University of Essex’s comms lead, Irene Constantinides, to join Arts Council

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Arts Council England has appointed the University of Essex’s director of comms, Irene Constantinides, as director of media and stakeholder relations.artscouncil

As director of media and stakeholder relations at Arts Council England, Constantinides will be responsible for reputation management and advocacy for public investment in the arts.

She will lead the Arts Council’s media, internal comms, stakeholder and public affairs teams, reporting to Mags Patten, national director of advocacy and comms. Constantinides will join the organisation in March.

Constantinides currently manages the global profile of the University of Essex as one of the UK’s top universities for research. She has a background in journalism and has also worked at London Metropolitan University.

Patten said: “I’m delighted Irene is joining us. She has a lot of experience in actively advocating and in leading teams. I’m looking forward to her applying her energy to demonstrating how the arts and culture benefit us as individuals, as a society and our creative economy.”

Constantinides added: “I’m immensely passionate about the arts and am excited by the opportunity to work at Arts Council England. I am a true believer that the arts have an invaluable impact on so many people across the country. I look forward to working closely with the team to drive forwards the communications strategy.”

Constantinides succeeds Cassie Chadderton who left the organisation in December 2015 to join UK Theatre.

Wolfstar’s Jon Priestley joins Blue Rubicon

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Blue Rubicon has brought in Wolfstar’s Jon Priestley to join its digital team as an associate director.

Formerly the London head of digital agency Wolfstar, Priestley led the growth of its London office for three years, and worked with global brands including Unilever, KPMG and Sony Mobile.

He joins Blue Rubicon to provide digital consultancy across existing clients and new business opportunities.

Blue Rubicon CEO Gordon Tempest-Hay said: “We’re delighted to welcome Jon to the consultancy. He brings with him a wealth of valuable experience gained while working for listed companies and major brands. He has both outstanding digital skills and expertise in navigating regulatory environments. He will be a fantastic resource for all our clients as we continue to grow.”

Priestley added: “Blue Rubicon has an unparalleled reputation in the industry and offers clients best-in-class consultancy, cutting edge tools to assist them in the digital landscape and a forward-thinking approach that wins awards. I’m delighted to join the consultancy at such an exciting time and look forward to contributing to its continued success.”

In other news, Blue Rubicon has also promoted associate directors Steve Van Riel and Katie MacKay to directors.

John Lewis hires Golley Slater for Leeds opening

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Golley Slater PR North has won a pitch to run the consumer and corporate comms for John Lewis’ upcoming Leeds shop opening.

The John Lewis site is a £35.5m investment by the business and will be the flagship store in Leed’s Victoria Gate development, which is currently under construction in the centre. The new opening is one of two John Lewis shops scheduled to open in 2016 including Chelmsford.

The Leeds-based Golley Slater team has been briefed to work on a creative comms campaign, which will include media, opinion-formers, consumers and relevant community stakeholders for pre-launch, launch and post opening of the shop.

John Lewis comms director, Peter Cross, said: “We had a very comprehensive brief for an agency to deliver on a number of key levels and the Golley Slater PR team ticked all the boxes for us in terms of their presentation, the extensive research they’d conducted and the creativity and thought put into their approach to us. For us it was an easy decision to make when they came into pitch, and we are delighted to be working with them.”

Eileen Stretton, MD of Golley Slater PR North, added: “We are over the moon to have been selected for this project against heavy competition. The arrival of John Lewis into Leeds is an incredibly exciting part of the growing economic development of our vibrant city, and to be working with the John Lewis team on their arrival to the town centre is the cherry on the cake of the successful year we’ve had during 2015.”

Financial services firm MRM promotes Amy Rowe to senior digital consultant

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MRM has promoted Amy Rowe to the role of senior digital consultant after joining the consultancy in June last year. 

Rowe joined MRM in June as a consultant, having previously worked for Speed Communications and Citywire, where she managed the New Model Adviser website.

She reports into Michael Taggart, MRM’s head of digital and social, who said: “Amy’s progress over the last six months has been superb.

“She is natural when it comes to online technologies and our clients have valued the innovations and ideas she has brought to their communications. She’s even got me using SnapChat!”

Former Secretary of State for Energy Ed Davey joins MHP Communications as senior adviser

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MHP has hired ex-Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and former Liberal Democrat MP Ed Davey to provide senior counsel to the firm’s UK and international client base. 

Davey (pictured left) joins MHP’s senior advisory team which includes former Home Secretary Charles Clarke, former Health Minister Paul Burstow and Sir Brian Bender, ex-Permanent Secretary at the Department for Business, DEFRA, and the Cabinet Office.

