Business Diary: January 22

AS snow blankets vast swathes of Britain, the glory of last year’s Olympics and Paralympics might seem a fading memory.

However, according to a release that thudded into Diary’s inbox, the Olympic spirit could keep Britain working during the big chill.

It’s all about remembering that simple Scouting mantra – “Be prepared!”

Diary heard from Julian Hunt, enterprise risk services partner at Deloitte in the North East and Yorkshire, who said: “With much of Britain braced for more snow, some of the lessons learned preparing for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games could be just as useful now.

“With severe weather having the potential to disrupt business, employers are becoming ever more reliant on staff working from home..It is no use having plans in place if they cannot be effectively implemented. After London 2012 many firms said they had benefited from testing their plans ahead of the Games as this helped raise awareness – the same principles could apply to severe weather planning.”

Perhaps Lord Coe should be drafted in to ensure the wheels of industry keep turning during the winter?

Greggs on TV

GREGGS has had its fair share of headlines in recent times, with the ‘pasty tax’ row giving the bakery chain ample media coverage.

And the business is clearly keen to maintain its presence in the public eye as it has launched a new marketing campaign, which includes its first TV advert in more than two years.

The campaign was developed by Greggs and led by Leeds-based advertising agency Gratterpalm in conjunction with a team of creative agencies: Carat, which has a base in Leeds, Steel, Havas PR UK and UnMissable.

Greggs, which led a successful campaign to beat the Government’s unpopular ‘pasty tax’, has invested more than £1m in the campaign, which is designed to promote Greggs’ breakfast and lunchtime meal deal offers and its new scratch card promotion.

Graeme Nash, head of customer and marketing at Greggs, said: “The new campaign is focussed on value, quality and freshness, and the great options available at Greggs. As well as investing in TV, the campaign will also be heavily supported digitally through the Greggs’ website, Facebook and email engagement.”

Greggs has 1,600 shops in the UK, including 120 in the Yorkshire region, and employs 265 employees at its Yorkshire bakery and around 1,500 people in its