Agency round-up: Record account win and office move for Definition; First birthday for Chapter 81; Pace announces new hires; and more

Definition, the PR and communications specialist, has won a record £350,000 of new UK and global accounts in the last two months, as well as announcing the relocation of its Northern office to One Park Row in the heart of Leeds.

Originally founded in Harrogate in 2006, the business now has offices in London, Leeds and Dubai and is one of the UK’s largest independent reputation management agencies, winning over 60 awards in the UK and Europe since launch and with a global turnover of £2.6m.

The move is designed to fuel its continued strategic growth across its four core service divisions spanning business services, maritime and logistics, tech and health and wellness.

The agency completed its first major acquisition in January last year, which saw it significantly increase the size of its London team and extend its EMEA client campaign offering through its office in Dubai.

The relocation is part of Definition’s ambitious growth strategy, which has driven record client wins in the last two months. This includes JF Hillebrand, Benenden Health and FibreNation. The business has also landed Leeds-based software developers, Audacia, in line with its relocation.

Louise Vaughan, Definition’s managing director, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled with the fantastic calibre and scale of our recent wins, which underline the strength of our people and our goal to define, refine, project and protect the reputation of the businesses and individuals we work for.

“We have ambitious growth plans and Leeds is the perfect place to start our next chapter and deliver sustained growth alongside London and Dubai. With the strength of the regional economy, underlined by several major organisations including Channel 4 relocating here, we’re proud to call Leeds our home and we look forward to being an even more active part of the city’s business community.”

Definition’s 30-strong team of corporate communication and personal brand specialists includes former national and international print and broadcast journalists, as well as social media, employee and community engagement, video, content and crisis communications professionals. Its portfolio spans start-ups and leading entrepreneurs to major global enterprises.

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Leeds’ freelance PR agency Chapter 81, based in The Leeming Building above Leeds’ iconic Kirkgate Market, has celebrated its first birthday with new client wins.

Director and Founder Simon Fogal, who has launched multiple Leeds success stories such as Bundobust, Belgrave Music Hall & Canteen, Headrow House, North Star Coffee Shop, Northern Monk Refectory and more, brought his 15 years of experience to establish the pioneering new agency in August 2018.

Chapter 81 specialises in working with clients from the realms of food, drink and lifestyle, as well as owning and running their own events including Leeds Indie Food, weekly food festival #EatNorth, and Chow Down, held over the summer in Halifax’s Piece Hall and Lincoln Castle.

Chapter 81’s ‘expandable’ model has allowed them to cater perfectly to their clients’ needs, particularly when supporting independent and start-up businesses. Sole Director Simon Fogal enlists a team of freelance specialists across PR, Social Media, Photography and Event Management to scale up or down a flexible team as their clients, and indeed the business itself, requires.

The team have worked on a roster of exciting clients and projects, including Leeds International Festival, which saw them playing an integral part in the core team, delivering the annual festival of new ideas and innovation and a rebrand for award-winning Gujarati restaurant Prashad.

They helped Awesome Merch achieve over £650,000 in a crowdcube fund, and have worked on countless events, from Oktoberfest Leeds, to launching a bottomless Pizza brunch with LIVIN’ Italy, to a Christmas Tree Trail for their client LeedsBID.

One year on, Chapter 81 continues to support its clients to success. Bundobust recently opened a third venue (in Liverpool), and a fourth venue plus the Bundobust Brewing co. is on the way. The Brunswick and Arts recently launched complete menu overhauls, under new Head Chefs. The group behind Belgrave, Headrow House and Waterlane Boathouse recently opened a family pub just off Stainbeck Road, called Beck & Call.

Simon Fogal, Founder Chapter 81, said: “I am extremely proud of the continued growth at Chapter 81 and celebrating our first birthday. I cannot believe how fast the time has gone – from the initial set-up period, we have scaled the office up once already. It is safe to say we have had a blast. We are looking at the true potential we have, and the experience gained in such a short time, as we look to expand, not only on our clients but on what we do.

“We work with some incredible freelancers covering PR, social media, copywriting, photography, graphic design and more. The team has risen from 2 to 12 regularly contributing team members. I am excited by our plans for year two, with a couple of exciting projects in the pipeline.

“I would like to thank Wizu Workspace for their help in the first few months, and creating a wonderful work environment too. It really does help a business, especially one which is made up of freelancers.”

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Integrated marketing agency Fantastic Media has welcomed the ‘fab four’ to its ranks as the Leeds-based agency continues to grow.

The new recruits are Gary Pattison who becomes Managing Partner, Digital Marketing Executive Danny Grogan, Account Manager Frankie Ince and Digital Designer Inesa Zaiceva.

Gary Pattison spent over four years with Fantastic Media and re-joins from Jaywing as Managing Partner.

He takes over the role from Al Straughan who has become Managing Director.

The move bolsters Fantastic Media’s best first half-year results and underlines its target to double the size of the agency by 2022.