He will primarily work with the MHP team to give advice to the agency’s clients on energy, infrastructure and logistics and to develop MHP’s thought-leadership output.

Davey served as Secretary of State for Energy for three years during the Coalition Government and was a Liberal Democrat MP for Kingston and Surbiton from 1997 to 2015.

He said: “I am delighted to be working with MHP Communications and to be joining its hugely experienced panel of senior advisers. The company already has a strong reputation for client counsel and I hope to build positively on this in my new role.”

Gavin Devine (pictured right), MHP chief exec, added: “I am proud to welcome Ed to our sector-leading team of senior advisers. This appointment underlines our commitment to bringing in great people able to deliver fantastic outcomes for our clients. We are proud that someone with such a vast wealth of top-level government experience has chosen to join MHP.

“Ed’s unique insight into the energy sector will be particularly valuable to the companies we work with in that industry. His knowledge of the top-level workings of Britain’s political system will also prove immensely useful to a range of our clients and to MHP itself.”

THE WEEKLY GORKANA BRIEF

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Pitch Wins

Sky Store has chosen Telegraph Hill to position it as the “home of pre-order” for upcoming film releases, following a competitive pitch. The agency is set to provide a campaign across social platforms to drive awareness of the availability of films, such as the latest James Bond movie Spectre, via subscription, on download, streaming and DVD.

M&C Saatchi PR was selected by video game developer and publisher Capcom to help launch Street Fighter V, ahead of its release on 16 February.

Tech PR agency CCgroup was appointed by mobile tech firm InterDigital as its international PR partner. The agency is set to promote InterDigital’s global reputation as a leading technology innovator and developer of advanced mobile, IoT and video solutions.

The Hyatt group hired Palm PR to promote its five star hotel, the Andaz London in Liverpool Street, following a four-way pitch.

Electric truck company Tevva Motors selected Nobull Communications for PR, social and digital work as it looked to raise its profile.

LEWIS added Dutch lifestyle brand HEMA to its consumer portfolio. The agency’s consumer team has been briefed to support the launch of its fifth UK store at Stansted Airport.

PR People News

Ryanair poached Uber’s Cristian Samoilovich as its first head of public affairs as the airline continues “to work with the EU to increase the competitiveness of the European air transport industry”.

MHP has promoted ex-News of the World editor, Ian Kirby to a managing director role in its corporate affairs practice. It also made Christian Pickel and Simon Hockridge directors within its financial practice.

Good Relations hired Red Consultancy’s Jessica Schon as senior associate director. Schon will provide day-to-day team leadership and senior advice to clients including Airbus.

Ketchum chairman Ray Kotcher is moving to a non-executive chairman role where he will counsel both Ketchum and Omnicom’s Diversified Agency Services unit as of 16 January.

Independent financial and corporate comms agency Headland has hired Del Jones as an associate director. Jones previously led the financial practice at Fishburn.

Journalist News

Alex Salmond, former Scottish First Minister, is set to host his own weekly show on LBC. It launches on 13 January, and will go out live every Wednesday afternoon during the Iain Dale Show.

There were a number of moves at the Financial Times with Jonathan Eley becoming deputy head of Lex, Jonathan Derbyshire being appointed as executive comment editor and Jeevan Vasagar taking the role of Singapore & Malaysia correspondent.

Martin Ashplant started as digital director at Metro UK, having previously been at City AM.

Newsweek Europe hired Prospect‘s Serena Kutchinsky as digital editor as it expanded its European editorial team.

Ali Plumb joined BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra as a Film Critic, taking over from Rihanna Dhillon.

Gorkana features this week

News Analysis: How brands can adapt a successful food and drink PR strategy in the wake of the Government’s latest healthy eating push

Food and drink brands, particularly those aimed at children, are in the spotlight for what they put in their products and how they market them to the public. With the government raising awareness of health issues related to food high in sugar and fat, comms experts agree that food brands have to evolve their messaging and PR campaigns in line with the current political and consumer climate.

60 seconds with Christina Sandkühler, LaSalle Investment Management

Christina Sandkühler, EMEA, head of corporate communications at LaSalle Investment Management, on the value of creativity in PR, why there should be appreciation of the power of comms at board level and why she once had to organise the ‘world’s greatest dice roll’, up a mountain, in Greenland.

