Red Brick hopes to win match point at Queen’s in backhand serve for ‘wife-beater’ trophy

Industry folk receiving invitations to the semi-final day of this year’s Stella Artois tennis tournament could be forgiven for feeling a little confused.

Regulars to this fixture in adland’s summer social calendar will note that none other than Paul Hammersley, partner of Sir Frank Lowe’s start-up agency The Red Brick Road (RBR), is sending out invites to the prestigious event.

As far as the Diary is concerned, despite much speculation, Interpublic Group- owned Lowe remains the agency of record for the iconic beer brand. Lowe has lost much to RBR this year – former chairman Paul Weinberger and the &£40m Tesco account spring to mind – and now it would appear its exclusive rights to the tennis have followed them out of the door.

The Diary does hope that the two agencies will be on their best behaviour at Queen’s if they come face to face. After several pints of “wife beater”, we worry that any such encounter would be far from civilised.