Around 42 jobs are under threat at the Leeds-based agency following the decision by its Wakefield parent, Bezier, which acquired it two years ago.

Bezier said it had taken the decision to restructure its creative division following its acquisition of London firm CRC (Coutts Retail Communications) in March.

A spokesman said the re-structure would focus the creative division - to be branded as Coutts - on retail marketing with sites in Soho, Leeds, Bristol and Leicester.

The new division will have a turnover in excess of £20m.

The firm added: "This means that Poulters broad, integrated communications proposition, including advertising and public relations are no longer core service offerings and unfortunately as a result of this we are proposing the closure of the business.

"We will therefore be entering into a period of consultation with colleagues from Poulters."

Bezier chief executive, Mark Shaw, said: "The acquisition of Coutts prompted us to review the structure of our creative division.

"We felt that the number of agencies we had that were operating in similar market spaces was not the best structure for us. Instead, we thought it more important to respond to our clients' and the market's requirement to understand shopper motivations, needs and actions.

"We believe that one specialist agency with around 100 colleagues of different disciplines and expertise split over the country is the right model for servicing our existing, and future clients."

The group will also be launching enyanga, a stand-alone digital agency with a retail specialism, alongside Retail Why, its specialist research and evaluation consultancy.

Poulters, founded in 1969, has worked for clients including William Hill, Kleenex and Kelloggs.

The Bezier group has a turnover of nearly £100m. It was formed by a management buyout of the specialist printing division of WACE Group ten years ago.

It employs almost 600 of its 1,000 staff in Wakefield and Leeds.