THE CLIENT
FMCG CEO is a magazine written specifically for CEOs and senior decision-makers within the British FMCG industry, and covers all things packaging, processing, and manufacturing.
We have a mutually beneficial relationship with the publication’s editor that has been cultivated over a long period of time. We are able to approach him openly and freely with concepts for editorial, and in return, he will come to us should he require any legal commentary either as a stand-alone piece, or to boost an existing story. It is this kind of relationship which can ultimately provide our clients with a huge opportunity to lead the agenda within prominent trade media.
THE PROJECT
The practice of dismissing employees and then offering them new employment on revised terms, or “Fire and Rehire” as it’s more commonly known, is something that became much more prevalent in the wake of the pandemic. It has garnered many headlines after a number of big-name brands such as Douwe Egberts and Weetabix partook in such schemes, prompting the editor of FMCG CEO to get in touch with us seeking advice as to the legality of it all.
THE WORK
We liaised with the employment law team at our client, regional law firm Wright Hassall, who had previously contributed to numerous employment law features and comments to this specific publication. Utilising their expertise, we crafted a thorough overview that answered in turn the specific questions posed by FMCG CEO. However, we recognised very quickly that the employment law issues the article tackled would be relevant for most other sectors too.
As FMCG CEO had contacted us directly with the concept, we considered the content we had provided to them as a sector exclusive. After its publication, however, we took the themes from the “Fire and Rehire” article and reconfigured them to make them unique and relevant to other industries, and approached key publications with bespoke article synopses. This way we would not soften the impact FMCG CEO was hoping to have through the publication of the feature, but we could also raise awareness elsewhere of the more broadly reaching legal implications of the “fire and rehire” tactic.
THE RESULTS
Both the editor at FMCG CEO and our contacts at Wright Hassall were pleased with the copy provided, which after initial publication, was also sold into a further 16 publications across 13 different sectors. Audience reach was approximately 910,000.