Beattie resigns in wake of merger

TBWA’s high-profile creative director, Trevor Beattie, has officially resigned in the aftermath of the agency’s merger with Simons Palmer Clemmow Johnson, as predicted in Marketing Week last week.

The man who warned in a national newspaper interview this week that, “You can’t switch me off”, handed in his notice on Monday afternoon.

It had become clear that he would not lead the creative team for the new agency, TBWA Simons Palmer, as he had wanted. TBWA, which is owned by Omnicom, is estimated to have paid 5m to 7m for Simons Palmer.

A senior source involved in negotiating the deal says it was always made clear to Beattie that no one would fill the “classic creative director’s role”.

The working arrangement was that the agency’s creative directors – Andy McKay, Paul Hodgkinson, Guy Malcolm, Tony Moore, and Beattie – would report to new chief executive Paul Simons.

Beattie met Simons last week and was believed to be satisfied with the new working agreement.

Chairman Jo Hoare says he will attempt to persuade Beattie to change his mind. “Trevor has tendered his resignation, but I have not accepted it. We are extremely keen to keep him. But we must have people on board who want to be part of the team,” he adds.

Meanwhile, more details of the merger have come to light. IDV has fired Simons Palmer from its 2m account as a consequence of the deal. It is understood that group planning head Carl Johnson is considering taking a position as a chief executive of an overseas TBWA agency, possibly in Australia.