English - Svenska

Press release
Released for publication on 30 January 2007

The S Group opens its international media service

The S Group has opened its on-line media service for the international media. This extensive user-friendly service makes it easier for journalists to obtain information and it provides them with background information about the S Group’s business activities. The service is available in Swedish and English; materials in Lithuanian, Latvian and Russian are also available on the English pages.

“The reason for building an international media service was simple: research and practical experience show that the internet has overtaken the phone as the primary source for journalists, especially when they’re researching the background for articles,” says Kimmo Salo, External Communications Manager.

The S Group planned the website taking full advantage of its expertise in communications and it also took journalists’ wishes into full consideration. The service will develop and expand based on feedback and usage.

The international media service provides

• reviews of the S Group’s six business areas

• current topics of discussion about the S Group

• an image bank with photographs of people, illustrations and all the most important logos and emblems

• background information to the S Group’s history, cooperative activities, customer-ownership and international operations

The S Group is a network of Finnish businesses in the retail trade and service sector with around 1,400 locations in Finland. It comprises cooperative enterprises and Suomen Osuuskauppojen Keskuskunta (SOK) and its subsidiaries; together they provide services and benefits for members and other customers. In Finland, the S Group is the market leader in the grocery trade. The cooperative enterprise is engaged in the grocery trade and it also operates hotels and restaurants in the Baltic countries and St Petersburg.

You can find the S Group’s i nternational media service at http://mediapalvelu.s-kanava.fi

For further information, please contact:

Kirsi Ervola, Editor-in-Chief, SOK Communications and Publications, tel. +358 10 76 80366, kirsi.ervola@sok.fi

Kimmo Salo, External Communications Manager, SOK Communications and Publications, tel. +358 10 76 80362, kimmo.salo@sok.fi

>> Further information about the S Group

All editors and reporters publishing our material are kindly asked to inform us by filling out the form below.

I will use the material above in a publication. The fields with bold text are required.