McCann Manchester has been appointed as strategic and creative agency for kitchen retailer Magnet after a four-way pitch.
The agency beat BJL, Isobel and Krow Communications in a process run by AAR.
McCann replaces Cheetham Bell, which worked on the business for 13 years. Reports elsewhere in June claimed Cheetham Bell had kept hold of the business after the pitch process was stopped.
Magnet marketing director Ian Lambert declined to comment on the running of the pitch but confirmed the brand had decided to return to McCann Manchester, which handled the account for 16 years before losing it to Cheetham Bell in 2005.
Lambert said: "Our market is evolving rapidly and, after a long and successful relationship with Cheetham Bell, we recognise we need a new partner to help power the next stage of our growth.
"Following a detailed pitch process, we have appointed McCann Manchester as our new agency partner. The McCann team demonstrated outstanding retail know-how, alongside the ability to build our brand platform and help evolve our consumer proposition to the next level."
Richard Aldiss, managing director at McCann Manchester, added: "Magnet was a long-standing client at McCann and to have brought it back to the agency is genuinely exciting."
Cheetham Bell's most recent campaign for Magnet followed a family as the daughter grew from a baby into a young woman, all told from the perspective of the kitchen.
Cheetham Bell declined to comment.
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