Carat secures £140m UK government deal
THE UK government’s £140m media buying account has been awarded to agency Carat, after a legal challenge by WPP-owned M4C was shot down by the courts last week.
While Carat was handed the account in September, incumbent agency M4C lodged a complaint over the way the pitching process had been handled, delaying the approval of the contract until now.
Carat, owned by the Dentsu Aegis group, will now take over media purchasing for all 45 government departments’ communications, across cinema, TV, mobile, email and emerging channels. M4C held the account for four years before the review began in March.
“Despite having been denied access to date to the full details of the calculations and evaluation, we maintain that there have been several errors in the Invitation To Tender process and we strongly believe that the award does not deliver the best deal for UK taxpayers,” a WPP spokesperson said.