New Birmingham role for former Cadbury PR chief

ONE of Birmingham’s best known PR faces has made a dramatic return to the city just months after walking away from a high profile position.

Tony Bilsborough, who spent 12 years at Cadbury both under its former ownership and as part of Kraft subsidiary, Mondelēz International, has been recruited by creative comms group Beattie to head up its Birmingham operation.

The appointment also marks a return to the agency environment for Mr Bilsborough, who previously worked for Seal.

Beattie said their new man was one of the most respected communications figures in the food and drink sector, having played a key strategic role in the battle to keep Cadbury independent and following its acquisition, he spearheaded the campaign to enhance the reputation of Mondelēz in the UK.

Laurna Woods, group managing director of Beattie, said: “Tony’s reputation goes before him and he will be a major asset to Beattie as we grow our team in Birmingham and further develop other parts of the business.”

Former journalist Mr Bilsborough, who will undertake corporate and reputation management work in London as well as firmly establishing the Beattie brand in Birmingham, will also become a member of Beattie’s specialist marketing boutique Only Food & Drink.

He said: “Beattie is one of the fastest growing communications agencies in Britain and I look forward to playing my part in driving forward our presence in Birmingham and London.”

Ms Woods added: “We have always had ambitious plans for our operation in the West Midlands but lack of available talent stifled our ambitions.   

“We have finally found the right person to lead our team and I’m confident we will build a sizable and robust business in booming Birmingham.”

Mr Bilsborough is the third major signing Ms Woods has made this year. She appointed DADA’s former head of PR Laura McIlquham to a senior account director role in Scotland while snatching Jessica McAndrew from the BIG Partnership as UK digital communications director.

Since the start of the year, Beattie has recruited nine new members of staff and pledged to hire a total of 30 new faces by the end of 2016 to mark the founding of the agency 30 years ago.

Headquartered in London, Beattie has eight offices across the UK including Manchester, Leeds and Glasgow. Headline services include PR, social, digital, design and content.  Clients include Specsavers, Merck and Kimberly-Clark.