The team, lead by Head of Place, Nicky Hughes, already handles the PR for GVA’s Liverpool office, were invited to pitch for the business following GVA’s decision to streamline its PR and digital reach in the North and significantly increase impact across the regions.
The team are now working with the multi discipline teams in Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester, as well as the national communications team in London, to support GVA’s growth strategy in the North for the next 12 months. While still raising the profile of each individual office, the new approach will also provide opportunities to align key messages across the North through cross-city commentary on current challenges and hot topics such as the creation of successful cities, housing delivery, transport and infrastructure, skills and the Northern Powerhouse.
Elizabeth Bartlett, head of communications at GVA said: “This is an opportunity to be more innovative in our approach to PR. In linking one agency across our Northern offices, we can scale the activity to provide a regional response to key issues.
“We are very pleased to expand our relationship with Active Profile, their knowledge of our business and their enthusiasm really shone through at the pitch. The work that the team has been doing for GVA in Liverpool has been excellent and we look forward to widening their remit to maximise business impact.”
Nicky Hughes, said of the win: “We are really looking forward to working with GVA across the North, in three cities that are all so different, and each with their own opportunities and challenges. We have been working with Liverpool for three years now and we have a great relationship with the team, so we are excited about growing the account, as well as our experience and reach.
“We are now working with the teams to create immediate and tangible opportunities around GVA’s key projects, events, themes and research. GVA is sponsoring our Inspired Spaces North feature again this year, which provides a great platform for commentary across all three offices, aimed at the creative and digital sectors. GVA’s recent acquisition of How Planning in Manchester will also offer the opportunity to create a piece of work focusing on the newly formed GVA How Planning team.”