NEWS: Barker and Ralston set to pick up pounds 1m online car scheme

Barker and Ralston is tipped to pick up a planned pounds 1 million push

by HP Information to market an online car history service to UK

consumers.

The ‘HPI check’ is based on a database of background details on

vehicles, ranging from information on whether a car has been stolen or

involved in a crash to whether it has been fully paid for.

It is a service that has become second nature to car buyers in the US,

but its use on this side of the Atlantic has so far been confined mainly

to car dealers, the police and motoring bodies.

Now owned by the giant US corporation, Equifax, the Salisbury-based HPI

has decided to go for a wider market among ordinary car buyers by

offering a telephone service that will be heavily advertised in the

specialist press.

The company’s marketing director, Nicky Websper, is understood to be

planning a tripling of HPI’s marketing budget and last month shortlisted

three agencies - Barker and Ralston, Banks Hoggins O’Shea and

Butterfield Day Devito Hockney - for a major advertising push.

Derek Ralston, managing director of Barker and Ralston, declined to

comment on reports that his agency has picked up the business. However,

both of the other shops involved have been told they are out of the

frame.

Websper said that it was too soon to confirm any appointment, since the

selection process has not yet been completed or fully agreed with HPI’s

parent, Equifax.

This article was first published on Campaign