Monday feeling fetches £3.5m

A TINY public relations firm whose share price has fallen as fast as that of many of its technology sector clients today earned a $5m (£3.43m) bonanza from the decision of the consultancy arm of PricewaterhouseCoopers to rename itself Monday.

OneMonday, previously known as Text 100, said it had agreed to sell 'certain rights relating to the ONEMONDAY trade mark to CGSM GmbH, a Swiss company affiliated with PwC's network of firms.'

In effect, it is selling its name for $5m. Given that ahead of the announcement the PR company had a stock market value of just £13.2m, the loss of a name which it has had for only around 18 months seems a small price to pay. For PwC, the payment is a mere sliver of the $110m it has spent coming up with a name which is everybody's least favourite day of the week.

The consultancy intends to woo staff and clients with the incredible slogan: 'Sharpen your pencil, iron your crispy white shirts, set the alarm clock, relish the challenge, listen, be fulfilled, make an impact, take a risk.'

The fact that PwC has chosen to buy off OneMonday ahead of its own name change suggests its beancounters have at least done their research. When BT floated off its mobile phone business Cellnet as O2 it found itself on the end of a legal challenge from a shopping centre of the same name on London's Finchley Road. Or perhaps the price reflects the cost of keeping a PR company silent ahead of PwC's announcement this weekend.