PR Week (UK) articles from August 2007

PR Week (UK) archives from August 2007

Another comms chief quits Boots.
August 3, 2007... Alliance Boots director of comms Donal McCabe has become the third comms chief to leave the company within 12 months. The chemist was recently acquired by private equity firm KKR and is now using KKR's financial PR agency, Gavin Anderson,...

BA boss blames ex-comms head.
August 3, 2007... BA boss Willie Walsh has pointed the finger at his former comms chief as the Office of Fair Trading and the US Department of Justice continue to investigate allegations of price fixing. In a statement sent out to the world's media, he said...

APPC to meet over PPS crisis.
August 3, 2007... The body responsible for upholding ethical standards in public affairs has called an emergency meeting to discuss what action to take over a tide of damaging newspaper allegations about the agency PPS Group. Gill Morris, chairperson of the...

Gazprom hires agencies formerly used by Kremlin.
August 3, 2007... Controversial Russian gas behemoth Gazprom has performed a dramatic u-turn and signed up three Omnicom agencies that previously advised the Kremlin. Earlier this year Gazprom looked set to hire Hill & Knowlton in a bid to show its...

Fila brings in Frank to promote celebrity tie-ins.
August 3, 2007... Sportswear company Fila has called in Frank PR for a brief to introduce new celebrity endorsements and enhance the brand's 'vintage' status. 'There will be endorsements from high-end, Hollywood stars,' said Frank chairman Graham Goodkind....

Government names new comms supremo at DIUS.(appointment of Zina Etheridge and Josie Cluer at Department of Innovations, Universities and Skills)(communications)(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... The newly formed Department of Innovations, Universities and Skills (DIUS), headed by secretary of state John Denham, has appointed its first chief PRO. Zina Etheridge moves across from the Cabinet Office, where she was head of reform...

Oxford Uni fills top comms roles.
August 3, 2007... Oxford University has bolstered its comms armoury by creating three new senior positions. The university has appointed Richard Jarman as head of government and community relations. He joins in September from the Country Land and Business...

WRAP comms roster review puts agencies on alert.(Waste and Resources Action Programme)(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... Environmental quango the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is reviewing its comms roster, seeking tenders for all its core areas, including PR and marketing. WRAP said that many of the agencies on its current roster, including 3...

Laing O'Rourke's Tennant quits.
August 3, 2007... The comms chief at construction group Laing O'Rourke has left after only a week in the chair. Former Thames Water head of comms Nick Tennant joined the firm as head of media relations earlier this month, reporting to director of comms Tony...

Start-up to aid BB8's Charley.(Charley Uchea)(British Broadcasting Corp.)(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... Big Brother 'villain' Charley Uchea has called in start-up agency Nitnam following her eviction last Friday. Uchea, the cousin of Sunderland and England footballer Kieran Richardson, has been dubbed the 'most-hated Big Brother housemate...

Freuds lands entire pounds 3m Asda account.
August 3, 2007... Freud Communications has landed a mammoth account with Asda as the supermarket prepares for a new campaign based on 'fighting for consumer rights'. The pounds 3m-per-annum brief includes promoting Asda's food and non-food products,...

Chilled-out Caine.
August 3, 2007... Gary Farrow's The Corporation is promoting a compilation of chill-out tracks selected by Sir Michael Caine. The album, Cained, is set for release on 3 September. 'Michael Caine is a huge music fan and has more than 3,000 CDs,' said Farrow. He...

News Brief: Ruder Finn confirms 'special leave'.
August 3, 2007... BREAKING NEWS: Global healthcare agency Ruder Finn confirmed that London MD John Preston and CEO Neil Porter have been put on 'special leave'. Deputy MD Claire Astle has stepped into an interim MD role

News Brief: Ljungberg hires Outside.
August 3, 2007... CELEBRITY: West Ham United player Freddie Ljungberg has hired The Outside Organisation, parting company with Barbara Charone's MBC PR Outside has hired ICM Models comms boss Dawn Mason to head its newly formed talent division.

