Handbag.com, the women's portal owned by Boots and The Telegraph's new media arm, has chosen advertising agency Joshua after a three-way pitch.

Joshua, a subsidiary of Grey Communications, will create new advertising for the brand, which launched at the end of 1999.

The company, which has an advertising budget of around £1.5m, last year ran a multimillion pound national TV campaign through J Walter Thompson.

"Handbag.com already has a high level of awareness and was looking for a dynamic agency that would maintain this, help develop strong customer relationships and create integrated campaigns to attract new handbag.com users," said Alicen Stenner, marketing director of Handbag.com.

"We were impressed with Joshua's experience of through-the-line advertising and planning skills. We are looking forward to working with Joshua and building on handbag.com's success."

Handbag.com was the first major women's portal to launch in the UK, but the market has since become highly competitive.

Rivals include Associated Newspapers' Femail.co.uk, Beme.com and iVillage.co.uk, a joint venture between Tesco and the US's iVillage.com.

Ivan Palmer, executive partner at Joshua, will run the strategic planning and the account team will be headed by Michael Miley.