Staff, Media Week, 10 June 2008, 07:30am

Redwood scoops Homebase mag

LONDON - Redwood will publish paid-for quarterly title Homebase Ideas, which has a circulation of nearly 500,000 copies, from this autumn.

The publisher is thought to have won a competitive pitch against five agencies including Publicis Blueprint, which had worked on the account since 2002.

The loss is a blow to Publicis Blueprint, which has lost a number of key magazine accounts following the discovery of financial irregularities at the company earlier this year, which led to the departure of chief executive Jason Frost and the axing of about a third of its 110 staff.

The fallout led to Publicis imposing a change in strategy at its customer publishing arm to move away from publishing ad-funded to fee-based titles. Consequently, it resigned the accounts to publish ad-funded hotel chain magazines De Vere Deluxe, Mal Life and Du Vin.

Homebase Ideas' circulation was 423,330 in the six months between July and December 2007, a year-on-year rise of 1.2%. Its main competitors include IPC's Ideal Homes and NatMags' House Beautiful.