New home insurance firm Neos hires Frank

Frank has been named as the UK PR agency for Neos, the smart home insurance company which recently raised more than £1 million funding from investors, including ex-footballer Gary Lineker and Richard King, founder of car insurance firm Ingenie. Neos offers smart sensor-based technology to detect and help prevent fire, theft, and leaks, providing real time updates to […]

Tavistock advises on Sigmaroc acquisition

Tavistock has advised new building materials business SigmaRoc plc on its reverse takeover (RTO) and £45m acquisition of Ronez Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aggregate Industries, which is part of the LafargeHolcim Group. SigmaRoc is an AIM-listed construction materials business, which this month raised £50m from institutional investors to complete its first acquisition as […]

Toby Orr leaves Portland for DIT top comms role

Portland senior partner Toby Orr is leaving the consultancy for a government role as Department for International Trade (DIT) director of communications. Orr said: “It is an honour to be joining the department at such an important time, working to devise and deliver an ambitious communications strategy to advance the UK’s trade agenda and promote […]

The Creative Shootout winners on what makes a successful pitch

Eight agencies battled it out in the final of The Creative Shootout last week to prove which had the best idea for a real creative brief they received on the same day. Mischief, Hotwire and Ready 10, which came first, second and third respectively for their responses to the brief by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, reveal why they each had a winning pitch. The […]

Sodexo hands UK brief to Havas PR

Global services provider Sodexo has appointed Havas PR as its retained UK agency. Employing more than 34,000 people in the UK, Sodexo develops, manages and delivers a range of services designed to improve “quality of life” for clients and customers in the corporate services, defence, health, education, justice, energy, sports and leisure sectors. Worldwide Sodexo operates in 80 countries and […]

Hill’s Pet Nutrition hands social brief to Clarion

Hill’s Pet Nutrition has appointed Clarion Communications to handle its social media strategy and content in the UK, as the Colgate Palmolive-owned company looks to grow brand loyalty and engage its community around its pet food products. Globally, Hill’s Pet Nutrition has a team of more than 150 veterinarians, PhD nutritionists and food scientists, who […]

Trends and solutions for 2017 at Bell Pottinger Engage launch

As it launched its integrated practice Engage this morning (January 25), Bell Pottinger – with The Future Laboratory –  outlined five trends and resolutions likely to affect brands in 2017. Led by managing directors Hugh Taggart and James Thomlinson, the 70-strong Engage practice currently works with clients including South African Tourism, HSBC, Amazon, Panasonic, Hitachi, HAYS, Ripple, Huawei and PayPoint, […]

White Paper: Building a disruptive brand

Exploring the PR journey to building a disruptive brand, the latest Gorkana White Paper shows how PRs support the business rule-breakers: from launch to becoming household names. Disruptive brands can be some of the most exciting organisations to work with as a PR, yet their quick growth, impact on social, legal and financial infrastructures and […]

Gorkana meets… The Register and The Next Platform

Drew Cullen, editor in chief at Situation Publishing, which owns The Register and The Next Platform, talks to Gorkana about integrity in journalism, the challenges facing tech media and the publications’ plans for the future. What is your ethos at Situation Publishing? Our aim is to deliver independent, analytical and original journalism to technology professionals worldwide. More than […]