News
We're ISO 9001 accredited
2nd August '10
We’ve passed our ISO audit, a year after gaining the certificate of quality. Various staff were involved in a day of checks and discussion regarding procedures in place that guarantee the quality and improvement of our working practices.
We’ve put together a page that details what being ISO 9001 accredited means to the work we produce and how we do it in case you were interested.
Hope Against Cancer new website live
16th June '10
Since 2002, Hope Against Cancer has been helping to improve research into the causes and treatment of cancer in the Leicestershire and Rutland areas. As a result of their hard work, money has been raised through events and sponsorship to help save the lives of many.
To help them spread the word about the fantastic work they do, we’ve redesigned their website; applying current brand styling and simplifying the structure of the website to make sure content is both exciting to read as well as easy to find.
Take a look at new Hope Against Cancer website.
Campaign to save Launde Abbey a massive success
25th May '10
We are delighted to announce that our multi-discipline campaign to help save Launde Abbey from closure was a massive success. The money to complete the necessary renovations to bring the building up to the required standards was found and the work is now well underway.
There will be announcement when the centre is ready for the public again and we’re sure there will be some celebrations.
We are really proud to have been involved in the campaign to keep this beautiful building open and allowing the good work which is conducted within its walls to continue.
Find out more on the Save Launde Abbey website ».
Design and online marketing ensures a strong launch for MUSE, a literature magazine
24th May '10
Through our Associate Director Jamie’s involvement in Litopia, a pioneering online Writers’ Colony, we took on responsibility for design of the group’s quarterly literary e-zine called MUSE. Now the design is completed and the first newsletter in circulation, Jamie will be making use of the online readership established around Litopia’s podcast (with in excess of 20,000 listeners a week) and Twitter account (with over 8,000 followers thanks to Jamie’s award winning management) to ensure the newsletter is picked up by the wider online writing community.
Take a look at the first edition of MUSE, on the Litopia website »
Barrie Stephen Hair website gets a new look
21st May '10
We have been working with Barrie develop his website the past for three years and have just set live a newly designed website. This new website better reflects recent design work, gives more prominence to the beautiful photoshoot images and integrates closely with his Social Media work. It now feels more “fashion” and represents the salon group’s commitment to quality and design savvy.
Take a look at the new Barrie Stephen Hair website.
A new website for the Leicester Print Workshop
19th May '10
We’ve just launched a new website for the Leicester Print Workshop. The redesign focused on making it easier for people to register onto courses, allow the Workshop to manage content themselves and making the Workshop more visible online. We’re delighted that since going live there’s been a steady stream of enquiries about courses and positive feedback from the Workshop’s members.
We’ve worked on several ideas to exploit the potential of Social Media to spread details on news/courses, show some of the work produced and explain better what printmaking is all about and how the techniques differ. For now the Leicester Print Workshop is on Flickr with plans in place to set up on a number of other networks soon.
As well as working on the website, we sponsored the workshop’s Passion2Print exhibition and have enjoyed a number of evening printmaking classes as an agency.
Visit the new Leicester Print Workshop website.
Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust website out in the wild
6th May '10
Back in February we mentioned that we were developing a new website for Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust. Well, the new site has just been launched and we’re really pleased with the results, and so are they.
We’ve used some fantastic images from renowned wildlife photographer Danny Green to give a real visual impact and worked hard to ensure that the site is easy to navigate and provides clear, up to date information about the Trust.
As well as redeveloping the website we’ve set up Flickr, Facebook and Twitter accounts for the Trust and linked these in to the site, allowing them to spread the word about the great work they do and get more people involved in protecting/improving wildlife in Leicestershire and Rutland.
Visit the new Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust website
RAR Best in Public Relations Finalist
23rd April '10
We’re delighted that client references helped us achieve “Best in Public Relations Finalist” for agencies with less than 30 staff in the recent RAR awards.
Fire up the Quattro! - Lox help drive Loros campaign with a touch of Ashes to Ashes 80’s glamour
16th April '10
We helped take Leicester based Lox Hair Design back in time with an 80’s themed charity day, presenting the iconic Audi Quattro from cult TV series Ashes to Ashes.
The salon was a blast from the past offering the traditional over the top 80’s dress, big hair and a chance for visitors on the day to fire up the Quattro and take a ride to help raise funds. Leicester band The Heroes also made an appearance, providing live entertainment at the salon throughout the event.
