TBWA breakaway nets £10m Carphone brief

The £10m Carphone Warehouse advertising account is poised to leave TBWA/London, following the decision by two of its senior management to set up a new agency.

The &£10m Carphone Warehouse advertising account is poised to leave TBWA/London, following the decision by two of its senior management to set up a new agency.

Simon Clemmow and Johnny Hornby, the chief executive and joint managing director, are to leave the agency in June and are expected to take the mobile phone retailer’s business with them.

TBWA’s other joint managing director, Garry Lace, is now expected to take the reins at the agency, following two other management changes.

Paul Bainsfair was promoted to head TBWA in Europe last month. The agency’s chief operating officer, Neil Christie, left in February.

The announcement comes in the middle of TBWA’s high-profile advertising campaign for the Labour Party. Both Clemmow and Hornby have been heavily involved in winning the business and overseeing its strategy.

Commenting on his decision to leave TBWA, Hornby says: “Although I am very sad to be leaving, we are making sure it is amicable. I also hope to stay and oversee the Labour campaign, if there is an election in June.”

TBWA picked up the Carphone Warehouse business last June. According to sources, the agency’s appointment was only ever on a project basis, meaning Carphone Warehouse is free to move the account when it wants to.

Clemmow and Hornby are actively looking for a creative team.