Newhaven has been appointed by Historic Scotland to handle its above-the-line advertising through the Scottish Government Marketing Services Framework.

Newhaven will take over the account, through to be worth six figures, from The Union which was appointed in 2002.

A spokesperson for Historic Scotland said; “We have recently held a review of our advertising services, through the Scottish Government Framework contract. A mini competition was held, with three agencies then selected to submit a full tender.

“The standard of applicants was very high with the successful contractor being Newhaven Communications in Edinburgh,” the spokesperson continued.

It was confirmed that the contract would start on 1 April for an initial two-year period with a possible extension by one year.   

Ian McAteer, managing director of The Union said that he was disappointed the agency had not been retained.

 “Our tenure on Historic Scotland has been for over 8 years and in that time we have not only won rafts of creative and effectiveness awards; but also helped Historic Scotland to deliver some outstanding business results. It goes to show that under the new roster arrangements; unlike the private sector, past performance counts for less than one might think – and for each tender every agency starts with a clean sheet. It’s both sad and ironic that our latest campaign in 2009 was a huge success, delivering revenues which were 98% ahead of target. Jenny Hess at Historic Scotland is a wonderful client; and we wish her and Newhaven all the best on one of Scotland’s best accounts,” he added.