Diffusion PR rounded off a fantastic year by scooping New Consultancy of the Year. The agency launched in April 2008 with the mission of breaking into PRWeek's Top 40 Technology Consultancies in 2010 - a feat it achieved a year ahead of schedule.

Healthcare shop Reynolds Mackenzie, named ‘One to Watch' by PRWeek in its Top 150 Consultancies 2009, lived up to the hype. The agency took the Healthcare: Ethical & OTC Consumer award for its work with Celgene generating interest in multiple myeloma, an ‘orphan disease' that is usually met with dispassion from the media. Additionally the agency was Highly Commended in the Specialist Consultancy of the Year category, which was won by M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment.

Awards newcomer Deliberate PR was Highly Commended for its work with King's Place in the Digital Innovation award, which was won by the British Heart Foundation for its Food4Thought campaign. The Young PR Professional of the Year award went to Katie Hayward, 28, an account director at Lansons Communications. Launch Group head of marketing and group account director Katie Bailey, 29, and British Red Cross comms manager for IFRC Southern Africa Zone office, Heron Holloway, 27, were both Highly Commended in the category.

The Marcoms:Business award was scooped by Octopus PR and Cisco for the Cisco Customer Kings campaign, with Cirkle Communications taking Highly Commended for its work with Walkers on the Do Us A Flavour campaign.