News Brief: Lucre wins Holiday Extras brief.
August 3, 2007... CONSUMER: Lucre has won a brief from Holiday Extras. It will work across all areas of its business: themed breaks, airport parking, and airport hotels. Director Sally Heatherington will head the account, reporting to PR manager Helen Gillilan

News Brief: Lehman Brothers brings in Brunswick.
August 3, 2007... CORPORATE: Financial services firm Lehman Brothers has brought in Brunswick as its lead financial agency for a brief believed to be in the seven-figure bracket. The agency reports to head of corporate communications, Europe and Asia, Andrew...

News Brief: Merlin appointment.
August 3, 2007... AGENCY: International Financing Review (IFR) deputy editor Paul Farrow is to join financial agency Merlin in September as a director. He is currently responsible for the day-to-day management of the magazine

News Brief: Ketchum wins brief.
August 3, 2007... PUBLIC SECTOR: Ketchum has won a brief to promote the tenth annual Teaching Awards, sponsored by the Department for Children, School and Families. Colman Getty and Idea Generation also pitched

News Brief: Niko PR to close.
August 3, 2007... AGENCY: Niko PR is to close and founder Genevieve Nikolopulos is moving to The Sanctuary Spa Group as PR and image director. She will work with Talk PR, which has taken on the Spa Group's account from Niko

News Brief: Appointment at AMEC.
August 3, 2007... CORPORATE: Engineering and construction firm AMEC has brought in Sue Scholes as communications director. Scholes joins from Australian support services firm Brambles

News Brief: Weber Shandwick not 'ousted'.
August 3, 2007... CLARIFICATION: Weber Shandwick has asked us to point out that it was not 'ousted' by hearing-aid firm Phonak as stated in a headline last week. Its Manchester office's relationship with the firm ended more than a year ago

Tangerine PR opens in South.
August 3, 2007... North-West agency Tangerine PR has signalled its intent to increase its profile and client base in the South of England with the opening of a London office. Heather Butcher joins as associate director to head up the office, which launches...

3 hires Middleton as comms chief.
August 3, 2007... Mobile phone firm 3 has appointed the managing editor of Mobile magazine as its head of corporate comms. Guy Middleton will start his new role on 20 August and will be responsible for developing 3's proactive comms programme and managing...

Biss Lancaster to work for MAN, Brewers Fayre.
August 3, 2007... Euro RSCG Biss Lancaster this week landed wide-ranging briefs from a German truckmaker and an English restaurant chain. German truckmaker MAN has brought in the agency to improve its profile among the UK business community. MAN gains a...

PROs cite flexible working hours as key.
August 3, 2007... A flexible working life is the most important factor for PROs when deciding where to work, according to a survey released today. The study - which was commissioned by recruitment consultancy Blue Skies - found that 58 per cent of...

LOCOG names sponsor guru.(London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games)(Ty Speer)(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) has hired Australian Ty Speer to organise the remaining sponsors for London 2012. Speer is one of five senior board appointments to be announced as the five-year countdown to the...

Public Sector: Tower Hamlets raids Haringey to fill top job.
August 3, 2007... Former Whitehall PRO Charles Skinner has become Tower Hamlets Council's first permanent comms chief since 2003. Skinner took up the head of comms role at the East London authority this week. He joined from Haringey Council where he was head...

Public Sector: Havering hires from Geronimo.(appointment of Mark Leech at Havering Council)(Geronimo Communications)(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... Havering Council has brought in Geronimo Communications account director Mark Leech as its head of comms. He is leading a team of 14 at the East London borough, reporting to assistant chief executive, strategy and communications, Jonathan...

Public Sector: Four to aid cycling event.(Greater London Authority contracts with Four Communications)(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... The Greater London Authority has brought in Four Communications to plug the capital's inaugural Freewheel event. Four's sports, arts and sponsorship division beat competition from two other agencies to take the brief to encourage people to...

