Award-winning East Midlands PR and marketing agency Shooting Star is celebrating the start of the new year by opening a new office in Bristol.

Having launched nine years ago in Lincoln, Shooting Star now employs eight people and is opening a second office as part of an ambitious strategy for growth.

Sarah-Jane Freni has left London-based DA Public Relations, where she managed the pan-European PR programme for a major tool brand and led a team of four consultants, to head up Shooting Star’s new Bristol office.

“We’ve been planning this move for 18 months and we’re tremendously excited about expanding into Bristol and the south-west,” said Jez Ashberry, one of the directors of Shooting Star.

“Sarah-Jane will be a brilliant asset for our agency and she will be working hard to build up the team and the client base in Bristol.”

Kate Strawson, co-director of Shooting Star, added: “For the past nine years our development has been steady and organic – but now we’re on a steeper growth curve and opening a second location in the south of England is a key part of our plan.

“We’re looking forward to developing our business in the south-west and working with Sarah-Jane, who is a highly talented and experienced PR and marketing professional.”

“Bristol has repeatedly been designated as one of the best places to live and work in the UK. It is a vibrant city, with easy access into the whole of the south-west region, and it offers great growth potential,” said Sarah-Jane, who will be heading the Bristol office. “I am very much looking forward to this new challenge.”

Shooting Star’s new office is based in Castlemead, Bristol’s tallest high-rise building, near Cabot Circus shopping centre.

The agency will be focusing on the core sectors of professional services and high-tech and digital.

It currently works with a range of B2B and B2C clients including Bishop Grosseteste University, accountants Duncan & Toplis, The Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership, Fennies nursery group in London, glass manufacturer Beatson Clark in Yorkshire and fresh chilled food producer Freshtime.

In 2015 Shooting Star changed its name from Shooting Star PR to reflect the fact that it now offers marketing and digital services as well as public relations. It also won a gold and a silver award at the 2015 CIPR Pride Awards (Yorkshire & Lincolnshire) in November 2015.

To contact Sarah-Jane Freni at Shooting Star in Bristol email bristol@weareshootingstar.co.uk or call 0117 313 1120.

Notes to Editors:
• Shooting Star was founded in 2006 by Kate Strawson and Jez Ashberry and became incorporated as a company limited by guarantee in 2007.
• The agency is based in Lincoln and works for public and private sector clients across a wide range of divisions including education, childcare, hospitality and tourism, property, construction, retail and manufacturing.
• It offers a full range of PR, marketing, digital media and editorial services and is a Quality Assured supplier on the East Midlands Service Provider Register www.embrokerage.com
• Shooting Star won a gold award in the STEM Campaign category and a silver award in the Community Relations campaign category at the 2015 CIPR Pride Awards (Yorkshire & Lincolnshire) in November.

For media information contact:
Jez Ashberry
Shooting Star
01522 528540
07780 735071
jez@weareshootingstar.co.uk
@jezashberry
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