Euro RSCG on alert as Abbey reviews.(Euro RSCG Wnek Gosper, Abbey National PLC reviewing advertising account )

Abbey National is reviewing its pounds 17 million advertising account and is seeing presentations from four agencies alongside its incumbent, Euro RSCG Wnek Gosper.

The review is being handled by Abbey National's chief executive, Luqman Arnold, who appears to have side-stepped his marketing department and is instead contacting agencies directly.

Arnold, who replaced Ian Harley when he was ousted last May, has given the agencies less than a week to prepare submissions.

Euro RSCG has held the account for nine years. In that time, Abbey National - the UK's sixth-largest bank - has survived five marketing directors.

None of the original marketing team involved in the various appointments of Euro RSCG remain in their roles.

The review follows last month's announcement by Abbey National of a loss in 2002 of almost pounds 1 billion - one of the biggest losses in UK banking history. The poor performance was a dramatic turnaround from the pounds 1.47 billion profit in 2001.

Gary Hockey-Morley, the Abbey National director of product strategy, said the review had been called after the bank's decision to concentrate on core UK personal finance services. He said: 'We are reviewing our marketing after our recent announcement on strategy.'