Focus DIY reviews 10m advertising account

DIY retailer Focus has put its 10m advertising business up for pitch almost a year after it was sold off for a 1. It is understood that the retailer has invited eight undisclosed agencies to briefing meetings.

DIY retailer Focus has put its £10m advertising business up for pitch almost a year after it was sold off for a £1. It is understood that the retailer has invited eight undisclosed agencies to briefing meetings.

The pitch, which is being overseen by Agencyplaza.com, will also include incumbent agency, which is thought to be regional agency Gratterplam. The meetings are expected to take place over the next few weeks and the pitch will be completed by mid-May.

Nigel Stewart, procurement controller at Focus says: “It was important to me that we carried out a comprehensive review of the market. I have been extremely impressed with the quality of the responses from agencies and am looking forward to the next stages of the process”

Pete Burgess, managing director at Agencyplaza.com, says: “The review has been a textbook example of how procurement and marketing can work together to get what they need, whilst at the same time being respectful of the amount of effort and resource required from participating agencies.”

Focus DIY was sold to private equity company Cerberus for £1 last year. It appointed NM Rothschild to carry out a review of the business in January 2007 after the DIY market went through a difficult time.

Focus, which was owned by private equity firms Duke Street Capital and Apax, was originally founded in 1987 by chairman Bill Archer.

The chain was acquisitive in the Nineties, buying Do It All and Great Mills, in a bid to grow its consumer DIY interests. It sold Wickes to Travis Perkins in 2005 as part of this startegy.