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NatWest bank is reviewing its pounds 50 million-plus above- and

below-the-line business as it considers pooling the account into a

single agency.

The bank has approached at least two major non-roster shops to vie for

the business alongside its mainstream agencies, Bartle Bogle Hegarty and

Ammirati Puris Lintas. The presentations will take place within the next

two weeks.

NatWest has eight agencies on its roster: BBH handles the TV business;

APL handles corporate press and posters; the bank’s specialist agencies

are DMB&B Financial, Hamilton Wright, Holder Henry Pearce & Bailey,

Minale Tattersfield & Partners, Smith & Milton and Sth Stretch the

Horizon.

The review follows the appointment of McKinsey & Company, the management

consultancy, which is investigating all processes within NatWest,

including supplier relationships.

The pitching agencies have been asked to consider how they would handle

an account of this size. Media planning and buying - which is with

Motive Communications - is unaffected by the review.

Ian Schoolar, NatWest’s head of brand communications, confirmed the

review but tried to play down its significance. ’We are looking at ways

of gaining more brand consistency and obviously the way to do this is to

use fewer agencies.’

However, he admitted: ’We have not done anything like this for a long

time, not since BBH was appointed. Before that it was all over the place

and even TV was split between about five agencies.’

Schoolar conceded it was feasible that NatWest would finish the review

process by plumping for just one agency. ’That is why we are doing the

review. It’s theoretically possible,’ he said.

BBH won NatWest’s lead agency status in 1990, with a brief to create

brand-building TV and print work. However, in 1996 it suffered a blow

when NatWest appointed APL to handle print.

BBH’s soap-opera-style branding campaign, based on the fictional Canning

family, is expected to disappear during the review.

William Eccleshare, APL’s chief executive, and John Bartle, BBH’s joint

chief executive, declined to comment on the review.