Band and Brown Communications is planning to create a network of
regional offices, the first of which will open in Bristol next
month.
The office will service existing clients based in Bristol, including
supermarket chain Somerfield Stores and schools recruitment agency LHR
Education, as well as targeting new clients with their headquarters in
the area. The RAC and building society Bristol and West are both
headquartered in Bristol.
’It is a mistake to think of Bristol in provincial terms - the city is
the largest financial centre in the UK outside London and the West
Country is home to more than 1,000 international companies,’ said the
agency’s chief executive and founder Nick Band.
Michelle Sammons will be managing director of the new office. Sammons
has been freelancing for the agency since leaving her job as PR manager
of WH Smith 18 months ago.
She will be joined by associate director Susie Bischoff who has been
with the agency for three years. Sammons intends to recruit two account
managers locally.
Band and Brown is considering opening two more offices, one in East
Anglia and another further north in Leeds or Scotland.
Band said the agency wanted to grow regionally: ’We don’t want the
London agency to grow too big, we believe the most successful companies
are the smaller ones. We want our business to grow horizontally.’
The agency has 27 staff in London and was 64th in PR Week’s 1997 league
table.
