Proud moment as region's PR firms pick up awards in a year to remember

More than 250 people from Yorkshire and Lincolnshire firms, charities and public sector organisations attended the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) PRide Awards at the Royal Armouries in Leeds.

Acceleris, based in Harrogate, was named outstanding public relations consultancy.

The award for best in-house team was clinched by Irwin Mitchell's press office, and the prize for best use of media relations was won by Bradford's Approach PR.

The consumer relations category was won by South Yorkshire-based Public PR, and Leeds's Grayling picked up the public sector prize for 'Who Cares?' NHS Carers Direct.

Other winners included Sheffield-based HR Media in the corporate and business communications for its Funding to Grow campaign for the Launch of Finance Yorkshire.

York's National Railway Museum triumphed in the not-for-profit category for its Director of Fun campaign, and MAPA won the best publication for its Hull regeneration prospectus Still in the Dark about a Rising Star.

The competition received more than 1,000 entries this year, including many from newcomers

to the awards, which organisers saw as evidence that the

region's PR industry is seeing an upturn.

Four of last year's gold winners went on to win National Grand Prix Awards.

Carol Arthur, senior account director at Harrogate-based Northern Lights PR and chair of CIPR Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, said: "The awards recognise and reward the thriving PR profession. They celebrate the importance of demonstrating the value of what we, as public relations professionals, do and the positive impact this profession has on all aspects of business. Being named as a CIPR PRide Award winner is a fantastic achievement and I congratulate all of this year's winners."

For a full list of gold and silver award winners, go to http://ciprprideawards.com