North East creative agency the bgroup is launching a new PR division with the arrival of senior PR account manager Kate Tulip.

With four and half years' experience as a PR consultant, Tulip will be joining the 22-strong team to lead its PR services.

Tulip, 27, returns to her Newcastle roots following a spell with a specialist trade and communications agency in London, managing trade campaigns for major alcohol brands such as Guinness, Baileys, Jose Cuervo and Smirnoff, on behalf of Diageo.

She said: "I’m delighted to be back in my native Newcastle and working for an agency which is fast emerging as a real creative force in regional, national and European markets."

Siobhan Bales, managing director of bgroup, added: "Following the opening of our new office in Maastricht in the Netherlands, bgroup was looking at further ways to expand our offering to new audiences and markets... now seemed like the perfect time for bgroup to branch out into PR with Kate at the helm."