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Midland Accolade For Lava MD

A Lincoln marketer has been named as one of the midlands’ leading young entrepreneurs.

Matt Hammerton (37), Managing Director of public relations consultancy Lava, features in this year’s ’42 under 42’ list of the midlands’ most promising business people.

Compiled by Midlands Business Insider magazine, the annual ’42 under 42’ list is an exclusive club and this year features cutting edge business people from a range of sectors, including local government, engineering, robotics and the sports industry.

Matt, the only Lincolnshire business person to appear in the ’42 under 42’, launched Lava in 2006, following a decade of experience with some of the UK’s leading PR firms and four years as Lincs FM Group’s Director of Communications.

Now established as one of the midlands’ leading PR consultancies, Lava works with clients across the UK and is one of just 250 PR operations to hold the Public Relations Consultants Association’s (PRCA) Consultancy Management Standard (CMS) – the gold standard of service for the PR industry. The firm was also shortlisted in the first ever Recommended Agencies Register awards, which ranked PR firms across the UK by client satisfaction.

“I’m delighted and honoured to be included in this prestigious group of business people,’ said Matt. “But more than being flattered personally, I’m pleased that Lava has been recognised as a business with a big future and the potential to make a significant contribution to the region’s economy.”

Lava treated to a very POSH day out!

Following the massive success of Wear Your Shirt Day 2010, Lava's very own footie fans, Steph and Ed, were invited to attend a VIP day out at Peterborough United Football Club, by the organisers of Wear Your Shirt Day, the Free Kicks Foundation.

The Lava team were treated to a tour of the club, which included a chance to meet the POSH players in the dressing room before the match, followed by a slap-up three course meal in the Sponsors Lounge before kick off.

They also got the chance to meet some of the children that benefit from the fantastic work done by the Free Kicks Foundation, who work in conjunction with a number of UK football clubs to deliver special days out for disadvantaged children and their families at their favourite football club.

The 2010 Wear Your Shirt Day campaign encouraged businesses and individuals to show their team spirit by donating £1 to the charity to wear their football shirts to work on Friday 23rd April.

As a result of Lava’s involvement, hundreds of businesses across the country donated over £1,500 and six football clubs got involved with the scheme, which included the Lincoln Imps donating a signed shirt to the Lincolnshire business who raised the most money.

Wear Your Shirt Day 2010 also received huge support from Dutch international footballer Edgar Davids, ex-England star Steve Froggatt, Olympic boxing bronze medalist Tony Jeffries and Robbie Savage, captain of Derby County F.C.

Other celebrities backing the campaign included Dragon's Den entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne and musician Chesney Hawkes, as well as Comedian Jason Mansford also supported online and gave a generous donation to The Free Kicks Foundation.

Speaking about the day at the POSH stadium, Steph said: “We had a fantastic time working on the Wear Your Shirt campaign, so it was a real treat to be invited by Free Kicks to see first hand how the money raised is being used. We met some real characters on the day and had a great time watching the match!”

For more information on the work done by the Free Kicks Foundation, please visit www.freekicksfoundation.com

Graduate Programme Is Twice As Good

Lava PR Doubles Commitment To Home-Grown Talent

Lava PR’s partnership with the University of Lincoln is set to be twice as good next academic year.

Lincoln-based Lava launched its Conduit programme in 2009, offering one undergraduate on the University’s BA (Hons) Public Relations degree course a placement with the consultancy during their final year.

The scheme proved so successful that Lava has decided to offer two placements rather than one during the 2010/11 academic year.

Rosie Corriette (21) will join Lava in September and follow the original Conduit scheme, spending at least one day a week with the consultancy.

Meanwhile, Ed Willmott (20) will embark on a year-long, full-time placement with Lava starting on 1st July.

“Conduit was the first structured work experience and entry-to-employment initiative to be established with the University of Lincoln’s PR course,” says Jane Crofts, course leader for the PR degree. “Gaining an appreciation of how the theory of PR is applied in the real world is of enormous benefit to our students. Not only does it improve their academic performance, the Conduit scheme looks great on their CVs.”

