Please apply a vertical staple as indicated here to avoid any overlap with our text on the remaining pages of this Exam Room Pack
To allow for the impact of stapling in therecommended place (vertical staple in the topleft corner of the page), we have slightly offsetthe text at the top left of some pages(assuming that our advice provided on thispage to print the document single-sided isfollowed) – this is not a formatting error
2
2Disclaimers
We have made every effort to check the accuracy of this Exam Room Pack(ERP) but it is your responsibility as a candidate to confirm all facts andfigures to the official ICAEW Advance Information. We do not accept anyresponsibility or liability for any errors or omissions in this document norfor your ultimate performance in the examination.
All page references marked as “p” plus a number are references to pages inthe Advance Information. Any cross-references between pages within thisExam Room Pack itself will be very clearly marked as such.
Our notes applicable to the R2 & R3 financial models are based on our bestefforts to determine the possible subject matter but obviously we cannotguarantee what will be tested on examination day. It is noteworthy that theNovember 2020 Advance Information provides the least guidance on thepossible nature of the R2 and R3 calculations of any recent set ofAdvance Information so it has been particularly difficult for us to preparethe relevant pages of this Exam Room Pack.
Remember that the R2 & R3 calculations are generally only worth 10-20%of the marks in each of R2 & R3 and in some recent examinations thesecalculations have been marked at least partly on an “own figure” (i.e. anyresult is acceptable) basis (particularly in instances where the AdvanceInformation provides little or no guidance on the possible calculations: thisis definitely true of the November 2020 Advance Information) so please donot fall into the trap of spending a disproportionate amount of time on thecalculations during your examination attempt.
We have placed our thematic summaries in alphabetical order (except forour Example report cover page) – please familiarise yourself with ourordering of the content before examination day as it is not necessarily theorder that you will use the pages in the examination itself.
Repetition of content
Please note that we have intentionally repeated some text on differentpages of the Exam Room Pack to ensure that certain key points are notmissed depending on which page you turn to – this repetition is intentionaland carefully considered and does not represent an error or fault with thepublication.
Formatting of this ERP
We have prepared this ERP using a format which we believe is clear,efficient and effective, based on previous experience of preparing a numberof similar ERPs and discussing the format with our tuition course studentsat previous sittings. Whilst we recognise that some students may havetheir own ways of working and would prefer different formatting, forreasons relating to copyright and time constraints, we will not provide youwith a personalised reformatted version nor with the original source filesunder any circumstances whatsoever – therefore please do not contact usto request this. If you require the text to be placed on different pages or in adifferent order then please work on your own version as it is unreasonableto expect us to produce customised versions for individual students.
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If we discover or are made aware of any errata in this ERP (and/or find thatfurther ideas should be added) we will post a message regarding thenecessary update(s) on our online learning platform.
Please note that we will NOT email you in relation to these matters, due totime constraints and the possibility that you may not receive our email intime or at all – we believe that it is safer for us to place the information onour learning platform but please kindly continue to monitor the platformright through to examination day as we obviously do not know when anyerrata might be identified or notified to us by students.
We provide this errata notification process as part of our good faith effortsto assist you as much as possible but the provision of the relevant weblinkdoes not in any way constitute our acceptance of any liability as a result ofany errors and omissions and it remains your sole responsibility as acandidate to confirm all facts and figures stated in this Exam Room Packto the official ICAEW Advance Information.
Report to the Board of BEAL Publications Limited (“BL”)
Galbraith Worthy
4 November 2020
This report has been prepared for the exclusiveuse of the board of BL and no liability isaccepted in the event of further distribution.
Your report cover “page” should be included at thestart of the Executive Summary answering tab withinthe assessment software
There is no separate answering tab for the cover“page” so placing the content at the start of theExecutive Summary is acceptable
We have confirmed that the short disclaimer stated onthe righthand side of this page is acceptable – do notwaste time writing any more than our example: you arenot attempting a law examination!
A known market leader for the wider advertising market which provided a grim forecast regarding
the impact of COVID-19 on the advertising market (p40)
Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) UK
A body created by the publishing industry to verify and provide accurate circulation numbers to
enable advertising charges (based on circulation numbers) to be agreed (p8)
Beal Annual UK Conference
An invitation-only conference held each February with a range of top speakers (p31) – approx
annual running cost of £500k (p31)
Beal Parents and Leavers Careers Forum
An event aimed at school leavers and held in April each year to provide information on careers to
younger people (p32) – approx annual running cost of £250k (p32)
Beal Young Writers and Journalists Fair
An invitation-only event aimed at encouraging young people who want to become writers or
journalists and held in August each year (p32) – approx annual running cost of £250k (p32)
Cambridge University
University where the 4 founders of BL met and studied (p9)
CC Limited
A provider of commuter folding and electric bicycles and a BL advertising client (p27) – pays BL
£40k per month in advertising fees (p27) – at the outset of the working relationship, BL provided
assurances that it would not accept any other bicycle company adverts to avoid any conflict with
CC Limited’s products and BL has maintained that policy (p27)
Clickstream
Digital trails which show where website users come from, how they travel through a website and
where they go next (p29)
CPA (Cost-per-Action)
A method which BL uses to charge its advertising clients in which clients are charged each time
someone clicks on an advert and then completes a required action (e.g. buys a product, goes to
a sales page or signs up for a newsletter) (p26)
CPM (Cost-per-Mille)
A method which BL uses to charge its advertising clients under which clients are charged a fee for
every 1,000 (mille) views of a web page (p26)
Financial Journal
A daily financial newspaper at which Josh Delores (Managing Director of BL) developed a careerin journalism (p9) – JAX markets BL very heavily in the Financial Journal (and other qualitypublications and newspapers) (p31)
Galbraith Worthy
A firm of ICAEW Chartered Accountants with offices throughout the UK which advises BL (p5)
Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) UK
Similar body to the ABC (see above) but in relation to digital advertising (p8)
JAX
Leading UK marketing services organisation which carries out “nearly all” of BL’s marketing (p31)
Management, Lifestyle and Economics (MLE)
BL’s monthly UK magazine (p10)
Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)
A non-departmental public body funded by the UK Treasury which is a client of BL (p30)
Porterfields Hunter
Chartered Accountancy firm where Lu Tobyn (an MLE subscriber) trained and qualified (p33)
R4 Limited
