ME Group
Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". ME Group International plc, formerly Photo-Me International plc, (LSE: Template:Trim// MEGP) based in Epsom, Surrey is a vending machine operator. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.[1]
History
The company has its origins in a compact photograph developing process discovered by Gupp Allen and Ignatius Dunlap Baker in California in 1946.[2] They brought the process to the UK as a business named "Photo-Me" in 1952 and the company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1962.[3]
Serge Crasnianski became chief executive in 1998 and, under his leadership, the company saw a significant increase in its share price as investors were led to believe that photo booths would ultimately provide internet services on the go.[4]
Three directors caused the company embarrassment in February 2007, when they cashed out their share options shortly before the company issued a profit warning: the Financial Services Authority subsequently fined the company £500,000 for not informing the markets in a timely manner.[5] In September 2007, a shareholder revolt over plans to sell off the vending division forced Serge Crasnianski and Vernon Sankey to resign.[6]
Serge Crasnianski was reappointed to the board as a non-executive director in May 2009. He was re-appointed chief executive in May 2010 and immediately implemented the disposal of the company's loss-making wholesale photo-processing labs business.[7]
In November 2016, the company announced that the company had bought the photo division of Asda stores, taking over the supermarket's 191 photo centres and 172 self-service kiosks,[8] and, in December 2019, the company diversified into the laundry business, with a division called "Revolution" providing 24/7 outdoor self-service launderettes.[9]
The company was criticised in the satirical magazine, Private Eye, after it was disclosed that its chairman, John Lewis, had donated approximately £390,000 to the Conservative Party before being appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2019 New Year Honours.[10]
The company changed its name from Photo-Me to ME Group in August 2022 to reflect its reduced dependence on the photo booth business.[11]
References
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External links
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