Northern Rock’s incumbent agencies could face a fight to keep a hold of their contracts with the bank following its nationalisation by the government.

The media account is handled by MediaVest Manchester, while Newcastle-based agencies Cravens and TH_NK handle the advertising and digital accounts, respectively. The firm is understood to have a £6million marketing budget.

An industry insider said: “It’s too early to know what’s going to happen, but there’s a very real possibility of the accounts having to go to tender.”