Value of new business moves `up by one third’

The value of new business moves in the first quarter of the year rose by nearly a third to ú485m compared with the same period last year, according to The New Business Monitor.

The Saatchi & Saatchi network, as it then was, lost the top three accounts in that period. The ú14m Mars petfoods account moved out of Bates Dorland, and the ú13m Mars confectionery and ú11.8m Mirror Group Newspapers accounts out of Saatchi & Saatchi, according to the report.

Since then Saatchi has lost the ú49m (Register-MEAL) Dixons account (MW last week). But it did pick up the ú10m Camelot Instants lottery account in the same period.

The number of account moves rose, but only by 4.5 per cent to 209. Analysis by type of service shows that media-only gained, taking 16 per cent of the total compared with 13 per cent in the equivalent period last year.

Media-only accounts also increased their share of account moves by value to 20 per cent from 19 per cent. There were 33 moves falling into this category in the first quarter of 1995, with a claimed value of ú95m.

The leading category for account moves was food, with 12 per cent of the total, up from eight per cent in the previous period. This was followed by drink, holidays/travel and retail with seven per cent each.

At the end of the first quarter 1995, there were about 180 accounts in the UK, with a claimed billing of some ú500m, seeking new advertising arrangements.