Whitbread reviews creative account for restaurant portfolio
Whitbread PLC, parent company of Brewer's Fayre, Beefeater, Costa and Premier Inn, is conducting a creative agency review for its restaurant brands with incumbent CheethamBell JWT invited to re-pitch.
A formal brief has been issued to a small number of agencies with an aim of appointing a creative agency by the end of June.
The agency review follows the appointment of brand marketing director David Murdin who has been charged with defining a long term strategy for the restaurants portfolio.
Murdin, who joined the company in January following almost two years as marketing director at Sky Sports & Sky News, reports into newly appointed managing director for Restaurants Paul Flaum and is leading the agency review process.
He commented: “We are looking to build our portfolio of already successful restaurant brands to make them ‘best in class’. We have initiated a review of our support agencies to ensure we have the best possible team in place to help us deliver this objective.”
At present Whitbread has 378 restaurants across its four well-known brands: 130 Beefeater Grill sites; 130 Brewers Fayres; 111 Table Tables; and 7 fixed-price Taybarns eateries.
Manchester’s CheethamBell JWT has held the creative account since 2008.