A nationally known recycling organisation which is an MLE commercial subscriber (p33) – one ofthe sponsors of the 2019 Beal Careers Forum (p33) – observes that all BL products are fullyrecyclable, that BL is fully engaged in efficient production and strives to achieve sustainableoutput (p33)
RS Limited
A home delivery company which is a client of BL and which in 2015 commissioned a specialreport at a cost of £150k (p30)
TLDR (Too Long; Didn’t Read)
The “skim factor” employed by readers, particularly younger readers, which is “a major problem”with online advertising (p26)
Deadlines for potential content, including those for adverts, are the same forboth formats, being approximately 10 days before publication (p27) –contributors and all distribution operations work to the same cut-off date(p27)
The basic issue is that after the deadline, print is not flexible – once set inprint, the message cannot be changed until the next issue – by contrast, theonline version can be more flexible (p27)
Gifts and inducements
All contributors to MLE must disclose the receipt of any gifts or inducementsfrom any organisation so that BL editors and senior managers can considertheir possible impact on any articles written and published (p27)
Independence of content
BL has always had to ensure that organisations placing adverts in MLE are
aware that, just because an advert appears in a magazine, a BL reporter will
not be obliged to write an article (favourable or otherwise) about the
organisation in that publication (p27) – MLE contributors try as hard as they
can to stay separate from advertising salespeople and journalistic ethics
dictate that contributors should never pay attention to the identity of
advertisers in a magazine when they write their articles – most contributors
do not know which organisation has placed which adverts in which edition and
for what period (p27)
Native advertising
BL also restricts attempts at “native advertising” by any advertiser – the word
“native” refers to this blending and blurring of the content of the advert with
other adjacent non-advert content – BL does this by ensuring that there is no
close proximity between an advertiser’s product or service and the articles
being published (p27) – on the other hand, native advertising matches the
details of both the platform and the content alongside which it appears so in
many cases it can appear like an advertorial (an advert with an endorsed
editorial) (p27)
Objectivity
BL has a strong belief in objective and independent reporting based on
rigorous research – see our Ethics (4) page for further details on this point
The most important fact about advertising activity and revenue is that throughout the publishingindustry, advertising is in decline as a source of revenue, particularly for those organisationsusing third party web platforms (p25) – BL does not rely on such platforms (p25)
In the same way that BL's cover pricing of MLE is the same across both formats, it hasestablished a similar policy for adverts placed in MLE because they appear identically in bothformats in accordance with MLE editorial policy (p25)
Factors affecting charges for advertising in the print version of MLE
For BL
-circulation and readership (these are the critical factors for BL – and the advertiser) (p25)
-size and placement: front cover; whole additional wrap around; whole page; half-page; columnwidth; column height (p25)
-location on the page: top right-hand corner costs more (p25)
-complexity and details of any photographs and graphics accompanying the advert (p25)
-frequency of appearance (e.g. one-off, every month for a specified period) (p25)
For the advertiser
Circulation and monitoring of Return on Investment (ROI) – by comparison with click-throughs,email open rates, and many other digital metrics, the ability to extract data on ROI for print copiesis limited for the advertising organisation – however, creating the equivalent of a call to action(achievable with printed materials by adding Quick Response (QR) codes or by an offer forredemption) allows an organisation to track ROI (p25)
If the target audience is under the age of 30, print is problematic as print is not the format ofchoice for this age group – however, BL's readership across its two versions tends to be older,which is an important feature for advertisers (p25)
Print readers tend to read through a full-page advertorial (an advert with an endorsedexplanation) to get more familiar with the uses and benefits of products that interest them (p25)
Studies show that readers trust the printed page of magazine content (includingmarketing/adverts which readers often enjoy as much as articles) – readers develop loyalty topublications that provide information they want – loyalty builds a brand (p25)
Reach (or readership) is calculated as the circulation multiplied by the number of times amagazine is “passed along” or read by another reader – there is some guesstimating involved,and hard evidence is almost never collected, but print has an element of longevity as printedpublications lie around in homes and offices so, compared to online publications, more people seeprint adverts more often (p25)
Factors affecting charges for advertising in the online version of MLE
For BL
BL can use any model/charge that it wishes, just like any website owner, online advertising service orpublisher (p26) – BL tends to charge a monthly or annual fee for adverts, depending on thefrequency of their appearance (p26) – it can charge per advert click (p26)
BL uses 2 methods:
• CPA (Cost-per-Action): with this model, the advertiser pays only when someone clicks on theadvert and then completes a required action, such as buying a product, going to a sales page orsigning up for a newsletter (p26)
• CPM (Cost-per-Mille): this is the cost of the advert per thousand views – it may take a day or ayear for a separate web page to be opened 1,000 times (“Mille” is Latin for thousand) (p26)
CPM has become the standard way to measure the cost of internet advertising – the CPM figuretells advertisers how much impact they are getting for their money and allows them to compare therelative effectiveness of various advertising campaigns, regardless of the cost of those campaignsor the number of people who see the adverts (p26)
If an advertiser spends £50,000 on a campaign that generates 1 million views this would be lesseffective than spending £1,000 on a campaign that generates 100,000 views because the CPM ofthe £50,000 campaign is higher (£50 vs. £10) (p26)
In the case of website banner adverts, the cost depends on the size of the advert, the websitedisplaying the advert and its specific placement (p26) – for BL, banner adverts are popular withadvertisers because there is a greater chance they will be noticed (p26)
For the advertiser
With the appropriate contract and full access to the data generated, an advertiser can determinewith accuracy who has seen the advert, how long they looked at it and what its possible effect was(p26) – an advertiser can also see how the viewer came to look at that specific advert and whatlinks were subsequently clicked on (p26) – this includes being able to see if the advert was viewedon a PC, tablet or cellphone, as well as other information (p26)
Online advertising: the TLDR (Too Long; Didn’t Read) problem
Advertisers know that a major problem with online advertising is the skim factor employed by manyreaders, particularly younger readers, which one marketing manager described as “being a difficultaudience to engage” (p26) – in reality, younger readers are used to zoning out those items whichare not immediately essential to their reading so online advertisers must use every creativeopportunity in advertising design and online placement to avoid this factor and poor reach (p26)
Contextual factorsThe UK magazine publishing market is highly diversified (p7) – there are daily,
weekly, monthly as well as quarterly, biannual and annual publications (p7)
The magazine publishing industry is highly competitive and is facing
overall decline (p32)
The range of publications is enormous, with magazines on every topic
imaginable (p7)
All magazines describe themselves as high quality publications, but there are
