New-business activity in UK falls during first half of year, AAR says

By Katherine Levy, campaignlive.co.uk, Thursday, 12 July 2012 08:00AM

New-business activity in the UK has decreased by 5 per cent in the first six months of 2012 and fewer clients with budgets over £20 million are reviewing compared with the same period last year, according to AAR.

Kerry Glazer: AAR chief executive

In the first six months of the year, there were 231 reviews completed in the areas of advertising, digital, direct marketing, integrated and media compared with 244 in the first six months of 2011.

The number of completed advertising pitches declined by 8 per cent to 92 reviews. However, the number of completed media reviews was up 5 per cent to 74 compared with the same period last year.

There are also less substantial accounts up for pitch, with only five clients with budgets of more than £20 million completing reviews so far this year compared with eight in the same period last year.

The digital, direct marketing and integrated new-business markets appear steady, with almost exactly the same number being completed in each discipline versus the first six months of 2011.

Kerry Glazer, the chief executive at AAR, said: "We will have to wait until the end of the year to see the complete picture, although we will be watching for announcements of new pitches in September."

This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk