WPP’s Sorrell – expect an L-shaped recession

Tim Burrowes

March 18, 2009 10:15

WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell – the man who famously described the last downturn as “bath-shaped” has predicted that this recession will be “L-shaped”.

Speaking in London, he said: “The first half of 2009 will be very tough, and the second half relatively better…relative to the first half. And in 2010 we will see a recovery — what we called in our recent trading statement ‘a recovery of sorts’.”

An L-shaped recession is seen as a dramatic downturn, followed by a long flat period.

In Sorrell’s speech, reported by Brand Republic, he said that China and new media would be the global holding group’s priorities.

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Tim Burrowes

Tim Burrowes is the publisher of Mumbrella and Unmade. He co-founded Mumbrella in 2008 and sister title Unmade in 2021. He's worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia & Australia and has specialised in writing about the communications world for the last 25 years. He wrote the book Media Unmade, published in 2021, and became the presenter of MediaLand on ABC Radio National in 2025.