Strata Creative Communications has expanded into Europe with a new operating base in Lyon, France, which allows the full-service agency to branch out of the UK to extend its reach, and widen its service offering to their clients.
The new base increases the facilities and working space for the agency, which to date has operated from two UK sites in Fitzrovia, London and Brackley, Northamptonshire since launching in 2018. This expansion provides a foothold for both asset storage and a workable base for staff, to enable smooth delivery of existing and new client events outside of the UK despite the recent changes caused by Brexit.
CEO, Simon Hambley, comments: “The long-term vision for Strata has always been to expand outside of the UK and we’re delighted we have been able to realise this after such a challenging year. This new footprint provides us with the ability to manage events outside of the UK without the worry of Brexit complications and delays, which in turn enables us to provide practical and timely solutions to our clients regardless of location.
The ever changing landscape of live events and post-Brexit trading pressures require us to be flexible and adaptable to our client’s needs, and this new space increases our ability to meet that demand and facilitate event delivery both in and out of the UK.
The recent turbulence within our industry has been a challenge, but this expansion is part of our long-term strategy to strengthen our service offering to our clients and create a better platform for delivering live face-to-face events in 2021 and beyond.
We are delighted to be announcing twelve new additions to the agency across all departments from client services to logistics, and finance to operations.
Laura Awcock joins in the role of client services director dedicated to supporting the agency’s pharmaceutical business. Laura brings with her over eleven years’ industry experience from her time with Global Event Solutions, including her most recent position as operations director responsible for a number of leading pharmaceutical clients.
The automotive client services teams are further bolstered by Rhian Head, account project manager; Amy Pragnell, account executive; Lucy Burton, account executive and Sam Murphy, event officer, who is implanted within a client team.
Other senior hires include Alison Franklin who heads up the event operations team, and Sarah Stanyer, senior project manager. Steve Dubois assumes the role of event operator helping the event support teams, bringing with him many years of automotive events’ experience. Jenny Warrick joins as finance administrator to support the finance team.
The agency is also delighted to welcome three new interns as part of their respective Event Management courses – Elizabeth Shirley, Libby Penny and Charlotte Bute.
Our CEO, Simon Hambley said: “Over the last six months the agency has been responding to the growing needs of our clients by investing in our talent base across all the different layers of expertise. Our multi-layered approach allows us to service the needs of our clients and deliver a wide spectrum of projects from end-to-end, through one touchpoint. Delivering real efficiencies without compromising on creativity or quality.
I’m delighted to welcome Laura, Rhian, Amy, Lucy, Sam, Alison, Sarah, Steve, Jenny and our three new interns – Elizabeth, Libby and Charlotte to the Strata family. We have an exciting future ahead!”
Today we are delighted to announce three new appointments across the agency to support growing partnerships with existing and new clients. Mike Parrott joins the senior leadership team in the newly created role of head of incentives and client services director, Ecem Pasa joins the creative department in the role of junior designer, and Martin Yexley takes on the position of event operator.
The new appointments come directly off the back of a strong start to 2019, which has seen the team deliver high profile conferences, roadshows and incentive programmes for long-term clients including Vauxhall and Citroën, Royal London and Sony, in addition to, yet to be announced new clients. Of particular note is the growth of our incentive travel business, and wider performance improvement programmes, which has led to the appointment of Mike Parrott, who previously held senior roles at Grass Roots, Maritz and AYMTM.
Our CEO Simon Hambley, said: “The first six months of operation for the newly formed Strata has been strong with the delivery of high-profile events and programmes for existing clients, along with a number of significant new client wins. As such, we need to bolster our talent through a number of key roles so that we can continue to offer exceptional end-to-end solutions to our existing clients, and service the new clients with the same attention to detail. The new appointments across our two locations reflect the depth and breadth of our value proposition from strategy and creative through to production and operations, and from consumer programmes to B2B. We’re thrilled to welcome Mike, Ecem and Martin to the team.”
Mike Parrott, client services director and head of incentives, Strata adds: “This is a hugely exciting move for me, not least because of the potential that exists since the merger of the two companies into Strata and its subsequent growth. I’ve worked with a number of agencies and brands over my 25-year career, and there’s an opportunity to make a real difference to the motivation programme offering here using my cross-industry experience of automotive and consumer electronics, in particular. And with a spate of new client wins over the last few months, I look forward to working with a portfolio of exciting brands, and hopefully attracting some new ones to boot!”
Every brand touchpoint is a moment that matters. A chance to strengthen your message with clarity and relevance. To make your audience feel like they're part of something extraordinary, get in touch.
