TBWA\Edinburgh closes finding Scotland “exceptionally tough”

Gary O’Donnell, the founding managing director, told The Drum: “I’m disappointed, but proud of the effort everyone has put in and the standard of output we’ve created for our clients. Ultimately we didn’t get big enough quickly enough. We knew that the market in Scotland would be exceptionally tough to crack, and that has proven to be the case.”

It is thought that losses such as Jenners, which was sold to Frasers shortly after appointing the agency, and Whyte & Mackay, which went through a management restructure, hit the agency hard.

Another downside was the high-profile exit of one of its founding clients, News International earlier this year from its parent company in London.

Soon after opening the agency’s Charlotte Square offices, O’Donnell hired the former Faulds’ deputy creative director pairing Steve Mawhinney and Pete Bastiman and a London agency planner, Neil Ireland.

Bastiman and Mawhinney - who were creative partners in the agency - are going freelance. It is not known what Ireland’s plans are.

O’Donnell, who is from Scotland originally and who studied law at Glasgow University, is to remain in Scotland.

When the agency opened, one of its first wins was the Scottish Labour account, which was in the middle of a pitch when the agency announced its move to Scotland.

Speculation also surrounded the network’s motivation to open an Edinburgh office with some rumours suggesting the agency was talking to Royal Bank of Scotland and Scottish Courage, which is run by TBWA\London. However, neither confirmed it was talking to the Edinburgh office nor was the agency appointed.

Most recently the agency has had some successes, beating off strong competition to win Edinburgh Zoo. The agency was in the process of completing its first project for the zoo when it closed.

Graeme Arkell, TBWA\London’s managing director, was unavailable to comment on the decision to close TBWA\Edinburgh.