Omnicom UK media agencies unaffected by cutbacks

by Arif Durrani, mediaweek.co.uk 18-Dec-08, 13:30

LONDON - UK Omnicom media agencies OMD and PHD are not expected to be affected by the job losses looming over their US counterparts, according to UK bosses.

The marketing and advertising group is reported to be cutting up to 3,500 jobs, nearly 5% of its global media and creative workforce. While full details have yet to be announced, a US report cites 30 redundancies are expected across North America's PHD and the closure of its Atlanta office.

Daren Rubins, managing director of PHD (UK) which won the £25m media business for Cadbury earlier this year, stressed the cuts would not have any impact on the UK business.

"We've had a fantastic year and we're only expecting to build on this in 2009," he said.

Similar sentiments were echoed by Philippa Brown, chief executive of Omnicom Media Group, who said no job cuts were planned for the UK.

Omnicom agencies likely to see redundancies include those with links to the soft US automotive sector like creative US shop BBDO, which counts Chrylser among its clients.

The news comes as agencies on both sides of the Atlantic brace themselves for a tough 2009, as advertisers slash marketing budgets to combat poor trading conditions.

Aegis Group completes a round of redundancies across its global client team this week, including a number of client director roles. The home to Carat, Vizeum and Isobar agencies has played down the redundancies as "internal tweaking" aimed at providing better integration between online and digital across the group.

Meanwhile, WPP Group, parent to MediaCom, Mindshare and Mediaedge:cia, has been operating under an employment freeze since October, and chief executive Martin Sorrell has warned jobs could go in the more mature markets in 2009.