnered with the Product Design courses at the University of Central Lancashire mindful of the changing lifestyles of supermarket shoppers. With Brits putting in an additional 36 million hours of free overtime a year, it leaves very little time to complete mandatory chores such as the weekly food shop or fridge clean-out.

Scanning for your supper
Future fridges will be able to scan their multi-shelf contents and then calculate a meal appropriate to those items found. Recipes, organised via categories, will allow for choice between country, cuisine and season.

The future fridge will be ‘plumbed in’ to the Ocado website, and its smartphone apps, and will be able to automatically order food based on contents already used.

First come first served
The smart fridge will incorporate stock rotation with ‘nano articulated technology’ surfaces. Whilst feeling smooth to the human touch, millions of independently controlled micro tiles will manoeuvre products which need to be eaten to the front of the fridge.

The fridge will also monitor gases released by degrading foods and ‘push’ these items to the front of its shelves.

Weight watcher
Using ultrasound-scanning technology (built into the door) to ‘swipe and capture’ the food on a plate before and after meal-time, the future fridge can make an accurate assessment of what type and volume of food is wasted. The fridge will link to the household bin, with its own management system from which to feed back types and weight of food wasted.

The future fridge can cross reference and act upon this data, reducing the ingredients used in future meal suggestions and helping minimise food waste.

Jon Rudoe, Head of Retail & Customer at Ocado, comments:
“It’s exciting and very insightful for us to see how technology in fridges will advance in the future. At Ocado we have always been committed to evolving our service, and evolving it to work with amazing technological developments around us.

“We were the first supermarket to launch a transactional shopping app for the iPhone; customers can also now shop with us on Android handsets and via iPad. According to the last figures we have released, over 6% of Ocado sales are generated through mobile platforms, showing that customers are open to using technology if it helps making their shopping experience and lives easier.

“We are constantly looking at future technological trends to ensure shopping at Ocado is as convenient, accessible and stress-free as possible.”

Simon Sommerville, Course Leader for Product Design at UCLan suggests that the fridge’s revolutionary advance won’t stop here – predicting UV filters that will self-clean interiors, and sophisticated hands-free loading mechanisms to quickly unpack the weekly shop and distribute it to the right shelves and compartments. This kind of futuristic, streamlined living could be among us and in our kitchens in as little as 50 years.

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For further information, please contact:
Frank PR on 0207 693 6951

About Ocado

Ocado (www.ocado.com) was established in 2000, started trading in 2002 and is now one of Britain’s leading online supermarkets. Ocado operates a centralised distribution model which means that it does not rely upon a network of stores from which to service customers. Ocado delivers over 20,000 product lines including Waitrose and John Lewis-branded goods and a growing Ocado own-label range; most recently it has launched non-food lines such as toys, magazines, kitchenware and fresh flowers. In June 2010, it scooped Online Retailer of the Year at The Grocer Gold Awards 2010 and Customer Technology of the Year at the BT Retail Week Technology Awards 2010. In October it was named World E-tailer of the Year at the prestigious World Retail Awards.

NEWS FROM SARENZA

"High heels and snow have never been a good combination for fashionista’s but today’s weather has caused the ultimate fashion hazard"

Train delays to Paris have seen 30 British fashionistas delayed at Kings Cross as they were making their way to Paris for the annual London vs Paris Sarenza high heeled race. The Paris event has been delayed by an hour as they eagerly await the arrival of the British entrants who have been making the most of the delay by training in their heels up and down the concourse at Kings Cross’

Once More Unto the Breach, Dear High Heel Fans!
Sarenza Announces the UK Teams Selected for the High Heel Race Final 2010
on December 3rd in Paris

Online shoe retailer Sarenza.co.uk is thrilled to announce that they have now selected 16 teams from the UK to compete against the French in the grand final of the High Heel Race 2010 on December 3rd at the Piscine Molitor, a trendy location in the heart of Paris.

The Sarenza High Heel Race is revered in France, taking place annually with hotly disputed heats across the country. The race then culminates in a star studded final in Paris. This year, to celebrate the launch of Sarenza.co.uk, the battle will be international, with 16 French teams facing 16 English teams.
Sarenza have thrown down the gauntlet to the British Fashion pack by inviting them to get hot on their heels, and show their French rivals that the Brits can not only out-dress them, but can out-run them too! With the fastest timed at the London Heats clocked at 6.13 seconds, the finals are sure to be closely fought and action packed.
The 16 teams from the UK are all vying for the grand prize of £2,500 worth of shoes and the title of ultimate High Heel Sprint Team 2010! Amongst our 16 UK teams, there are a lot of dedicated fashionistas and shoe lovers ready to give up everything to represent their nation and fly the flag for England in France!

Click here to see last year’s video!

