Former Freshwater Midland boss Anne Parry has launched a new PR and marketing consultancy.
Ms Parry is a well-known figure on the region’s PR circuit, having sold her business Quantum PR to Cardiff-based national consultancy Freshwater in 2005.
She has now set up Owl Communications, based near Warwick, after leaving her position as managing director for the Midland region of Freshwater late last year.
The new start for the former Institute of Public Relations (IPR) Midlands Group chair marks a return to her Warwickshire roots, but Ms Parry plans to build her business in Birmingham across the region and further afield.
Ms Parry, who is also a former vice chair of the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA) in the Midlands, is planning to provide a director-level service across the marketing, PR, communications and digital media spectrum.
She said the timing was good for her new venture as clients were emerging from the recession and looking towards improving communications again.
“The economic downturn has had a significant impact on the PR and marketing industry, as clients’ budgets have been reduced,” she said.
“However, there is now clearly an increasing demand for communications services once again, and there is a greater premium than ever on expertise and quality, without the usual high overhead costs or inflexible charging structures. I have also developed a specialist niche in digital and online media communication techniques which now plays a key role as part of an integrated marketing strategy.
Ms Parry said she was enjoying the experience of setting up her own company again.
“It is really exciting to be building my own business once again,” she said.
“In addition to working with clients directly, I’m also looking forward to providing a consultancy and new business development role to other PR and marketing agencies across the West Midlands.”
Ms Parry cofounded Quantum PR in 1997 following the merger of her own business Shakespeare Communications with GSA in Birmingham.
She is well known in the West Midlands for her work in the professional services, legal, finance and property sectors but her new venture will see her renew links with the retail, leisure, health and manufacturing industries.
Her former employer Freshwater delisted from AIM in November 2010, saying the market was “unlikely to be a vehicle for growth funding for a company of Freshwater’s size for the foreseeable future”.
It originally floated in 2007, aiming to increase shareholder value through a combination of a “buy and build” approach with targeted acquisitions and an ongoing drive for organic growth.