Rosie and Ed were selected by Lava after the pair helped out on Lava’s pro-bono work for Wear Your Shirt day in April. “I really enjoyed getting involved in the Wear Your Shirt campaign – the experience was fantastic and I’m really pleased to have the chance to continue working at Lava,’ said Ed. ‘The agency’s range of clients is fantastic and I know that I’m going to get the best possible grounding in PR as a member of the Lava team.”

Matt Hammerton, managing director, Lava PR, said that nurturing rising talent was a key part of his business strategy: “All successful businesses need a plan for growth that includes developing existing employees as well as introducing fresh talent. Each year the University of Lincoln’s PR course produces some very talented individuals who, for various reasons, move away from the city to start their careers. We set up the Conduit programme to dispel the myth that great work with great clients can only be found in London and other big cities.

“We want to show that there are superb opportunities to be had in Lincoln and the East Midlands. Lava offers a start in PR that adds the benefit of a better standard of living to working with big name clients, working to big consultancy standards.”
 

Lava Goes Pink

Life at Lava is rounded.

We take pride in our Lava family and their outside interests and passions outside of work.

So when the Race for Life 2010 was announced, the Lava girls decided to don their finest pink wigs, fishnets, tutus and hula-skirts and get involved.

The Race for Life, part of the Cancer Research charity, encourages women of all ages and fitness levels to come together and walk or run 5K or 10K to raise money to beat cancer.

As a cause close to Lava’s heart- this seemed to be the perfect event. We wanted to celebrate those close to us who had survived a cancer experience, run in memory of loved ones and to help raise money to give other women the chance to have a cancer-free future.

We even shared our stories across the region, with a spot on BBC Radio Lincolnshire.

So far, an incredible 4.7 million women have raised over £370 million to fund Cancer Research UK's life-saving work.

http://www.raceforlife.org.

Lava Lands LCC Head of Comms

Lincolnshire County Council’s Head of Communications and Community Engagement has left the public sector in favour of a role with midlands consultancy Lava.

Janet Marshall joins the Lincoln-based firm as Associate Director, reporting to Managing Director Matt Hammerton.

“Janet is a hugely experienced public relations and communications professional and we’re delighted to have enticed her to Lava,” said Matt. “She was responsible for revamping Lincolnshire County Council’s communications team, overseeing a thirty strong team, which delivered several award-winning campaigns. We’re very lucky to have her on board.”

As well working for Lincolnshire County Council and Cambridgeshire County Council, Janet has also enjoyed success in the private sector with time at IBM UK, Standard Life and Brodeur Worldwide.

“I’m very much looking forward to this new challenge,” said Janet. “I had seven enjoyable years in the public sector but since the beginning of the year have been thinking about returning to the private sector and finding a new challenge.

“Lava is a young, energetic and committed team and works with some fantastic clients such as RWE npower renewables, East Midlands Development Agency and Enterprise UK. I’m really looking forward to helping the consultancy continue its impressive growth.”

SO Excited

East Lindsey District Council has appointed Lava to devise and implement an integrated communications campaign for the SO 2010 Festival, which is part funded by the National Lottery via Arts Council England.

The midlands’ consultancy will work alongside arts and culture producers Magnetic Events, to support the four day arts and culture extravaganza which aims to transform perceptions of Skegness, one of England’s most well known and popular tourist seaside destinations.

As well as on and offline PR support, Lincoln-based Lava will also co-ordinate advertising, branding, design and website creation in support of the 2010 SO Festival.

East Lindsey District Council, with funding from Arts Council England, staged the first Skegness Organises (SO) Festival last year. Some 8,000 people attended the beach-side fireshow and music finale, headlined by Jonathan Ansell (formerly of vocal group G4) and a pyrotechnics and music finale by World Famous in July 2009, which brought the two day event to a close. This year, SO 2010 has been extended to four days and will culminate in the same high profile, high quality, innovative attractions and performances.

Lava’s appointment follows successful project work for East Lindsey District Council late last year, when the consultancy provided PR support for the visit of Black/North SEAS, a touring nine day international arts festival, which was also supported by Arts Council England. 