Public Sector: Accuracy is key to creating trust.(Viewpoint essay)
August 3, 2007... While stuck in a car caught up in the chaos caused by the storms, I relearned the importance of accurate information. The bulletins provided by the Highways Agency enabled many people to complete journeys that had become lengthy and...

Public Sector: Capitalize to aid squash contest.(Capitalize contracts with Manchester City Council, England Squash and UK Sport)(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... Manchester City Council, England Squash, UK Sport and other stakeholders have drafted in sports specialist Capitalize to promote the 2008 World Squash Championships. Capitalize has been briefed to instigate an international campaign and to...

Public Sector: Swindon lambasted for charging tendering fee.
August 3, 2007... Swindon Borough Council has been slammed for introducing a 'scandalous' and 'shocking' charge for tendering information. The local authority is reviewing a brief, currently held by PPS, to promote an urban development on the outskirts of...

Public Sector: Govt PR spend up as ad spend falls.
August 3, 2007... Government PR spend has risen for the sixth year running, while advertising spend declines, according to the Central Office of Information's (COI) annual report. PR spend has risen 12 per cent, from pounds 10m to pounds 11.2m, while the...

Voluntary Sector: Christian Aid to lace up petition.(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... Christian Aid is encouraging the public to sign a petition calling for action on climate change and to send in old shoelaces to show support. The charity is hoping to collect 1,000 miles of shoelaces that will be presented along with the...

Voluntary Sector: Forster to move organic food into the spotlight.
August 3, 2007... The Soil Association has hired Forster for a comms offensive that will focus on raising the profile of its Organic Fortnight. The association, a campaigning and certification body for organic food and farming, wants Organic Fortnight to...

Voluntary Sector: BHF swoops to fill press roles.(appointments of Emily Attwood and Thelma Mensah at British Heart Foundation)
August 3, 2007... The British Heart Foundation has bolstered its in-house press team by hiring a Now magazine journalist and Macmillan Cancer Support's celebrity officer. Emily Attwood, features writer at Now magazine, has joined as press officer to work on...

Voluntary Sector: Charity Commission begins faith group outreach.
August 3, 2007... The Charity Commission is about to launch a major push to elevate its profile, in parrallel with a drive to establish more links with faith groups. As part of this plan, it is recruiting for a head of news to replace senior press officer...

Voluntary Sector: Whiteoaks aids architects charity.
August 3, 2007... The Whiteoaks Consultancy is launching a campaign to raise awareness of the work of Architects for Aid, a charity that takes on post-disaster reconstruction and development projects. It is working with the charity on a pro-bono basis for...

Voluntary Sector: New fruit.
August 3, 2007... Africa Now, an international development organisation tackling poverty in Africa, has hired in its first head of fundraising and communications. Neil Preston joins this week from Henshaws Society for Blind People. He will aim to improve the...

Public Affairs: Ordnance Survey wants agency to link up with MPs.
August 3, 2007... The national mapping agency for Great Britain is on the hunt for a public affairs agency. Ordnance Survey wants to ensure that MPs, MEPs and peers are all up to speed with its work - which goes far beyond providing traditional paper maps....

Public Affairs: FD-LLM rocked by Abbotts' exit.(resignations of Ben Abbotts, Jon Mendelsohn and appointment of Christopher Cuddihy)
August 3, 2007... FD-LLM has been hit by the departure of yet another of its top lobbyists. Partner Ben Abbotts has resigned and is about to take a senior role at a rival lobbying firm. As PRWeek went to press, Abbots said he was weighing up two agency...

Public Affairs: University hires WS to build links with business.
August 3, 2007... The University of Hertfordshire has hired Weber Shandwick to handle a newly created public affairs brief, aimed at tapping into the Government's increasing interest in business and education partnerships. The contract was won following a...

Public Affairs: Sovereign hires ex-NFU man Gill.(appointment of Ben Gill at Sovereign Strategy)(National Farmers Union)(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... Sovereign Strategy has recruited former National Farmers Union president Sir Ben Gill as an associate director to focus on the food, agriculture and renewable energy sectors. He takes the part-time role as Sovereign looks to expand further...

