Please don’t devalue creativity by asking us to work for free…

I don’t agree with free-pitching at all (News, DW 15 October).I think it really devalues the creative process. But I find it particularly annoying that Birmingham City Council should ask for such a progressed level of work for nothing – they have no idea of the amount of time and knowledge required to develop a brand.

A budget of £30 000 is not a large one. When free-pitching first raised its head, it was to manage accounts for two or more years of work. Now we seem to be asked to pitch free for every single job from public-sector clients.

Creatives spend hours working for free on pitches like this. Most equate to at least 100 hours of work, with the larger ones taking two or three times as long, most of which is unpaid overtime. It is an unsustainable business model, especially if clients are too self-important to invite a limited number of groups to pitch. I imagine those pitching for the BCC job will present well over £30 000-worth of free work between them.

Owen Benwell, Our Agency in the North, Wakefield WF4 1AB