Creative: PR firm in Swiss collaboration with TV star Sarah Beeny; Senior hire for Grayling; and more

A WEST Yorkshire PR agency has secured a significant account win working with an international household appliance manufacturer that will see it collaborate with TV property expert, Sarah Beeny.

Faith PR, based in Brighouse, will work with Switzerland-based Vorwerk as it expands into online sales, a first in the global direct selling company’s 133 year old history.

Faith PR has been working with Vorwerk UK on an intermittent basis for the past 24 months and was most recently appointed to deliver the nationwide PR launch of its Kobold VK200 vacuum cleaning system in June.  

The global parent company is making significant investments into selling the cleaning system and a range of convenience products online, and has teamed up with Sarah Beeny who will support the brand with online content and social media campaigns as well as press events.

The UK is the first market to be chosen to venture into online sales and Faith PR joined a number of national agencies to pitch for the six figure contract.

Faith PR founder Stefanie Hopkins will head up the account together with digital strategist Tom McCambridge who recently joined the team as an associate from Turnkey.

Ms Hopkins said: “This is a significant account win and I am delighted that Vorwerk has chosen Faith PR to deliver all of its PR, social media and content as it looks to become a major player in the UK’s household appliance market.

“Vorwerk has ambitious growth plans and I look forward to raising awareness of the brand through a range of activity which spans events to social media. We’re also delighted that Sarah has chosen to come on board as she used to work for the brand and is a genuine fan of the product.”

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LEEDS PR agency Grayling has added to its team with the appointment of an account director.

Gary Bolton has been appointed to the position to deliver strategic communications for existing clients, in addition to developing new business opportunities. He has over 18 years’ communications experience working within UK and international environments across both public and private sectors, including retail, local government, facilities management, healthcare, integrated services provision and sport.

Christine Newton, director at Grayling Leeds, said: “We are delighted to appoint Gary to our close-knit team. With his wealth of experience across a wide range of sectors we feel that he can make a hugely positive impact for both existing clients and in securing new business opportunities.

“Gary has delivered strategic public relations campaigns for some of the UK’s largest organisations, including Morrisons supermarkets, as well as medium sized companies and SMEs, and this broad range of experience will be invaluable in helping us build on our success of the past 30 years.”

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HUDDERSFIELD’S Scriba PR has added an award-winning estate agency to its portfolio of clients.

Scriba is set to provide communications support to Holmfirth-based Applegate Properties in the form of social media management, the creation of blog and newsletter content and ongoing PR.

Applegate Properties, established in 2010 as Applegate Lettings, has expanded significantly within the past six years, growing to a team of ten and increasing its services to include both the rental and sales markets.

Katie Mallinson, founder of Scriba PR said: “Applegate Properties is a great company – they’re brilliant at what they do, and have bags of personality, so we have lots of ideas in the pipeline for them.”

This new contract comes hot on the heels of Scriba winning another client, Manchester-based call intelligence company ResponseTap. Other clients include graphic display company Leach, software vendor Cascade HR and marketing automation specialist Force24.

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CHILDREN’S TV character Pingu is set to help children around the world improve their English thanks to a project between Linguaphone and Leeds agency Elementary Digital.

Pingu’s English is an interactive character-based learning experience aimed at three to eight year olds.
 
Based on the popular TV series, broadcast on 160 channels worldwide, Pingu’s English provides children from a variety of backgrounds with an entertaining introduction to language learning through study packs, online learning and dedicated Pingu’s English schools.  It has recently launched its seventh school for China, in Bejing.

The project has been developed by Linguaphone Group in conjunction with leading experts in the field of child education acquisition. It will be used by schools, nurseries, and other early years providers, as well as parents and children at home.

Deborah Mondella at Pingu’s English said: “Pingu’s English recognises the importance of the Internet in modern education and teaching practices and has been designed to provide parents and educators with the resources they need whilst making learning fun and exciting for children.

“The courses provide songs, stories and games as children often learn better when they are having fun.”

Andy Holland, founder and director of Elementary Digital, said: “Our team have really enjoyed working on this multilingual digital project for Pingu’s English to design a platform that will give children the confidence to engage socially and educationally from a young age.

“It will be used to help children on a global level access a fundamental skill and connect and interact with other English learners online.”

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DIGITAL marketing company hellomint has welcomed a new member of staff this month.

The business’ recent growth has allowed for the appointment of Hannah Mott in the company’s new marketing assistant role.

Managing Director Nicola Mellor began the business as a sole trader in 2013 after being made redundant. She saw a gap in the market for digital marketing and social media management and initially established Huddersfield-based hellomint from her home office.

Since then, the business has grown quickly, resulting in a move to bigger offices and the need to hire three additional members of staff to meet demand.

Ms Mott is a student at the University of Huddersfield studying a degree in advertising and marketing communications.

In her new role she will be assisting with hellomint’s clients’ social media campaigns, and will also be creating content for blogs and newsletters.

Ms Mellor said: “Hannah has already brought some great new ideas to the table and we’re really happy to have her on board. She’s picking things up very quickly and is really enthusiastic about giving our clients the best possible service.”