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Laura Ashley chief executive Ann Iverson has left the company and

been replaced by David Hoare, currently chief operating officer.

The government is to block Littlewoods’ acquisition of Sears’s Freemans

mail order business on the grounds that it would give Littlewoods and

Great Universal Stores over 80% of agency mail order sales between

them.

Bausch & Lomb has appointed Bozell Worldwide to the pounds 32m global

account for its Vision Care contact lens division.

PepsiCo International has appointed Simon Calver to the position of

vice-president sales and distribution operations. John Maltman,

currently vice-president customer development for Europe and Sub-Saharan

Africa is replacing Calver as franchise vice-president UK/Ireland.

Jackie Kean, advertising manager at P&O Ferries is to join Amerada Gas

as its first ad manager next month.

TGI Friday has appointed Claire Price, formerly brand and marketing

manager for Bass Leisure Entertainment, as its new marketing

director.

Pronto, the pub lottery game due to launch next week, is rethinking its

advertising in the light of a proposal by the government to outlaw quick

draw lotteries. The new campaign, which is unlikely to be ready in time

for the launch, will promote Pronto’s charity links.

The Direct Marketing Association has accepted four elements of the Royal

Mail’s Business Pricing programme. The two sides are still discussing

proposals on volume-related discounts and machine sorted mailings.

Walt Disney Consumer Products is recruiting a marketing director for the

UK to replace Mike Evans who leaves at the end of the year.

Taylor Nelson AGB is to merge with French market information firm Sofres

through the acquisiton of its parent company Financiere Sofres for

pounds 119m.

Safeway is aiming to improve its customer service by rewarding staff who

achieve high levels of customer care through its new employee

share-option scheme.

Loyalty scheme Smart is claiming a first by allowing cardholders to

collect points on the Internet. Up to seven points a week can be

collected by clicking on areas of associated firms’ Web sites including

Shell and UCI.

Sky Television has launched SkyDial, a new low-cost telephone service

aimed exclusively at its direct-to-home satellite subscribers.

Vodafone has announced major price reductions to its digital tariffs

sparking suggestions of a price war in the mobile phone industry. The

reductions undercut Orange and Cellnet which are both expected to cut

their prices.

This article was first published on Marketing