MRM Update – Autumn edition
With autumn well and truly here, we’ve had plenty of exciting news at MRM Towers – from fast cars to dancing stars – to ensure we’ve still got a warm summer glow, whatever the weather.
As well as working with Lancashire County Cricket Club on the launch of their Cricket Bond, we’re pleased to have partnered with Amlin to support social media activity for the inaugural Formula E race (more on this below).
And it’s not just our client list that’s growing. We’ve recently hired Havard Hughes from the FCA to launch and head up a full-service public and regulatory affairs division. With over 20 years’ experience from Westminster to Brussels, Havard has a successful track record of delivering policy change for household name organisations across a wide range of sectors including financial services regulation, transport, taxation and constitutional affairs. The new division will offer new and existing clients a comprehensive public affairs service including parliamentary and political intelligence, parliamentary counsel, government and opposition relations, and regulatory affairs.
We’re also pleased to announce that Investment Week’s award-winning news editor Nick Paler will be joining us as a Consultant in November. With more than eight years’ experience in financial services journalism and numerous awards under his belt – including Platform Journalist of the Year at this week’s Aberdeen UK Platform Awards and Headlinemoney’s Investment Journalist of the Year (B2B) in May – Nick will be working across a number of accounts.
Client news
August saw the launch of Wealth Horizon, the first service in the UK to provide responsible and regulated investment advice online. MRM helped support the launch through a three month PR programme which included one-on-one media briefings with the press, extensive national coverage, including the Daily Mail, the Independent and the Telegraph and culminated in a launch event attended by a number of national and trade journalists.
The new advisory service aims to put an end to the advice gap, making investing more accessible and affordable to all, by allowing customers to access as much or as little investment advice as they wish via its website. The Bristol-based service is led by Chris Williams, former CEO of Ashcourt Rowan Financial Planning and current Board Director at the Institute of Financial Planning (IFP). Click here to read more.
Scottish Friendly has had a thrifty summer; a study commissioned by the ISA provider revealed that £4.47 billion worth of grocery shopping gets wasted each year across the country. In response to this, the Scottish Friendly Thrifty Family campaign kicked off in September and included a number of short films starring none other than charismatic TV and dance personality Louie Spence, demonstrating some of his very best money saving tips. The ISA provider has now launched a new competition, Letterfall, which complements its award-winning children’s literacy sponsorship. Players from around the country are being invited to put their word skills to the test for a chance to compete in a live regional final in November. To test your own word skills, click here.
It’s digit-all go!
MRM Digital, the Twitter-savvy arm of our enterprise, has really come into its own since our last update. With standalone clients and an ever growing reputation for delivering the goods in the social space, the team’s future growth is all but written into the seating plan.
The team has built a brand new MRM website and is currently working closely with our Public Affairs team on a response to the latest FCA consultation on financial promotions in social media. Do you have any thoughts on what the FCA could be doing to make the governance around social media clearer? We’d love to include your feedback in our official response!
Recent bouts of awesomeness include an all-nighter in support of the first ever Formula E race in Beijing, an afternoon learning yoga with Louie Spence and the second imaginary platform pricing awards.
After all that, we’re certainly looking to winter with a spring in our steps…and hope you are too!
If you want to find out more about us and the work we’re doing, please get in touch – enquiries@mrm-london.com or 020 3326 9900.
The MRM Team