Managing Director at Fantastic Media, Al Straughan, said: “Our move to Leeds city centre at the start of the year is proving fruitful with a range of new clients being won and talented staff appointed as we continue to grow.

“The new team members give us and our clients an added dimension by strengthening our strategic planning, account management and creativity departments.

“We are always looking for the best, most talented marketing people to join us to work on some very exciting and varied client accounts from Maximuscle and Shorrock Trichem to Acumen Waste and Woodcock and Wilson Fans.”

Fantastic Media offers business consultancy services and a range of marketing disciplines including planning and strategy, brand design and identity, web design, packaging design, email marketing, pay-per-click, SEO, PR, media planning and social media.

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Open Communications has moved from Nostell Priory to Wakefield city centre and welcomed former BDaily and TheBusinessDesk.com journalist, Nick Hill, to the team as PR Account Executive.

Investing no less than £60,000 in the past year, the new premises will give the agency the space to expand and to offer a range of new services including workshops and training sessions for existing and prospective clients.

A new website has also been launched to reflect the diverse range of accounts the organisation has worked with as it looks forward to marking eleven years in business in September.

Director at Open Communications, Lindsey Davies, said: “The new office has given us the change of scenery that we needed. It was the right time for us to move and we wanted to come back into the centre, which is where we started nearly eleven years ago.

“Nick has joined us at an exciting time and has fit right in. Having the space we need and a team that are all as passionate about delivering results for our clients as we are is great.”

Account Executive at Open Comms, Nick Hill, added: “Having worked in journalism for years, the move to PR wasn’t something I took lightly but within the first few weeks I knew it was the right decision for me.”

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Creative communications agency Pace has recruited five new starters, taking its total headcount to 20.

The company, which celebrates its fourth anniversary in September, was launched as a team of three in 2015. Under the leadership of MD, Anita Pace, it has achieved rapid growth, winning a wide range of clients across a broad range of sectors in East Yorkshire and beyond.

Initially based in Hull’s C4DI building, it moved to Wykeland House in the city’s Fruit Market area in December last year to accommodate its ambitions and space required.

Pace said: “I’m very proud to welcome our new recruits to the Pace team as we continue to expand as an agency. We have recruited specifically to build a complementary mix of skills and experience across insight and analytics, brand and creative, marketing and comms and digital.

“This means that we have a compelling proposition for existing and new clients, helping us quickly establish ourselves in four short years. We have already achieved a lot, however, we are also constantly striving for more and it’s fantastic to have new people to go on this journey with us.”

The most senior of the new arrivals is Lynsey Lazenby, who joins as Client Services Director. She has 15 years’ experience working for agencies in Leeds including Creative Race, The Brand Nursery, Bloom Media and Jaywing.

Her previous clients include Arla Foods, Asda, DW Fitness First, Halewood International, Jewson, Strata Homes, Lowell Financial and Victoria Gate Casino.

She works strategically across brand, lead generation, internal comms, digital transformation, brand/product launches and sales.

Also joining the client services team is Lauren Ward, Senior Account Executive. Ward has more than six years’ experience in the creative sector at two other agencies locally.

She has worked with clients across the full mix of marketing, creative and digital, managing clients including Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and MKM Building Supplies.

Hollie Goforth has been appointed Business Manager having previously worked as an apprenticeship assessor, prior to which she ran her own businesses including a catering company and a franchise of an Italian men’s shirt brand.

Beth Parnell has joined Pace as Digital Marketing Executive. The University of Hull graduate had been working on marketing in-house for software company, StyleTech Solutions, covering print, SEO, social and content.

Northumbria University first class Graphic Design Graduate Lou Horne is the latest addition to Pace’s studio, taking on a Junior Designer role.

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Anti-money laundering (AML) pioneers SmartSearch has appointed Epiphany, a Jaywing agency, to manage and grow their SEO and PPC activity.

SmartSearch has built its name through creating unique and innovative AML (Anti Money Laundering) technology since 2004 and is the only organisation in the UK with the ability to verify individuals and companies in the UK and internationally all in a single platform.

SmartSearch has a new website in development, and following a competitive pitch, has appointed search specialists Epiphany to help them become the UK’s leading RegTech company and provide AML services internationally.

The Epiphany team will be supporting the new website build and ensuring its built with organic performance in mind, whilst also managing and growing the brand’s paid search strategy.

James Dobson, Marketing Director at SmartSearch said: “We were drawn to Epiphany’s long-standing relationship with Google and the agency’s established search heritage. It was really important for us to trust that we were working with an experienced team of experts.

“Our growth plans are ambitious, we plan to take SmartSearch to America and Europe next year and become the leading AML platform in the UK, Epiphany will be a key part of taking us towards this future, and we’re really excited to be working together.”

Epiphany’s Managing Director, Tom Salmon added: “As a Jaywing agency, we have a strong and established heritage working within highly-regulated sectors with clients who manage data at the heart of their proposition, so we’re absolutely thrilled to be working with SmartSearch’s innovative team and supporting the growth of this business.”