Lancashire-based public relations agency, Catapult PR, has marked its 20th anniversary by being shortlisted for its industry’s most prestigious awards – the national Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) Excellence Awards.
Catapult is only one of only three agencies flying the flag for the North West at these awards and the only Lancashire-based PR consultancy to get to the finals.
It also believes it is one of only nine PR agencies based outside of London and Brighton to be shortlisted for its work in these national awards, which cover the whole of Britain. More than 30 of the shortlisted agencies are London or Brighton-based, along with a similar number of in-house PR teams.
The Fylde Coast PR agency, which continues to defy its size with its achievements, is shortlisted in the Travel, Leisure and Tourism category of the national awards and will battle against big brands and big-budget campaigns. It is shortlisted for its work for Northumberland-based Langley Castle Hotel, which entailed championing and launching a ‘Northumberland Day’ and which involved the creation of the ‘World’s Biggest Stottie’.
It is up against five other agencies in its category, all of which are based in London. Their campaigns have been conducted by or for Virgin Holidays, Hotels.com, the National Trust, Legoland and EasyJet.
Catapult is no stranger to the national CIPR Excellence Awards, having been a finalist in the travel PR category in 2007 and a winner of the ‘Best Freelance PR Practitioner’ title in 2012, receiving the award from Olympian, Colin Jackson.
The next step is for it to attend a panel interview at CIPR headquarters in Russell Square, London, on April 23. Prizes will be presented at a glittering gala dinner at The Artillery Garden, at the Honourable Artillery Company’s headquarters.
Catapult PR is also currently shortlisted for three PRMoment.com awards and became the best-performing marketing agency across the north in November 2017, winning five different awards across three different award schemes, including the Best Travel PR Campaign in the Northern Marketing Awards. In 2017, it was a finalist for a further ten awards.
Speaking about its significant achievement in being shortlisted for a national CIPR Excellence Award, Catapult PR’s managing director, Jane Hunt, says: “Being recognised as one of the best of the best, not just in the north west, but across the whole country is truly rewarding.
“We are especially delighted to be a finalist in the Travel, Leisure and Tourism category once again, as travel and tourism PR is one of our specialisms and obviously very relevant, given our location just a few miles from Blackpool and less than an hour away from the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales.
“We could handle PR for many more northern tourism attractions, hotels and leisure providers across the north and beyond, so maybe this will send a message out to the tourism sector.”
