BUDGET 2010

Recognition has organised a special event for Stockton-based Henderson Insurance Brokers and the Institute of Directors which was attended by business leaders from North-East. Budget Live! on June 22 allowed guests to watch George Osborne’s emergency Budget and then hear a panel from politics, business, and trade unions discuss its implications. The Budget was broadcast live to an audience of leading North East business leaders and was followed by a Question Time-style debate featuring a panel comprising Peter Wilkinson, Group Claims Director of Henderson Insurance Brokers, Alastair Thomson, North East Chairman of the Institute of Directors, Alan Milne, Regional Officer, of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union and Lord Bates, of the Conservative Party.

Our video shows highlights from the event, which was also covered by the regional media and the BBC's Newsnight on BBC2

Social networking widgets

More and more clients want to ensure that our media releases are distributed using social networking in the internet. Now our journalist's page includes buttons so that journalists who also blog and use social network tools (which includes many forward thjinking journalists) can simply click a button and put our client's stories on their facebook or twitter feeds. See the buttons below to use the system on this blog!!

National TV - hatrick coverage

Graham writes.....three of Recognition's associates featured on an important BBC report about the economy this week. In his preview of the Bank of England's interest rate decision the BBC's business reporter, Nigel cassidy, came to the North and interviewed EOS, a company which makes steel framed housing, Arlington Financial, a Hartlepool based financial advisory firm and the convenience store group, Mills.

The BBC covered the North East Chamber of Commerce/Northern Echo/Arlington Financial shadow MPC which suggested interest rates stay on hold at 0.5%. See the video here....

Duncan's soccer aid drive

Bannatyne’s Health Clubs across the UK will be ‘keeping it up for Soccer Aid’ this weekend (22/23 May) to raise money for UNICEF’s crucial work helping children around the world.



Bannatyne’s has organised a range of fundraising activities at its 60 UK health clubs to support UNICEF’s Soccer Aid initiative, which is being spearheaded by pop star and football-fanatic, Robbie Williams.



Members who raise over £50 for UNICEF will be entered into a special Bannatyne’s prize draw to win a pair of tickets for the celebrity Soccer Aid football match on June 6 in Manchester. The prize also includes an invitation to a VIP reception at Old Trafford before the game.



Among the activities planned for the weekend of 22 and 23 May, Bannatyne members will be taking part in sponsored ‘keepy uppy’ challenges. Using a football or a balloon, members will use their feet, legs, arms, chest and head to juggle a ball without letting it touch the ground – the longer they can do it, the more money they can raise.



Bannatyne’s will also be hosting a simultaneous spinning class at its 60 UK health clubs. Over a thousand members from across Britain will take part in the cycle-based challenge on Saturday 22 May, which will start at every health club at 10am.



Bannatyne’s is backing Soccer Aid after it named UNICEF as its primary charity for the next three years. Company chairman and founder Duncan Bannatyne is a UNICEF Ambassador and has visited a number of the charity’s programmes around the world to support its exceptional work.



Some of the money raised by Soccer Aid will be used to help children affected by the earthquake in Haiti. Duncan was due to visit Haiti with UNICEF the week the earthquake struck and he has committed to raise money to support the charity’s work in the country.



Duncan Bannatyne said: “We’re encouraging all our members to ‘Keep it up for Soccer Aid’ and help millions of children worldwide through UNICEF’s work.



“Every minute of every day, children die from common diseases like measles, diarrhoea and malaria. Millions of children don’t go to school, or have food, shelter or clean water.



“Children all over the world suffer from violence, abuse and discrimination, are forced to work in dangerous conditions and denied the chance to play. This is wrong, but through the work of UNICEF we can help to put it right and the lives of these children can be dramatically improved.”



Nigel Armstrong, Managing Director of Bannatyne Fitness, said: “The ‘Keep it up for Soccer Aid’ activities we’ve organised should be great fun and raise money for an extremely important cause. Whether they’re going to use their football skills, endurance on the spinning bikes or take part in any other ‘Keep it up for Soccer Aid’ fundraiser, our members will be helping to make a real difference to the lives of children.”



Michael Newsome, Director of Fundraising for Soccer Aid said: “Bannatyne’s have truly risen to the challenge. Across the country, people from all walks of life will be keeping it up for Soccer Aid’, which is fantastic! With every spin of the wheels, with every header, toe-tap and goal, children across the world will benefit. What better motivation is there to get fit, join in and have fun whilst getting sponsored to make a lasting change to children’s lives. Tune in to ITV 1 on June 6 so see what a huge difference these activities make.”

