Marketing and PR agency Astley Media has sailed into 2021 with a fresh rebrand, exciting portfolio of new clients and a call for more talent to join the team.

The full service agency, which won the CIPR South of England Outstanding Small Public Relations Consultancy Gold Award just six years after launching in 2011, and again in 2019, has secured three significant new clients in recent weeks, East Devon Council, the Heart of the South West Digital Skills Partnership and the international data insight and business intelligence company Ikano Insight.

The rebrand and growth of the agency reflects its growing expertise for ‘players in the tech sector’ including technology firms, support organisations, local and regional government and other B2B organisations across key sectors. The team is also currently recruiting for three new roles, including an Account Manager and Account Executives.

Dan Pritchard, managing director, said: “It has been challenging times for many but we’ve used this period to thoroughly research the opportunities for South West SMEs, particularly those operating in the B2B space, build our team and expertise, and adapt our services accordingly. We are now seeing forward-thinking brands seize this opportunity and adopt new digital practices to secure leads and new business.”

The growing success of the Exeter-based agency follows a busy year. The company has recently released the Marketing From The Edge Report, which provides key learnings for marketing teams developing new strategies. The report is free to download from the Astley Media website, and draws on research conducted into how 60 South West SMEs communicate with customers and potential customers.

An accompanying Marketing from the EDGE podcast series has been launched, with Mandy Pearse, the President of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, the first guest on the show. It follows the successful Project Positivity podcast series and free online communications’ resource pack the agency developed last year, to help South West SMEs cope with some of the communication and marketing challenges that emerged because of the pandemic.

Plymouth Science Park, Jurassic Fibre, Exeter College and Timewade are amongst the company’s other clients, and the agency also runs the region’s tech cluster organisation Tech South West.

Emma McLeod, account director and head of the client services team, said: “Our approach during these past months has been a relentless focus on doing great work for our clients. At the same time we work hard to embrace new learning and technology, understand changes and new opportunities in markets, stay innovative and ambitious.

“Organisations that are striving to make a positive difference in the world are key to the future success of the whole South West and we are passionate about helping such brands achieve their goals. Having a range of marketing, PR, content, research, digital experience and sector specialists in the team, ensures we can achieve greater results for each specific client.”

To find out more about Astley Media, go to www.astleymedia.co.uk