Concern for the Economy Increases by 463% as Trust in Banking Sector Dips 44%

LONDON - With Chancellor Alistair Darling expected to concede in today’s budget that the government will fail to recover a significant amount of the GBP60bn bailout funds already spent on UK banks, new research has uncovered concern for the economy has risen by an amazing 463% over the past year, while trust in banks and politicians continues to fall.

According to the latest MindReader survey from the world largest media agency network Mindshare, the state of the economy has now become the number one national concern among Britons replacing terrorism as the threat that causes most worry about on a daily basis.

The 483% rise in concern for the economy means it is now the number one worry among Britons, leaping from seventh place 12 months ago to take pole position today - replacing terrorism.

Reflecting this record rise, trust in the banking sector also plummeted by 44% from the 31 March 2008 to 31 March 2009 according to the new research.

This means less than one fifth of Britons indicate they trust banks and only a paltry 1% of the population suggesting that they have absolute faith in banks, reflecting what seems to be a terminal decline in trust for Britain’s major financial institutions.

Worry about personal finance also increased by 15% year-on-year with 10% of those surveyed believing that their mortgage was now greater than the value of their property. Nearly half of Britons (47%) also claim to have credit card debt.

Trust in politicians is also at an all time low with only 5 % claiming to trust MPs last year compared to just 4% now.

Generally when asked to rate level of happiness, there is surprising no significant difference from year to year. However, there was a significant decline in levels of both confidence and optimism.

Sheila Byfield, Leader of Business Planning at Mindshare Worldwide, said: “This is Alistair Darling’s first budget since entering a period of downturn and, unsurprisingly, the main emphasis is on banking and the economy. Levels of trust and confidence in both are at an appallingly low level. It will be a big challenge for the chancellor to counter-balance these public feelings and reverse negativity.”

The MindReader survey was conducted across 24 countries including 1,000 targeted adults in England, Scotland and Wales.

Notes to the Editor:

Mindshare is a global marketing and media services network with billings in excess of $23 billion (source: RECMA).

The network consists of 97 offices in 67 countries throughout the USA, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific; each dedicated to forging competitive marketing advantage for businesses and their brands.

Mindshare is a member of Group M with $63.5bn in billings (source: RECMA).

For more information, please visit: www.mindshareworld.com.

GroupM, the world’s leading full service media investment management operation, was created by WPP Group to oversee its assets in this sector. These assets include Mindshare, Mediaedge:cia, MediaCom and MAXUS. The focus of GroupM is the intelligent application of volume and scale in trading, innovation and quality of services, in order to bring benefit to clients and the companies it operates.

For more information, please visit: www.groupm.com.

Source: Mindshare Worldwide

For further information, please contact: Mark Banham, Editor, MindShare Worldwide, Tel: +44(0)20-7969-4468, E-mail: mark.banham at mindshareworld.com