Member Article

NFU’s Mike Gorton awarded communicator of the year at CIPR North West PRide Awards

The face of the NFU’s campaign against milk price cuts by supermarkets, which saw trolleys full of milk abandoned at checkouts, was awarded Communicator of the Year at the annual Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) North West PRide Awards.

The protests resulted in dozens of UK media coverage, and Mike Gorton was at the forefront of all media interviews, including with BBC News, BBC 5 Live, Sky News, Reuters, ITV, The Guardian, and BBC North West Tonight.

Mike was recognised for his contribution to the PR and media work surrounding the campaign, at a time when his business was, and is still is, under immense pressure from the cuts.

Abi Owers MCIPR, Chair of CIPR North West and Earned Media Director at McCann Manchester said: “Whether in print format, over the radio airwaves or down the lens of a television camera, Mike has the ability to inform, educate and gain support from his audience.

“Executing a successful media campaign for his industry whilst under the real threat of losing his business, we feel, sets him apart from the crowd this year.”

Alder Hey Children’s Hospital was one of the big winners at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations’ (CIPR) North West PRide Awards, picking up three gold awards, including two for their campaign “Taking a Fresh look at mental health”, in collaboration with The Fresh Group.

This campaign sought to tackle the stigma around mental health in young people and help those suffering in silence to seek help and information.

The judges were really impressed by the “effective use of young service users to shape, develop and own the tactics, which resulted in the achievement of changed perceptions.“Alder Hey also won best in-house public relations team.

Abi added: “Everyone who has been awarded with, or shortlisted for, a PRide Award this year should be immensely proud of their achievement.

“The PRide Awards ceremony is the most coveted awards event for our industry and presents a great opportunity to showcase the vast array of outstanding talent across the North West.

“On behalf of our committee, I’d like to offer my sincere congratulations to our gold winners last night, all of whom have demonstrated the highest professional standards of public relations practice.”

The CIPR PRide Awards is the premier UK-wide awards scheme that recognises excellence in public relations and communications work across Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and six English regions.

The North West Group has more than 600 members in a region which takes in Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, Clwyd and Gwynedd.

Founded in 1948, the CIPR is the professional body for public relations practitioners in the UK. With more than 10,000 members involved in all aspects of public relations, it is the largest body of its type in Europe.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sam Harris .