categories of publications which cater for quite distinct markets (p7)
Some would be classed as technical in terms of their content, presentation and
readership (p7) – others would be classified by a specific focus on an activity
such as gardening, driving, camping, sport, fitness or fashion (p7)
As well as an enormous range of English language publications in the UK,
there are also many publications catering for readers in other languages (p7)
The development of online magazine publishing has been an important
process of transition for most publishers (p7) – many readers continue to
enjoy reading a printed page magazine to which they can return time and again
whilst others prefer the lack of clutter and the ease of access and
transportability of the downloadable online version (p7) – there are many who
choose and use both options (p7)
Advertising revenue
Amongst other factors, advertisers pay the required price for their advertsbased on a publication's reach (readership) (p8) – although readership is noteasily verifiable, circulation numbers (which can be audited) are capable ofbeing determined (p8)
The circulation figure is taken as an indication of the minimum number ofreaders who will see the advert and it justifies an important aspect of the pricecharged for the advert and consequently the advertising revenue which isgenerated (p8)
Circulation
The total number of copies distributed through all channels is the circulation ofthe magazine (p7) – where corporate or larger customers pay subscriptions formultiple copies and for both print and online versions, each of those multiplecopies or versions is counted as a separate subscription for the purposes ofdetermining circulation (p7)
Circulation is always a critical number for magazine publishers because mostpublishers’ costs are fixed within bands of circulation (stepped fixed costs)(p7)
In producing a magazine, the cost of contributors is the same regardless of thenumber of magazines sold while other costs of sales (which include the directcost of production) remain almost the same regardless of numbers sold (p7)
It is vital to maximise revenue relating to circulation in order to cover fixedcosts but also to maximise advertising revenue, which is based on circulation(p7)
Other revenue
Depending on the content and expertise of the magazine and the skillset andstature of its writers, a magazine can create a significant stream of revenuefrom special reports commissioned by clients (p8)
Subscription and sales revenue
There is a cover price for a magazine which is displayed on the front, but thepublisher usually receives lower revenue per copy because of discounts that itoffers (p8)
Subscriptions are normally taken out for a defined period, such as 12 monthsand to entice customers to become subscribers a discount is usually offered onthe cover price – this discounted price is the “effective revenue per copy” forthe publisher (p8)
For print versions of magazines, the cover price has to allow the retailer to earna profit so they will only pay the publisher the cover price less an agreed discount(p8) – this discounted figure is the “effective sales price (or revenue)” per copyfor the publisher (p8)
Contributors (researchers, writers, reviewers, editors and
designers)
BL uses a team of in-house contributors and self-employed externalcontributors for all its written outputs (p33)
External contributors, who are normally commissioned to write to an agreedspecification, may be paid both an annual retainer fee and a fee that dependson the work done and their status in their field of expertise (p33)
External contributors known as stringers (usually self-employed journalists)contribute articles, reports and photos for publication on an ongoing basis andare paid individually for each published item (p33)
The stringers used by BL are usually active practitioners and researcherswho are known experts in their discipline with a flare for journalism – thesefreelance writings are often an excellent combination of original thinking anda professional perspective on a current topic (p33)
There is a risk in using stringers and their material so BL has a hierarchy ofapproval involving the managing editor, Mo Leclerc, and the relevant specialisteditor as well as a member of BL's board (p33)
BL has a policy of excluding anybody who is, or has recently been, aGovernment official or elected Member of Parliament – there is also anexclusion on members of the armed forces, police, intelligence services orpublic relations employees working for large organisations (p33)
Contributions from stringers, and from all retained contributors, are alwaysassessed by the BL editorial team for relevance and reliability (p33) – thewhole team of contributors is involved in both MLE writing and editing as wellas producing output for SR contracts (p33)
Given that a strong reputation has built MLE's success, the quality of BL'scontributors is critical (p33)
The biggest reason for the failure to renew is where the recipient of MLE is
not the person who paid for the initial subscription and the subscription is
taken out for one year as a birthday present or similar (p37) – BL is aware of
this issue and targets such readers, to get them to continue to subscribe as
new customers as far as possible (p37)
Named customers in the Advance Information
CC Limited
A provider of commuter folding and electric bicycles and a BL advertising
client (p27) – pays BL £40k per month in advertising fees (p27) – at the outset
of the working relationship, BL provided assurances that it would not accept
any other bicycle company adverts to avoid any conflict with CC Limited’s
products and BL has maintained that policy (p27)
R4 Limited
A nationally known recycling organisation which is an MLE commercial
subscriber (p33) – one of the sponsors of the 2019 Beal Careers Forum (p33)
– observes that all BL products are fully recyclable, that BL is fully engaged
in efficient production and strives to achieve sustainable output (p33)
RS Limited
A home delivery company which is a client of BL and which in 2015
commissioned a special report at a cost of £150k (p30)
Current customers: MLE (general)
MLE customers are loyal and their profile indicates they are relatively wealthy
(p24) – as result of a perception of MLE as being a source of properly
researched material and comment, demand for MLE is relatively price inelastic,
particularly amongst corporate clients (p24) – despite this, following any price
increase, there is always an immediate impact of an initial monthly drop in
numbers of magazines sold (p24)
Current customers: MLE corporate subscribers
Corporate subscribers account for most of those subscribers who take multiplecopies of both versions (online and print) of MLE (p11) – corporate subscribersinvariably take out multiple subscriptions with both formats being requested(p37)
As result of a perception of MLE as being a source of properly researchedmaterial and comment, demand for MLE is relatively price inelastic, particularlyamongst corporate clients (p24)
Current customers: MLE non-corporate subscribers
MLE’s subscribers are mainly UK based (p10) – regular non-corporate
subscribers are university educated or having continued their education and
training after leaving school (p10) – they tend to be qualified professionals –
over 80% of regular subscribers are in the age-range from 35 to 55 and are split
60:40 between male and female subscribers – the split of readers appears to be
more gender balanced (p10)
Current customers: public sector
Public sector bodies have traditionally taken 2 months to pay for any work (p12)so an increase in public sector clients tends to increase BL’s trade receivablesdays (p12, p14)
BL is currently paid a minimum monthly retainer by some key clients, in bothGovernment and commercial organisations, to be available for analytical workat short notice (p30)
Please also refer to our Under-30s and younger people/readers page for detailed information on this important customer segment
Ethics (1)Advertising – importance of publishing and editorial standards
BL's continued growth in circulation has drawn in requests from leading organisations
