Smoking Gun PR wins Les Mills brief

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Fitness brand Les Mills has appointed Smoking Gun PR to deliver a 12-month campaign.

Les Mills workouts are licensed by 17,500 partners in 100 countries around the world and they have over 130,000 certified instructors bringing their workouts to life.

The brief is to build awareness of the brand, its classes and world leading health and fitness research as well as its online subscription services, instructor recruitment and events such as their fitness festival Les Mills Live for trade and consumer media.

Jess Romeo, marketing director at Les Mills UK, said: “We’re a fast moving, dynamic business, with lots of exciting things in the pipeline and we felt that Smoking Gun PR had the right credentials to be our trusted PR partner to help take our Les Mills brand to the next level.”

Rick Guttridge, managing director at Smoking Gun, commented: “We’ll be working closely with the Les Mills team and its fitness experts helping position them as industry experts via a PR plan that will include feature placement, expert commentary,  case studies, ambassador endorsement, trade media and journalist events.”

Redleaf hires Laura Westmacott as associate director

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Redleaf Communications has strengthened its property team with the appointment of luxury, Middle East and broadcast expert Laura Westmacott as associate director.  

She will focus on the agency’s luxury residential developer clients, helping them to reach high-net-worth individuals around the world.

Previously, Westmacott was head of corporate and second-in-command at an independent Dubai-based agency, and she has worked for Bell Pottinger and Ketchum following almost 10 years as a news editor for Al Jazeera English, BBC, ABC News and APTN.

Henry Columbine, managing director of Redleaf Communications, said: “With particularly strong expertise in building brand partnerships in the luxury sector and exceptional connections in and knowledge of the Middle East, Laura brings additional skills to boost the service we offer to our high-end residential property clients.

“With the large volume of developers trying to reach high-net-worth individuals in the UK and internationally, a creative and multi-faceted approach is key to helping them achieve their business objectives.”

Westmacott added: “My role will be to oversee the strategic planning for these accounts, expanding our little black book of luxury media contacts internationally, looking for brand partnership opportunities and bringing my business development expertise to the fore, whilst always working towards supporting clients’ commercial objectives – helping to generate valuable sales leads, not just column inches.”

Hudson Sandler oversees £6.5 billion Polyus flotation

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Hudson Sandler’s work advising Polyus, Russia’s largest gold producer, on its latest IPO has today culminated in a £6.5 billion flotation on the London Stock Exchange.

Managing partner Andrew Hayes, partner Charlie Jack and client director Emily Dillon lead the HS team which has overseen the mining company’s international investor relations leading up to the flotation.

This involved the development of clear messaging to accompany the offering, briefing press on key topics and facilitating interviews with financial publications to coincide with important announcements. The campaign generated coverage in Reuters, Bloomberg, The Telegraph, the Financial Times and more.

Hayes said: “We are delighted to have supported Polyus on its listing. It is clear that its position and opportunity as a world-class gold company has been recognised by the international investment community. We look forward to working with the company in the aftermarket.”

Becky Charles W Enterprise

W launches corporate comms division W Enterprise

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W has launched a new corporate communications division, W Enterprise, which combines its media, tech, corporate, B2B and BrandLab clients under a single umbrella.

The 11-strong team includes former senior newspaper, magazine, business and broadcast journalists working with the latest technology and tools to provide a full business communications suite. It will be led by W’s head of media and corporate, Becky Charles, as head of W Enterprise.

W Enterprise’s services include media and stakeholder engagement, business leader counsel, media impact analysis, digital optimisation, thought leadership, brand consultancy, media coaching, crisis expertise, editorial development and “horizon scanning”.

The division already represents a wide range of companies pivoting their business models for the digital age – including £13bn unicorn WeWork, digital boutique Trouva, Shortlist Media, London Evening Standard and the i newspaper.

Its clients also include global ad tech giant AppNexus, social care disruptor Cera, membership airline firm Surf Air and social media platform Vero.

Charles said: “We work with incredible businesses that are outstanding in their fields, disrupting their industries and thinking differently. W Enterprise encapsulates this mindset. It recognises the need for a new approach to communications that can deliver real business impact; empowering company leaders to reach their audiences in the most effective ways.”

Warren Johnson, W’s CEO and founder, said: “Enterprise has always been at the core of W’s DNA. This evolution recognises how important this new breed of companies continues to be to our business and how much we are willing to invest this space.”

  • Pictured: Becky Charles, head of W Enterprise
Mark Foxwell, Tavistock

Greentarget appoints new director

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Financial services specialist Greentarget has appointed a new director, Mark Foxwell, as part of its plan to expand into wealth management and professional services.

He will work alongside existing directors, Dafina Grapci-Penney, Jeff Watt and Melissa Rowling to help the agency grow and develop its content generation capabilities.

