New PR agency in private client drive

THE former head of the Press Complaints Commission is behind a new public relations agency which will advise private clients in Yorkshire and London.

Tim Toulmin, former director of the PCC, and Sallie Ryle, a former Yorkshire Television PR executive who went on to be senior communications consultant for ITV Studios, set up Alder Media in February.

Mr Toulmin, who stood down from the newspaper watchdog in December 2009, said: “We live in a time when news is immediate and global – 145 million people around the world read UK newspapers online every month, there are 200 million on Twitter, and millions more watch 24-hour news and listen to news online.

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“People’s reputations can be changed permanently in an instant. Planning ahead for how to deal with publicity is the single most important thing people can do to influence how they are viewed by the public. Between us, Sallie Ryle and I have 45 years’ experience in the media, advising everyone from the internationally famous to people whose only concern is to stay anonymous.”

Mr Toulmin will split his time between Leeds and London, where the agency is based, and Ms Ryle will be based in Yorkshire.