By STEPHEN RAFFERTY
A CAPITAL PR agency has been recognised for
its commitment to long term excellence and
creativity on behalf of its clients.
The team at Leith-based Holyrood PR
celebrated with a double haul of Golds when
the industry’s CIPR PRide Awards made a
return to an in-person award for the first time
in four years.
The 12-strong agency, which has been
operating in Edinburgh for 21 years, won Gold
for Best Long-term Campaign (with the national
Learn to Swim programme) and Best Long-Term
Client Care (with walking charity, Paths for All).
Scott Douglas, Managing Director, said: “The
PRide awards featured two categories dedicated
to delivering long-term value to clients and for
us to win them both is an outstanding result.
“We fight for our clients and work tirelessly to
keep the work that we do fresh, imaginative and
inspiring. More than half of our clients have
worked with us for more than three years and it
is testament to this approach and our team for
buying into it.”
Holyrood PR works with a hosts of blue
chip clients and household names, including
Scottish Water, Cala Homes, Mackie’s of
Scotland, Musselburgh Racecourse and
Capability Scotland.
The Best Long-term Campaign award
recognised the agency’s work in creating
Scotland’s “generation swim” as part of the
innovative and hugely successful Learn to Swim
programme. Created in partnership with
Scottish Water and Scottish Swimming, the
project has seen more than 100,000 Scottish
youngsters take part in vital swimming lessons.Holyrood PR was also recognised for Best
Long-term Client Care in recognition of its work
with national charity Paths for All to help
Change Scotland’s attitude to walking.
As well as the two Gold awards, Holyrood PR
also claimed a Silver, when Account Manager
Fergus Robb was runner up in the prestigious
Young Communicator of the Year category.
Holyrood PR staff have won the sought-after
prize on four occasions since 2008.
In total, Holyrood PR was shortlisted in seven
separate categories at the PRide Awards. The
others included Best Corporate
Communications Campaign; Best Healthcare
and/or Wellbeing Campaign; Best Integrated
Campaign and Best Use of Media Relations.
The latest Gold awards mean that the highly
successful PR agency has now secured wins in at
least 17 different PR award categories.14 BUSINESS
A PUBLIC AFFAIRS agency is due to
announce five hires in Edinburgh and
Aberdeen, adding to its 60-strong team of
employees and associates.
Aspect has opened an office Edinburgh’s
Royal Mile, its first since relocating its
Aberdeen headquarters last November.
The new Edinburgh office is led by
public affairs and stakeholder
engagement director, Peter Smyth, who
was one of the remaining team at Indigo
PR when it closed in June.
Reporting to founder and CEO Andrew
McCallum, Mr Smyth sits on the Aspect
leadership team with Yvonne McCallum,
company director, Jenny Adams,
marketing director, Leona Minellas,
communication director, and Ewan Duthie,
digital director.
Mr McCallum said: “Establishing an
office in Edinburgh is a major milestone in
Aspect’s growth journey and a proud
moment for our talented team who are
the driving force behind our continued
success which will see a 50% increase in
year-on-year top line growth in 2023.”
This article was first published by the
Daily Business news website.
http://www.dailybusinessgroup.co.ukTWO SCOTTISH communications agencies- Pagoda PR and Denvir Marketing – have
joined forces and created FullSpark to offer a
range of services.
It will combine public affairs and media
relations, brand development, digital
marketing and web design, and formalises a
long-standing partnership.
The agencies will continue to operate
separately under their ownerships while
offering the full suite of services through the
FullSpark partnership.
Angela Casey, managing director of
Edinburgh-based Pagoda PR, described it as
an “exciting development”.
Chris George, managing director of
Denvir, added: “We have been working with
Pagoda for a number of years, and we’re
thrilled to be formalising our relationship.”
Denvir was established 20 years ago just
three years after Pagoda.
This article was first published by the Daily
Business news website.
http://www.dailybusinessgroup.co.uk
Aspect hiring at
new office
USA style real estate City investment surge
Bright sparks
join forces
Andrew McCallum
and Peter SmythAgency is just capital
Holyrood PR are the PRide of Leith with double gold win at CIPR award bash
COX & CO, Scotland’s first property
investment house, has expanded
its operation to include an estate
agency division.
The new arm of the Edinburgh-
based business has five brokers
offering a service that owner John
Cox claims is similar to the US
realtor or ‘Dubai property agent.
The team comprises property
professionals Moni Tagore, Jenny
Purves, Andrew Cramond, Mantas
Lozys and the recently-appointed
director of sales, Judy Shields.
Mr Cox said: “To be able to offer a
bespoke estate agency proposition
in Edinburgh & the Lothians and
beyond is a hugely exciting
development for the business and
it is only the start as there are plans
for extensive growth over the next
two years to cover the majority
of Scotland.
“The aim is to keep growing
across the central belt over the
next 12 months, by which time we
will have doubled our team of
property brokers to 10. Ultimately,
I’m looking at creating 20 jobs over
the next two years as we extend
our reach.”
The move comes just two years
after Mr Cox became majority
shareholder of the business, which
was set up in 2014 through the
amalgamation of two family
companies – his father’s mortgage
brokerage and his own jointly-
owned letting agency.
The firm now has more than 300
properties under management
with the majority of landlords
holding portfolios.
This article was first published by
the Daily Business news website.
http://www.dailybusinessgroup.co.ukINVESTMENT into Edinburgh’s
commercial property market has
nudged ahead of the total for
the whole of last year, according
to analysis by Knight Frank.
It found that £596 million of
deals have been completed so
far this year, which compares
with £555m for the 12 months
of 2022.
Retail property is on course
for its best performance since
2017, up 70% with £170m
changing hands in the year to
date. Among the retail assets in
Edinburgh to trade hands during
2023 are Craigleith Retail Park
and Corstorphine Retail Park.
High profile transactions
include Argyle House, near
Edinburgh Castle, which fetched
£38m in one of the biggest office
deals of the year.Hotels have also been an
active sector in Edinburgh, with
£114m worth of deals. The figure
is the second highest in the last
five years, after 2021’s £196m.
Edinburgh’s Waldorf Astoria
was acquired in July and several
properties on St Andrew Square
have been purchased for
redevelopment to hotels
Institutional buyers have been
behind 41% of investment
volumes in the city during 2023,
with international investors
representing another 37%.
Edinburgh accounts for
around 46% of total investment
in Scottish commercial property
this year.
This article was first published
by the Daily Business news
website.
http://www.dailybusinessgroup.co.uk