25 May, 2005

PUBLIC relations and marketing agency Freshwater UK is to expand to the east of Scotland by opening an Edinburgh office.

At the same time, the Cardiff-headquartered agency, which already has offices in Bristol, London and Glasgow, has acquired the entire issued share capital of Birmingham-based Quantum PR.

With its Edinburgh office opening on June 1, Freshwater UK will have 40 staff in six offices and a projected full-year fee income of more than ?2.5 million.

Steve Howell, chief executive of Freshwater UK, said: "Our subsidiary in Scotland, Reekie PR, is going from strength to strength and is opening an Edinburgh office to service clients in the east of the country and to win new business."

Reekie PR managing director, Iain Reekie, saw the addition of an office in the Capital as a natural progression for an agency with a strong client base in both east and west Scotland.

"We needed to recruit extra staff to meet growing demand, and it made sense to have a team located in the Scottish Capital as well as our existing base in Glasgow," he said. "We believe it will further strengthen our service to existing Edinburgh clients."

Regarding the acquisition, Mr Howell said: "Quantum strengthens the group's expertise in professional services, property and leisure, while bringing in the new dimension of financial PR."