Minerva and MediaVest land Harveys contracts

Furniture retailer Harveys is about to appoint Starcom MediaVest to handle its &£10m media buying and planning account.

The company has also reviewed its advertising and is understood to have appointed Minerva (MW last week). Soul and Rathbone Media were the incumbent agencies but declined to repitch. The review was handled by the AAR.

The company, which is part of the Homestyle Group, called a review of its creative and media accounts earlier this year.

Harveys head of marketing David Rich, who joined the furniture retailer from Allders last May, left the company during the review. (MW July 29). His departure followed the appointment of Michael Graham as marketing director in April.

The company is also reviewing the strategic decision by former Homestyle managing director Carolyn Simons to take the retailer upmarket.

The Homestyle Group is carrying out an in-depth review of its business strategy after poor trading over the Christmas period and high levels of debt. In June, the management buy out of Rosebys, its textile and fabric subsidiary, was completed for &£51m. The company said the disposal will help it turn around Harveys’ performance. The Homestyle Group also owns the Fabric Warehouse, Knightingales, Bed Shed, and Kingsbury.

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