LONDON — Ruder Finn has acquired specialist public sector medical and healthtech PR agency Mantis for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition will add 23 clients – mostly within the NHS, private healthcare and UK social care providers – to Ruder Finn’s roster and 12 consultants to its team.

LONDON — Missive has been appointed by RingCentral, a $1.4 billion provider of global enterprise cloud communications, collaboration, video meetings, and contact centre solutions, to deliver an integrated communications campaign in the UK after a competitive pitch.

LONDON — The PRCA has set up a new SME Group to support SME agency leaders, including through sharing advice and ideas, training and professional development, mental health support, business strategy, M&A guidance, and developing SME agency heads from diverse backgrounds. The group is chaired by Carta Communications founder and director Matt Cartmell, and Hera Communication Strategies managing director Anna Geffert and is open to agencies with less than 15 employees.

DUBAI — The African Union has announced a partnership with the APO Group, the pan-African communications agency and press release distribution service, to re-brand and re-position Africa to the world at the Expo 2020 Dubai, which got underway this month and will run until March 2022. For the first time in the 170-year history of world Expos, every country in Africa has its own pavilion this year.

LONDON — SolarAid, a UK based international charity working to combat poverty and climate change, has appointed Kindred to help raise awareness of the global energy poverty crisis after a competitive pitch. The agency will be responsible for delivering the first phase of the charity’s five-year campaign to light up every home, school and clinic in Africa using safe, clean, solar power and achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 7 to ensure everyone has access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services by 2030. Kindred’s remit will focus on raising awareness of the dire consequences of energy poverty through an integrated campaign across owned and earned channels, working with SolarAid to increase its UK supporter base.

DUBAI — Three in five (57%) PR professionals across the Middle East and North Africa region say their organisation is doing ‘not enough’ or ‘much less than what is needed’ to support the mental health of their employees, according to the new PRCA MENA Mental Health Report, published on World Mental Health Day. The YouGov survey of 1,728 PRs in the region found that 44% of respondents have not had any communication from their employer about mental health in the last 12 months, and that just 15% of practitioners feel ‘completely supported’ by their employer on this issue. It also found that 36% of people who faced a mental health problem in the last 12 months did not speak to anyone at their workplace about it, rising to 41% of women. Overall, 42% of respondents said the pandemic has worsened their mental health.

LONDON — Music and technology PR specialist Dominic Athanassiou, who is half-Polish and half-Cypriot, has launched 3nation, a new agency for music artists and record labels globally, as well as B2B PR services for music businesses and technology companies. The agency’s clients include Polish metal record label Pagan Records; avant-garde and experimental music record label Devoted Art Propaganda; Greek black metal veterans Necromantia; and UK synthwave artist Network Nick.

LONDON — Raptor PR, the digital B2B communications agency for video games, media and technology brands, has been appointed as the global agency of record for Playable Factory, an Istanbul-based intelligent marketing platform that creates playable and interactive ads for mobile games, apps and brands, including Lego and Unilever. Raptor’s integrated campaign will support Playable Factory’s international growth strategy, targeting investors, publishers, developers, brands, agencies and advertisers.