Public Affairs: Nayyar won't quit bid for Tory seat.(Simon Nayyar)(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... Lobbyist Simon Nayyar has vowed to continue with his quest to win a Conservative seat in the next general election after he missed out on becoming the party's candidate for the newly created seat of Sunderland Central this week. Nayyar,...

Healthcare: Former Shire Health director joins rival.
August 3, 2007... Shire Health London's former client services director Sian Boisseau has resurfaced at Virgo Health PR as a member of its senior management team with responsibility for its key GlaxoSmithKline and Roche accounts. Boisseau joins Virgo as a...

Healthcare: Wilson climbs Edelman ladder.
August 3, 2007... Edelman Health has promoted associate director Galia Wilson to director, giving her a more senior role in developing the agency's human resources programme. Wilson was already overseeing Edelman Health's staff recruitment, training and...

Healthcare: Ketchum goes for Asian growth.
August 3, 2007... Ketchum is planning to target more global healthcare accounts, with a particular emphasis on Asian markets, following a restructure of its senior healthcare team. The restructure was prompted by the promotion of Ketchum healthcare EMEA MD...

Healthcare: GSK gears up for media crusade.
August 3, 2007... GlaxoSmithKline is conducting a campaign in the US and UK to discredit new research that further casts doubt on the safety of its type 2 diabetes treatment Avandia. A report by a team of German scientists led by Dr Bernd Richter, of the...

Healthcare: At a Glance - Autism charity invests in new online comms.
August 3, 2007... WHAT'S THE CHARITY DOING? Research Autism, which raises funds to support research into autistic conditions, has launched a website bringing together information and anecdotal evidence on 70 or so 'interventions' - that is, therapies or...

City & Corporate: Brunswick stays on top for third month in a row.
August 3, 2007... Brunswick has continued a stellar year by maintaining its position at the top of the Deal Watch rankings for the third successive month. The agency secured pounds 64bn of deal work in July, the headline brief being its prolonged work on...

City & Corporate: New partners for Brunswick global.
August 3, 2007... NEW YORK: Brunswick has hired Lazard global director of comms Richard Silverman as a partner in its New York office. Silverman was previously global director of corporate media relations at aerospace firm Honeywell. Before that he held...

City & Corporate: Holborn takes Playgolf brief.(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... Playgolf, a company that creates golf courses for the general public, has brought in Holborn PR as the agency rebrands under a new name - Square1 Consulting. Playgolf wants to promote its 'golf for everyone' image as a realistic corporate...

City & Corporate: How skilful PR put damper on merger.(Friends Provident and Resolution )
August 3, 2007... Resolution and Friends Provident, two of our largest insurance companies, may one day become a business school case study as an example of how skilful PR was directed against them and effectively undermined their corporate strategy. The...

Technology: Burt Greener bags restaurant brief.
August 3, 2007... Restaurant booking website 5pm.co.uk has hired Scottish agency Burt Greener Communications to boost the company's profile within consumer and online press. The Glasgow-based agency has also been briefed to seek out B2B networking...

Technology: Ex-Tory aide's top digital job.(appointment of Cordelia Meacher at Reading Room)(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... Digital marcoms agency Reading Room has appointed Cordelia Meacher as its first PR and communications manager. The new role involves corporate positioning and all internal and external relations. Meacher is a former Brunswick account...

Technology: US agency kicks off Europe bid with London office.
August 3, 2007... San Francisco tech firm Spark PR opened a London office this week as a base for expanding its European operations. Senior director Rachel Bremer has relocated from San Francisco and is currently looking to recruit a full team for Spark's...

Technology: Cake defeats rivals for London Games Festival.
August 3, 2007... Entertainment specialist Cake has won a three-way pitch to generate media coverage in advance of this October's London Games Festival. The festival is a week-long celebration of computer and video games held at various venues across the...

Technology: ThoughtWorks chooses MS&L.
August 3, 2007... Manning Selvage & Lee has won a brief with global IT consultancy ThoughtWorks. MS&L's London office will handle a thought leadership and profile-raising PR programme in the UK. It will also help to drive financial investment in the...

