Nick Band relaunches Berlin with former Band & Brown colleague Fiona Longhurst

Former Band & Brown Communications MD Fiona Longhurst will also be running the venture.

Berlin’s previous incarnation was shut down last February only a month after its launch.

Band, who was legally barred from running the agency until last December by Band & Brown Group (now called Citizen Brando), said:

‘I’ve been sitting around on the periphery of PR for the past year and it’s been very useful in that it’s given me the opportunity to look in from the outside and consider how I can improve the agency model.

‘What struck me was that clients want experienced people and they often don’t get them, and that they want lower costs. This is about responding to that.’

The agency will be online-only and will use a network of more than 50 freelancers, with a core consultancy team that includes former Time Out editor Mark Frith.

It is understood that there will be a strong focus on strategic and creative consultancy, with members of the wider collective still able to work with their own clients.

Berlin was originally launched shortly after Band’s departure from Band & Brown Group, and after Band & Brown merged with sister agency Brando to form Citizen Brando.

However, the agency closure was forced on the belief that it was direct competition to Citizen Brando, breaking a restriction of Band’s employment contract.

This article was first published on prweek.com