Five New Clients – Down at the Social Celebrates Growth
We’re delighted to be reporting strong growth with a number of big national client wins recently.
HRH Group Harrogate
We’re delighted that we’ve been appointed by HRH Group Harrogate to manage PR for a number of its venues. The first is the newly launched Clementine’s Hotel in the heart of York.
Formerly Marmadukes, Clementine’s has been fully refurbished from top to bottom, inside and out, with over £1m spent transforming the property into a luxury boutique hotel. The boutique hotel, which is situated in the heart of York, officially opened on 22nd June providing an indulgent experience in a place where Parisian chic meets Yorkshire Heritage.
We kicked off the campaign with the launch of the hotel’s Chocolate Orange bedroom.
Bar Liber
We’ve solidified our London operation with a national launch for Islington-based disruptive wine bar, Bar Liber. The venue, which promises to make wine fun again with signature services such as the £100 cocktail The Empire Punch, has appointed Down at the Social to handle PR and social to promote on a regional and national level to consumer and trade media.
Bar Liber’s Empire Punch is the first full recreation of the infamous amazing wine cocktail in many decades. Sourced from Harry Johnson’s seminal Bartenders Manual, first published in the 1880’s, a combination of liqueurs, wine and Champagne including Hennessy Paradis Imperial Cognac, Dom Perignon 2010 Champagne, Patricius 6 Puttonyos Tokaji, Blandy’s 1980 Serical Madeira and Chateau Lafite 2008, the Empire Punch is worth a staggering £5k, and will be made in specialist batches, costing £100 per serving.
FGH Security
Further growing pir business and trade arm, Down at the Social has been appointed by Manchester and Lancashire based FGH Security. FGH is a UK-wide security business providing world-leading manned solutions for security and crowd management. It has defied the odds of the Covid-19 pandemic, seeing the business enter a new sector in supermarket security, resulting in an impressive £11.4 million turnover and 1500 jobs secured.
Down at the Social is tasked with telling this story and supporting further growth for the business, which we know well, having both worked with Manchester Pride for a number of years.
Japan Centre
Japan Centre is one of the largest and most influential Japanese food stores in Europe. It recently announced the launch of its easy-to-make DIY at home kits, created by its in-house chefs with over 20 years of experience to help customers create amazing tasting dishes and experiences in the comfort of their own home. Down at the Social has delivered campaigns promoting the brand’s at home kits and the stores UK first Mochi bar.
Cocoa Cabana
Finally, we will also be supporting chocolate brand Cocoa Cabana, which has two venues in Greater Manchester and a nationally renowned online shop selling artisan chocolates. Cocoa Cabana was recently selected as one of a handful of independent chocolatiers across the UK that Cadbury urged the public to support as the high street reopened after lockdown.
Daisy Whitehouse, MD at Down at the Social, said: “2020 was a rollercoaster of emotions for us. Enquiries went up, they went down, clients paused, clients came back on, then stopped again, others fired on through the pandemic growing and growing. It was stressful, but hugely rewarding. I have consistently been blown away by the dedication and enthusiasm my team has injected into driving our clients and our business forward.
“We set some big targets in 2021 even though we knew the year could go either way. We have focussed on working with businesses that we love, businesses that do great things, and this has really paid off. The five clients above are all very much dream clients.
“The FGH team have been friends and colleagues for a long time and it is huge to see them do so well. Stu, the innovation - and disruption - behind Bar Liber is an industry legend and it is an honour to be part of the realisation of his lifelong dream. We are proud to be working alongside Distinctly Aware who really do know their booze.
“HRH Group is an exciting one too because Phil who runs the business is a perfect fit with our values, he’s authentic, bold and 100% ambitious. Clementine’s is absolutely beautiful - people are going to love it. Cocoa Cabana makes hands down the best hot chocolate in the world and it is our mission to ensure that every single person in the North West, if not the world, knows it! Finally we have Japan Centre. A behemoth of a business - their groceries and meal kits are loved nationwide. It is a pleasure to generate coverage for such a brilliant quality product.
“We are so pleased to be working with each and every one of these clients. They are great people doing brilliant things and it makes us all happy to go into the (remote) office every day.”
Down at the Social has experience working with a number of national brands including KBK, Shoryu Ramen, OrderYOYO, Chopstix Noodle Bars, Seetec, Manchester Pride and Kays Traffic Management plus independent brands including Peru Perdu and The Lawn Club.