Alliance and Leicester brought in Brunswick last Friday on a
corporate and financial brief after the ousting of its chief executive,
Peter White.
A&L chairman, and now temporary CEO, John Windeler, is believed to have
had a long standing relationship with Brunswick, which is working on a
project basis.
Brunswick handled the announcement of White’s departure last Friday,
dealing primarily with the press, as well as advising on a future PR
strategy.
Partly because of the speed of the appointment, A&L corporate
communications head Paul Lockstone said it had not yet been decided how
long the relationship with Brunswick would last.
White’s exit fuelled rumours in the press of a possible A&L takeover,
and Woolwich was mentioned as a potential bidder. Lockstone refused to
comment on the speculation.
Discontentment with White is believed to have arisen after merger talks
between A&L and Bank of Ireland collapsed five months ago. This was
A&L’s second failed merger bid in two years. The building
society-turned-bank had discussed a merger with Woolwich, but talks
broke down in early-1998.