“We’re hoping Lava can perform to the same high standards as they did when we asked them to provide PR and marketing support for Black/North SEAS dates in Skegness. With just eight weeks notice, the team at Lava generated national coverage for the event and helped ensure it was a great success,” says Semantha Neal, Business Manager for Health, Arts & Events at East Lindsey District Council. “The SO Festival is an important date in the events and attractions calendar and we’re really looking forward to seeing the festival take on a new dimension with the involvement of both Magnetic Events and Lava.”

The brief, which was won following a three-way pitch, will be tackled by a four strong team, led by Lava’s managing director Matt Hammerton: “This is the ideal brief for us. Both East Lindsey District Council and Arts Council England are receptive to new, creative ideas and we’re being brought in at the beginning of ambitious, exciting long-term plans to make the SO Festival a real highlight of the regional and national arts calendar. We’ll be looking to raise awareness, build excitement and ultimately increase visitor numbers through a variety of communications channels.”

Semantha added: “One of our team has recently returned from Sweden where the results that Lava and we created for the visit of Black/North SEAS, were presented to the European Commission. We’re hoping we can forge an equally effective partnership for SO 2010.”

Lava was established in 2006 and has grown rapidly, counting East Midlands Development Agency, Enterprise UK and RWE npower renewables amongst its clients.

Lava Cleans Up

UK market leader in retail and volume valeting, Autoclenz, has appointed Lava PR to raise its profile nationally.

As well as promoting the company's core valeting business, Lava has been tasked with increasing the visibility of Autoclenz’s added value services, which include Valeting, Premises Cleaning, Collection and Delivery solutions, SMART repair and React. React is a specialist division of Autoclenz providing discrete, professional deep cleaning and decontamination services to the Healthcare, Public Sector, Police, Local Authorities and Housing Associations.

Autoclenz’s continued professional approach has attracted repeat contracts with Citroen, Bentley Motors, BMW and Mercedes-Benz dealerships amongst many others. 

Chief Executive, Grahame Rummery is pleased to have Lava and the team on board. He said: “Lava delivers creative, compelling communications, which is exactly what we need to raise our profile in new and existing markets. The consultancy’s proven track record in understanding audiences and delivering results for a variety of trade clients made them the right choice for us.”

Account Director, Lindsey Cawrey, heads up the three strong team working on the Autoclenz account, she says: “Autoclenz is an established brand in the automotive sector, with an envied reputation for professionalism and quality. The task now will be to promote the added value services it offers clients and support its expansion into a brand new market place.”
 

We're Feeling Cocky

Lava's certainly feeling cocky as its work for the East Midlands Development Agency (emda) has once again been shortlisted for a national award celebrating excellence in public relations.

The strategy we devised and implemented to support 2009's Innovation Festival has been nominated in the Freshest Public Sector Campaign category of the Fresh PR Awards 2010.

We'll find out if we've won on 4th March at the awards ceremony in Manchester.

Late last year, the same campaign - Inspiring Innovation - was a finalist in the Chartered Institute of Public Relations PRide Awards.

"It's simply fantastic news," says Managing Director, Matt Hammerton. "We know we do some great work, as do our clients, but it's a great feeling to know that other PR professionals think our work is of the highest quality. We can't wait until March to fnd out if we've won but there's a lot of work on the 2010 iFesitval to be done before then!"

Lava's Gold Service Standard

The Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA) has awarded Lava its Consultancy Management Standard – the gold standard of service for the PR industry.

The internationally recognised Consultancy Management Standard (CMS) is the industry’s quality certification system for public relations firms, and only about 140 of the UK’s 2,000+ PR consultancies have passed the rigorous independent audit required. The CMS is an assurance to clients that Lava adheres to strict quality standards in management, communication and service delivery.

"Lava has been set up using the same processes and procedures found in much larger PR consultancies," says Matt Hammerton, Managing Director. "We've focused on delivering the best possible service to our clients since day one and always thought our systems and accountability to be comparible with the best in the industry.  Receiving the Consultancy Management Standard from the PRCA shows we were right."

The CMS is an independently-audited set of eight tests which a consultancy must pass as a member of the Public Relations Consultants Association. It combines elements of ISO 9000 and Investors in People with criteria specific to the public relations industry.

