PR giant, Quadrant Company in distress, sacks 13 staff

Reports gathered over the weekend reveal that Nigeria’s leading Public Relations agency, The Quadrant Company (TQC) has sacked over a dozen of its staff.

Sources told NEWSVERGE that the firm’s parent company, Troyka Holdings has placed it under pressure to restructure its workforce owing to its unproductiveness and since its lost Etisalat account in 2015.

Some of the top management staff relieved of their jobs include the agency’s finance controller, Femi Olaleye, and 12 other analysts but sources confirmed that Media Manager, Segun Adebowale, and Senior Analyst, Omolara Olaosebikan, resigned prior to the mass sack on Friday.

Although, Kenneth Eze, Blessing Nwobodo-Itua and others are still very much with the vibrant PR firm.

The reason for the massive disengagement was not known as at press time, but sources said it is a result of harsh economy climate that has affected almost all the integrated marketing communication businesses in the country.

When NEWSVERGE visited the company on Friday, the number 32, Ladoke Akintola Street, GRA, Ikeja, compound of the firm, was tensed, the mood tells the story.

While some say the affected employees were sacked as a result of lack productive, some posited that the reason is solely economy.

It would be recalled that since the frontline agency lost the lucrative Etisalat, Guinness Corporate and British America Tobacoo accounts to Chain Reactions and Xlr8 respectively, hard times had set in.

Investigations revealed that the decision to disengage the employees was taken when the Managing Director of the agency, Bolaji Okusaga was on vacation.

“He was briefed at resumption on the development,” said a reliable source.

However, one of the sacked employees who preferred anonymity said Okusaga was duly briefed on the matter.

The Okusaga led agency made it up by winning the Coca-Cola PR business but the income from the soft drink giant brief is said to be in short supply for the near overblouted workforce in the Troyka’s PR agency.

According sources, the disengagement plan, which took all the members of staff by surprise was carried out by Tosin Adefeko, the agency Deputy Managing Director in full backing of the Troyka Holdings.

Apart from Coca-Cola that is the agency full PR brief with retainership, TQC also manages Microsoft, Intel, CNN and British Airways accounts albeit project by project basis.

This is the first time any PR agency in Nigeria will lay-off such numbers of workforce at ago. The trend may continue if the recession is not curb, said PR practitioner.

NEWSVERGE had earlier reported the imminent loss of jobs in the sector as a result of clients’ sudden downward review of their marketing budgets.

The labour turnover in the leading communication agency has left much to be desired in recent times.

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Recently, key backroom staff such as Maryann Balogun, Abiodun Coker, Tosin Akin-Ogundeji, Mabel Aladenusi, Regina Whenu and Jeniffer Ukoh left the employment of the agency to join UBA, American Embassy, Consat, Brooks & Blake and MultiChioce Nigeria respectively.