Y&R wins back Eurostar brief

St Luke’s has lost the &£10m Eurostar account. Young & Rubicam in the UK is understood to have won the business, which it held until three years ago.

It is unclear whether the company has appointed Y&R for the long term or whether it intends to put the account up for pitch as part of a European review later this year.

Y&R handles creative and media for Eurostar in France and Belgium. However, Manning Gottlieb Media is understood to have retained the media in the UK.

Y&R has had a chequered history with Eurostar in the UK. It was the UK launch agency for the service in 1994 but was ditched in favour of St Luke’s when the Virgin-backed consortium LCR took over Eurostar in 1996.

The advertising review, revealed exclusively by Marketing Week (March 18), came about as a result of a restructure at Eurostar earlier this year.

Pierre Louis Roy, formerly senior marketer at Eurostar, France, was appointed to the new position of head of brands and communications for Eurostar across Europe.

In December, Eurostar was taken over by a joint venture company, led by British Airways and National Express which, with French and Belgian railway companies SNCF and SNCB, will run the train operator until 2010.