Edgecombe reflects on scooping Scotland's first PR Grand Prix.

MEA and Atlantic top first Scottish PR Awards bash

Two independent Edinburgh-based public relations consultancies scooped the top awards at last week's inaugural Scottish PR Awards, which were organised by The Drum in conjunction with the IPR Scotland.

Leith-based MEA Public Relations, headed up by Mervyn Edgecombe, scooped the top award, the Grand Prix, at the lunchtime event, which was held at the Holiday Inn Glasgow City West, for its campaign for HCI International Medical Centre. The HCI campaign picked up awards in the Consumer PR and Public Affairs categories and was highly praised for altering public opinion of the hospital.

Atlantic PR directors Malcolm Brown and David Southern stepped up to collect the Best Scottish PR Consultancy Award.

The judges, who included Kate Nichols of PR Week, Alex Pagett of Hilton International, Dorothy Fenwick of Railtrack, Martin Raymond of HEBS, David Appleton of the Royal Bank of Scotland and Richard Draycott of The Drum, concluded that Atlantic PR was a well-managed business which achieved tangible results for a wide range of clients.

Full results of the Scottish PR Awards will be published in The Drum on 21 June