British companies lose admiration for Diageo
Johnnie Walker and Gordon’s Gin producer, Diageo, has lost its position as the most admired company in Britain, falling 12 places as Johnson Matthey, easyJet and Next take the top spots.
Diageo, which produces Johnnie Walker, is the most admired British drinks groupThe group had been named most admired company for the past two years in a list compiled by Management Today magazine in conjunction with Birmingham City Business School, for its annual Britain’s Most Admired Companies (BMAC) awards.
The publication asked Britain’s largest public companies across 24 sectors, as well as investment analysts, to evaluate their peers against nine set criteria, rating them from 0-10.
Diageo, whose headquarters are at Park Royal in London, scored a total of 67.9 out of 100, shunting it down the list to 12th places as companies like McDonald’s, John Lewis Partnership and Paddy Power took over.
However, for a third year running, Diageo was placed at the top of the beverages leader board ahead of SAB Miller and Coca-Cola.
Management Today claims the BMAC awards are a “key industry barometer of British business success and confidence”.
Professor Mike Brown of Birmingham City Business School, the author of the Most Admired research, said: “As the economic outlook continues to improve slowly, it’s a year of cautious optimism. Firms know it’s not all Shangri-La and that there are still plenty of bumps in the road, but they are tentatively looking for growth opportunities all the same.”
The only other spirits group to make the beverages list was vodka and liqueurs producer Stock Spirits, who despite counting its core market as Eastern Europe, is headquartered in London. The group, which was given an overall score of 45.2, was named 218th most admired company from across all sectors. It went public in September 2013, but saw profits take a dive shortly afterward.
Topping the overall leader board of the most admired companies were chemical company Johnson Matthey, Next and easyJet.