NEW GOVERNMENT

Graham writes.....the new Government's agreement document has been of interest to many of Recognition's clients. I've also had requests for details from both the Lib Dem and Conservative manifestoes. Already a number of our clients have been in the media commenting on the Cameron Coalition. Charlie Mullins of Pimlico Plumbers gave a great reaction in Business Matters Magazine; Tony Earnshaw of UK Commercial Cleaning was on Radio 5 Live; Duncan Bannatyne has been tweeting; George Rafferty of NOF Energy has been giving views on the outlook for nuclear power. We are at the early stage of planning a big IOD event in the North on the day of the emergency budget (which if it is 50 days on Tuesday will be 30th June). Now the Government is formed the media will have new aspects to write about it, scrutinising the detail of policy, and our clients will all be using Recognition to give their views, whatever they may be.

Publicity at the election is not just for politicians!

This video is timely, it is Gordon Brown - not the THE Gordon Brown - making good use of the publicity surrounding the general election. Recognition produced this You Tube video which has received coverage in regional media. Other clients to get involved with the election were Duncan Bannatyne - who backed Gordon Brown's Labour Party and Charlie Mullins, of Pimlico Plummbers and Tony Earnshaw of UK Commercial Cleaning who backed David Cameron's Conservatives. We also placed our client Jon Sturrock of Arlington Financial in Hartlepool on the BBC's 5 Live national radio economy debate. All earned the respect of the media and good coverage for getting involved in the debate.

Strictly New Business

Graham writes.....a successful PR initiative in Darlington which promotes three of Recognition's clients: Lingfield Point; Henderson Insurance Brokers; and Arlington Financial.

The event was a combination of Dragons' Den and Strictly Come Dancing - Strictly New Business gave three new businesses the chance to win a package worth in excess of £10k! Click the video for details.

Also great national coverage for The Priory - which was featured on national BBC Radio 4, BBC TV and Radio 5 live as well as a host of UK papers - for its deal with UK athelitics.

Graham writes.....It was good to see the Newcastle Journal printing a massive feature about a real North East success story in Darlington. Recognition has been promoting shopsafe.co.uk for a while now and its success is really impressive.

www.shopsafe.co.uk, the North-East based online shopping directory has continued to grow with a 16% increase in page views by visitors in its tenth year.Having received 1,673,989 page views in January 2010, www.shopsafe.co.uk has vastly outgrown its modest start when it received 32,950 page views ten years earlier.During the same time, the number of monthly visitors has grown from little more than 9,400 to in excess of 304,900.Now, around 10,000 visitors a day use www.shopsafe.co.uk to access 4,000 retailers, including the likes of Hamleys, Next, Amazon, Marks & Spencer and Nike. Each site has been checked for security and ease of use before being accepted onto the directory.The directory was launched only a year after Google and web giants such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter were not to appear until years later. The likes of Boo and Clickmango, big names in their day, were among countless victims of the dot com crash of March 2000.However, the key to www.shopsafe.co.uk’s success has been offering a service which continues to provide visitors with what they want – a reassuringly safe online shopping environment.

New staff at Recognition

Graham writes.....Thanks to new clients coming on board, Recognition has added two new members to its team and awarded a promotion to employee, Michelle Bond, who has already been with the firm for two years.

Experienced Public Relations Consultant Kimberley Walker, 26, has a Public Relations degree and five years experience in the field. Kimberley is currently working on a diverse range of clients including leading healthcare provider, The Priory Group, nationwide commercial cleaning experts, UK Commercial Cleaning and leading health club provider, Bannatyne Fitness and Spas.

Melanie Smith, 23, who has a degree in Media and Cultural Studies and completed the National Certificate for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) at Darlington College, has joined the team as PR Executive. Since graduating Melanie has had experience working for BBC Radio Tees and Stockton Borough Council.

Michelle Bond, 23, has worked for the company since she graduated with a Media and Popular Culture degree. She joined the company as PA to the Partners, furthering her formal qualifications by studying for a Professional Certificate in Marketing. Michelle joins Melanie as PR Executive and will offer support to the Senior PR Consultants.

NEW JOBS FOR NORTH EAST - SOME GOOD NEWS!

Graham writes.......I was delighted Recognition was chosen to promote a major new jobs announcement which featured in the national and regional media and on TV.

The GT Group Ltd based in the North East of England is to create 200 new jobs over four years and safeguard over 200 more after securing forward sales commitments of £200 million for its revolutionary engine emissions control systems.The specialist engineering product design and manufacturing company, based in Peterlee, County Durham, has secured the commitments, spanning the next five years, for its ground-breaking systems, developed in partnership with the world’s leading on and off highway diesel engine manufacturers.

You can see our video here: