McDonalds try to improve image by introducing a degree course for managers, UK snow could mean businesses need to work even harder on PR, and railway changes are bad PR for government as it is travellers who must pay

Today it has been revealed that McDonald’s is introducing its own degree course in business management for its restaurant bosses in the UK.

The foundation degree, which will be accredited by Manchester Metropolitan University, marks the company’s latest move into education, following the launch of an apprenticeship scheme 18 months ago.

Senior vice-president, David Fairhurst, says it challenges “snobbish” misconceptions about McDonald’s staff.

The degree is a customised version of Manchester Metropolitan University’s management development programme.

It will mean that McDonald’s employees will be able to get a nationally-recognised qualification without leaving their jobs.

McDonald’s is set to publish a company education prospectus as well, after it was given awarding body status two years ago, allowing it to develop and award its own qualifications.

The department store Harrods set up a degree course for its staff, in conjunction with Anglia Ruskin University.

Microsoft has its own qualifications which were awarded to about 17,500 people in the UK last year.

In worse news, last weekend was supposed to be the busiest of the year for Christmas Shopping, with the traffic free shopping day (also known as VIP or Very Important Pedestrians’ Day) taking place on Oxford Street and Regent Street in London, but people are continually being put off from going out to the shops because of the snow. Snow is threatening to make it so that retailers do not benefit on what should be an extremely lucrative time of the year.

It seems that is going to be more important than ever for the retailers to get their PR right and make it more enticing for people to go around their shops.

Lastly though, in more bad PR for the government, they have announced plans to spend £8bn on Britain’s railways; buying about 2,000 new carriages to tackle overcrowding, electrifying some lines and pressing ahead with the Thameslink programme; but it is passengers who must pay more for tickets for the investments.

So we are having to pay ourselves for the changes, which seems unfair in this time of recession, when the government could surely help to fund these plans – plus, the work won’t be completed until 2019, with a few changes coming into place in the coming months.

The PR gaffes just keep on coming…

Hello everyone and happy new year to all of you.

Well it’s been a great year already for PR gaffes. Snow has done its reputation no favours by making its presence felt over the past couple of weeks. And how many companies have shown how ill-prepared they are for a bit of the white stuff?

I won’t have a rant about snow though because the makers are unlikely to hire a PR man.

My favourite gaffes so far have come from the Government (didn’t they pride themselves on their presentation in the old days?) and the owners of Liverpool FC, who have shown between them how (not) to present a united front and how (not) to address your customers.

Let’s start at the top. Merely a few hours into the first working week, Labour MPs Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt joined forces to try and force good old Gordon Brown out of his job. I think the voters are about to make a pretty good job of that without your help, thank you very much.

They claimed their efforts to set up  secret ballot of MPs on the party leadership was not an attempted coup. Of course not! How could a vote on the Prime Minister’s leadership but anything but a vote of confidence?

All they’ve achieved is to drive more voters away from the party, and show how little they care about what’s going on in the real world. They would much rather fight their internal battles.

Shouldn’t Labour’s PR machine be showing us why we should vote for them at the moment?

So after that shining example of how to run a political party in election year, we turn to a classic demonstration of how a company should address its customers.

The relationship of Liverpool FC’s American directors, George Gillett and Tom Hicks, with the club’s fans has never exactly been harmonious. In fact it’s so bad the fans would rather stick with a clueless manager!

But just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, Tom Hicks’ son (the imaginatively named Tom Hicks Jr) decided to launch a foul-mouthed rant in an email to a fan.

Now we don’t know what was in the original email, of course. Sender Stephen Horner has been described as ‘a fan with genuine concerns’ by his fellow supporters. Whilst that may be true, we have no idea how he expressed those concerns.

Whether he expressed them politely or not is not the issue though. For Tom Hicks Jr to launch into a tirade, and call Horner an ‘idiot’ and much worse, is unacceptable. Can you imagine a Starbucks or McDonald’s director abusing customers like that?

Liverpool’s directors need to appreciate there is no football club without its fans. Yes, football clubs are not like other businesses due to the loyal support they receive from their fans. But they are still businesses and fans are their customers.

Thankfully, Junior has done the decent thing and resigned, but the damage has been done and if it wasn’t irreparable before that incident, it certainly is now.

I’ll be back again next month with more gaffes.

In the meantime, make sure you tune in on Friday for our interview with Staffordshire entrepreneur Mo Chaudry, the man dubbed the Original Slumdog Millionaire after leaving humble surroundings in rural Pakistan and building a £40m fortune.

Have a great week everyone!