SKB cuts back design roster

The UK packaging roster for SmithKline Beecham Consumer Healthcare has been reviewed, with the number of groups listed falling from ten to six.

Smith & Milton Original, Klause Wuttke and Partners, Dohm Pusey, Wickens Tutt Southgate, Tutssels and Andrew Partridge Design remain on the roster.

Wagstaffs, MPL, Direct Design, Haines McGregor and Trademarks Design are believed to be no longer working with SKB.

Wagstaffs managing director Jon Shaw says the consultancy resigned from the roster in January. “We weren’t getting much out of the SKB roster, and a number of opportunities have been coming along which would have posed a conflict of interest with SKB,” explains Shaw.

Nobody at SKB was available for comment. Client advisory consultancy EDR, which is known to have advised on reviewing the roster, declines to confirm or deny the list and the way in which it will operate.

But a source says that the roster is not definitive and some design consultancies not on the list will continue to be used on some packaging projects.