That’s what inmates are for

The link between marketing, advertising and prisons is not an obvious one, at least not to the Diary. But marketing services agency Lovell Vass Boddey (LVB) has had a brush with one of Her Majesty’s establishments. The agency needed packing cases, and in a hurry, for the relaunch of the Amoy range of Chinese cooking products. The LVB idea was to send padlocked packing cases containing the new products – and bearing Chinese lettering – to major retail buyers. But a search for boxes proved fruitless. Until, that is, the boys of Grendon in Oxfordshire – via Ekan Enterprises – came on the scene and knew where to lay their hands on some. “Grendon was remarkably accommodating,” says LVB chief executive Peter le Conte. “I have no hesitation in recommending the establishment.” But for what?