Regional PR, according to the benchmarking survey released by the PRCA earlier this year, makes up about 10% of the nation’s public relations income. While London is home to some of the largest and most successful agencies, the past couple of years have seen regional companies hold their own as they emerge from the economic downturn. Those in the southeast, however, are notably more sustainable than their peers in other regions as 47% of PRCA members outside of London and the southeast reported lower profits in 2013.

The PRCA, to recognise the world of public relations that exists outside the M25, has just concluded its second PRCA DARE Awards programme. The grand tour of Great Britain’s PR landscape was concluded by the Brighton and Leeds events on 3 July and 25 June, respectively. The DARE Awards had previously graced Birmingham, Edinburgh and Bristol to honour the best in PR in those regions. The awards recognise and showcase the best examples of regional PR and work by PR firms outside of London through conferences and awards.

PRCA director general Francis Ingham says, ‘’I’d like to commend all of the winners of this year’s DARE Awards South East and East Anglia. We’ve seen some truly innovative methods of communication and a wealth of PR talent. Well done to the judges, who had their work cut out in deciding on the winners.”

The evening in Brighton celebrated the best in London and the southeast. The night’s big winners included Westminster City Council, as in-house team of the year, and Threepipe, as consultancy of the year. 
In Leeds, the Greater Manchester Police got the in-house nod and Weber Shandwick took home the consultancy award.

“As the headline sponsor of the PRCA DARE events we were thrilled to have our work recognised alongside numerous high-calibre award entries from the various regions, joining Bayer Animal Health and Pegasus PR on-stage to pick up the Consumer Relations trophy for our ‘Slime Watch’ campaign,” Helen Moore, MD of markettiers4dc, says.

To close out the conference programme, guests in Brighton heard from PR, communications and HR specialists on a range of topics in creativity and talent issues. Aside from grannies on roller coasters and the pleasurability of dark chocolate, the conference touched on issues in intellectual property and contracts, what in-house teams need from their suppliers, how to recruit the best talent and ensure talent retention and the best ways in which to encourage the next generation of communicators to enter the industry. Claremont Communications’ MD Simon Francis spoke about apprentices alongside one of his apprentices.

To read about the Scotland and NI awards winners, click here.

The winners from the South East and East Anglia are:

Campaign challenges award: Hope&Glory PR for O2 Upcycled

Consumer relations award: Markettiers4DC, Pegasus and Bayer for Slime Watch

Corporate, financial and stakeholder relations award: Lanson and Nutmeg for Establishing a New Entrant, Nutmeg.com

Digital and social strategy award: Weber Shandwick for Young’s #bemysolemate

Live, launched and loud award: Frank PR for Chessington Bans Animal Print

Media, marketing and measurement award: Incredibull for Skype Ask Simon

Public sector and third sector award: Hope&Glory PR for A Silver Penny for a Prince

Technology, trade and B2B award: Hope&Glory PR for O2 Upcycled

Consultancy of the year award: Threepipe

In-house team of the year award: Westminster City Council

The winners from the North are:

Campaign challenges award: Stein IAS for Rubber Stamped!

Consumer relations award: Finn PR for Launching Fab Minis

Corporate, financial and stakeholder relations award: Weber Shandwick for The Castel Property Fund – A

Secure Home for Your Investment

Digital and social strategy award: Pelican and British Frozen Food Federation for Making Cookery Cool

Live, launched and loud award: Havas PR for The Twinsie: When Two Become Onesie for The Original Factory Shop

Media, marketing and measurement award: Stein IAS for Rubber Stamped!

Public sector and third sector award: Acceleris for The National Federation of ALMOs

Technology, trade and B2B award: Grayling for Disposables UK Punches Above its Weight

Consultancy of the year award: Weber Shandwick

In-house team of the year award: Greater Manchester Police