Faulds closes London office after a year

Faulds is shutting down its London office and consolidating its business into its Edinburgh head office a year after venturing into the UK capital.

Faulds bought London agency Malcolm Moore Deakin Hutson for an estimated &£2.5m last June. The acquisition was meant to give Faulds better access to national clients and to strengthen its creative credentials.

However, the departure of joint creative directors Tony Malcolm and Guy Moore to Wieden & Kennedy London and a difficult business climate meant that maintaining the London office become untenable.

Managing partner Graham Deakin and planning director Anna Hutson will wind down the London office before leaving the agency. Key client British Bakeries will be serviced from Edinburgh.

Faulds chairman Dennis Chester says: “This has been a tough year for agencies in the UK, and given the current economic climate, we believe it is prudent to consolidate our operations in Edinburgh.”

The agency is still looking for a creative director and insists it will maintain links with London through design, sponsorship and PR partners.

Faulds recently lost the &£4m Kwik-Fit account, which resulted in a number of redundancies. It has won the launch brief for online gambling brand Pokeroom.com (MW May 29).