Francis Ingham, Director-General of the PRCA says: “CMS is the global stamp of PR professionalism. Very few agencies meet its stringent requirements, so it is a mark of genuine excellence that Lava has been awarded this prestigious standard. It marks them out as one of the very best PR agencies."

Lava is one of over 160 PRCA members based throughout the UK. These consultancies are of all sizes, working for clients in all business sectors. Together they employ around 5,000 people and generate more than £400 million in each year in fees from clients.

Lava Joins National Network

Two organisations charged with encouraging entrepreneurial activity – Enterprise UK (formerly Enterprise Insight, which operates the Make Your Mark brand) and Unleashing Enterprise – have appointed Lava PR following a three-way pitch.

The East Midlands’ agency has secured a place on Enterprise UK’s regional roster, reporting to Regional PR Manager, Rachel Burkitt, and at the same time been appointed as sole PR consultant to Unleashing Enterprise, an initiative funded by East Midlands Development Agency and managed by Prevista Ltd. The consultancy reports to Chris Shaw, Regional Manager at Prevista.

Three-year old Lava has been asked to provide regional support to both organisations which are working to the same goals in the East Midlands and recently agreed a Memorandum of Understanding with regards regional activity.

“It’s a complicated brief and sees us working with two clients under one agreement,” says Matt Hammerton, Lava’s Managing Director. “There’s a great deal of synergy between Enterprise UK and Unleashing Enterprise so it makes sense, especially in the East Midlands, for the two organisations to work together. We’re really looking forward to helping raise awareness of the work of both organisations and encouraging people across the region to be more adventurous and entrepreneurial.”

“We were impressed with Lava’s enthusiasm, creativity and their big-agency approach,” says Rachel Burkitt.  “We were really pleased to find such a high calibre agency with invaluable regional knowledge and expertise and we’re looking forward to working with them.”

Rachel’s comments are echoed by Chris Shaw. “Unleashing Enterprise works closely with Enterprise UK on many common campaigns and themes and the team at Lava showed a clear understanding of this and proposed, what we think, will be a really successful way of working and we’re looking forward to seeing the results of their efforts.”

Enterprise UK gives people the skills, confidence and ambition to be enterprising, through four programmes of work promoting enterprise for now and for the future, globally and locally.

It was founded as a campaigning organisation in 2004 by the British Chambers of Commerce, the Confederation of British Industry, the Institute of Directors and the Federation of Small Businesses. Back then their name was Enterprise Insight. It is primarily funded by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS), and Peter Jones is Chair.

Enterprise UK is best known for running the Make Your Mark campaign, which encourages enterprising activity amongst young people, and co-founding Global Entrepreneurship Week (16-22 November), a worldwide movement of entrepreneurial people.

On a regional level, Unleashing Enterprise is creating a partnership for all enterprise educators to pioneer a culture of enterprise across the East Midlands.

The partnership is managed on behalf of the East Midlands Development Agency (emda) by Prevista and developed in close partnership with educators, employers, enterprise agencies, policy makers and funding organisations.

 

Lava Launches Conduit

One of the East Midlands’ fastest growing public relations consultancies has partnered with the University of Lincoln to develop an innovative entry-to-employment scheme for the institution's PR students.

Lava PR, which is based in the Cathedral city but represents clients across the UK, launched ‘Conduit’ this month in association with the University of Lincoln’s BA (Hons) Public Relations degree course.

Conduit aims to provide one or two undergraduates with relevant work experience during the academic year and a permanent, full-time position with the agency on graduation.

“We will be offering final year students the chance to put their academic knowledge to good use in the ‘real world’ and gain an understanding of what life is really like in an energetic, creative and successful consultancy,” says Lava’s Managing Director, Matt Hammerton. “We want to make sure that the best talent developed and tutored by the university stays in the county once they’ve graduated. There’s a commonly held belief amongst PR students that to do great work and to work with great people means getting a job in the capital. We want to show them that there is another way – an entry into PR that gives a better standard of living without sacrificing big name clients, big consultancy standards and approach and in the end, puts Lincoln and the East Midlands on the map as a centre of innovative, creative and effective PR.”

