1284 has been shortlisted for Specialist PR Consultancy of the Year at the industry-leading CIPR Excellence Awards.

The Loughborough-based consultancy has been named in the category’s final eight at the 40th national awards. 1284's nomination sets out its work on communicating East Midlands innovation, productivity gains, and regional economic growth.

The Excellence Awards are the industry’s leading awards, recognising the work of practitioners worldwide. Led by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) the 2024 winners will be announced in June during a special event at The Royal Lancaster, London.

Finalists range from private sector SMEs to global agencies, in-house teams to public sector organisations. Shortlisted professionals represent organisations including BAE Systems, Paddy Power, University of Oxford, and Nestle.

1284’s strategic approach to communications builds content productivity while reducing inefficient noise. Outputs include:

• Developing a free 'Productive PR for SMEs' handbook, which founder George Oliver launched during a presentation at an FSB bootcamp
• Mentoring young entrepreneurs through George’s voluntary role of Entrepreneur-in-Residence at University of Leicester Business School
• Providing communications for Leicestershire Innovation Festival 2024, including the transfer of the long-running Innovation Awards to the Business Gateway Growth Hub
• Beginning to form a CIC to enable regional growth businesses to access expert business advice at no cost
• Providing copywriting that has unlocked £100,000s of funding for university startups and social entrepreneurs - as well as winning them a host of awards.

1284 has grown quickly since being founded in 2020, doubling income year-on-year, earning chartered status for team members, and being recognised across a number of industry awards. It won the Mark of Excellence in the Independent PR Practitioner of the Year category of last year’s Excellence Awards, going on to recruit former journalists Amy Orton and Richard Bowyer in 2023.

Based at LUinc. - Loughborough University’s incubator - 1284 adopts an agile startup approach to working with a host of innovative clients including Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership, Rykneld Homes, De Montfort University, Michael Smith Switchgear, Leicester Riders, and Menphys.

George, who was recently invited to become a non-executive director of East Midlands Chamber and a Fellow of the Institute of Consulting, said: “1284 had another good year of growth last year.

“We’ve maintained that momentum into 2024-25, starting the year strongly and bringing in specialist growth expertise, in the shape of Edge Business Advisory and SE Strategic Consultants, to help us move sustainably forward towards our longer-term goals.

“Being shortlisted for this national industry award again is a real honour - and demonstrates the significance of innovation as a means of increasing productivity and growth in the East Midlands.”

The finalists for Specialist PR Consultancy of the Year 2024 are:

• 1284 (Loughborough)
• Aver PR (London)
• Hard Numbers (London)
• Honest Communications (Derby)
• iseepr (Leeds)
• Mischief (London)
• Pinstone (Leominster)
• Words + Pixels (London)