The Scottish Government has reassured agencies tendering for a place on its roster that, despite earlier delays, the new deadline will be met.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: "We can confirm that the tenders were returned on 29 August, and that we received a healthy response across all the categories.

"The tenders are currently being evaluated and we remain on schedule for a January commencement date."

The initial deadlines set by the Government were extended after it was "surprised" by the scale of the initial response - with 462 agencies applying to get through to the next stage of the tender.

Clients such as Quality Meat Scotland, Visit Scotland, Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Museums have now been joined by Registers of Scotland, ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne and the Forestry Commission, expanding the roster's remit.

16 advertising agencies, 20 market research firms, 25 events companies, 35 design agencies, 21 digital teams, seven direct mail firms and 12 PR businesses are currently involved in this stage of the process.