to advertise in the magazine – although revenue from advertising has been an
important consideration, BL realised that the advertising itself should also conform
with BL's publishing and editorial standards (p10)
Automatic renewal of subscriptions
Bank direct debits allow agreed price increases to be put into effect by BL on the
anniversary of the subscription without the customer having to make any further
interventions (p23) – Paradigm Shift Financial Training comment: there may perhaps
be a risk of a price increase being implemented without full confirmation of the
customer’s agreement (whether deliberately or due to a mistake by BL)
Biased contributors
In its commissioned SR work, BL has always sought to distance itself from using
biased contributors and has tried to avoid providing an editorial slant on its reports,
believing in allowing any judgement to follow the analysis as published (p10) – BL has
established a similar editorial policy in MLE and only uses contributors who conform
with BL's acknowledged research methods to corroborate and develop the analysis
and explanation of the items published (p10)
Bicycle company adverts – assurances given to CC Limited
BL gave CC Limited assurances that it would not accept any other bicycle company
adverts to avoid any conflicts with CC Limited’s products and BL has maintained that
policy (p27)
Circulation – digital publications
In a similar way to ABC UK for print verification, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB)
UK provides circulation figures which permit advertisers to identify visits to, and time
spent on, the magazine website; hits on an advert; and other information (p8)
Recent IAB UK policies include 3 fundamental aims: to reduce advertising fraud; to
improve the digital advertising experience; and to increase brand safety (isolating or
protecting adverts from dubious or harmful negative news or other critical content) (p8)
Important warning regarding our Ethics notes – we have done our best to work through all the possible Ethics issues that we can see in the Advance Information but theexaminers will often introduce completely new Ethics issues unrelated to the Advance Information in the Exam Paper so you must not assume that all Ethics issues whicharise in your examination necessarily have to come from the notes provided here
Circulation figures – print publications
Amongst other factors, advertisers pay the required price for their adverts based on a
publication’s reach (readership) (p8) – although readership is not easily verifiable,
circulation numbers (which can be audited) are capable of being determined (p8)
In the past, some unscrupulous magazine publishers claimed larger circulations than
actually achieved so a body was created by the publishing industry (the Audit Bureau
of Circulations (ABC) UK) to verify and provide accurate circulation numbers in order
to enable advertising charges (based on circulation numbers) to be agreed (p8)
Circulation versus readership
It is estimated that there are 2 readers for every copy of MLE purchased (p10) – reach
(or readership) is calculated as the circulation multiplied by the number of times a
magazine is “passed along” or read by another reader (p25) – there is some
guesstimating involved and hard evidence is almost never collected but print has an
element of longevity and this leads to a pass-along factor, meaning that more people
see print adverts more often (p25) – anecdotal evidence suggests that MLE is more
widely read than just by those on its subscription list (p33) – Paradigm Shift Financial
Training comment: it seems reasonable to assume that readership exceeds circulation
so any statement by BL to this effect has some basis but as the difference between
these 2 metrics can only ever be an estimate, there may be a risk of overstatement or
an unreasonable expression of certainty regarding any figures stated
Client editing of Special Reports content
In any SR contract between BL and its clients, there are clauses that prevent any
attempt by the client to influence or edit the final commissioned report or make
changes to the final delivered form of the report in any way (p29)
Conferences and young people
The Beal Parents and Leavers Careers Forum (held in April each year) and the Beal
Young Writers and Journalists Fair (held in August each year) are both targeted at
young people (p32) – Paradigm Shift Financial Training comment: BL (and any other
parties involved in the conferences) has a duty of care to ensure that all content
presented at the conference makes accurate statements which do not mislead or
Ethics (2)Contributors and stringers – reliability assessment
Contributions from stringers, and from all retained contributors, are always assessed
by the BL editorial team for relevance and reliability (p33) – the whole team of
contributors is involved in both MLE writing and editing, as well as producing output for
SR contracts (p33)
COVID-19 reporting
BL’s report has been referred to and used as part of medical background briefings by
other publications during the crisis (p42) – it draws on acknowledged sources for its
main content, but its presentation and use of clear graphics have meant that it has
become a reference document for many presentations throughout medical briefings
(p42) – Paradigm Shift Financial Training comment: to the extent that its output is
being relied on in medical background briefings, BL has a duty of care to ensure that its
work is completely accurate as important public policy decisions in relation to health
could be made based on its work
Customer loyalty
MLE customers are loyal (p24, p31) – Paradigm Shift Financial Training comment: in
return, BL must demonstrate loyalty and a reasonable approach to any changes
Data breach at a UK bank
A report issued by one of the UK’s leading banks has identified the cost of its cyber
security breach in the past year as being almost unmeasurable (p40) – the real long-
term cost has been the access gained by third parties (who are, as yet, unknown) to
customers’ private details (p40)
The result of this IT security breach has been a complete loss of confidence by large
numbers of customers, many of whom have changed banks as a result (p40) – there is
some evidence that the bank’s rate of signing up new customers, particularly to its
online banking app, has been significantly slower than that of other banks (p40) – this
proves once again the immense cost for any organisation caused by breaches in its IT
security systems (p40)
Important warning regarding our Ethics notes – we have done our best to work through all the possible Ethics issues that we can see in the Advance Information but theexaminers will often introduce completely new Ethics issues unrelated to the Advance Information in the Exam Paper so you must not assume that all Ethics issues whicharise in your examination necessarily have to come from the notes provided here
Data collection – consent and clickstreams
Originally, third-party web-based organisations were rarely under any contractual
obligation to share the data collected with the selling organisations (p29) – however,
they may respond to requests from an individual customer to provide a datastream
history based on the customer’s own clickstream and history (p29) – the fact that their
clickstream history is a valuable commodity is an unknown or uninteresting factor for
the vast majority of users (p29)
Data collection – methods
The primary purpose of UK supermarket loyalty cards is always to collect data on
customers, with the customers’ (not very well informed) consent, in a free and
unlimited way, under the umbrella of offering customers small rewards (p29)
Deadlines for content
Deadlines for potential content, including those for adverts, are the same for both
formats, being approximately 10 days before publication (p27) – contributors and all
distribution operations work to the same cut-off date (p27) – the basic issue is that
after that deadline, print is not flexible: once set in print, the message cannot be changed
until the next issue but by contrast the online version can be more flexible (p27)
