Member Article

Eight is great for growing PR agency

Birmingham-based PR agency, EAST VILLAGE., is celebrating eight years in business with a flurry of new client wins and team growth. The award-winning agency, which was crowned ‘PR & Marketing Agency of the Year 2021’ at the City of Birmingham Business Awards, has been retained to deliver strategic PR for businesses across the creative and wellness sectors, as well as welcoming three new team members.

EAST VILLAGE. has been appointed by Urban, the leading digital platform for at-home massage, beauty and more. Having raised $21million to date, through institutional investment and Seedrs funding, the platform aims to become a one-stop-shop for wellness and a major player in the gig economy. EAST VILLAGE. will support Urban with national PR, as well as regional media relations in the three cities it currently operates: London, Manchester and Birmingham.

Also joining Urban under EAST VILLAGE.‘s health and beauty offering is Echor, which creates science-backed products to help optimise sleep. From candles and pillow spray to mouth guards and sleep journals, Echor is on a mission to help everyone get a better night’s sleep. The challenger brand has appointed the agency to deliver national consumer PR, as well as expert positioning for its founders and in-house wellness experts.

Closer to home, EAST VILLAGE. has also been appointed by two of the region’s leading creative agencies. Ecommerce agency Digital Cake, which works with brands including 304 Clothing and P&Co, and social media advertising agency, Pink Leopard, have retained the agency to deliver strategic PR across regional, national and marketing trade press.

These notable client wins come as EAST VILLAGE. also welcomes three new team members. Sam Bethune and George Jessup join its client delivery team to work across the creative, retail, leisure, hospitality and charity sectors. In addition to Abi Daniels, who takes up a newly-created Content Creator position, to help level-up the agency’s multimedia delivery for a number of key projects including its own Pocket Sized PR initiative.

Taking the agency’s headcount to eight, this growth also marks eight years in business for EAST VILLAGE., which was started by Tara Tomes in 2013. She comments:

“I’m so proud of where we’ve got to in the past eight years, despite the rollercoaster that is running a small business. Seeing this growth – and winning the clients that we are – makes me even more determined to create an agency that every single person here is proud to work for, and every client gets more value than they ever bargained for.

“It’s also brilliant to see more national brands looking to regional agencies like ours to deliver big, bold and impactful national and international campaigns. Birmingham really is the place to be!”

Priding itself on delivering PR for brands who share good values and great stories, EAST VILLAGE. works with clients including Castle Fine Art, Centrick, Heart of England Community Foundation, Living Well UK, Longbridge Shopping, Love Logs, Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Oaks Consultancy, and Treetop Adventure Golf.

“I can’t believe that it’s been eight years already – although my grey hairs may disagree! – but I have loved every second! I set up EAST VILLAGE. to be an ‘agency centred around team culture’ and people have always been at the heart of everything that we do. From the team itself through to the clients that we work with, we put genuine feeling into the way we operate and what we deliver. I’m excited that we have three new superstars to add to this mix too,” Tara adds.

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