Back in San Fran after a whistlestop tour to the UK. From those I spoke to the mood in the UK seems positive from an agency perspective with lots of companies looking for agencies and new positions and opportunities for staff opening up.

On the media side, The Guardian’s revamp is still a hot topic. I like the new Berliner format and the fact is has color on every page, though I was less convinced about the half-size supplement, G2, which is now reduced to comic-sized format.

Meanwhile, The Evening Standard, a London daily tabloid and staple read for commuters on their way home, is going up-market. In the face of declining circulation (now at 344,145), it has taken on 20 more reporters and is aiming to boost its business content. The revamp also includes a redesign (though not a reformat) and the ditching of its pink pages which delineated its City pages (much to the delight of the FT no doubt). The Independent on Sunday has more here [subscription required].

And finally, joy at last for the relaunch of PRWEEK’s online presence with specific industry sections and its RSS feeds. A much cleaner look and faster site (not difficult). This week coincidentally features my colleague, Andy Oliver, talking about disaster recovery for PR firms (in relation to the San Diego bush fires which drove the team from the office). All content is free until October 31, 2005 then the gates will come back down and you’ll have to log in as before. Look out later this week for a technology email newsletter akin to the return of a brighter, better PRWEEK WorldWire.

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