Chelsea Partnership to fold after client losses

The Chelsea Partnership is being folded into its parent company Grey Advertising, after losing key clients and failing to win new ones.

The future of The Chelsea Partnership chief executive, Maryann Barone, is uncertain.

The agency was set up in September 1993 by Grey Worldwide to develop “prestige” clients.

Barone, who was brought over from Grey Dusseldorf to head the Chelsea Partnership in 1993, is understood to be looking for a new position.

She had been working on the 20m Procter & Gamble European cosmetics division, Eurocos, which includes Hugo Boss and the Laura Biagiotti fragrances.

The account was transferred to the Chelsea Partnership.

However, in March Marketing Week revealed the account had gone into Grey.

It is being handled out of London by Barbara Nokes, who had been appointed creative director (MW March 22).

A month earlier, Chelsea Partnership split with Swedish fashion company Marc O’Polo only three months after winning the 3m account because of an inability to agree on contractual terms (MW March 1).

Among the Chelsea Partnership’s few remaining accounts is the 1.5m pan-European business for Cotton Council International, the US cotton industry’s export marketing division, which it won last September.

Barone refused to comment on the break-up of the agency and no-one at Grey would comment.