Longworth and George tipped to launch agency
PWLC co-founder John Longworth is understood to be on the verge of launching a new advertising agency with David George, the former creative head of McCann Erickson Manchester and Tucker Clarke-Williams Creative (TCW).
PWLC went into liquidation earlier this year following a number of significant account losses, including Fox’s Biscuits and DFS. Longworth had remained with the business until its closure, although its other founding partners – Mike Phillpson, Rick Ward and Pete Camponi – had already left the company for new projects. Since then a Longworth start-up has been the subject of increasing speculation.
George, meanwhile, has also been tipped for a high profile return to the industry. He left McCanns in 2003 to launch George – his own company – but closed the business a year later to head up the creative team at TCW.
He left the Stockport-based agency 18 months ago and is since believed to have been involved in smaller set-ups, which have kept a low-profile.
An insider revealed that George, who spent five years with McCanns, is now working alongside Longworth on a start-up agency, which has already been holding talks with prospective clients.
The launch would be the second agency to rise from the ashes of PWLC after it was announced in August that the firm’s former managing director Neil Lockwood set up Sixteen Hands with business partner Julia Mulligan.
Camponi and Ward made their agency returns in July, joining Leeds-based agency Gratterpalm as joint creative directors. Phillipson, meanwhile, has been managing director of Propaganda since August 2005.
Neither Longworth nor George were contactable at the time of going to press.