Liberty hands ad account to Bean start-up

Liberty, the top London store, has hired agency Bean Andrews Norways Cramphorn to handle its advertising account.

The move comes two weeks after it confirmed it had dropped Dampier Communications.

It is unclear what BANC’s brief is for Liberty, but the retailer is under considerable pressure following a drop in profits. Recently it was forced to close its loss-making chain of regional shops. Last year it spent more than 700,000 on ads (Register-MEAL).

Liberty had used Dampier since January 1995 to handle creative work for the store and its sister shop Muji. Previously the account had been handled by Bartle Bogle Hegarty.

Chief executive Ian Thomson is now overseeing Liberty’s search for a marketing director to work alongside BANC.

BANC was set up two months ago from the ashes of Bean MC, which dissolved after the departure of its creative duo the Marshall brothers. They left to join M&C Saatchi…