Technology: Beam to promote inaugural T3 gadget awards.
August 3, 2007... London lifestyle tech agency Beam has been appointed to handle all PR activity around the upcoming T3 Gadget Awards, including raising the profile of T3 magazine's editorial team. T3, published by Future UK, is holding the inaugural gadget...

Media Relations: What the Papers say - Bank charges are media dynamite.
August 3, 2007... Leading high street banks were put on the rack again as news emerged that the OFT will be taking them to the High Court to help determine whether overdraft charges are fair or not. The issue was variously presented as either an agreement...

Media Relations: Contact Book Update.
August 3, 2007... PRESS Tim Lewis, former editor of The Independent on Sunday's Review section, is the new editor of Observer Sport Monthly. He will join The Observer in September. The Daily Telegraph's political editor, George Jones, is leaving and...

Media Relations: 2 Minutes with... Tony Farrelly, Editor-in-chief, www.bikeradar.com.(Website overview)
August 3, 2007... BIKERADAR.COM IS A NEW WEBSITE ABOUT CYCLING. WHAT DOES IT AIM TO DO? Future Publishing owns four bike magazines. Although they had their own sites, we wanted to build a new site that combined what we were good at - the products and the...

Media Analysis: Mortgage advice: cheap at the price.
August 3, 2007... Changing interest rates and increased public interest have moved mortgage matters into the mainstream. Patrick Dye asks if specialist titles are still relevant. Rising interest rates mean that home-owners are increasingly keen to source...

Reputation Check: Poll shows public dismay with BBC.
August 3, 2007... The recent programming scandals have seriously damaged the reputation of the BBC. Report by Kate Magee. The furore over a documentary trailer featuring the Queen, and admissions by the BBC that several TV phone-ins for shows were rigged,...

Profile: Happier when in the dock - Richard Elsen - Founder, Byfield Consultancy.
August 3, 2007... Richard Elsen hated school, so he left to set up a window-cleaning business. But during the first autumn he sold it because he did not fancy doing the job in the rain. It was an inauspicious, although profitable, start to a career that has...

Opinion: Max and Shilpa - spat's showbusiness.(Max Clifford)(Shilpa Shetty)(Viewpoint essay)
August 3, 2007... What a glorious punch up between spinmeister Max Clifford and Big Brother race-row victim Shilpa Shetty over who ended the relationship. An ethnic speciality agency will now take over the Bollywood actress's UK publicity. She was wasting my...

Opinion: The Cameron camp should rest and refuel.(David Cameron)(Gordon Brown)(Viewpoint essay)
August 3, 2007... My heart sank when I read newspaper reports of the Tories' impending 'summer offensive against Brown.' When will politicians ever learn that during the holidays voters want a rest from politics? I know a politician who does know this and...

Editorial: BAA flies in the face of common sense.(Editorial)
August 3, 2007... There are currently few more emotive conversational gambits than the state of our airports. It is no coincidence that BAA has come under a torrent of criticism at a time when many of us brave the queues at British airports before jetting...

Opinion: ViewPoint - Social media 'outreach' is done best in-house.
August 3, 2007... James Warren - Weber Shandwick's director of web relations - argues that companies and brands should be using in-house talent, rather than agencies, for social media outreach. In this week's podcast - available at www.prweek.com/uk -...

Opinion: Letter - Hedge funds should be ready for scrutiny.
August 3, 2007... As private equity reels from public attacks and tries to protect its reputation, hedge funds would do well to prepare for similar scrutiny. The secrecy and misunderstanding surrounding hedge funds mirrors that of private equity, therefore...

Opinion: Letter - Protective Act is not draconian legislation.(Letter to the editor)
August 3, 2007... Sarah Robertson's story, 'Amazon to drive controversial Act' (News, 20 July) rightly talks of our appointment to work on the new Mental Capacity Act. However, in her comments about the Act, she appears to be describing another law called the...

