Abbey has appointed London-based agencies 23red and Sidhu & Simon Communications to a major brief focused on F1, after the agencies won a 4-way pitch run by the AAR.

Abbey is part of the Santander Group, one of the worlds largest banks and 2007 marks the 150th anniversary of the parent brand. The anniversary is being supported with a global programme of activities. As part of this programme, Santander & Abbey have embarked on a high profile set of sponsorships, including team sponsorship of the cLaren team and its drivers – Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton – as well as title sponsorship of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone 6th-8th July.

23red & Sidhu & Simon Communications have been tasked with bringing these sponsorship properties to life for Abbey and Santander in the UK.

As well as creating and building a national promotional platform of awareness between the Abbey and Santander brands, the two agencies will also be responsible for activating and managing Abbey's presence at the Grand Prix itself including media relations, promotional events, guest fulfilment, track signage and other brand activities in the lead-up to Britain's biggest annual sporting event.

Nav Sidhu, managing partner at Sidhu & Simon Communications said: "The team here is extremely proud to be managing the F1 communications and sponsorship activation programme for Abbey. There's never been a better time for one of the world's biggest banking brands to partner the world's biggest sport."

Adam Wylie, managing partner at 23red, said: "We're delighted to be working on this major new initiative for Abbey. It's a great time to be involved in F1 in the UK with the emergence of a new set of exciting young British drivers, and we're sure this campaign will deliver some fantastic activities both on and off track."

Jeremy Davies, Brand & Communications Director at Abbey added: "This is an exciting new venture for Abbey in the UK. Over 588m unique viewers in over 185 territories watched F1in 2006. Combined with the front-running pace of cLaren and ever-increasing popularity of Lewis Hamilton, the 2007 British Grand Prix is set to be one of the most eagerly awaited Grand Prix in the UK for many years. The teams at 23red and Sidhu & Simon Communications produced some great thinking in a very short timescale and we're confident they will work together to really push our presence in F1 in the build up to the British GP and beyond."