ASA Adjudication on Boyden Interim Management Ltd

Ad

A national press ad for a recruitment company, Boyden Interim Management.

Issue

BIE Interim Executive Ltd challenged whether the claim:

1. "independent" was misleading, because the company was a part of Boyden International; and

2. "Boyden Interim Management is the leading independent provider of high level interim executives to both private and public sectors" was misleading and could be substantiated.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

1. Boyden Interim Management (Boyden) said they were a 100% subsidiary of Corporate Steps Ltd, which was owned by the directors of Boyden.  They pointed out that there were no external providers of permanent capital to the business and, consequently, no external party was able to influence their management or direction. Boyden acknowledged that they were a member of the Boyden World Corporation, a not-for-profit marketing network.  They said the complainants were part of the Boyden Network until 1999 when their management decided to leave and establish a separate interim management operation.  Boyden said they were invited by Boyden World Corporation, in 2000, to acquire the license to operate an interim management business in the UK under the Boyden brand and re-establish its presence in the UK. They said members of that network comprised both executive search and interim management businesses, all of which were independently owned.  They pointed out that one of Boyden's directors was an equal partner in Boyden World Corporation along with 82 other partners from companies around the world.  Boyden maintained that each partner had the right to use the Boyden brand in their business but asserted that the Boyden World Corporation had no influence over the activity of partners in their particular jurisdiction.

Boyden said their definition of "independent" covered both the ownership and financial structure of their business, as well as the focus on the provision of interim management services. They believed their claim was supported by the dictionary definition of 'independent': 1. free from control in action or judgment, autonomous; 2. not dependent on anything else for function or validity, separate; 3. not reliant on the support, especially financial support of others; 4. capable of acting for oneself. Boyden said it was widely recognized that they worked at the senior or 'high level' end of the market place along with their competitors BIE, Odgers and EIM.  They pointed out that BIE was part of Hexagon plc, which comprised interim management, executive search and the HR consulting businesses. Furthermore, Boyden pointed out that all the other firms listed were either owned by a parent company or were not involved directly in Boyden's market sector.

2. Boyden pointed out that they had not claimed that they were the leading supplier of interim management services in the UK. They believed either Robert Half International or Albemarle Interim Management plc could claim to be the leading supplier overall by volume and pointed out that neither of these organisations had raised an objection against the ad. They said the claim in the ad was, specifically, that Boyden was "the leading independent provider of high level interim executives".  They sent several sources of information on the interim management sector, including the Plimsoll Portfolio Analysis, an independent analysis of the leading 250 recruitment companies in the UK.  Boyden maintained that Plimsoll was recognized by financial institutions as one of the most robust sources of industry data, providing up-to-date and accurate market information.  Boyden pointed out that they featured in the top 10 fastest growing companies based on sales return, the top 10 fastest growing companies on total assets and the top 50 companies on sales return on assets. The data also featured details of all the firms total sales over the period covered.  Boyden also asked Ipsos-MORI to send us confidential data they held on behalf of the Interim Management Association (IMA), a trade body of which Boyden was a member, along with the majority of interim management providers. The data was based on each firms financial records and their revenues for work done in 2006. They also sent a copy of research that showed the average day rate obtained by Boyden was significantly higher than that achieved by the rest of the interim management sector. Boyden pointed out that both sources demonstrated that in the market sector, as defined by the claim "independent, high level interim management providers", Boyden was the leading firm in terms of sales and revenues. Boyden noted the evidence sent by BIE was from a survey carried out by Executive Grapevine, which, they maintained, was of limited value as several firms did not take part in the survey.  Nonetheless, they pointed out that no firm on the Executive Grapevine list could combine the seniority at which Boyden operated across all functions and sectors with independence of ownership and service.

Assessment

1. Not upheld

We noted BIE's assertion that Boyden was part of 'Boyden International'.  We noted, however, that Boyden was a separate entity from Boyden World Corporation in terms of ownership and control.  We understood that the Boyden World Corporation was a network of independent firms which licensed the Boyden brand for a particular territory. We considered that, because Boyden had demonstrated their independence, in terms of finance, ownership and operational control, they had substantiated the claim "independent".  We concluded that the ad was unlikely to mislead.

On this point, we investigated the ad under CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness) but did not find it in breach.

2. Not upheld

We noted the Plimsoll analysis and Ipsos-MORI data showed that they were ranked highly in several areas.  We also noted Boyden's area of operations was limited to a specific sector of the interim management market.  We noted the claim was qualified by the terms "independent" and "high level" and, therefore, we considered that readers were unlikely to understand the claim to refer to the interim management sector as a whole.  We also considered that Boyden had shown that many of their direct competitors were either owned by a parent company or not directly involved in Boyden's sector.  Because Boyden had shown that, in the specific area of the market defined by the ad, they were the leading firm, we concluded that the ad was unlikely to mislead.

On this point, we investigated the ad under CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action required.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)