Plum Communications & PR is celebrating after being named a finalist for two prestigious industry awards, recognising the top communicators in the West of England.
The creative communications agency, which operates from offices in Somerset and Wiltshire, is one of three finalists for the annual Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) PRide Award of ‘Outstanding Small Consultancy’, which recognises the achievements, performance and excellent work of a small consultancy over the past three years.
Despite having only just celebrated its second birthday, Plum has already developed a wide and diverse client base, with the agency recently winning a large contract with Spectrum Housing Group for the delivery of a range of marketing and PR services. The five-strong team offer a range of services to local businesses, including PR strategy, crisis communications planning, and copywriting for print and web.
Ben Veal, Account Manager for Plum, has also been named as one of the two finalists for the sought-after ‘Outstanding Young Communicator’ award, which recognises the achievements, performance and excellent work of young professionals who make a valuable contribution to the organisations and companies they work for, and who show considerable promise as future leaders of the profession.
27-year-old social media marketing specialist Ben, who joined Plum in April, has made it to the finals due to his direct work with Plum’s clients on a range of strategic campaigns, as well as his role as co-founder of digital publication Guru Magazine, which has sought to make science accessible and interesting to a wide audience through using the latest digital means.
Karen Morledge, Director of Plum Communications & PR, said:
“I am delighted that the Plum team have been shortlisted for two categories at this year’s CIPR PRide Awards. Our growth has been significant over the past two years, and so it is brilliant to see our growth recognised by being Outstanding Small Consultancy finalists.
I am also thrilled that Ben has been recognised as an individual. With his experience and passion for PR and social media marketing, Ben has strengthened our client offering even further. He is a credit to the industry and personifies the meaning of an outstanding young communicator”.
Over 1,000 entries were received from freelancers, consultancies and in-house teams across twelve UK regions.Speaking about the awards, CIPR CEO Jane Wilson commented:
“The CIPR PRide Awards celebrate the best PR and communications campaigns and teams from the profession around the UK. To be shortlisted for a CIPR PRide Award demonstrates exemplary achievement, impact and value – immediately putting your work in the spotlight. The sheer number of high quality entries received this year, especially when things are still pretty tough out there economicallt, is testament to a thriving nationwide industry. Congratulations for reaching this stage and the best of luck for the awards presentation evenings.”
The judging process for the PRide Awards is rigorous with a national panel of industry experts assessing the shortlisted entries and choosing the winners. The 2012 Chair of Judges, Gill Dandy FCIPR, Senior Consultant at The Centre for Strategy and Communication, and Chris Genasi FCIPR, Senior Consultant at APCO Worldwide, assisted in ensuring a fair and consistent judging process.
Gill Dandy commented: “I would like to congratulate all of the individuals and teams that have been shortlisted across the twelve regions and nations in the UK. The standard of entries continues to improve year on year which demonstrates an increasingly vibrant public relations profession.”
The winners of the 2012 West of England CIPR PRide Awards will be announced at a black-tie dinner on 9th November at The Grand, Bristol.
