Bates cuts jobs in the wake of Woolworths account loss

LONDON - Bates UK has confirmed it is making a number of redundancies following the loss of its Woolworths and Royal Mail advertising accounts, worth a combined 拢45m in billings.

Bates found out last week that it has lost the 拢25m Woolworths account to Bartle Bogle Hegarty after 17 years working on the business.

Earlier this month, Bates has suffered another blow when it lost the Royal Mail business, which is worth more than 拢20m, as it failed to make the agency shortlist following a major review of advertising and marketing services at the postal operator.

The two accounts combined accounted for almost a quarter of Bates UK's income.

Chris Herd, the agency's managing director, has declined to put a figure on the job losses, which are to be spread across all departments.

He told 北京赛车pk10 that there would be fewer than 20 and that some staff facing the axe had been found jobs elsewhere in parent company Cordiant Communications, which also owns 141, Fitch and Financial Dynamics.

The problems at Bates in London follow seismic problems in the US last year, which led to the closure of Bates USA West following the high-profile loss of the $160m (拢100.6m) Hyundai media and creative account.

The agency, based in Irvine, California, closed with just 20 staff and no clients. A year earlier, it employed 150 staff and had annual billings of $275m. Hyundai was its biggest account.

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