NEWS: Henderson shakes up accounts

Fund management group Henderson Administration is to review its public

relations accounts with College Hill and Lowe Bell Financial as part of

a shake-up of its PR and marketing functions.

The review, which has been prompted by the recent arrival of Lindsay

Firth-McGuckin as retail marketing manager, could result in the merger

of the two contracts into an enlarged account handled by a single

agency.

Ten financial agencies were initially approached, although only five,

including Lowe Bell and College Hill, have been offered the chance to

pitch for a new account covering corporate, product and investor

relations work.

‘In an ideal world you would rather have one agency, but in reality

that’s not always possible, so we might have to have them advising on

different aspects,’said Firth-McGuckin.

Appointed by Henderson in 1990, College Hill provides investor relations

and corporate support, while Lowe Bell, brought in after the 1992

acquisition of Touch Remnant, handles retail product PR.

Firth-McGuckin joined Henderson in July from the Liverpool Victoria

Friendly Society where she built up a 23-strong marketing department

from scratch.

Her review at Henderson will include groundwork for the company’s first

TV advertising campaign and the appointment of direct-marketing and

design agencies to help boost investment product sales and its flagging

pension fund business.