Discounts as a marketing device
Discounts are often used to “entice” customers to become subscribers (p8) – Paradigm
Shift Financial Training comment: the word “entice” can be taken to have a
manipulative meaning so perhaps some form of Ethics or business trust issue could
arise from this practice
Editorial and corporate policy on advertising
BL always ensures that organisations which place adverts in MLE are aware that the BL
reporter will not be obliged to write an article “favourable or otherwise” about the
organisation in that publication – MLE contributors try as hard as they can to stay
separate from advertising sales people and journalistic ethics dedicate that contributors
should never pay attention to the identity of advertisers in a magazine when they write
The 4 founders of BL raised personal finance and contributed equally to BL’s £500k
share capital (p10) – Paradigm Shift Financial Training comment: the founders may
therefore face personal financial risks if the business collapses and the equal
shareholding amongst an even number of directors could lead to control/governance
problems if there is a division in opinions (e.g. 2 directors adopt a certain position and
the other 2 directors take an opposing position)
Gifts or inducements to contributors
All contributors to MLE must disclose the receipt of any gifts or inducements from any
organisation so that BL editors and senior managers can consider their possible impact
on any articles written and published (p27)
Influence of SR/MLE content on clients/readers
BL’s High Street Retailers report formed part of the debate about the future of the high
street and its enterprises – following its publication in MLE, the report has informed the
behaviour of many retailers (p30)
Marketing partners – agenda may be to seek higher fees
Following the unsuccessful campaign in relation to the October 2014 price increase,
BL’s marketing consultants suggested that a higher amount should have been invested
in a different campaign, which would have been successful (p24)
Native advertising – avoided by BL
BL restricts attempts at native advertising by any advertiser – the word “native” refers
to a blending and blurring of the content of an advert with other adjacent non-advert
content – it does this by ensuring that there is no close proximity between an
advertiser’s product or service and the articles being published (p27) – on the other
hand, native advertising matches the details of both the platform and the content
alongside which it appears so in many cases it can appear like an advertorial (an advert
with an endorsed editorial) (p27)
Important warning regarding our Ethics notes – we have done our best to work through all the possible Ethics issues that we can see in the Advance Information but theexaminers will often introduce completely new Ethics issues unrelated to the Advance Information in the Exam Paper so you must not assume that all Ethics issues whicharise in your examination necessarily have to come from the notes provided here
Online publication and sustainability considerations
Paradigm Shift Financial Training comment: although the Advance Information does
not make this point, online publication could reduce use of paper and other materials
but could use additional electricity for website hosting and user access
Price inelastic demand
Demand for MLE is relatively price inelastic, particularly amongst corporate clients
(p24) – Paradigm Shift Financial Training comment: BL must not unreasonably exploit
this
Pricing expectations
BL applies the same cover price to both formats (print and online) and price changes
come into effect at the same time across both formats (p23) – the sales price is the
same each month, including the bumper December (Christmas) edition which contains
50% more content to provide additional reading material over the holiday season (p23)
Public sector organisations
BL carries out work for Government bodies such as the UK National Health Service
(NHS) (p12) – Paradigm Shift Financial Training comment: BL therefore has a duty of
care to important public bodies who could make crucial public policy decisions based
on its work
Retailers as a small percentage of sales
A very small percentage of magazine sales are sold through retailers to customers as
the vast majority of MS revenue is from annual subscriptions (p11, p23) – Paradigm
Shift Financial Training comment: this may lead to a risk of BL disregarding or
neglecting retailers in its decision-making, which may be considered unfair and disloyal
Reuse of SR material in MLE – time-lag required
BL's SR contracts with client organisations have always included permission for BL to
use the SR material (in full or in part) in subsequent issues of MLE with an appropriate
time-lag (usually no longer than 3 months) and provided that there is no selective
editing (p29) – in many instances, the clients are pleased about the publicity that being
the subject of an article in MLE brings (p29) – occasionally there is an overlap between
a magazine article and an advert, but that is never by design (p27)
Important warning regarding our Ethics notes – we have done our best to work through all the possible Ethics issues that we can see in the Advance Information but theexaminers will often introduce completely new Ethics issues unrelated to the Advance Information in the Exam Paper so you must not assume that all Ethics issues whicharise in your examination necessarily have to come from the notes provided here
Rigorous, objective and apolitical approach
The BL masthead reads: “Beal: a publisher of objective, analysed, newsworthy reports”
(p10) – BL has sought to distance itself from using biased contributors and has tried
to avoid an editorial slant in its reports, believing in allowing any judgement to follow
the analysis as published (p10) – BL only uses contributors who conform with BL’s
acknowledged research methods to corroborate and develop the analysis and
explanation of the items published (p10) – BL has a reputation for being an organisation
which conducts original research and analytical work on behalf of its clients and
presents the results of that work in objective, reasoned and clearly-written reports to
those clients (p29, p31)
As a result of MLE’s reputation for impartiality and rigorous reporting, its reputation
grew and its circulation expanded (p10)
BL realised that advertising should also conform with its publishing and editorial
standards (p10)
Stringers – risks, approval policy and exclusions
There is a risk in using stringers (usually self-employed journalists) and their material
(p33) – BL has a hierarchy of approval involving the managing editor, Mo Leclerc, and
the relevant specialist editor, as well as a member of BL’s board (p33)
BL has a policy of excluding anybody who is, or has recently been, a Government
official or elected Member of Parliament (p33) – there is also an exclusion on
members of the armed forces, police and intelligence services and public relations
employees working for large organisations (p33)
Sustainability – BL ethos
The content of MLE has ecological and sustainable principles, according to CC Limited
(p27) – BL’s products are fully recyclable and BL is fully engaged in efficient
production and strives to achieve sustainable output, according to R4 Limited (p33)
Sustainability – market perception
Alison Waites (AW) tied in the current all-pervasive concerns about sustainability
by emphasising that print's staying-power would also depend on offering new eco-
friendly solutions that consumers, especially younger generations can value (p39) –
this includes use of recycled and recyclable materials (p39)
Trust and “fake news”
Trust in content has become a major issue for all news organisations as the concept
of “fake news” has dominated reporting and commentary, creating uncertainty in a
number of areas (p38) – BL is fully aware of this potential accusation, which it seeks to
avoid (p38)
Vox pops avoided
BL has always avoided the use of vox pops and similar devices – such interviews can
be totally superficial and highly selective (p38) – instead its hallmark is the detailed
