Banks lines up for C&A European business

Banks Hoggins O’Shea has been appointed to handle a UK project for clothing retailer C&A and is battling with an unknown German agency to win the store’s multimillion pound pan-European account.

The size of the European account is not known, but the UK spend for TV, press and radio advertising was ú6.7m (Register-MEAL) last year.

C&A previously handled the bulk of its advertising in-house, though a number of small agencies – Media Campaign Services, Berkoff Associates and Willox Holmes & Law – also hold some business. These will be unaffected by the new appointment.

Insiders say C&A has also appointed a German advertising agency and that it will now ask the two to battle it out for control of its pan-European advertising.

Industry sources say the retailer plans a revamp of its advertising to fight rivals such as Debenhams and BhS.

C&A, which is notoriously secret about its corporate activities, refused to comment on the details of BHO’s appointment.

C&A divisional manager of marketing communications Colin Skidmore says: “We are just having a look at fresh ideas and emphasis. We want to see what will happen.”