M&C Saatchi goes from sinking Labour to piloting Malaysian Airlines relaunch

The advertising agency that put Ed Miliband in Alex Salmond’s pocket will be relaunching Malaysian Airlines.

M&C Saatchi, whose billboard image of the Labour leader with the Scottish Nationalist politician contributed to the Conservative victory in the General Election, said the creative work for Malaysian, which was hit by two tragedies last year, would be especially sensitive.

The Malaysian brief is one of a string of contract wins in the last six months that has buoyed the London firm.

The biggest UK wins were for Royal Mail, Carnival, the cruise operator, and a business-to-business contract for Airbus, the aircraft maker that has a huge factory in Wales.

David Kershaw, chief executive of M&C Saatchi, said: “We are seeing some most encouraging signs in Europe, after five or six tough years. This makes up for Asia, where there has been some weakness.”