Scottish Enterprise moves media out of Media shop after 16 years
Caroline McGrath
Scottish Enterprise has shifted its media account out of incumbent agency The Media Shop after 16 years, handing the £1.5m contract to Feather Brooksbank.The Media Shop, however, maintains that it is still in strong health, and that the loss of the account will not cause redundancies in the company’s Glasgow office.
In a statement issued by Scottish Enterprise, marketing director Alan Macintyre, said: “I would like to thank The Media Shop for all their support and excellent service over the past 16 years and I look forward to working with our new associates in the future. It was a very difficult decision to take given the strong relationship we have built up with The Media Shop over the years. However, we felt that the innovative ideas on evaluation Feather Brooksbank brought to the table just shaded it in their favour.”
Shortly afterwards an announcement to The Drum by Caroline McGrath, managing director of The Media Shop, which said: “It has been a great honour to have worked with Scottish Enterprise since 1988 in its various guises. During that period, we have been responsible for ensuring that the millions of pounds of public money spent on media have delivered great value for money. We hope to have an opportunity to work with the organisation again at some point in the future.”
When asked by The Drum if the loss of the account would result in redundancies, McGrath said: “We’ve just recruited two new people today, so quite the contrary.” McGrath went on to state that The Media Shop has picked up several pieces of new business in recent weeks, which will be announced shortly. Although McGrath would not comment on which accounts have been won, it is thought that at least one of them is London-based.
The win is the second announced by Feather Brooksbank in the last fortnight, following the agency’s appointment by Edinburgh Forthside, the property development located in three key areas of the Edinburgh waterfront.
The announcement by Scottish Enterprise marks the first part of the company’s review of preferred marketing services suppliers, which has been ongoing for several months. Further announcements are expected in the coming weeks.