Historic Dockyard seeking '˜recompense' after allegedly unauthorised Decathlon photoshoot

PORTSMOUTH Historic Dockyard is seeking '˜recompense' after its officials discovered what is believed to be an unauthorised marketing campaign held at the site.
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Sporting retailer Decathlon has allegedly used images of the destination for a new commercial venture linked to its May branch opening at the new Portsmouth Retail Park.

But the pictures have ruffled feathers – with dockyard representatives saying the firm bypassed its rules for marketing agreements.

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Jacquie Shaw, a PR manager at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, said: ‘We have a lot of requests to use the site for marketing campaigns or commercial location agreements.

‘For example, many people would have seen the Lloyds Bank commercial with the horse running past HMS Victory.

‘Most weeks we are hosting something like this and we charge or have a reciprocal agreement.

‘But it appears Decathlon came on-site and took a photo – but I had not heard anything about this and nor had our heads of marketing or commercial.’

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Ms Shaw discovered the allegedly unauthorised imagery via email – and took to social media to vent her confusion.

An aerial photograph Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and Portsmouth Naval Base, taken as part of a Photex. Credit: CrownAn aerial photograph Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and Portsmouth Naval Base, taken as part of a Photex. Credit: Crown
An aerial photograph Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and Portsmouth Naval Base, taken as part of a Photex. Credit: Crown

In a tweet to Decathlon UK, she said: ‘Hey @DecathlonUK can you tell me why you took a photo on our site @PHDockyard for your marketing #decathlonportsmouth & didn’t ask permission? Trying to contact you by phone is painful so perhaps this might work?’

In a swift reply, the retailer said it was looking into the matter.

A spokesperson said: ‘Hello Jacquie, thanks for tweeting us. We are sorry for that. We can confirm our team is double checking this with the Portsmouth store and will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience!’

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Now, Jacquie said, the dockyard is looking to ‘understand’ the situation and ‘get some recompense’.

An aerial photograph Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and Portsmouth Naval Base, taken as part of a Photex. Credit: CrownAn aerial photograph Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and Portsmouth Naval Base, taken as part of a Photex. Credit: Crown
An aerial photograph Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and Portsmouth Naval Base, taken as part of a Photex. Credit: Crown

She said: ‘I love Decathlon and it’s great news they are coming into the city, but we wouldn’t dream of just walking into their store and taking a photo like that without permission.

‘We can’t say for sure they didn’t just head to the visitor centre on a particularly busy day and get ushered through, but I certainly don’t recall setting this up.

‘I’m bemused they would think they can come on to our property and take a photograph like that without asking.’

The News has approached Decathlon for further comment.