Opinion: Letter - PRO focus should be on duty not definition.
August 3, 2007... Quentin Bell is right to question the description 'PRO' (Letters, 27 July). PR practice must persistently reflect present times because change is a constant. However, I would not focus the spotlight on searching for a correct PRO...

Campaign: 'Wilfing' hit for moneysupermarket.com - consumer.(contract with 3 Monkeys Communications)
August 3, 2007... Campaign: The New World of Wilfing Client: moneysupermarket.com PR team: 3 Monkeys Communications Timescale: April 2007 Budget: pounds 10,000 OBJECTIVES To gain coverage in the lifestyle media and position moneysupermarket.com...

Campaign: Light reflection on the attractions of York - Tourism.(contracts with Brahm Public Relations)
August 3, 2007... Campaign: Cultural York Client: York Tourism Bureau PR team: Brahm PR Timescale: November 2006 - March 2007 Budget: pounds 15,000 OBJECTIVES To raise awareness of York's diverse and varied cultural offering. To drive traffic...

Campaign: First Direct focuses on out-of-hours economy - Personal Finance.
August 3, 2007... Campaign: The Five-to-Nine Economy Client: First Direct PR team: In-house and Seventy Seven PR Timescale: January 2007 - ongoing Budget: pounds 15,000 To reconnect consumers with its service proposition, the bank hired Seventy...

Media Law: Calling in the lawyers.(Olswang's Dan Tench)(Harbottle and Lewis' Gerrard Tyrrell )(Schillings's keith schilling)
August 3, 2007... A damaging story is about to break and a reputation is on the line Time to get the lawyers involved, says Hannah Marriott. While some PROs worry about being heavy-handed, there is no doubt that securing the services of a lawyer is sometimes...

Campaign: Broadcast PR - Using the web for video.
August 3, 2007... Internet programming is a key part of any broadcast PR campaign Helen Gregory looks at a changing sector. News that the BBC is to launch a nightly minute-long bulletin in a bid to attract younger viewers illustrates just how the broadcast...

Diary: Tapping into watery reserves.(Somerset, England use it's water problem for tourism)(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... After torrential rain washed away all hopes of a warm, dry British summer, a thoughtful Somerset County Council has decided that what we all need a little bit more of is water. In a bid to secure Lottery money, the resourceful fellows at...

Diary: Flood-hit PR pair refuse to bail out.
August 3, 2007... Despite a brief respite this week, flooding is still causing havoc across large swathes of the country. Like Duracell PR bunnies, though, PROs everywhere are gamely getting on with business. Cheltenham-based Target Public Relations...

Diary: Cody dips toe in UK junior exec waters.(Steve Cody)(PepperCom Inc.)(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... Making the most of England's wet and unpleasant land, and no doubt inspired by PRWeek's own job-swap premise (PRWeek, 31 March 2006), Peppercom CEO Steve Cody crossed the pond to England last week, ready to spend a day as a UK junior account...

Diary: Vimto shows bottle with 'turgid' boast.
August 3, 2007... Just as moist as a British summer, the ready-to-drink (RTD) market is a constant battlefield for companies desperately trying to get their brand more shelf, fridge and stomach space. One of the brands looking to grow over the next 12 months...

Diary: Hit or miss... Tour de farce.
August 3, 2007... As one of the Tour de France pre-race favourites, Michael Rasmussen was known to have missed two random drug tests before the event. Wearing the leader's yellow jersey, the Dane was ousted for lying about his whereabouts during the...

Diary: Let's meet at - Electric Palace, Bridport.(Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall)(Ralph Steadman)(PJ Harvey)(Martin Clunes )(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... Reviewed by Sara Hudston, principal, Watershed PR. Ralph Steadman did the logo, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall trained the chef, Martin Clunes and PJ Harvey like to pop in when they're in town The Electric Palace cinema in Bridport has...

Merial, IAH call in PR support.
August 10, 2007... The company at the centre of the foot-and-mouth disease investigation has beefed up its comms support to cope with an unprecedented level of scrutiny. Investigations have centred on a possible leak of viral material from a research...