Agency roundup: Open Comms; Loaded PR; Circus PPC; and more

CorrBoard UK, a corrugated sheet feeding specialist based in Scunthorpe, has appointed Leeds-based PR agency Open Comms as its preferred PR, content management and marketing communications partner.

Having worked with the team previously, Rob Burgin, managing director at CorrBoard UK, tasked the agency to deliver a strategy that would support its new approach, set the foundations and deliver a year-round comms plan to share content, amplify engagement across channel and build brand reputation.

The agency will manage all traditional PR, media relations, social media management and internal communications for the business. It will also support with marketing activities through the year including customer facing events such as trade shows.

Director of Open Communications, Lindsey Davies, said: “This is a great win for us. Once again, a previous client has asked for our support and there really is no greater compliment. CorrBoard are a great business with an incredible story to share and big ambitions.

“We are very much looking forward to joining the team on this journey and to delivering some fantastic results along the way.”

Burgin added: “Having worked with Open Comms previously, I know they genuinely work as an extension of their clients’ teams. This was exactly what we wanted. It was important we were more than just another client on a roster.

“The comms plan we now have in place for CorrBoard UK aligns with our strategy as a business, which we know will support us as we work towards becoming the UK’s leading independent sheet feeding specialist.”

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Leeds-based PR and communications agency, Loaded PR, has been appointed by Dewsbury Town Deal Board to develop a full communications strategy.

As part of the contract, Loaded PR will be responsible for developing an internal and external communications strategy designed to engage the local community and attract key stakeholders.

It is the next phase of the Dewsbury Town Investment Plan, which saw Dewsbury win significant funds to deliver nine projects to further opportunities, accessibility and diversity within the town.

Dewsbury was awarded £25m from the Government’s Towns Fund and, along with wider investment from Kirklees Council and other sources, around £60m will be invested in the regeneration of the town.

The nine projects the investment plan will focus on include: restoring and re-opening The Arcade, a Grade II-listed Victorian shopping arcade as an independent retail and business hub; refurbishing Dewsbury Market, which was once a magnet for shoppers across the North of England; and the turning a rundown shopping street into a place where people want to live, boosting town centre footfall.

Loaded PR was founded by Gemma Birbeck in 2019 and this is one of its first major public sector contracts. Birbeck has teamed up with experienced local journalist Martin Shaw, who has strong family ties to Dewsbury and who has worked in and around the town for most of his 35-year career.

She said: “Dewsbury is a town with an incredible history and it’s an honour to work with Dewsbury Town Deal Board in communicating the plans, aims and ambitions to restore the town’s fortunes.

“The Government’s Towns Fund has given Dewsbury a unique opportunity and it’s exciting for us to help engage with – and involve – the local community and stakeholders in Dewsbury Town Deal Board’s plans for the future.”

Shaw’s grandfather, Herbert Farrar Shaw, served as Mayor of Dewsbury in 1933-35 and his parents were both born in the town. Martin started his career in journalism at the Dewsbury Reporter Series as an 18-year-old trainee reporter.

He said: “I’m passionate about Dewsbury, its past and its future, and to be able to work alongside Loaded PR and Dewsbury Town Deal Board is an absolute privilege.

“Over the last two years I’ve seen the passion, skill and expertise of the team at Loaded PR and it’s great that I can work with Gemma and the team to develop a strategy for Dewsbury that can help build a lasting legacy for the town.”

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Specialist Leeds agency, Circus PPC, is celebrating a cluster of client wins, as it takes on the accounts of Chapel Down, Luxfield Group, and Trade Furniture, having recently also begun work with American giftware distributor, Enesco.

The account wins come as the agency continues to expand, this year having hired three new additions to its team of PPC experts – Ramneet Panesar, Aphrodite Nicolaou and Donya Broadhead.

Rick Tobin, managing director, said: “Our aims for this year were to expand both our internal team, and our client roster, and so far, we’re succeeding.

“We’ve hired some fantastic talent this year, and won the accounts of some brilliant brands that we’re excited to get stuck into and help drive their business goals.”

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Training organisation CPI (Crisis Prevention Institute) has chosen digital marketing agency, Wolfenden, to support it in further international growth with a data-led organic strategy.

CPI focuses on de-escalation and crisis prevention training in the workplace, as well as dementia care. It has trained over 15 million people predominantly within education and healthcare across the globe since 1980.

The US-founded company with headquarters in Milwaukee and in Manchester in the UK also has teams based in France and Australia.

Its appointment of Wolfenden sparks a push to expand the company’s market share across existing territories and prepare for new market growth with a long-term organic strategy.

Leeds-based Wolfenden will support with ongoing technical SEO, content and strategic digital marketing support to grow CPI’s presence globally.

Additionally, the agency’s data and analytics experts will enable clear performance reporting across all territories, aligned with overarching business growth goals.

CPI director of digital marketing, Kelly Shaw, said: “As well as demonstrable SEO expertise, a significant factor in the decision for us was chemistry between the teams as we needed a long-term collaboration, and I’m pleased to say our clear, respectful and down-to-earth working approach was mirrored by the Wolfenden team.

“We’re confident Wolfenden’s organic strategy and ongoing support will be instrumental in helping us work further towards creating safer communities and workplaces.”

Wolfenden’s client services director, Charlotte Griffin, said: “It’s been interesting – and at times, humbling – for us to learn more about the remarkable work that CPI carries out, and we’re incredibly proud to partner with them to help them continue to change behaviours with respect and compassion worldwide.”