Big Brother housemate Durden to leave MCBD in near future
Jonathan Durden is understood to be leaving Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy just six months after being appointed as a partner by the agency. He is expected to leave the agency in the next three months.
Durden returned to the agency part-time on Monday (October 8) following his stint on reality show Big Brother earlier this summer. He is working on the agency’s pitch for the £26m Premier Foods business.
His departure has been denied by MCBD, which says that Durden’s position is permanent.
Durden’s appointment was announced in May when he revealed he was leaving PHD, the agency he co-founded with David Pattison and Nick Horsewell 17 years ago. He was the last founder to leave the media planning and buying agency.
He joined MCBD with a brief to help the agency on new business pitches and to advise on acquisitions and business development.
Durden had previously worked with MCBD founder Jeremy Miles at Abbott Mead Vickers, in the early 1990s, on the BT account.
MCBD, which handles the Waitrose, Tetley and Vision Express accounts, and is also a COI roster agency, is owned by Canadian marketing services group, Cossette. The group added independent digital agency Dare to its portfolio earlier this summer. Dare sold a 65.4% stake, which includes a minority holding previously owned by Bartle Bogle Hegarty, for £10m. Cossette also owns PR agency Band & Brown and direct marketing group Elvis.
Durden surprised the industry when he entered the Big Brother house in June this year. He left the Channel 4 show after 18 days for family reasons and was later subject of a News of the World exposé.
