SUFFOLK EMPLOYEE NAMED AS EAST ANGLIA’S YOUNG COMMUNICATOR OF THE YEAR

21 December 2009: Suffolk has notched up another first, with Helen Sharkey, an employee at PR agency Project PR being named as East Anglia’s ‘Young Communicator of the Year’ for 2009 by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

Helen, who is 26 and from Felixstowe, was nominated for the award by her bosses at Project PR and her entry was endorsed by some of her clients, including East of England Regional Assembly (EERA). The judging process included a panel interview with three of the region’s most experienced PR experts, beating off stiff competition from five other finalists to scoop the top prize.

Judges selected Helen for her maturity and confidence as an excellent PR Account Manager. They said: “We were very impressed with Helen’s enthusiasm, attention to detail, passion for making a difference, desire to deliver the best possible results for her clients and breadth of work. She is without doubt a first class strategic thinker and an outstanding team player.”

Penny Arbuthnot, Director of Project PR added: “Helen’s results have been remarkable, yet she constantly strives for further improvement with each client, analysing and forward planning and using her excellent writing and media skills to best advantage. Helen is an outstanding young communicator on every front and we are thrilled she has won this award.”

Helen added: “I am shocked but excited and proud to have won the award which tops off what has been a great year for me. I really enjoy what I do, I have some great clients and am lucky to have a great team to work with at Project PR.”

Helen began her PR career working for Hutchison Ports UK as Corporate Affairs Officer based at the Port of Felixstowe. She joined Project PR in 2008 and has since been promoted to Account Manager. Her award was presented by Chartered Institute of Public Relations President Kevin Taylor on 7th December at the SAS Radisson hotel at Stansted. Over 120 PR practitioners from around the region attended the ceremony.

See www.projectpr.biz for further information about Project PR.

Ends

For further information please contact:

Helen Sharkey or Penny Arbuthnot at Project PR on 01473 326 401 (07885 238374)

Notes to Editors

1. Project PR and Marketing Ltd is based at: The Coach House, Reed Hall, Ipswich Road, Holbrook, Ipswich IP9 2QR. See www.projectpr.biz

2. The company was established in 1996 by Penny Arbuthnot and has grown to be a leading PR agency in the region now employing 6 staff.

3. In the 2009 CIPR Pride Awards for East Anglia Project PR won four Gold awards for Best Not-for-profit campaign (TBG Learning); Best Consumer Campaign (Ford Retail), Best Use of Social Media (Buster brand/National Plughole Week) and Best Young Communicator (Helen Sharkey). It also won two Silver awards for ‘Consultancy of the Year’ and ‘Best Use of Media Relations (Buster brand/National Plughole Week) .

4. In the 2007 Chartered Institute of Public Relations Pride awards Project PR won ‘Outstanding Small Consultancy’. It also won three further Gold awards for Consumer Relations (PR for the Ford Retail group of 55 dealerships); Best Website (for the Team Ipswich website) and Integrated Communications (a joint entry with Suffolk manufacturer Challs International).

5. Project PR works with a mix of private and public sector organisations handling local and national PR and marketing programmes.