interview with a genuinely knowledgeable and objective source (p38)
Web-based advertising which aims at distracting the reader
Digital media allows for, and indeed aims for, significant reader distractions for
advertising and other purposes (p39)
Worrying the public: sensationalism
BL started its COVID-19 work after becoming concerned that erroneous use of
apparently accurate information could sensationalise an important issue (p42)
BL has a policy of constantly upgrading its IT and related security system to
ensure that it has the best software and equipment available both for its
office-based staff and contributors and for any of its contributors who are
located away from the office (p12)
IT security (points from the Strategic review)
In an organisation such as BL, the issue of IT security runs througheverything that the company does (p38) – a system failure would affect(amongst other areas) (p38):
• creation of reports, as files are shared by teams of contributors whereverbased (p38)
• necessary secure transfers to enable editing of items prior to final output(p38)
• delivery of output to up-to-date customer lists – both hardcopy andonline (p38)
• maintenance of financial details of all customers who have transactionswith BL (p38)
• controls over input from third parties – such as advertisers – to preventvirus infection (p38)
• all of BL’s SR and MLE work (p38)
The board is aware of all these issues and BL invests heavily in operationaltechnological updates to assist security (p38) – the board knows that theprice of failure “could be fatal” (p38)
Media article: Bank security lapse
One of the UK’s leading banks has identified the cost of its cyber security
breach as being almost unmeasurable (p40)
The result of this IT security breach has been a complete loss of confidence
by large numbers of customers, many of whom have changed banks as a
result (p40)
This proves once again the immense cost for any organisation caused by
Magazine Sales (MS) revenue, effective price and circulationSubscriptions and sales
The two formats (print and online) have the same cover price and, wheneverprice changes are made, they come into effect at the same time across bothformats (p23)
The sales price is the same each month including the bumper December(Christmas) edition which has 50% more content to provide additional readingmaterial over the holiday season (p23) – this leads to an upsurge in demandand encourages more buyers to take out annual subscriptions (p23) – peoplealso buy subscriptions as Christmas presents for relatives, friends andcolleagues (p23)
The vast majority of MS revenue is from annual subscriptions with only asmall number being sold through retail outlets (p11, p23) – subscribers areboth individual and corporate customers (p23)
Subscriptions are taken out for 12 months and nearly all are paid monthly,either by direct debit or bank transfers (p23) – bank direct debits allow agreedprice increases to be put into effect on the anniversary of the subscriptionwithout the customer having to make any further interventions (p23)
Effective price – YE 30 Sep 2017 and YE 30 Sep 2018
During YE 30 Sep 2017, the average revenue per copy (effective price) wasapproximately £6.00 based on a full cover price of £7.99 per copy and anaverage discount of almost £2 on the cover price resulting in an effective priceof £6.00 per copy (p23)
In October 2017, BL increased the MLE cover price to £8.99 resulting in aneffective price per copy of £7.00 (p23)
Effective price – YE 30 Sep 2019
There were no price increases so average effective revenue per copy was£7.00 (p24) – circulation also recovered to just over 2 million copies for theyear (p24) – this circulation increase taken with the full impact of the priceincrease made on 1 October 2017 meant that in YE 30 Sep 2019 there was a9.3% increase in MS revenue (p24)
Circulation and impact of price increases
In YE 30 Sep 2017, BL achieved an important target of selling more than 2 million copiesof MLE (approximately 2,031,000) (p23)
On 1 Oct 2017, BL raised MLE's cover price to £8.99, reducing circulation (p23) – theboard decided to increase pricing as a result of successful growth in circulation and thecontinuing squeeze on margins (p23)
The price increase was accompanied by a new marketing campaign to retain existingcustomers and attract new subscribers (p23) – the campaign concentrated onemphasising the quality of MLE content, evidenced by the journalistic awards won, thefact that it was a source of quotation and a citation reference and ranked highly byindependent researchers and writers (p23)
Following the October 2014 price increase, the initial decline in circulation was around10% in the 6 months following the price increase – BL invested in a specific MLEmarketing campaign costing £500,000 over the 12 months following the price rise (theincreased marketing was concentrated on the first 6 months) – the campaign aimed toexplain and justify the £1 price increase by comparing it against such everyday items asa purchased cup of coffee – the campaign was not considered effective (p24)
The overall decline for the 12 months following the price increase averaged out as being5% of the previous annual circulation (p24) – BL's marketing consultants suggested thata higher amount should have been invested in a different campaign which would havebeen successful (p24)
After the 1 October 2017 price increase, there was a comprehensive campaign across allmedia which concentrated on the quality of MLE and its overall value for money – thisadded almost £1 million to the marketing cost for YE 30 Sep 2018 and was combinedwith a series of very popular analytical interviews with high profile industrialists andcommercial artists, a focused series of location reviews and a number of pre-plannedarticles written by leading authors and analysts, in the December 2017 edition (p24)
After an initial fall of about 7% in monthly sales over the 6 months after the price increase,MLE circulation recovered such that in the full 12 months following the price increase,sales were approximately 1,977,000 copies, an overall decline of just 2.7% on the previousyear (p24)
Because of the time-lag effect (caused by subscribers not facing an agreed increaseuntil their renewal date) the effective average revenue per copy of MLE was £6.50, an8.3% price increase (p24)
Press articles – othersDecline of advertising as markets are hit by COVID-19
Major newspaper and magazine publishing and advertising poster companies
are forecasting a slump in advertising revenues of at least 10% this month
(April 2020) as companies in the travel and hospitality sector and others
reduce spending in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak (p40)
AD UK (a known market leader for the wider advertising market) provided a
grim picture for some sectors of the industry as a spokesperson stated that
early indications suggest total advertising spending will be down 10% in both
April and May 2020 following the cancellation of most major sporting and
entertainment events (p40)
However, all this gloom may in fact be missing the point (p40) – other products
that can be sold online, and delivered to those in lockdown, are being heavily
advertised and successfully sold (p40) – as a result, web advertising in
whatever output possible (to match web shopping) has increased significantly
(p40)
Bank security lapse
A report issued by one of the UK's leading banks has identified the cost of
its cyber security breach in the past year as being almost unmeasurable
(p40) – although some money transactions have been retrieved, it appears that
many thousands of transfers have gone missing into untraceable accounts
(p40)
The real long-term cost has been the access gained by third parties (who
are, as yet, unknown) to customers' private details, resulting in a complete loss
of confidence by large numbers of customers, many of whom have changed
banks as a result (p40) – there is some evidence that the bank’s rate of signing
up new customers, particularly to its online banking app, has been significantly
slower than that of other banks (p40) – this proves once again the immense