Jane Crofts, course leader for the PR degree at the University of Lincoln, is excited about the Conduit programme: “Competition for the limited amount of graduate places with the big London agencies is incredibly high, especially given the current economic climate, so it’s great news that a local consultancy is launching such an initiative. Matt and his team have experience of working for national consultancies and have established an exciting consultancy in Lincoln which is run to the same standards and systems as a much larger national agency, so I know the students that apply for Conduit are going to experience something very similar to a London consultancy but without the commute. It’s great that we have such a forward-thinking agency on our doorstep that wants to help graduates find a job once they’ve finished their studies.”

Lava was established in 2006 and has grown rapidly. Today, the consultancy works with the East Midlands Development Agency, RWE npower renewables and Enterprise UK’s Make Your Mark Brand among others.

PRoud As Punch

Lava's work for the East Midlands Development Agency has been recognised as some of the best in the country by fellow PR professionals.

The consultancy's campaigns in support of the Innovation Festival (iFestival) and Survive & Thrive have been shortlisted in this year's Chartered Institute of Public Relations' (CIPR) PRide Awards.

'Inspiring Innovation for the East Midlands Development Agency', which raised awareness among businesses of the importance of innovation during the iFestival, has reached the final five in the Best Public Sector category, while emda has been shortlisted in the Best Integrated Campaign for Survive & Thrive - Lava devised and delivered the PR strand of the campaign.

With the awards attracting over 1,400 entries this year, the team at Lava are understandably delighted to have been nominated.

"I've always thought our work, approach and the results we deliver for clients is up there with the very best," said Lava PR Director, Matt Hammerton. "Being shortlisted in the PRide Awards reinforces my belief and we're all looking forward to November when we will be getting the DJs and posh frocks out and travelling to Birmingham for the awards ceremony."

Ann Mealor, CIPR Acting Director General said: “This year more than ever, consultancies and organisations entering the PRide Awards want to spotlight their achievements while boosting morale - and being a PRide finalist does just that.  Having gone through rigorous judging to reach the shortlist is a great achievement and I offer my congratulations to all those who have reached this stage of the competition.”    

Lava To PR SEAS 09

Lava is to provide PR and marketing support for the final date in the 2008/2009 Black/North SEAS tour.

Black/North SEAS, which will be in Skegness from 25th September to 4th October, is an ongoing investigation of how artistic initiatives can lift urban re-invention and bring environmental issues to the forefront, through the very act of confronting the contemporary city scape.

SEAS has been organised by Swedish arts organisation, Intercult, which has commissioned 16 leading European artists to produce contemporary, interdisciplinary, trans-national art works of performance, music, visual arts and digital media. They will be joined by artists from across the UK when SEAS docks in Skegness.

This innovative project will attract new visitors to Lincolnshire and the coast thanks to the efforts of East Lindsey District Council (ELDC), Skegness Town Council, Lincolnshire County Council, the University of Lincoln and Arts Council England.

2009 is the second year of the SEAS tour, which has previously visited Turkey, Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria.

Lava will be delivering a comprehensive PR and marketing campaign, comprising traditional public and media relations, a ten-day on-the-ground press office and social media activity to maximise awareness of Black/North SEAS.

Summer Of Love

East Midlands PR agency Lava is enjoying a summer of love, having been appointed by countryside dating and friendship websites Kissinggates.com and Ruralerotica.com.

Lava has been tasked with raising the profile of the websites in national media, between now and September.

Lava will focus on rural and farming media and encourage registrations from men and women who live or work in the countryside.

Account Director, Louise Housley, leads the three-strong team, reporting to James Vestbirk, Director of Kissinggates and Ruralerotica.

James, a rural entrepreneur from Lincolnshire, launched Kissinggates in 2008 to provide a place for meeting new, country minded folks for friendship, companionship or dating. Ruralerotica is the first discrete adult dating site to cater specifically for rural people looking for casual relationships.

“Online dating isn’t new, but country dwellers have taken longer to catch up as they don’t spend long lunches on a computer,” Louise explained.  “James is dedicated to making it easier for them to meet like-minded people and we’re looking forward to working with his exciting new concepts.”

