Rankings success for Birmingham PRs

PR, digital and creative agency Citypress, which has an office in Birmingham, has risen up the national rankings in the PR Week Top 150 league table.

The firm, based in Manchester and with other offices in London, Bristol and Edinburgh, represents major corporate clients including Lloyds Bank, its private equity arm LDC, Bibbyline Group, Princes Foods and a clutch of regional businesses including Oliver Valves and Lancashire wallcoverings group Graham & Brown.

The PR Week shows the agency’s turnover rose to just over £3m between 2011 and 2012, pushing it up six places from 76th to 70th in the national rankings.  In the league table for agencies outside London Citypress was placed seventh.

Based on audited fee income, the league table makes Citypress the largest firm in the North of England featured, recording growth of 9% last year.

Martin Currie, managing director said: “Our teams across the UK have worked hard to deliver outstanding work for our clients – this continues to underpin the agency’s growth.

“We’ve also expanded our presence in new regions to provide true UK-wide support for our clients, invested in some of the best talent in the market and strengthened our capabilities in new services to create a fully integrated offer. This approach is helping us achieve strong growth against some tough market conditions.”

Birmingham-based agency Smarts England retained its top 10 placing in the table. The Consultancies Report, which ranks the top 40 PR agencies outside London, put Smarts in 8th place, recognition of a number of new client wins as well as growing retained business.

Rebecca Scully, managing director at Smarts, said: “This is fantastic recognition of our team’s ability to produce successful campaigns across a range of industry sectors, at both a national and regional level. The high number of retained clients within our portfolio demonstrates the effectiveness of using PR as a platform to build brand awareness and drive new business. In what remains a challenging, market, many businesses are recognising the increased credibility and return on investment that can be built up through effective multi-channel PR-led campaigns.”

CE builds for the future with new appointments

VIRTUAL digital marketing agency Connecting Element (CE) has made a series of new appointments to help build on its service offering.

The appointments follow a series of new-business wins, including projects for the world’s most famous fizzy drinks brand, as well as the acquisition of office space in the heart of Birmingham city centre – a move that gives CE’s virtual structure a firm base.

The new team-members include PR specialist Kayla Maryon, who has previously worked for agencies including Smarts and The Bright Consultancy. She has worked on both consumer and B2B accounts across a wide range of sectors including hospitality, retail, automotive and healthcare.
 
Project manager Mike Wildhood has been drafted in to help coordinate technical builds and projects, as well as develop and control CE’s existing internal processes. Previously, he was involved in high-value on and offline projects for clients including Bupa, Fairtrade and PPG Industries.

Also joining the team is new business development director Martin Shaw, whose role is to support CE’s strategic growth plans.

CE CEO Andrew Rastall said: “It’s a pleasure to welcome Kayla, Mike and Martin to the CE fold. These new additions to our team come at a very significant time for us, and they bring with them varied expertise that will add great value to our dynamic and specialist offering.”

Big Cat purrs over new contract wins

FULL service marketing agency, Big Cat Group has secured two new contract wins. The Birmingham agency won event management accounts with Bournville College and Cure Leukaemia, both following competitive pitches.

This year sees Bournville College celebrating its centenary and as such, Big Cat has been commissioned to deliver a creative concept and the event management for the milestone celebration.

The agency has been selected to deliver the event after successfully supporting the college’s launch of its new £66m campus.

Cure Leukaemia, a Birmingham-based charity, raise funds for specialist leukaemia nurses. It is currently celebrating its 10th anniversary. The event will be a celebration of the work and achievements of Cure Leukaemia and the centre for clinical haematology, based at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital over the past 10 years.
 
Nick Morgan, CEO of Big Cat Group, pictured said: “We are delighted to have been commissioned to deliver event management and marketing services for such exciting events taking place in the region of the Big Cat Group head office. Each event marks a milestone for the pioneering Midlands based organisations and Big Cat is committed to making each event memorable.”