The day was held in aid of the Leicester Loros Hospice appeal, which has been running since last November. The appeal was launched to help raise the £450,000 needed to renovate the charities Leicestershire and Rutland Hospice.
Virtual campus for Loughborough University
14th April '10
We’ve been working with Loughborough University to design and build an online map to help visitors and students find their way around the 437-acre single site campus.
The unique system, which shows an interactive map of the entire campus, was designed to help visitors; staff and students discover more about the campus and find the location of departments, lecture theatres, sports facilities and many other University amenities.
Web Development Manager at Loughborough University, Jonathan Walters said, “We have worked closely with RKH to produce a system which we hope will be very useful to both current and prospective students as well as staff and visitors. We are one of the first universities in the UK to offer this type of online campus map and it’s a great addition to our website.”
You can explore Loughborough University’s virtual campus map for yourself by visiting http://maps.lboro.ac.uk/
Social Media seminars at RKH seen as “Brilliant” by clients – more planned
7th April '10
We’ve been researching the commercial potential of Social Media for many months and have created a seminar aimed at director-level attendees in all sizes of business. We’ve put together a number of case histories that show how companies have successfully, and sometimes disastrously, used or suffered at the hands of Social Media favourites such as Twitter, Youtube, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Some of our clients, Michelin, Davidsons, Westleigh, NHS and RICS have already found the event extremely useful and a number of other major companies will joining us over the next few weeks.
If you’d like to attend one of our upcoming Social Media seminars to find out the commercial potential for your business then call John Harris on 0116 233 7500 or email jharris@rkh.co.uk. The seminar is free so there’s nothing to lose.
Two Associate Directors for RKH
30th March '10
The future is looking very positive for Jamie Mollart and Paul Sculthorpe, after working for Rock Kitchen Harris for some years they have been promoted to head their departments. Paul has become Online Account Director and is responsible for developing online strategy further with the board. Jamie Mollart is Account Director and leads a team of account managers working on blue chip business. He will also have a strong involvement in new business and strategy development. It is envisaged that both will eventually join the full board.
Existing Board Director and Design Director Paul Petherick, was delighted in the appointments “We have been looking for some time for the people who can become part of the next generation of RKH with me. These guys are genuine home-grown talent and a major part of our future success”
Supporting Hope Against Cancer's Summer Ball
26th March '10
Hope Against Cancer was formed in 2002 to help fund cancer research in Leicestershire and Rutland and since the beginning we’ve been helping to promote their events and telling people about the valuable work they’re doing to make a difference to those suffering with cancer.
The late Summer Ball has been a (nearly) annual event for them and is a job we particularly like to get involved with; it’s a hugely prestigious event and is becoming a real feature on the Leicester social calendar. This year is no exception, they’ll be celebrating their seventh anniversary and it promises to be spectacular.
From helping with an overall theme for the event to design of a leaflet invite (see image) and onward, we’ll be there supporting the fantastic work of Hope Against Cancer.
CrimeMapper Mobile launched
1st March '10
Earlier today we helped the Government’s fight against crime with the launch of a new crime mapping application available through a mobile phone.
Developed for the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) on behalf of all 43 English and Welsh police forces, the original desktop version launched in October 2009. We’ve now developed a new CrimeMapper mobile application that allows users to access information about local crime rates, police contact information and locations for the nearest police stations. This is available through all smart phones and the iPhone and has been unveiled today in a statement from Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
CrimeMapper allows users to access area based information such as the number of crimes committed, trends and the kind of crimes most prevalent. The data is shown through clear and simple maps, graphs and reports and has proved a huge success already with over a million visitors to the site and 10 million pages viewed. We’ve been busy with the desktop version recently too having added confidence survey results for all forces, changed the colour scheme and added an API.
We're in the Recommended Agency Register 2010
18th February '10
We’re delighted to have been included on the Recommended Agency Register (RAR) for 2010. RAR independently researches over 1500 clients each year to determine the best rated Advertising, Design, PR and Web agencies. Due to examples of quality work and testimonials from a range of clients (thank you!) we’ve once again made it into RAR.
Everards blog on pub refurbishment
17th February '10
Everards Brewery are investing £350,000 into the refurbishment of The Cradock Arms pub in Knighton, Leicester. They wanted a quick and easy way to keep their online fans up to date with what’s been happening, so we’ve created them a quick, simple and easy to use blog. They can upload photos, audio and video, even from a mobile phone on site as the refurb takes place!
You can see all the work as it happens on The Cradock Arms blog.