James said:  “I approached Lava as I was looking for an agency with a proven track record of working with websites and which could come up with creative ideas to get Kissinggates and Ruralerotica into a range of offline publications and help generate awareness in rural areas of how to find love and friendship online.”

Lava was established in 2006 and has grown into one of the East Midlands’ leading PR consultancies, featuring on the East Midlands Development Agency roster and working with national brands, such as Branston Ltd and RWE npower renewables.

For further information on Kissinggates visit its client page on lavapr.co.uk.

Lava To BIG Up Website

Lava has been asked to big up Lincoln BIG's website.

The consultancy will be reworking the site's navigation and revamping the site's content.

"This year is a very important one for Lincoln BIG, as its levy payers will be ballotted on the effectiveness of the organisation," says Lava Director, Matt Hammerton, who will oversee the website's revamp. "With the web being the first place people turn to for information it is paramount that Lincoln BIG's website is as good as it can be and that visitors find the answers they're looking for as quickly and easily as possible."

Lava will be revamping the site's navigation and reworking its content during July and August.

The project award follows Lava's public relations activity last year, which culminated in the high profile PR and marketing activity in support of Lincoln's Ice Rink during October, November and December.

For further information about Lincoln BIG visit its client page on lavapr.co.uk.

Caring Brief For Lava

The UK’s second largest not for profit care provider has appointed its first ever public relations consultancy.

The Orders of St John Care Trust (OSJCT) has awarded a five figure budget to Lava PR and asked the East Midlands’ agency to raise its profile within the nursing and care industry media as well supporting its care homes across Lincolnshire and Oxfordshire

The uncompetitive appointment follows successful project work undertaken by Lava at the end of last year.

Account Director, Louise Housley, leads the three-strong team, reporting to Janis Tunaley, Marketing and Communications Manager for the OSJCT.

“Promoting best practice within the care industry is becoming increasingly important and, as an organisation that prides itself on the high standard of care we provide, we want to be recognised for our best practice,” said Janice. “Lava helped us with launch of our cook book last year, generating widespread coverage and driving sales and, as a result, we’ve decided to commit to a strategic and longer-term campaign.”

The Orders of St John Care Trust, which is sponsored by Sovereign Order of Malta and the Venerable Order of St John, was established in 1991. The Trust currently operates 74 homes and cares for some 3,250 residents, providing residential, nursing and dementia care.

Lava was established in 2006 and has grown into one of the East Midlands’ leading PR consultancies, featuring on the East Midlands Development Agency roster and working with national brands, such as Corus and npower renewables.

For further information about the Orders of St John Care Trust visit its client page on lavapr.co.uk.

Innovative Win

Lava is to raise awareness of the Sustainable Construction Innovation Network (iNet).

The East Midlands' public relations specialists secured the brief following a three-way pitch.

Lava Director Matt Hammerton leads the three strong team, which has been tasked with developing the profile of the iNet across the East Midlands and in the construction industry as a whole.

Established by the East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and funded by the European Regional Development Fund, the Sustainable Construction iNet's aim is to share expertise and stimulate the research and development of new products, services and processes to benefit the region's construction industry.

Lava will be implementing a proactive PR campaign, comprising media relations to support the Sustainable Construction iNet's event programme; the award of Innovation Support Grants to SMEs across the East Midlands; and the results of partnerships between academia and commerce delivered through the Innovation Network's Higher Education Collaboration Fund.

"We're delighted to have won this new brief," said Matt. "Lava was up against two very well respected and much larger PR firms, but our team of public relations specialists, who are particularly skilled and experienced in working with public sector bodies and in the innovation field developed an excellent strategy, full of creativity and demonstrated a thorough understanding of the issues faced by the region's construction companies. We can't wait to get started!"

As well as the Sustainable Construction iNet, Lava is also providing public relations support to RWE npower renewables and Stormsaver in the renewable and sustainable construction sector and the iFestival in the innovation arena.

For further information on the Sustainable Construction iNet visit its client page on lavapr.co.uk.