MLC poised to appoint trio to roster

The Meat & Livestock Commission (MLC) is poised to appoint TBWA/ London, Fallon and incumbent DDB London to its roster. The move follows a statutory review of its &£2m account (MW October 2, 2003).

The agencies will be asked to pitch against each other for work on a project basis for the English Beef & Lamb Executive (EBLEX) and British Pig Executive. The decision to appoint a roster follows a number of changes at the MLC.

In January it devolved the marketing responsibilities to the federal bodies to which it reported (MW December 4, 2003). The decision allows the English, Scottish and Welsh meat promotion bodies to compete against each other for customers in the UK.

The MLC retained its marketing director Richard Lowe and 19 marketing staff, but there were a number of redundancies as part of the restructure.

The MLC continues to work as a central marketing resource for campaigns or promotional activity that need a collaborative approach or that are non-competitive.

For several months, the MLC has been working on a formal framework agreement that forms part of a European Union public procurement procedure. It is understood that the agreement is in the hands of solicitors. The MLC declined to comment on the agency appointment.