THE managing director of a PR agency set up four years ago has been elected the new chair of the Scottish division of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.
Laura Sutherland of Aura PR was elected last night at the annual general meeting of the CIPR Scotland. She succeeds Falkirk Council’s Caroline Binnie. The new vice-chair is Nicki Sturzaker of The BIG Partnership.
Aura PR, based in Glasgow and Aberdeen, includes director, Flora Martin, one of the best-known names in public relations in Scotland, boasting 30 years’ experience in the industry.
The CIPR Scotland committee welcomed new members: Laura Berry of Holyrood PR, Jo-Anne Hamilton of Action for Children Scotland and Susan Nickells of Bread PR.
Says the CIPR Scotland: “Existing committee members staying on are Caroline Binnie, Stewart Argo of the City of Edinburgh Council, Neil Jones of Cairnstone Communications, Aislinn Lunt of NHS Lothian, Christina Cran of Cran Communications, Cristina Dello Sterpaio of the Scottish Social Services Council, Ruth Macleod of Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service, Louise Nicolson of Bread PR, Iain Fleming of Fife Constabularly and Joe Walton of Real PR. The secretary is Elaine McKean, of the Scottish Government, while the treasurer is Grant Thoms of MacThomais.”
Sutherland is quoted in a CIPR Scotland statement, as saying: “Having been a member of the institute for many years and also having served on the committee and a term as vice-chair, this new role will allow me to further engage with over 700 CIPR Scotland members, reinforcing the importance of strategic communications and assisting our members achieve their goals in 2012/13.
“I look forward to working with the existing and new members of the committee to deliver a programme of training and events and also developing relationships with other like-minded organisations who are already proactive in Scotland.
“A partnership approach is very much needed in this climate and my aim is to develop a strategy around this.”
