PHD loses Charles Schwab brief as Barclays takes over the reins

PHD has lost the £1m media buying and planning business of Charles Schwab Europe following Barclays’ acquisition of the discount stockbroker at the beginning of this month.

PHD has lost the &£1m media buying and planning business of Charles Schwab Europe following Barclays’ acquisition of the discount stockbroker at the beginning of this month.

PHD will cease working with Charles Schwab Europe at the end of March, when Barclays’ media agency Starcom Motive will take over the business. Starcom Motive was appointed to handle Barclays’ &£15m media account in July 2001 (MW July 5, 2001). In March 2002 it also gained the &£14m media business of The Woolwich, which was bought by Barclays in 2000.

Abbott Mead Vickers.BBDO is Charles Schwab Europe’s creative agency, but the business is expected to move to Barclays’ advertising agency BBH. A spokeswoman for Barclays says: “There is no change in the creative agency at the moment, but as the corporate activity happens, it will be under review.”Barclays bought Charles Schwab Europe for an estimated &£30m to bolster its wealth management arm. Over the next six to nine months, Barclays will integrate Charles Schwab Europe with Barclays Stockbrokers to give it more than 450,000 accounts.

As part of the integration, Barclays will close two Schwab offices in Birmingham and Milton Keynes, and will consolidate its operations into its sites in Glasgow and Peterborough. The Charles Schwab name will be dropped.

Head of marketing for Charles Schwab, Richard Dallas, and director of acquisition marketing, Marcus Bolitho, are both still working at the company and Charles Schwab Europe is continuing with its current ISA marketing campaign.