Sarenza cares about all the shoe addicts out there, so until December 3rd, they are also offering supporters of the selected teams the chance to win £2,500 worth of Sarenza vouchers on www.highheelrace.co.uk.
Watch this space for more news of the fastest and most fashionable Anglo-French battle since Henry V stepped stylishly onto the field of Agincourt!

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For more information or imagery please contact the Sarenza Press Office at Frank PR on sarenza@frankpr.it 02076936999

Follow Sarenza on Twitter - @SarenzaUK
Follow Sarenza on Facebook – Sarenza.co.uk

About Sarenza :


- Has generated a turnover of 40 Million Euros in 2009
- Achieved over 100% growth of the turnover in the first 8 months of 2010 (compared to 2009)
- Has between 2 and 4 million unique visitors per month (source: Nielsen NetRatings Mediametrie)
- Thousands of pairs sold per day
- Sold 1 million pairs of shoes in 2010 to date, and foreseen to sell 1 million in 2010 !

NEWS FROM BEAT BULLYING

Never Again

We know that bullying can have devastating consequences, and over the last five years over 100 children and young people have taken their own lives to escape the pain and humiliation of severe bullying. This is why Beatbullying has joined forces with News of the World to say ‘Never Again’ to bullying and child suicide.

It only costs £2.79 for us to respond to a child that has been bullied. Donate Now and say Never Again.

Together we can keep our children safe and free from bullying, violence and harassment.

NEWS FROM THE BODY SHOP

Boris Joins The Fight Against HIV and Backs The Body Shop® World AIDS Day Exhibition

London Mayor Boris Johnson today opened The Body Shop® ‘Be An Activist. Join the fight against HIV’ City Hall exhibition featuring portraits of HIV and AIDS activists taken by legendary British photographer Rankin. The exhibition, which is now open to members of the public* until Friday 10th December on the lower ground floor of City Hall, marks the launch of an international campaign by The Body Shop in partnership with UN AIDS for World AIDS Day (1st December).

Launching the exhibition, the Mayor said today: 'HIV continues to have a major impact on the lives of Londoners and this exhibition shows it can affect anyone. It is our duty to keep HIV on the agenda, but I urge everyone to take personal responsibility to protect yourself and others against the condition. Whether directly affected or not, let's stand shoulder to shoulder, show our support and challenge the stigma.'

The exhibition has brought together a group of individuals, including world-renowned singer and activist Annie Lennox, each with a personal story in relation to HIV and AIDS. HIV knows no boundaries and this campaign serves as a timely reminder that being an activist means many different things – from taking to a podium and speaking out, to wearing the red ribbon on World AIDS Day this Wednesday and supporting the fight against HIV.

The ‘Be An Activist’ campaign visuals herald a new take on the iconic red ribbon design, with a stencil logo designed by The Body Shop in-house creative team, now used in partnership with
UN AIDS. With nearly 30 years of a world with AIDS, The Body Shop and UN AIDS hope the fresh, new look of the red ribbon will help inspire the public and re-energize the movement to stand in solidarity with the more than 30 million people living with HIV worldwide.

Speaking about the exhibition, Scottish photographer Rankin said, “I try to give something back, and the only way I know how to do this, is through photographs. This HIV campaign is very important to me, and I hope that the images will help influence attitudes”.

The Body Shop International Campaigns Director, Chris Davis said, “The ‘Be An Activist’ campaign is to inform, advise and most importantly inspire activists old and new, to join our call for change. We are proud to work with UN AIDS, Rankin and Annie Lennox, as well as a range of inspirational individuals, each with their own story to tell and all lending their support to this international campaign. Even today, decades after the epidemic first came to light, for many it is challenging to speak out on this issue, as sadly there remains a stigma attached to this disease.

The Body Shop has a long history of campaigning and awareness raising on HIV, yet this campaign moves with the times, encouraging all of us take responsibility for our actions, to support those affected and wear the red ribbon which is available in all our stores.”

The Body Shop ‘Be An Activist’ exhibition opens from today at City Hall, with the iconic photographs also featuring in The Body Shop store windows up and down the country throughout December.

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For more information please contact bodyshop@frankpr.it or call 020 7693 6999

Notes to editors:

The Body Shop® ‘Be An Activist’ City Hall exhibition will be open from 29th November - 10th December 2010. Admission free.
Red Ribbons are available at The Body Shop® stores across the world. In the UK, all proceeds from each red ribbon pin badge (£1.00 RRP) sold will be donated between two HIV/AIDS charities* - the SING Campaign founded by Annie Lennox to raise awareness and funding for those on the frontline of HIV in South Africa and Body & Soul, a UK grassroots charity providing support to children, young people and families living with or closely affected by HIV.
*The donation will be split equally between the SING campaign and Body & Soul.

SING Campaign, Registered Charity Number 1114795 www.annielennoxsing.com
Body & Soul, Registered Charity Number 1060062 www.bodyandsoulcharity.org

UNAIDS does not endorse any products, goods, or services