Maja Pawinska Sims 14 Jan 2021 // 5:29PM GMT
LONDON — Good Relations has opened its first international office, setting up a base in New York as part of its planned growth outside of the UK.
The office will be part of the operations of independent advertising firm VCCP Group – Good Relations’ parent company – which is based in New York and San Francisco. It will retain the Good Relations brand name.
Liam Maguire will lead the New York office, and becomes an executive vice president. Maguire has worked at VCCP Group for five years, most recently heading up Newsfeed PR and its specialist broadcast PR agency, Good Broadcast.
A former soldier and journalist, Maguire has worked with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on a number of their charitable initiatives, including the Invictus Games, whose foundation is one of Good Relations’ clients.
Maguire is working with VCCP New York managing director Georgia Mahaffie and chief strategy officer Jonny Shaw to build the team to meet the demands of the agency’s growing global client portfolio, which includes Airbus, Deloitte, Deezer and Violife.
Good Relations CEO Richard Moss said the move was driven by client demand: “It’s critical that we pivot toward where the opportunity is greatest – for us, right now, that’s the United States.”
VCCP Group founder and chief executive Adrian Coleman added: “The integration of planners and creatives working hand-in-hand with publicists and content creators has given us the edge over our competition in the past year, and been instrumental in driving growth for the business. Establishing the Good Relations brand alongside VCCP in New York is the next step in our response to a market which is increasingly looking for an integrated, challenger offering.”