Press Releases
Business historian discusses how takeovers affect communities
Release Date : 15 March 2010
A professor at the University of Reading will be speaking about how major company takeovers affect their local communities on Radio 4 tomorrow.
Peter Scott, a specialist in business history at the Henley Business School, will be appearing on The Long View, comparing the takeover of Boots by the US multi-national United Drug Co. in 1920 with the recent takeover of Cadbury's by Kraft.
Professor Scott said: "Both takeovers raised major fears regarding threats to the long-term relationships between the firms and their local communities. In the case of Boots, these fears proved unjustified and Boots continued to play a central role in the economic and social life of Nottingham.
"Conversely, in the current climate of globalisation and offshoring, it is less clear that Cadbury's will maintain its strong identification with Birmingham."
Other contributors to the programme include Lord Digby Jones, the FT columnist Stefan Stern, and Rev Paul Clarke. The programme is to be broadcast at 9.00am and 9.30pm on Tuesday 16 March and is also available for one week on BBC iplayer.
ENDS
For more information please contact Rona Cheeseman, Press officer, on 0118 378 7388 or email r.cheeseman@reading.ac.uk
Notes to editors
Henley Business School at the University of Reading is a leading international business school and one of the few business schools globally to hold triple accredited status. It is wealso the first UK business school and one of the oldest in Europe.
Henley Business School comprises five distinctive units: the School of Economics, the ICMA Centre, The School of Management, the School of Real Estate & Planning and Executive Education.
It has around 7,000 students from more than 140 countries.
University of Reading is rated as one of the top 200 universities in the world (THE-QS World Rankings 2009).
• The University of Reading is one of the UK's top research-intensive universities. The University is ranked in the top 20 UK higher education institutions in securing research council grants worth nearly £10 million from EPSRC, ESRC, MRC, NERC, AHRC and BBSRC. In the RAE 2008, over 87% of the university's research was deemed to be of international standing. Areas of particular research strength recognised include meteorology and climate change, typography and graphic design, archaeology, philosophy, food biosciences, construction management, real estate and planning, as well as law.
• Standards of teaching are excellent - the University scored highly in the National Student Survey 2009. 87% of Reading students responding to the survey stated they were satisfied with the quality of their course.
• The University is estimated to contribute £600 million to the local economy annually.
• University of Reading is a member of the 1994 Group of 19 leading research-intensive universities. The Group was established in 1994 to promote excellence in university research and teaching. Each member undertakes diverse and high-quality research, while ensuring excellent levels of teaching and student experience. www.1994group.ac.uk
• More information at www.reading.ac.uk