M&S gets rid of PR advisor Tulchan following Christmas trading leak
Following a PR leak, which meant Marks & Spencer was forced to rush out its Christmas trading statement early, its longstanding PR advisor Tulchan has been dropped.
M&S said that it would be conducting a review of its financial PR, and it “has been agreed that Tulchan will not take part in this process”.
Sky News reported on M&S’s Christmas trading performance on January 9, which showed a 3.8 per cent slump, the evening before it was due to be released to the stock market.
M&S was then forced to rush out its statement.
Andrew Grant, Tulchan’s founder, said: “The timing of this decision is unfortunate. We played no part in the leak and the chairman has given me an assurance that there is no belief at M&S that we were involved." He said he had been told by M&S that Marc Bolland, its chief executive, had been unhappy with its financial PR “since the AGM last year”.
He went on to add: “We understand that after eight years as advisers, it is natural that the company might wish to plan a review."
Robert Swannell, M&S chairman, said: “Tulchan has served Marks & Spencer well, with skill, commitment and integrity. However after eight years as our advisers, we have decided that the time has come for a change and to conduct a planned review."