Agency round-up: Launch for new boutique agency Garnet PR; Diva Creative wins national charity pitch; Larger home for Drunk Animal Creative Studio; and more

Former ilk agency Senior PR Manager, Rhiannon Bates, has launched a boutique PR agency to support rural businesses and charities across the UK. 

Based in Leeds but operating nationally, Garnet PR specialises in rural lifestyle & tourism brands that connect people with the heritage, nature and the countryside. 

Over the last 10 years, Bates has worked with some of the UK’s most popular visitor attractions, conservation organisations and animal charities. She has managed PR, celebrity engagement and campaigns for brands including the Woodland Trust, ZSL London Zoo and Dogs Trust.

Most recently she was Senior PR Account Manager at award-winning integrated communications agency ilk in Leeds, where she managed campaigns for visitor attractions including Lotherton and Thackray Medical Museum.  

She said: “With current trends encouraging people to step away from their screens and get outdoors or connect with nature, there’s never been a better time for rural businesses to thrive. 

“Rural brands and attractions can help people connect with the countryside and heritage through products or experiences. And with staycations and support for British brands on the rise, the time has never been better to celebrate them.” 

Garnet PR will focus on celebrating, supporting and growing rural businesses and charities. From full content management including PR, social media, blogs and celebrity and influencer engagement, through to coaching for small business owners, Bates wants PR to be accessible to all; from one-man bands through to popular and thriving visitor attractions and brands.  

Garnet PR has already built an impressive client roster including rural lifestyle brands The Little Tweed Co. and The Wriggly Tin Wine Company, equestrian book specialist Jane Badger Books, and Lincolnshire’s historic Grimsthorpe Castle.  

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Sheffield-based creative agency Diva Creative recently won a national pitch to be appointed by the UK walking charity The Ramblers to develop a new brand for a campaign to protect historic rights of way.

There are over 140,000 miles of public paths across England and Wales connecting villages, towns, hamlets and roads, many of which date back to the medieval period and earlier.

However, thousands of miles of footpaths and bridleways still remain unrecorded. If they are not put on the definitive map by the 1st of January 2026, people may lose their right to walk on these public rights of way forever.

The Ramblers’ ‘Don’t Lose Your Way’ campaign aims to raise awareness of this deadline and inspire people to record any lost rights of way they find, which will be made easier with the launch of a dedicated digital platform in January 2020.

Mark Vincent, Strategy Lead at Diva, said: “We are delighted to be working with a national charity who are so closely aligned to our values and ethos.

“Don’t Lose Your Way is an incredibly important yet challenging piece of work. It’s fantastic to be part of a campaign that will shape the future of our country’s landscape and secure public rights of way for years to come.”

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After five years of successive growth, Hull based marketing agency Drunk Animal Creative Studio has relocated to a new studio and office space in two converted warehouses in Wilcolmlee.

The agency, which also has offices in Manchester and Oxford, has been operating from Princes Dock Street in the centre of Hull for the past three years. In that time the agency has grown to become one of the most recognised in the area, thanks to high profile projects, including the Alternative Heritage plaques, Plastic Pledge campaigns and the recent Zany Races installation at Princes Quay.

Creative Director and CEO, Calvin Innes, said: “We’ve been looking for the right location for a while now. The last few years have seen the company outgrow our current space and as a number of our recent projects have involved quite large builds, it has just became impractical to keep working in the same place.

“The new space is large enough for us to expand the team, to build some of these larger installation pieces on site and to showcase some of our previous projects. It’s an exciting step for the company and an indication of our ambition to continue growing.”

While the company’s growth has seen it open offices in two other locations this year, as well launching a sister company ‘Big Pink Fish’ in Manchester, Innes still sees Hull as the home of Drunk Animal.

He added: “We work closely with a number of companies in Hull, and collaborate with quite a few different agencies in the city. I’m not really interested in competition. When people play to their strengths and come together on projects, the end results tend to be far better.”

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Yorkshire-based communications firm Scriba PR is building on a year of significant growth with ten new client wins – contributing to an additional 125 hours of project work each month.

Having welcomed 19 new accounts to its roster in 2019 already, and in the wake of its biggest year to-date – both in terms of increasing customer and employee numbers – the nine-strong team is now looking to better the 24 new project wins secured in 2018 alone.

With new faces set to join the team before the end of the year, the B2B PR specialist has moved from a 750 sq ft office within the eaves of Heritage Exchange, Wellington Mills in Lindley, to a 1,200 sq ft open-plan loft space within the same historic complex.

