Agencies vie for £5m TD Waterhouse.

Leading discount share-broking service TD Waterhouse is talking to advertising agencies about its &£5m business.

The company has approached a number of agencies, including Maher Bird Associates, which was appointed last November to handle the UK leg of a $100m (&£64m) global marketing campaign.

The business, which is a subsidiary of joint US and Canadian finance house the Toronto-Dominion Bank, last month bought share-dealing service Deal Wise from the Skipton Building Society for &£82m.

Deal Wise, an execution-only operation, was launched in 1996 as a joint venture between Why Speak and Skipton. It has built up its business by offering third-party services to other building societies. Skipton bought Why Speak two years ago for &£3.5m.

TD Waterhouse marketing director Paul Stallard, who joined the company as part of the Deal Wise acquisition, has confirmed the review: “We are integrating the two businesses, so naturally we are looking at our advertising agency arrangements. As our incumbent, Maher Bird will figure strongly in that process.”