Case Study: Positive Living Around the World

Find out how Threepipe launched a social media campaign to raise the profile of Standard Chartered Bank’s Positive Living HIV/AIDS education programme with the help of professional footballers Emre Can, Philippe Coutinho and Jordon Ibe from Liverpool FC.

Behind the Headlines with CubanEight’s Sian Gaskell

Sian Gaskell, MD of CubanEight, on cutting her teeth at Channel 4, the mark of campaign success and her first challenging photoshoot.

Stand Agency win brief to raise awareness for Solicitors for the Elderly

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Solicitors for the Elderly (SFE), a national network of lawyers who specialise in helping older people, has appointed Stand Agency to draw attention to the importance of seeking expert legal advice when planning for later life.

Stand will support SFE with a proactive press office and integrated social and traditional media campaigns. It will work with SFE to establish the organisation as a leading voice for older and vulnerable people, their families and carers.

The agency has kicked off SFE’s first national media campaign with the release of a white paper focused on the importance of Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) – a way of giving someone you trust the legal authority to make decisions on your behalf – and explaining other ways of protecting decisions around individuals’ health and financial affairs.

Laura Oliphant, managing director at Stand Agency, said: “Stand has developed a specialism in helping position and protect the voices and rights of older people, an issue that goes unnoticed far too often. SFE is the gold standard for solicitors and chartered legal executives advising on older client law, and we believe their knowledge and expertise should be better known.”

Lakshmi Turner, chief executive at SFE, said: “We were confident Stand would help us deliver a successful campaign to start the conversation around the importance of seeking proper, professional legal advice to protect our choices and decisions.”

Stand Agency works with a range of clients that work with the elderly including Anchor and Contact the Elderly.

Electric truck company Tevva Motors selects Nobull Communications for PR, social and digital work

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Nobull Communications has been appointed by electric truck business Tevva Motors as its PR, social and digital agency to drive the company’s next round of investment.

Nobull will raise the profile of Tevva Motors ahead of its next round of investment, which it plans to use to bring new tech and products to the market in the next three years.

Tevva is developing the “next generation” of electric urban delivery trucks. Its tech can be retrofitted to older vehicles or incorporated into new builds on the production line.

Asher Bennett, CEO of Tevva Motors, said: “Nobull has come highly recommended as delivering high profile media campaigns in the EV space as well as supporting companies like Tevva in bringing new technologies to market.”

Steve Carman, Nobull director, said: “Tevva may only be a few years old, but it has a fascinating story to share. We are very excited at being able to bring Tevva and its new technologies to life across a range of PR, social media and digital channels.”

Capital Access Group wins accounts for aircraft leasing company Avation and animal pharma brand Eco Animal Health Group

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Investor relations specialist Capital Access Group has won briefs to work with commercial passenger aircraft leasing company Avation and animal pharmaceuticals developer Eco Animal Health Group.

Richard Feigen

Richard Feigen

Capital Access Group will help Avation, which leases aircraft to Thomas Cook and Air France and others, to target investors including under-serviced institutions, regional pension funds and private client fund managers. Nicola Stewart, director of client management at Capital Access, leads the account.

Eco Animal Health Group, a member of the FTSE AIM 100 Index, has similarly called in the advisory firm to support its investor outreach. Elliot Berstock, associate director of client management heads up the team.

Richard Feigen (pictured), chief executive of Capital Access Group, said: “I am delighted to announce these new client wins and we look forward to working with these first class companies. We are working with many companies to help them make the most of the time they have available to reach potential investors who are directly relevant for them.”

Last year, Porta-backed Capital Access Group purchased Broker Profile with a view to broadening its investor relations support to clients.

Ryanair recruits Uber’s Cristian Samoilovich to newly-created public affairs lead role

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Ryanair has hired Uber’s Cristian Samoilovich as its first head of public affairs as the airline continues “to work with the EU to increase the competitiveness of the European air transport industry”.

Samoilovich will lead Ryanair’s public affairs engagements with EU institutions and European governments. He most recently managed European public policy at Uber. Previously, he was with Boeing and Airbus.

Juliusz Komorek, Ryanair’s chief legal & regulatory officer, said: “We are pleased to appoint Cristian Samoilovich as our first head of public affairs. His extensive experience and knowledge will be a key asset to Ryanair, as we continue to work with the EU to increase the competitiveness of the European air transport industry, to the benefit of consumers.”

Samoilovich added: “I am delighted to be appointed Head of Public Affairs for Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline. These are exciting times for Ryanair with plans for extensive growth and I look forward to working closely with the EU and European governments to deliver even more choice and low fares to consumers.”