Katie Mallinson, Scriba PR founder and Managing Director, said: “We thought 2018 was a successful year with 24 client wins and three new colleagues, but we’re on course to go even further in 2019. I hope we’re now becoming synonymous with telling the story of some of Europe’s ‘undiscovered’ B2B firms.

“This year is very poignant for me. Exactly five years ago, I was doubling the size of our first tiny office with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. This month, we’ve moved into a brand-new space – twice as large again – and we’re ready to begin the next chapter.”

The Huddersfield-headquartered organisation continues to expand its international remit, with a retained appointment from Collingwood Learning. The global theatre-in-education company – which tackles a range of challenges faced by young people – was looking for a partner to support its aim of reaching five million children worldwide by 2025.

Chris Simes, Managing Director of Collingwood Learning, said: “We strive to educate children on a range of social influences in places such as Australia, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Peru and the USA.

“We’re incredibly passionate about helping companies make a difference via education, delivering on their CSR objectives using the power of theatre. As such, when we were looking to appoint an agency to further our own ambitions, we needed a team which was just as enthusiastic – and we found that in Scriba PR.”

Trenches Law, which delivers legal counsel, managed wayleave services and contracts negotiation to some of the UK’s largest telecoms operators, wholesalers and resellers, has also enrolled the PR firm to manage all communications and social media activity.

Sharon McDermott, Managing Director at Trenches Law, said: “I chose to appoint Scriba after seeing a tech peer’s profile increase dramatically in the media and on LinkedIn. After speaking to him to find out how he’d done it – he put me in touch with Katie Mallinson.

“In the short time we’ve worked together, I’ve been impressed by the team’s attitude, communication and output. The quality of work that Scriba produces, while remaining mindful of deadlines and results, never fails to deliver.”

Harrogate’s Clearpoint Recycling, a materials – plastic, paper and metal – broker, has appointed the Scriba PR team to oversee website work alongside regional and trade PR.

Sarah Sanpher, Developments Director at Clearpoint Recycling, said: “Operating in a complex and technical space, we wanted a communications partner who really understood our world. What made Scriba stand out was the team’s passion and extensive experience in our sector. They really took the time to get under the skin of our proposition and tailor a strategy that will help us achieve our long-term objectives.”

Manufacturer of firefighting and rescue vehicles, Angloco, has enlisted Scriba to assist with profile-raising to support the recruitment of 12 new staff – as the global firm aims to double its turnover.

Ahead of its launch, creative digital content agency Fat Panda has enlisted the copywriters to oversee the drafting of its website, as well as client case studies and several blog posts. Tech firm Boostify, meanwhile, has re-enlisted Scriba to provide PR and copywriting support to further raise its brand profile, following an inaugural comms project when the company was first founded.

Other significant appointments come from Brighouse-based wealth management specialist Louise Woollard Financial, while alongside its usual B2B briefs – and given the firm’s other great passion is food – Scriba is also providing ongoing PR support to help drive website and social content for Honley restaurant, Mustard & Punch and its three neighbouring sites.

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Toy maker, TOMY, which is home to brands including Lamaze, Aquadoodle, Britains, Drumond Park and the newly launched Ritzy Rollerz, has appointed Leeds-based The Lucre Group to be its UK agency. The Lucre Group, encompassing Lucre; Search Savvy PR, and RICH, will work across the entire brand portfolio.

Strengthening the agency’s toys and games credentials further Lucre’s remit will span both digital and traditional media and include PR, social media management, influencer outreach, events, experiential and content creation and seeding.

TOMY is a global toy manufacturer, producing innovative, high-quality toys and games for both children and adults. The Japanese company sells products worldwide, including baby and pre-school toys, children’s arts and crafts products and games.

The appointment follows TOMY’s launch of Ritzy Rollerz, an all-new collectible, vehicle-based line featuring a range of characters on wheels for children aged 4-7 years. Ritzy Rollerz is supported by a multi-media takeover across TV, magazines, PR and digital channels including PopJam and YouTube with Lucre driving the owned and earned media content strategy.

Tara Johnson, Head of Global Brands (EMEA), said: “Lucre really impressed us with their insightful and strategic approach whilst coming up with great creative ideas. It is an exciting time right now for TOMY, with lots of new brands launching this year, as well as seeing growth in our core business, so The Lucre Group will be a vital partner in helping us to effectively promote our products via both traditional press and digitally.”

Tamarind Wilson, Lucre co-founder and Director, added: “It’s like Christmas has come early in our office following our TOMY win.

“As a leading player in the toys and games industry, the company has so many fantastic products. From the well-known brands and to NPD which will really change the face of the industry, the whole team is delighted to be part of the TOMY family at such an exciting time.”