Game show co-host Rachel Riley announced the ‘countdown’ to the biggest awards of the night at last night’s PRCA National Awards. The annual event recognised the best in public relations across Britain. A range of agencies and campaigns took home trophies, but all were innovative, creative and of a high standard, says PRCA director general Francis Ingham.

This year’s Mark Mellor Award winner – which goes to the individual who gives an outstanding contribution to the PR industry in honour of the eponymous late MD of Firefly Communications – is CEO of Ketchum Europe David Gallagher. Gallagher is also president of ICCO and former chairman of the PRCA. Mellor’s widow Claire Walker says, “David’s calm and measured demeanor belies the impressive juggling act that must surely go on behind the scenes. This is why he is worthy of the Mark Mellor Award. As well as holding down demanding top positions at Ketchum over the past 15 years, David has given back way beyond his agency remit. He has supported the PR industry as a whole by co-steering the PRCA through the most economically challenging period in the PR industry’s history, and since then, by being president of ICCO.”

Other winners on the night included the team from the Historical Royal Palaces which was commended for its work on the Tower of London Remembers campaign that saw the tower strewn with poppies to memorialise the First World War. The Department of Health also earned a ‘Health and Wellbeing Award’ and the award for ‘In-house Team of the Year – Public Sector’ for its work throughout the Ebola crisis.

The ‘B2B Award’ was given to onechocolate communications, which ran a campaign to promote canned craft beer in the UK, and AXA Wealth for its retirement planning portal. In employee engagement, MSLGROUP took home a trophy for a collaborative working space created for Canon and British Airways for an internal customer service campaign. Finally, William Hill won the ‘In-house Team of the Year Award – Private Sector’ and Clearbox Communications, the Academy, Unity and Brands2Life all won headline consultancy awards.

The PRCA runs the national awards for work from across the UK, but its summer awards, the DARE Awards recognise excellent regional work in public relations.

The full list of winners is as follows:

Corporate, Financial and Investor Relations Award
Consultancy: Headland – The AA's First Year as a PLC
In-house: Aldermore – Aldermore Initial Public Offering

Health and Wellbeing Award
Consultancy: Weber Shandwick – UK Launch of 23andMe
In-house: Department of Health, Public Health England, NHS England and The Royal Free Hospital – Ebola

Digital and New Media Award
Consultancy: Cow PR – #ThePussycatRiot
In-house: Avis - Unlock Christmas with Avis with Tin Man

Broadcast Award

Consultancy: Mischief PR – Shed of the Year TV Show
In-house: Blind Veterans UK – Blind Veterans UK Brand Film

Media Relations Award
Consultancy: Headland – UBS Wealth Management wins Majority
In-house: British Library– Magna Carta: 800 years on

Employee Engagement Award
Consultancy: MSLGROUP – Miru: Creating a new collaborative way of working at Canon EMEA
In-house: British Airways – Service Hallmarks: Creating consistent service

Consumer Award – High Budget
Highly Commended: Unity -  #FollowTheFairies
Winner: Mischief PR -  Dulux Colour Britain

Consumer Award – Low Budget
Mischief PR – Farage Swings for Europe

Consumer Award – In-house
UKTV - Monty Python Live

Public Sector, Value for Money Award
Consultancy:
Highly Commended: Hope&Glory - Big Bang Experiments 2015
Winner: Unity - The Look To Die For?

In-house: Transport for London – Year of the Bus
 
Not-For-Profit and Charity Award
Consultancy: Good Relations – Building Support for our Wounded Warriors
In-house:Historic Royal Palaces – The Tower of London Remembers

B2B Award
Consultancy: onechocolate communications – Igniting a canned craft beer trend in the UKIn-house:AXA Wealth – Retirement LifePlanning

Corporate Social Responsibility Award
Consultancy: Hope&Glory – IKEA Happy Ending Fairytales
In-house:
Highly Commended: Starbucks Coffee Company – Neighbourly Noise
Winner: npower – Fuel Banks

Technology Award
Consultancy: Diffusion PR – Diffusion and CEL 3D print the news to make Robox the no. 1 'best thing in the world'
In-house: Tata Consultancy Services - Landslide Victory for TCS Election App

Crisis and Issues Management Award
Consultancy: Lansons – The Co-operative Bank: Stabilisation and Fightback
In-house:Chiltern Railways - Putting Passengers First

International Campaign Award
Consultancy: Ketchum – Rethinking Hepatitis
In-house:Vodafone – Launch of Vodafone's Global Maternity Policy

Automotive Award
Consultancy: Atomic PR – World's Best Driving Road
In-house: The AA – Think Bikes

Campaign of the Year Award
Consultancy: Mischief PR – Farage Swings for Europe
In-house: Historic Royal Palaces – The Tower of London Remembers

Specialist Consultancy of the Year Award
Highly Commended: Virgo Health
Winner: Salix & Co

International Consultancy of the Year Award
Highly Commended: Ogilvy Public Relations
Winner: Lewis PR

Young Communicator of the Year Award
Highly Commended: Katie Bregazzi, Spottydog Communications
Winner: Andrew Barratt, Ogilvy Public Relations

In-house Professional of the Year Award
Helen Lacey, Barclaycard

Consultancy Head(s) of the Year Award
Ruth Allchurch, Cirkle

Mark Mellor, Outstanding Contribution Award
David Gallagher, Ketchum Europe

In-house Team of the Year Award – Public Sector
Highly Commended: Battersea Dogs & Cats Home
Winner: Department of Health
 
In-house Team of the Year Award – Private Sector
William Hill

New Consultancy of the Year Award
Clearbox Communications

Small Consultancy of the Year Award
Highly Commended: Tin Man
Winner: The Academy

Medium Consultancy of the Year Award
Highly Commended: Hope&Glory
Winner: Unity

Large Consultancy of the Year Award
Brands2Life