Latest news with #M&C_Saatchi
Daily Mail
12 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Absolutely dotty! Government blows over half a million on 'vanity' makeover for website which involved moving a full stop
Ministers spent more than £500,000 of taxpayers' money on a 'vanity' makeover for the government website which critics say is little more than changing a colour and moving a dot. The site, used by millions for essential services such as tax returns and passport renewals, will see its traditional black masthead turned blue and its 'dot' coloured turquoise. The tweaks were commissioned as part of 'brand refresh' with contracts totalling £532,000 handed to global ad agency M&C Saatchi. The costly new logo, set to go live this month, has already met with ridicule from civil servants, with one mocking online: 'Did someone really get paid to move a dot?'. Others labelled it 'cheap', 'tacky' and 'absolutely diabolical'. Zia Yusuf, head of Reform UK's efficiency drive, last night branded the revamp a waste of public money. He said: 'The disrespect for taxpayers' money continues to be astounding. 'Spending more than £500,000 on changing a logo on a government website is a joke at the taxpayer's expense, quite literally. 'This is just the kind of thing we have been uncovering in county halls on a daily basis. It's abundantly clear that Whitehall also needs a visit from Reform's DOGE team.' Two contracts for the brand refresh were tendered by the previous Conservative government and carried on under Labour, according to publicly available papers. Communications giant M&C Saatchi secured deals potentially worth up to £750,000. A government source said the final bill came to £532,000, which the cost drawn from existing department budgets. The new logo was criticised on web forums used by civil servants. One said: 'As a government we are trying to maximise efficiency and save money. 'Why was this what we chose to spend time and resources on?' Another joked: 'Reform blue for the dot. Conservative blue for the background. Are they preparing us for 2029?' Elliot Keck, campaigns chief at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Taxpayers will be baffled that hundreds of thousands have been blown on minor graphic design changes. 'At a time when public services are stretched and families are feeling the pinch, shelling out for a vanity rebrand is an insult to hardworking Brits. 'Ministers should be focusing on delivering frontline services, not petty optics.' Officials defended the cost, stressing the six-figure bill included 'refreshing and extending' the brand across web, mobile and app platforms. A government spokesman said: 'This was committed to by the previous government, with two of the three contracts signed and delivered by July 2024. 'The new government then chose to turn the rebranding and research work into consumer-friendly digital products, including our upcoming App, Chat and more.' MailOnline has contacted the government for further comment. The website was last overhauled in 2012.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why The 35% Return On Capital At M&C Saatchi (LON:SAA) Should Have Your Attention
Finding a business that has the potential to grow substantially is not easy, but it is possible if we look at a few key financial metrics. Typically, we'll want to notice a trend of growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and alongside that, an expanding base of capital employed. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. And in light of that, the trends we're seeing at M&C Saatchi's (LON:SAA) look very promising so lets take a look. We've discovered 1 warning sign about M&C Saatchi. View them for free. What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)? If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. The formula for this calculation on M&C Saatchi is: Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities) 0.35 = UK£34m ÷ (UK£236m - UK£139m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024). So, M&C Saatchi has an ROCE of 35%. That's a fantastic return and not only that, it outpaces the average of 11% earned by companies in a similar industry. View our latest analysis for M&C Saatchi AIM:SAA Return on Capital Employed May 7th 2025 In the above chart we have measured M&C Saatchi's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free analyst report for M&C Saatchi . What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us M&C Saatchi has not disappointed with their ROCE growth. More specifically, while the company has kept capital employed relatively flat over the last five years, the ROCE has climbed 2,007% in that same time. So it's likely that the business is now reaping the full benefits of its past investments, since the capital employed hasn't changed considerably. It's worth looking deeper into this though because while it's great that the business is more efficient, it might also mean that going forward the areas to invest internally for the organic growth are lacking. On a side note, M&C Saatchi's current liabilities are still rather high at 59% of total assets. This effectively means that suppliers (or short-term creditors) are funding a large portion of the business, so just be aware that this can introduce some elements of risk. Ideally we'd like to see this reduce as that would mean fewer obligations bearing risks.
