Geraldine Vesey
SKV Communications is partnering with Kindred on a major PR initiative for the Government’s Business is GREAT campaign.
Business is GREAT aims to give small businesses the inspiration and support to help them grow. The campaign has been running since November 2013 and has already resulted in over one million unique visits to the Business is GREAT website; an 18% increase in confidence that Britain is backing small businesses; and over 2,000 new exporting leads.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), which together with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) have overall responsibility for the campaign, now wants to scale up activity. The brief will see the agencies working together to drive uptake of a range of products and services that the Government offers to support small businesses, on areas including exporting to new markets and alternatives to bank finance.
The campaign was won following a competitive pitch against two other agencies on the Crown Commercial Services PR roster. Manchester-based SKV and London’s Kindred will report into BIS and UKTI. The contract is part of a policy portfolio of support to small businesses being worked on by BIS.
BIS head of campaigns Jo Simmons said the partnership of SKV and Kindred made for a strong proposition.
“Driving growth amongst small businesses is an important part of our remit. We were impressed with the agencies’ strategic approach, creative ideas and expertise that will help us to ensure that small businesses are making the most of the support on offer to them. ”
Director at Manchester-based SKV, Geraldine Vesey, said they were delighted to be working on the Business is GREAT Britain campaign.
“We chose to partner with Kindred as the agency has an unparalleled track record in delivering initiatives that motivate businesses to act, which perfectly complements our own expertise in activating national campaigns through regional media and other channels.”
Kindred has handled the creative campaign for Business is GREAT– won though a competitive pitch via the Crown Commercial Services marketing services roster – since September 2013.
