Marketing Manchester reveals that private consortium funds creative director Saville's fee
Reports of Peter Saville's demise as the creative director of Manchester have been much exaggerated according to Marketing Manchester, the body that aims to co-ordinate the city's branding efforts.
In February, Manchester City Council confirmed that it would no longer fund the consultancy role, which was reported as being worth £120,000 a year.
However, Marketing Manchester has now said that a private consortium has stepped in to ensure the designer, who created the 'Original Modern' concept, can remain in post.
At the time of writing Marketing Manchester could not reveal who was funding Saville’s fee, and how much the deal was worth.
However a spokesperson told The Drum, "Despite the fact that we have private sector backers Peter has agreed to charge us his public sector rate. Obviously, he has a business to run so we cannot expect him to do this on a pro-bono basis."
Marketing Manchester said that they would issue a statement soon which will give more detail on the appointment.
The news emerged after the chairman of Marketing Manchester, Nick Johnson joked at an MPA event that Saville was the 'cheapest' and most 'desperate' of the contenders for the original commission.
Marketing Manchester said that a report in The Drum took the quote out of context, and actually Johnson has nothing but respect for Saville and has been instrumental in putting together the deal that has kept him in the Manchester role.
However, Marketing Manchester would not divulge the value of Saville's new package, although they would no doubt stress, that if he is not the cheapest, he is still excellent value.