Summerfield Wilmot Keene is to become the London arm of a marketing
network being built out of the ashes of the former Birkdale group.
The agency - now known as SWK - has been acquired by the newly named 10
Group, which owns the Brunnings agencies in Manchester and
Birmingham.
The 10 Group is a listed acquisition vehicle formed by the Midlands
businessmen, Andy Moore and Paul Harvey, who bought the share in
Birkdale owned by Rover’s former marketing director, Kevin Morley. The
deal followed an abortive attempt by Morley to turn Birkdale into a
major force in advertising and marketing.
The deal ends several months of merger speculation surrounding SWK,
which earlier pulled out of negotiations with the Osprey group.
Under the agreement, the 10 Group has bought out the Gresham Trust’s
shareholding in SWK. Malcolm Summerfield, SWK’s chairman, and Hugh
Salmon, its managing director, will take undisclosed shareholdings in
the 10 Group. A share option scheme is also being introduced for SWK’s
35 staff.
Summerfield, a founding partner of SWK, said: ’We feel comfortable with
the 10 Group.’
SWK had a less than happy start after its launch in May 1996 when a
management team led by Summerfield bought out the then Bastable Hazlitt
Partnership.
Its first client, Colorvision, went bust soon after appointing it and
assignments from Duckhams oils and Renaissance cosmetics failed to
materialise.
The agency will continue to operate without a full-time creative
director, the post having been vacant since Paul Wilmot’s departure
earlier this year.
