The Health Education Authority (HEA), is inviting niche PR firms to
submit details in order to draw up its third communications roster.
Deputy head of press and PR Richard Hunt is looking for agencies with a
range of PR skills in specialist areas like broadcast or ethnic
minorities.
The health promotion body also wants below-the-line and marketing
agencies to help it execute more specialist campaigns.
The deadline for tenders is 23 December. Hunt is planning to shortlist
over Christmas, hold pitches in January and appoint approximately ten to
12 agencies a month later.
He said the creation of a new roster will not affect the nine PR
agencies on the HEA’s existing list, set up two years ago.
They are: Shilland and Co, Munro and Forster, Handel Communications,
Fleishman-Hillard, Kartupelis Associates Phipps PR, Pielle PR, Harvard
PR and the Arc Group.
‘We recognise that as our campaigns have become more sophisticated, we
need to use more specialist communications techniques,’ Hunt told PR
Week.
The HEA uses three or four PR agencies at any one time on campaigns like
its drug education programme ‘Know The Score’ and physical education
drive ‘Active for Life’.
PR budgets vary according to the campaign but can run from thousands to
millions.
The HEA also has an advertising roster of five agencies.