cost for any organisation caused by breaches in its IT security systems (p40)
Change in psychological impact of pricing
For many years, handing over a £1 note/coin and receiving some change meant an itemwas reassuringly affordable (p41) – as time has passed and inflation has occurred thecritical price barriers have moved as well, becoming £10, £20 or even £50 – “under £10”is a good marketing slogan but these barriers may become less meaningful in an age ofthe cashless society (p41) – if you no longer have to pull a £10 note out of your wallet topay for something but instead swipe your plastic bank card on a reader, thesedenominational price barriers have less impact/meaning (p41)
Card swiping has increased both in popularity and exponentially, and with it thepsychology of the price hurdle is disappearing (p41) – these hurdles will not return andthe £10 barrier will not be the same again (p41)
BL reporters nominated for awards in 2 arenas
BL's initial report on the medical and economic impact of COVID-19 has been nominatedfor 2 awards (p42) – the first nomination is for “technical report based on acommissioned publication for a client” – this report, which is available both online andin print format, has been referred to and used as part of the medical background briefingby other publications during the crisis and draws on acknowledged sources for its maincontent (p42) – its presentation and use of clear graphics has meant that it has becomea reference document for many presentations throughout medical briefings (p42)
The second nomination is for an article in MLE under the heading of “Early Summary ofthe Crisis” which has been nominated for the award of “best concise report of anissue” (p42) – the authors of the MLE article, which was written in the early period of thecrisis comprised a team of 4 UK writers and includes leading author and businessconsultant Jason Crease, winner of multiple awards for outstanding businessjournalism (p42)
Use of well-researched objective sources and evidence and clear use of relevantnumbers properly explained to readers as well as logical and appropriate judgementresulted in successful reporting of the issue (p42) – a spokesperson for BL explainedthat the report was designed to correct erroneous use of apparently accurateinformation to sensationalise an extremely important issue (such as stating that COVID-19 deaths have gone up by 25% in just 1 day in the UK when closer analysis identified thatthis represented an increase from 28 to 35 deaths, an increase of 7 deaths) (p42)
Comparison of change in total CoS to change in total revenue with comment
on impact on GP% (p11, p14, p21)
Contributor costs as % of total CoS (p12, p14, p21)
Production costs as % of total revenue (p21 only)
Other operating costs
Total (p12, p14, p21)
Comparison of change in total other operating costs to change in total
revenue with comment on OP% as compared to GP% (p12 prior to ICAEW
errata amendment, p14, p21)
Distribution costs with link to circulation (not revenue) (p12, p14, p21)
Marketing costs (p12, p14, p21)
Administration costs (p12, p14, p22)
Finance costs
Finance costs (p12 only)
P&E
Investment compared to depreciation/losses on disposal (p12, p14, p22)
Trade and other receivables
Trade receivable days (p12, p14, p22)
Trade and other payables
Trade payables change (p13, p14, p22)
Statement that this liability remains well controlled (p13, p14, p22)
Deferred income balance (p13, p14, p22)
Deferred income days (p13, p14, p22)
Overdraft and statement of cash flows
Cash generated from operations (p13, p15, p22)
Taxation and finance costs (p13, p15, p22)
Statement of amount remaining for investment after allowing for deduction of
the above 2 costs and statement of change (p13, p15, p22)
Cash invested into equipment and received from disposal of old equipment
(p13, p15, p22)
Overdraft at year end versus prior year (p13, p15, p22)
Our R1 metrics skeleton outline page summarises the metrics which are generally noted bythe examiner in each of the yearly performance reviews in the Advance Information(suggesting that the examiner is leaving hints as to what you should include)
A media article dated April 2020 forecast a decline of 10% per month in totaladvertising spending in April and May 2020 (p40)
CC Limited advertising fees
CC Limited pays an average of £40k per month for a well-positioned, trackable advert(p27) – CC Limited believes that it is an effective, value-for-money campaign (p27)
Circulation impact of an increase in pricing
Following the October 2014 price increase, circulation declined 10% in the first 6months following the price increase (p24) – the overall decline in the 12 monthsfollowing the price increase (following a £500,000 marketing campaign) was 5% (p24)
Following the October 2017 price increase, circulation declined 7% in the first 6months following the price increase (p24) – the overall decline in the 12 monthsfollowing the price increase (following a £1m marketing campaign) was 2.7% (p24)
Conference fees
Beal Annual UK Conference (early February): £500k per year (p31)
Beal Parents and Leavers Careers Forum (April) and Beal Young Writers and JournalistsFair (August): £250k per year each (p32)
CPM
Paradigm Shift Financial Training comment: the Advance Information does notspecifically state that the following CPM pricing figures were applied to any specific BLclient – the information is presumably being introduced to explain a general principle
On a CPM basis, a £50,000 campaign that generates 1 million views is less effectivefor the advertiser than a £1,000 campaign that generates 100,000 views because itsCPM is higher (£50 v £10) (p26)
Deadlines
Deadlines for potential content, including those for adverts, are the same for bothformats, being approximately 10 days before publication (p27)
Pricing
The same cover price applies to both print and online editions of MLE (p23) – this
includes the bumper December (Christmas) edition which has approximately 50% more
content (p23) – price changes apply to both editions at the same time (p24)
In October 2017, the cover price of MLE increased to £8.99 (p23) but as a result of the
time-lag effect (subscribers do not face a price increase until their renewal date), the
effective revenue per copy was £6.50 in YE 30 Sep 2018 (p24)
For YE 30 Sep 2019, the effective revenue per copy was £7.00 as all subscribers were
now on the new price (p24) – Paradigm Shift Financial Training comment: no more
recent price increase is mentioned in the Advance Information
Readers
Research indicates that MLE appeals to a more gender-balanced range of readers by
comparison with the profile of subscribers (p10) – it is estimated that there are 2 readers
for every copy purchased (p10)
RS Limited Special Reports fee
RS Limited paid £150k for a special report in March 2015 (p30)
Special Reports fee range and keynote speech income
In YE 30 Sep 2019, the fees for client SR projects ranged from £100k to £600k (p30)
When BL’s contributors act as keynote speakers for business and professionalconferences (based on SR work or providing input for the theme of the conferencebased on previous MLE articles), any fees are shown under SR revenue (p30)
Subscribers
Over 80% of regular subscribers are in the age range of 35 to 55 (p10) – subscribers are
split 60:40 between male and female subscribers, respectively (p10) – readers are more
gender-balanced (p10)
Approximately 25% of subscription revenue is hardcopy only (p11) – approximately 25%
is online sales only (p11) – approximately 50% (mainly corporate subscribers) of
subscriptions are for multiple copies of both hardcopy and print versions (p11)
The online version of MLE is available anywhere in the world but the print version is
sold in the UK only (p5)
Circulation
Advertising revenue is based on circulation (p8)
Marketing as a cost for magazine publishers
For all publishers of magazines, marketing appears to be an absolute necessity – any
publication needs to promote itself in order to be noticed by customers, both to retain
the existing customers and to attract new ones and this can be at a significant cost
(p8)
