science

ME Group

ME Group is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand ME Group rather than just read about it. In short: ME Group International plc, formerly Photo-Me International plc, (LSE: MEGP) based in Epsom, Surrey is a vending machine operator. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

Key takeaways

ME Group belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect ME Group to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of ME Group from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

ME Group International plc, formerly Photo-Me International plc, (LSE: MEGP) based in Epsom, Surrey is a vending machine operator. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

History

The company has its origins in a compact photograph developing process invented by Gupp Allen and Ignatius Dunlap Baker in California in 1946. They brought the process to the UK as a business named "Photo-Me" in 1952 and the company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1962. Serge Crasnianski became chief executive in 1998 and, under his leadership, the company saw a significant increase in its share price as investors were led to believe that photo booths would ultimately provide internet services on the go. Three directors caused the company embarrassment in February 2007, when they cashed out their share options shortly before the company issued a profit warning: the Financial Services Authority subsequently fined the company £500,000 for not informing the markets in a timely manner. In September 2007, a shareholder revolt over plans to sell off the vending division forced Serge Crasnianski and Vernon Sankey to resign. Serge Crasnianski was reappointed to the board as a non-executive director in May 2009. He was re-appointed chief executive in May 2010 and immediately implemented the disposal of the company's loss-making wholesale photo-processing labs business.

In November 2016, the company announced that the company had bought the photo division of Asda stores, taking over the supermarket's 191 photo centres and 172 self-service kiosks, and, in December 2019, the company diversified into the laundry business, with a division called "Revolution" providing 24/7 outdoor self-service launderettes. The company was criticised in the satirical magazine, Private Eye, after it was disclosed that its chairman, John Lewis, had donated approximately £390,000 to the Conservative Party before being appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2019 New Year Honours. The company changed its name from Photo-Me to ME Group in August 2022 to reflect its reduced dependence on the photo booth business.

References

External links ME Group plc

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with ME Group

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what ME Group claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to ME Group before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about ME Group ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of ME Group

In research: ME Group appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses ME Group in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: ME Group is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Companies in the FTSE 250 Index, Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, Photography equipment, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for ME Group outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study ME Group in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what ME Group means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain ME Group out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is ME Group in simple terms?

Why does ME Group matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study ME Group?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on ME Group.