A new website for Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust on the horizon
8th February '10
We’re really pleased to be working on a new website for a local wildlife charity. Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust has over 14,000 members in the area, and over 30 nature reserves. This week, they’ve sent us hundreds of photographs from the nature reserves covering plants, trees, landmarks and animals of all shapes and sizes. As we pick and choose the best ones for the site, it’s hard to find a bad one amongst them. We’re really excited about how things are coming together, look out for the launch later in the spring!
Opening a marketing door for Hörmann UK
5th February '10
We’re delighted to have been appointed to handle public relations for international door manufacturers, Hörmann after a competitive pitch.
Hörmann, a family owned company, is the largest manufacturer of garage and industrial doors in Europe with over 6000 staff and a turnover in excess of €1 billion.
Our work will be focused on raising the profile for Hörmann (UK) Limited, through public relations and some online promotional work.
Sales Director, Domestic Division, and Marketing Manager at Hörmann UK, David Newcombe said: “RKH are used to working with international clients and I was impressed with their grasp of our strategy and a refreshingly real-world approach to public relations. This will effectively be a re-launch of the brand in the UK and we look forward to working with their team.”
Jamie Hatches a Golden Tweet
7th December '09
Our very own Account Director Jamie Mollart has been presented with an award for his work on Litopia’s Twitter feed.
Litopia is one of the web’s oldest and most significant independent writing communities.
Organised by creative marketing magazine The Drum, Jamie was presented with his Golden Tweets award in London for the best use of Twitter.
Jamie has used Twitter to identify the need for prospective writers and then provided them with guidance towards the best advice available on the net. Through his work, Litopia has generated over 3500 new followers in only 3 months.
The award is a great recognition of how we at RKH are incorporating social media into marketing communications.
Well done Jamie!
A nose for curry
5th December '09
We’ve been putting our taste buds to the test again by holding another one of our popular “Nose for…” evenings.
Leicester Indian restaurant, the Tiffin treated us to an insight into some of the secrets behind making a good curry and provided tasters of their best dishes for the assembled guests which included many of our clients.
The evening follows a string of “Nose for…” events we’ve held with previous nights involving wine, cheese and chocolate tasting.
There’s more photos on “our Flickr page” and our apologies if you have to go out for a curry now.
RKH help UK police forces crack crime
20th October '09
Pictured above, left to right: Brian Clifford – Chief Inspector of the National Policing Improvement Agency, David Hanson – Policing Minister, Paul Sculthorpe – RKH Senior Web Developer and David Moore – RKH Director.
RKH has proved a national cyber success, after developing a crime mapping system used by police forces across the UK
The CrimeMapper website provides information on the crime rates for every region in England and Wales. The user friendly design enables visitors to zoom in to street level anywhere in the country, browse in “local” and “national” mode to see how crime varies within the forces and across all areas and provides detailed information about the policing team responsible for the local region.
Three members of our website development team Director David Moore, Senior Web Developer Paul Sculthorpe and Web Developer Leon Bayliss began working on CrimeMapper in September last year, after being initially chosen by 30 police forces to develop the local sites. Later this year, we were tasked to develop a national site, used by all 43 UK police forces.
Visit the CrimeMapper website via http://maps.police.uk/ or via your local police force’s website.
RKH challenge BBC presenter to reach new heights
14th October '09
Web Developer, Ian Moore challenged BBC Radio Leicester presenter Rupal Rajani recently to learn how to rock climb in a week.
Rupal was given the task of climbing a 12 metre wall at the Leicester Outdoor Pursuit Centre under the guidance of their team and Ian.
Ian set the challenge on Rupal’s lunchtime show on the Monday after completing his own incredible year of Iron Man style feats including climbing Mont Blanc (the highest peak in Western Europe).Rupal got off to a good start on her first lesson and even though she didn’t quite make it to the top in the final challenge; she got three quarters of the way up – an excellent achievement given her fear of heights!
Director challenges Leicester to stop being a lunch wasteland
9th October '09
Director, John Harris has kept Leicester city centre’s restaurants on their toes recently after challenging them to provide good quality cuisine and service.
After taking a client to lunch in the city centre, he found to his dismay the food was not up to the required standard. Having a strong opinion on the subject and fearing that Leicester is trailing behind in the region’s good food stakes, he decided to do something about it.
Our PR department got on the case by making John’s challenge known to the media. He has since appeared in the Leicester Mercury and has already been taken up on the challenge by a local restaurant.
