H&K adds analyst relations staff

PR Week UK 21-Nov-07, 18:00

Hill & Knowlton has drafted in two analyst relations consultants as it expands its tech practice.

The agency has appointed Agie Augustyniak, formerly analyst relations manager at steel group Tata Consultancy Services, and Marc Duke, who joined the agency on a freelance basis in September. They will report to the head of H&K UK’s analyst relations practice, Dominic Pannell.

The appointments follow the agency’s decision to offer analyst relations consultancy to existing clients, which include Yahoo!.

Duke will work alongside Pannell for tech clients and look to increase business in the healthcare sector. Augustyniak will also work for existing clients.

Pannell said H&K had eight major analyst firms on its books and that the new team will focus on using analyst relations to win PR business for the agency.

‘It gets clients interested, so we can showcase the rest of our comms capabilities,’ he added.

The expansion in analyst relations is part of a broader growth in H&K’s tech practice, led by UK head of tech Lee Brooke. He joined the agency last year from Computer Associates, where he was Western Europe PR manager (PRWeek, 21 September 2006).

Brooke was promoted from an associate director role to head H&K’s tech division earlier this year (PRWeek, 31 August). He took over from Mark Jackson, who was made EMEA head of client services.