More troubles for Interpublic as £10m Royal Mail media heads from UM to Arena

Interpublic’s two main media agencies – UM and Initiative – have taken a pounding recently, latterly and most notably with the departure of the £100m Tesco account from Initiative to WPP’s MediaCom.

Now it seems that one of UM’s few remaining substantial accounts in the UK – £10m Royal Mail – is headed to Arena, owned by Havas.

It now looks increasingly likely that UM and Initiative will be merged in the UK and that IPG may need to go into the market to try to find an independent to boost its flagging UK media operation.