For many publishers, maintaining their own circulation is achieved through a mixture of
the strong positive reputation of the publication and good marketing of the magazine
(p8)
As much as magazine publishers gain from adverts placed by their clients, they must
invest similar or greater sums in promoting and marketing their own publications (p8)
Marketing impact hard to determine
Like most publishers and purchasers of advertising and marketing services, BL is not
always able to identify a link between a specific campaign and specific changes in
demand (p32) – what is apparent is that there is correlation between the overall level
of spending on marketing with the overall level of revenue (p32)
MLE purchases: subscriptions versus retail
The vast majority of MS revenue is from annual subscriptions, with only a small
number being sold through retail outlets (p11, p23)
Online publication cannot be ignored
The development of online magazine publishing has been an important process of
transition for most publishers (p7) – online publication cannot be ignored (p7) – some
customers prefer a lack of clutter and the ease of access and transportability of a
downloadable online version (p7)
Quality, objectivity and independence from bias
Paradigm Shift Financial Training comment: quality (and the associated journalistic
principles of objectivity and independence from bias) are mentioned in many places in
the Advance Information so ensure that you always consider whether these concepts are
relevant to the R2/R3 scenario (whether through a positive connection to the project or
alternatively as a potential risk to quality, objectivity and independence from bias)
Stepped fixed costs
For many publishers, various costs are fixed within bands of circulation (stepped fixed
costs) (p7) – the cost of contributors is the same regardless of the numbers sold whilst
the direct costs of production (particularly where the publisher outsources its printing
and online publishing) remain the same regardless of the number sold (p7)
Strategy in relation to gift subscriptions
The biggest reason for the failure to renew is where the recipient of MLE is not the
person who paid for the initial subscription and the subscription is taken out for one
year as a birthday present or similar (p37) – BL is aware of this issue and targets such
readers, to get them to continue to subscribe as new customers (p37) as far as possible
Please also refer to the following pages of this Exam Room Pack for furtherideas (other pages may of course also be relevant but these are our prioritylinkage pages):
BL has a reputation of being an organisation which conducts original research
and analytical work on behalf of its clients and presents the results of that
work in objective, reasoned and clearly written reports to those clients,
regardless of any standpoint of the organisation paying for the report (p29)
The main topics covered are business-based and concern economic,
operational and strategic issues of importance to clients (p29)
Special Reports may be specific to an industry (e.g. transport, food production
or medicine) or more generic, covering issues such as High Street shopping or
UK employment trends (p29) – Special Reports are highly valued, not only by
clients, but also by a wider audience looking for reliable reporting, coupled
with clear interpretation of statistical analysis (where relevant) and with
quotable information on issues (p29)
BL's SR contracts with client organisations have always included permission
for BL to use the SR material (in full or in part) in subsequent issues of MLE
with an appropriate time-lag (usually no longer than 3 months) and provided
that there is no selective editing (p29) – in many instances, clients are pleased
about the publicity that being the subject of an article in MLE brings (p29)
In any SR contract between BL and its client, there are clauses that prevent
any attempt by the client to influence or edit the final commissioned report
or make changes to the final delivered form of the report in any way (p29)
BL’s High Street Retailers report formed part of the debate about the future of
the high street and its enterprises – following its publication in MLE, the report
has informed the behaviour of many retailers (p30)
SR clients
BL contracts with SR clients to provide independent external research andanalysis, testing and evaluating specific issues and outcomes for a variety oforganisations including UK Government departments and large private sectororganisations (p30)
An example would be its work for The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), anon-departmental public body funded by the UK Treasury and established by theUK Government to provide economic forecasts and independent analysis of thepublic finances (p30) – BL assists in providing analytical expertise (p30)
SR revenue is earned by way of agreed fees from organisations, depending onthe work conducted (p30) – in addition to fees for specific projects and tasks,BL is currently paid a minimum monthly retainer by some key clients, in bothGovernment and commercial organisations, to be available for analytical work atshort notice (p30) – in YE 30 Sep 2019, the fees for client SR projects rangedfrom £100k to £600k (p30)
BL has a significant amount of repeat business from its SR clients indicatingcomplete satisfaction with its work (p30) – an acknowledged major strength forBL in its SR work is its excellent adherence to deadlines which has put it aheadof many of its more academic rivals (p30)
BL's contributors also act as keynote speakers for business and professionalconferences either based on SR work or providing input for the theme of theconference based on previous MLE articles (p30) – all fees earned for suchwork are shown under SR revenue (p30)
Feedback from Pam Riggs, Director of Logistics, RS Limited (an SR client)(July 2018)
RS commissioned BL to produce a comprehensive analytical special reportbased on the future of home deliveries using available historical informationand expert analysis of future economic, household and lifestyle trends (p30) – asa result of the report's conclusions, RS made the necessary investment invehicles, personnel and IT to take advantage of the forecast changes (p30) –BL's economic predictions and trend analysis have proved remarkablyaccurate (p30) – there was a noticeable increase in RS Limited customerswanting to establish a home delivery service (p30) – the RS home delivery lineof business has continued to grow ever since (p30) – RS Limited considersthat, at £150k, the report was excellent value for money (p30)
CEO of Media Post – provided a keynote speaker address at the 2020 Beal Annual UKConference (p39)
Anneliese Adams
Manager of Customer Advertising (p4)
Galbraith Worthy
A firm of ICAEW Chartered Accountants with offices throughout the UK which advisesBL (p5)
Jason Crease
One of the team of 4 writers nominated for the award of “best concise report of anissue” during COVID-19 crisis and previous winner of multiple awards for outstandingbusiness journalism (p42)
Josh Delores
Managing Director (p4)
Developed a career in professional journalism with the Financial Journal (a dailyfinancial newspaper) (p9)
Kia Kaya
Production and IT Director (p4)
Developed a career in professional journalism with Engineering Design (a monthlyperiodical) (p9) – Kia prepared the business SWOT analysis on major competitors inOctober 2019 (p35)
Lettie Pass
Partner in the business advisory unit at Galbraith Worthy (p5)
Lou Bhatia
Marketing Director (p4)
Joined a large marketing consultancy organisation after PhD-completion (p9)
Lu Tobyn
An ICAEW Chartered Accountant and private subscriber to MLE (p33)
Mo Leclerc
Managing Editor of MLE (p4, p33)
Nadia Ozbay
Head of Marketing for CC Limited (p27)
Ollie Phelps
The candidate’s fictional Case Study name (p5)
Pam Riggs
Director of Logistics at RS Limited, an SR client (p30)
Sab Huang
Web Manager (p4)
Sis Strong
Finance Director (an ICAEW Chartered Accountant) (p4)
Tim Doe
Commissioning Manager and Editor for Special Reports (p4)
Tom Dooley
Managing Director of R4, an MLE commercial subscriber (p33)
