B&Q appoints Personal for 8m financial services foray

Personal is understood to have been appointed to handle the £8m launch of a range of financial services products for home improvements retailer B&Q.

The agency, part of the Engine Group, pitched against Clark McKay & Walpole (CMW) and incumbent RMG Connect to win the business.

The financial products are expected to be a partnership between B&Q and HFC Bank, which is part of HSBC. CMW handles the direct marketing for HFC, while RMG has been working with B&Q since 2003, when its sister advertising agency JWT won the account from now defunct agency Bates.

B&Q confirms it has appointed Personal to work on “some of our direct marketing campaigns” but says it is not its only direct marketing agency. It is not clear whether Personal or RMG will work on the rest of the below-the-line account. Personal declined to comment as Marketing Week went to press.

B&Q parent Kingfisher insisted last week that the DIY retailer’s turnaround was on track after a diffi- cult year. The company announced a new format tested in three of its big B&Q stores had been a success and would be rolled out across 116 larger “warehouse” outlets as part of a £290m revamp.

The DIY market has been in the doldrums for about 18 months and Kingfisher reported that in the first half of the year underlying sales at B&Q were down by 5.5%. Profits fell steeply by 43% to £82.6m.