Wetherby Whaler opening receives warm welcome in media

Caroline Walker writes...........


Being a PR professional is always hard work, often stressful with deadlines to meet and clients to service but it is also great fun and incredibly satisfying, particularly when it involves fish and chips, celebrities and a Yorkshire icon.

The opening of the new Wetherby Whaler fish and chip restaurant and take-away in Guiseley near Leeds was such a project.

Simple enough you might think, but this restaurant is no ordinary restaurant. It is the spiritual home of fish and chips, the iconic original Harry Ramsden’s. Back in its hey-day it was the largest fish and chip shop in the world and boasted stained glass windows, art-deco plasterwork and shimmering chandeliers.

The restaurant, now in corporate hands and unloved and underused, dwindled and in late 2011 it closed its famous doors.

All was not lost however and Yorkshire fish and chip entrepreneurs Phillip and Janine Murphy, owners of four Wetherby Whalers, stepped in.

Several months of intensive work followed and the 5th Wetherby Whaler was created. True to the ideals of Harry Ramsden the £500,000 refurbishment was designed to bring the restaurant up to date, while maintaining the atmosphere the restaurant was renowned for. A baby grand piano, much of the original plasterwork and stained glass were saved and updated and ten band new chandeliers were installed.

A grand opening was needed for this landmark restaurant and Recognition worked closely with the Murphy family to ensure that it was a glittering affair.

Guests of honour at the official opening included Harry Ramsden’s daughter Shirley Dillon and granddaughter Jayne Dinan who travelled from Ireland for the occasion.

Also in attendance were local dignitaries, including Stuart Andrew MP, Sir Ken Morrison and members of the 1970’s Leeds United team. Twin sisters, then called Mavis and Wendy Raistrick, who featured in the press and in a book about the famous restaurant when they attended a celebration there in 1952, could not be left out. The sisters walked from their home in Horsforth to be first in line when the restaurant marked its 21st anniversary by selling fish and chips at the original price.

Yorkshire legend Dickie Bird OBE, a regular visitor to the Wetherby Whaler in Wakefield, also enjoyed the occasion.

Media from across Yorkshire came along to enjoy fish and chips and report on the event. Cameras flashed and TV cameras whirred as a blue plaque was unveiled by an emotional Shirley Dillon, who was certain her father would have thoroughly approved of the new restaurant.

Lots of media coverage, a happy client, and a fish and chip lunch into the bargain! A good day’s work!

NEW ADDITION TO THE TEAM!

Recognition Marketing and PR has welcomed Marie Carter as a Senior PR Consultant on its business-to-business team, which works with prestigious clients such as NOF Energy, TAG Energy Solutions, Ebac, DurhamGate and The Institution of Civil Engineers.

Marie, 37, lives near Durham City, and prior to joining Recognition, she ran her own successful PR consultancies, MC Communications and Vet-PR, after starting in business in 2005. During that time Marie has worked with clients such as the Society of Practising Veterinary Surgeons (SPVS) and Durham Business Club. Marie is also a former regional journalist having worked for Johnston Press titles and freelanced for The Northern Echo, among other publications. She also has a strong political and public affairs background with experience both as a local authority Press Officer and as an MP’s Researcher following graduation from the University of Stirling (Politics & German BA Hons.)

Recognition Marketing and PR acts for a wide-ranging portfolio of more than 50 clients including major construction and property companies, manufacturers and the education and health sectors. The company also specialises in crisis and reputation management and is the only North East PR firm to have its own video and audio production studio, producing web videos and web TV programmes from its base at Lingfield House in Darlington.

Marie said: “I am delighted to join such a well-known and well-established PR agency as Recognition and to be working with a list of such prestigious clients. I believe that my background in business, public affairs and journalism will bring a very worthwhile mix to the existing superb business-to-business PR team at Recognition.”

Graham Robb, Senior Partner, commented: “I am very pleased to welcome Marie to the Recognition team. She brings with her a wealth of experience in public relations and the media as well as in business.

He added: “Over the last twenty years, Recognition has grown to become one of the North East’s largest and most successful PR firms. We have done this by investing in high quality people and pushing the boundaries in terms of new technology and media.”

"Rich List evacuee" causes media frenzy

Paul writes...

Sometimes a story really captures the imagination of the media and creates a mini frenzy of activity across the whole range of print and broadcast outlets. Such was the case when John Elliott, founder of Recognition’s client, Ebac, announced he was “giving away” his fortune.

When it came to deciding how he wanted to pass on the business, John – TV’s first Secret Millionaire and a member of the illustrious Rich list – shirked convention. He would not sell the business (that meant there would be a chance manufacturing could be taken abroad, taking jobs from the area) and it would not be passed down through the family, despite their involvement in the company.

Instead, a Foundation would be launched, preserving jobs and manufacturing in County Durham and ensuring profits would be ploughed back into future growth. There would be no shareholders to take money out of the business.

This mix of a Rich List evacuee and an inheritance bypassed was media gold. The days prior to the official launch of the Ebac Foundation, interviews started, with The Northern Echo preparing a front page splash and BBC Tees pre-recording for their mid-morning show. The morning itself started early, with live interviews on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast, Radio 4’s Today programme, as well as BBC Tees’ breakfast show.

Then it was back to Ebac for an event, featuring Lord Digby Jones, which attracted further coverage on BBC Look North, Tyne Tees TV and BBC News Channel, as well as interviews with The Daily Mirror and The Journal. Media interest continued through to the following weekend, when MD Pamela Petty – John’s daughter – travelled to BBC Television Centre in London to take part in 5 Live’s On The Money and BBC News Channel’s Show Me The Money.

John’s act of selflessness has, with justification, attracted a lot of attention, as the media continue to ask the question of “why” he has taken this step.