The Central Office of Information has announced that it intends to appoint one agency to handle all of its £211m media buying business.

The COI has previously split its media buying requirements depending on the medium, but it said today that putting all its spend through one agency would be more efficient across all channels and  cut costs.

Last year, the COI spent £211m on media through roster incumbents Carat (TV and cinema), Starcom (radio), Mediacom (press), i-Level (digital) and Posterscope (outdoor); their contracts are due to expire next March and agencies have been asked to register their interest in the unified account by September.

The decision to move to one supplier follows an independent review of the COI's media buying arrangements by RAB founder, Douglas McArthur.

COI deputy chief executive, Peter Buchanan, said: “Our media buying performance has been outstanding with nine years of continuous improvement and very impressive results compared to the Billett's pool. The support we have received from our clients has been a key factor in this success.

“However, the market is changing with the integration of on and offline, multi channel media ownership and deeper partnerships with media owners. COI needs to maintain a market leading position and continue to deliver the very best prices for all our clients.”