The rolling contract, worth over 500,000, will cover all of the charity's DM campaigns including its National Heart Week drive and Christmas push. The company has been working with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) on an ad hoc basis since last September.

"It's another sign that clients are looking at our specific DM solution seriously," said Target Direct managing director Peter Frings. "Clients are becoming more sophisticated in how they buy DM, realising that most print management companies do not have the skills to handle complex direct marketing projects."

Frings added that the British Heart Foundation's campaigns would involve "complicated and high-colour" mailings. "Best practice in procurement is about careful matching of supplier skills and capabilities to the organisation's needs," said BHF distribution and print contract manager John Walker. "Target Direct demonstrated the ability to reduce our DM spend." The new contract adds to Cheltenham-based Target Direct's roster of clients in the charity sector.

The firm has also handled work for The Salvation Army and Marie Curie Cancer Care. Frings added that two other contracts were to be announced in the next few weeks, one of which is with a "major name".

Target Direct Print is part of Target Direct Group. The company grew by 33% last year to a turnover of 6.3m. It also boasts it has the highest sales per employee in print management with an average 900,000-1m per head.

Story by Philip Chadwick