The Leith Agency has played down Carling’s decision to review its £7 million advertising account as Leith chairman, John Denholm, announces his departure from the agency.
Coors, the owner of Carling, has asked the AAR to approach a number of unnamed agencies to pitch for the account. The Leith Agency has worked on Carling for five years.
John Denholm, chairman of The Leith Agency, told The Drum that as far as the agency was concerned it was ‘business as usual’.
“Leith London is currently working on a number of projects and has a lot of work currently in production,” he said. “It’s simply that Carling talks to a number of agencies from time to time as they’re free to do. If a full review goes on, we’ll be working very hard to retain it.”
The decision by Coors came just days before Denholm announced he was to quit the agency he set up in 1984 to concentrate on his non-executive director involvement with Denholm Associates. The recruitment specialist was set up in 2002 and is run by Denholm’s wife, Nikki. He currently works at the company for one day a week, and is expected to add other non-executive director posts and work as a freelance consultant. Talking about his departure, he said his main reason for leaving was ‘other interests’.
Denholm will leave The Leith Agency at the end of December. He will also keep a ‘liaising role’ with Cello, the marketing group which bought the agency last year.