Foxwell previously spent two years as a director at Cubitt Consulting and worked as an account director at integrated comms agency Teamspirit. He is also an award-winning journalist, with 12 years’ experience working for titles including the Financial Times and The Mail on Sunday.

Richard Thoburn, Greentarget CEO, said: “Mark brings with him a wealth of experience in financial services, particularly in wealth management and professional services, as well as strong leadership skills. This, coupled with his significant editorial background and excellent network of contacts, makes him a valuable asset to our growing team.”

Foxwell added: “This is an exciting time to be joining the team at Greentarget. The agency’s in-depth knowledge of finance and integrated approach to communications has produced some fantastic results and excellent client relationships.”

BMPR receives Gemfields brief

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Bryan Morel PR has been appointed to handle UK luxury and lifestyle PR for Gemfields, a supplier of responsibly sourced coloured gemstones that specialises in emeralds, amethysts and rubies.

Katie Manderson, VP at BMPR, said: “We are delighted to be working with Gemfields. It is a great opportunity to work with a company that is leading the coloured gemstone sector, not only through innovative marketing campaigns, but also through pioneering social and environmental practices.”

Brandnation to handle Smilelab’s UK launch

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Brandnation has been appointed to handle UK PR and social media for the launch for dental beauty brand Smilelab, following a competitive pitch.

Brandnation’s beauty PR team will handle SmileLab’s media product placement, manage its UK press office, oversee its blogger and influencer programme and curate its UK social media across Instagram and Facebook.

Mary Killingworth, Brandnation’s managing director, said: “We are concentrating on an extensive, multi-tier launch activation programme that will work across targeted UK media and social media channels. It will be a content-heavy strategy designed to build recognition and rapid consumer ‘buy in’ and provide support for the brand’s overarching sales and marketing activities.”

Catherine Bergwerf, marketing director at Smilelab’s distributor, Amber House, added: “We’re excited to be launching such an innovative, attractive range of products into the UK market and know that Brandnation’s expertise in health and beauty PR, and in particular dental, will provide a major building block for Smilelab’s success.”

Admiral Taverns appoints Houston PR

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Admiral Taverns, one of the UK’s largest community pub companies with more than 800 pubs nationwide, has appointed Houston PR as its retained communications consultancy.

Katie Hoare

Kate Hoare, associate director, will lead the account and work closely with the Admiral Taverns on a wide-ranging brief encompassing corporate, consumer and social communications.

Hoare said: “Admiral Taverns is fantastic business and a true champion of community pubs across the country. We are very excited to have the opportunity to be working so closely with the team across such a broad ranging brief.”

Suzanne Green, head of recruitment and people development at Admiral Taverns, added: “Houston’s experience and expert knowledge in the pub and broader leisure industry will be invaluable as we look to develop our integrated PR strategy. We are delighted to have them on board.”

Shooting Star expands Lincoln PR team with new hire

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PR and marketing agency Shooting Star has expanded its team in Lincoln with the appointment of new junior account executive Nikhita Keshwara.

Working alongside account manager Mike Shields, she is responsible for writing and issuing news releases, researching and building media databases, monitoring and updating social media and copywriting for various clients.

The 22-year-old has become a permanent member of the team after completing a three month internship with Shooting Star. She previously achieved a first-class degree in broadcast journalism at Nottingham Trent University.

“We’re proud to welcome Nikhita to Shooting Star on a permanent basis,” said Shields. “Nikhita’s degree and background in broadcast journalism has definitely helped her to quickly adapt to the role and she has grown in ability and confidence. We look forward to helping her further develop her skills and rise through the ranks.”

Keshwara added: “I have learnt so much during a short space of time and I can’t wait to carry on developing these skills. It’s an exciting time to work for Shooting Star and I’m looking forward to continuing to work alongside a very talented and knowledgeable team in my new role.”

White Paper: Fake news and communications

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With the concept of fake news challenging consumer trust in the media, Cision has published a new UK white paper highlighting the challenges this phenomenon creates for communicators and how to overcome them.

It reveals how important this issue is in the eyes of the public using exclusive survey data – and provides key insights from top journalists and PRs about what this means for the industry.

Fake news rose to the top of the political and media agenda in 2016 as both potential US presidents and political pundits worried about its impact and influence.

For communicators and journalists, it shone a spotlight the way news was being reported, produced and distributed. It highlighted the challenge of ensuring the general public can identify what is real news and dismiss falsehoods.

The white paper includes interviews with CNBC, BBC and Buzzfeed journalists – as well as a range of prominent communicators including  Amy Airey, PR director at ilk agency.

“Fake news is both a challenge and an opportunity for PRs,” said Airey. “A huge part of our job is to be on top of the media agenda and capitalise on reacting to it. But this is completely undermined if a chunk of the news that’s in the public domain is fake.”

Orla Graham, senior client insights manager at Cision, added: “Tracking things like public opinion in correlation with fake news to understand the relationship between the two is important to help see the wood for the trees.”

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