Member Article

Rebrand for North East PR and marketing agency in milestone year

A North East PR and marketing consultancy has rebranded as it marks a decade in business.

Sarah Hall Consulting Limited was set up by Sarah Waddington (formerly Hall) in 2009 to capitalise on demand for senior talent within the regional marketplace.

It has now relaunched as Astute.Work to mark the company’s change in focus and the launch in 2018 of a London office.

It also reflects the agency’s growth to a core team of nine, supported by trusted associates and sector specialists who enable the agency to scale its provision for clients as needed. The company won North East Small Agency of the Year at the 2016 PRide Awards.

Astute.Work offers management consultancy to organisations to increase the efficiency of their business operations and drive ethical and sustainable financial growth. Its PR and marketing division helps companies manage their reputation through integrated communications.

Managing director Sarah Waddington said: “It feels really positive to mark our ten-year anniversary this way. The agency scaled a long time back and Astute.Work tells the story of what we do and why. We’ve grown from offering solely PR and marketing, to video and podcast production which is a third of the business, and now have a strong management consultancy offer.

“Ultimately the goal has always been to build profiles and profits for our clients. Now we’re also able to help them ensure strong governance and optimise performance wherever they are in their business lifecycle.”

Vice-President of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), having served a year as President in 2018, Sarah Waddington is known in the public relations industry as a moderniser and pioneer of best practice. She holds the CIPR’s Sir Stephen Tallents Medal for exceptional achievement in public relations and the PRCA’s outstanding contribution in digital award.

In 2015 she created #FuturePRoof, a series of books and community aimed at reasserting public relations as a strategic management function.

Later this year she plans to launch Socially Mobile, a charity aimed at helping social mobility within the PR industry.

Sarah added: “Voluntary work and give back has always been a core part of the business and this year to mark ten years we wanted to make this truly meaningful. We’re looking forward to helping even more people get ahead in the career that we all chose and love.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Astute.Work .