How to get ahead in advertising

Claire Cozens
guardian.co.uk, Monday June 4 2001 07.48 BST

Mandelson: the right man for the BBC chairmanship?

Peter Mandelson has been offered a new career in the advertising business.

The former Northern Ireland secretary has been approached to join a new company being set up by two senior managers at Labour's advertising agency, TBWA.

Johnny Hornby, managing director of TBWA and an old friend of Mr Mandelson, resigned from his job as managing director of the agency last month along with chief executive Simon Clemmow.

The pair plan to launch their own advertising agency after the general election.

They are understood to have approached Mr Mandelson about taking a consultancy role at the agency, which has the working title Clemmow Hornby.

Friends say Mr Mandelson is considering the offer, but it is unlikely he would be willing to commit to anything like a full-time position.

"He might be interested in ad hoc consultancy work, however," one said.

Having Mr Mandelson on board could be a mixed blessing for the new agency. His reputation has been severely tarnished in the last year. However, his connections and access to the establishment and the media are second to none.

Mr Hornby's connections have already come in handy. Before the pair had even found an office they won £15m worth of business from Carphone Warehouse, the company set up by Mr Hornby's old school friend, Charles Dunstone.

Mr Hornby first met Mr Mandelson at the country house of his brother-in-law, the thriller writer Robert Harris.

It is thought their relationship helped TBWA win a pitch against rival agencies Saatchi & Saatchi and J Walter Thompson for the Labour party advertising account. The search was coordinated by Mr Mandelson.

And during Mr Mandelson's last period of exile from the front benches, after the home loan scandal, Mr Hornby organised for him to give speeches to TBWA staff on the lessons to be learned from Labour's last election campaign.