Freight speaks out against Scottish Parliament Design Roster
Following the announcement by the Scottish Parliament of its new design framework, one Scottish design agency has spoken out about the appointment of Norfolk based Turton Middleton.
Adrian Searle, director of Glasgow based design agency Freight, said the agency was disappointed to lose out on the tender by 1.12% to the English agency. Avian, Lawrence Creative, Mortonward, and Shandwick Design were also appointed.
“We don’t want to be bad losers but I’m surprised and disappointed to miss out to an English agency on such a flagship contract,” said Searle.
“Everyone knows how much work goes into public sector tenders and to miss out to an agency 370 miles from Edinburgh by such as small margin is a shame.
"Rationally, I wish Turton Middleton all the best, whoever they are. But emotionally, I wonder how Alex Salmond might feel knowing that some of the parliament’s design work will be created by a south-east of England agency when a similar level of creativity and service is undoubtedly available locally.
"We’ll certainly be asking for feedback on the decision-making process.”