Clark & Taylor is being absorbed into the Abbott Mead Vickers group
which wants to harness the troubled agency’s retail expertise.
Under the deal, which was forecast by Campaign two months ago, Clark &
Taylor will be merged into AMV Advance, set up during the summer to
handle Sainsbury’s pounds 6 million combined local marketing and the
Savacentre hypermarkets account.
The new operation has also been appointed to develop a local marketing
strategy for Argos and to promote Cantor Index, a new financial spread
betting service.
It comes four months after Clark & Taylor lost its Sainsbury’s regional
marketing assignment to AMV, ending a 14-year relationship with the
supermarket.
As a result, the agency was forced to axe 15 jobs in order to remain in
profit.
Most of Clark & Taylor’s 36 staff will move from the agency’s
headquarters near London Bridge into AMV Advance’s West End offices at
the end of January.
With them will come the agency’s clients, including BT and Granada,
which already work with AMV, as well as the Tote and the Ideal Homes
Exhibition.
The combined operation will be headed by Steve Carrigan, the AMV Advance
managing director. Jenny Digby, Clark & Taylor’s business director, will
remain in this role as will Charlie Thompson, Clark & Taylor’s new-
business director.
Simon Clark, a founder of Clark & Taylor and its chief executive, will
be a non-executive director of AMV Advance.
Creative control will be shared by Dave Smith, Clark & Taylor’s creative
chief, and Rob Purdie, his AMV Advance counterpart.
