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London, 4 July 2005 - Hotwire, the European technology public relations consultancy, today announced the launch of its banking and finance practice in the UK. The new practice will serve companies offering financial products and services – the first time Hotwire has moved beyond pure technology PR – as well as technology vendors targeting the sector.
Brendon Craigie, senior partner and head of Hotwire’s applications and services practice, will head the new practice in the UK with a team of four reporting to him. Hotwire also plans to launch banking and finance practices in France and Germany at a later date.
The decision to launch a banking and finance practice follows Hotwire’s research last year which revealed a growing need for companies to work with PR consultancies offering a deep level of industry knowledge, particularly in relation to technology issues, trends and regulation. The banking and finance sector is an increasingly complex regulatory environment where technology is more often than not at the centre of debate. Industry analysts predict that the average financial services provider will have to consider over 100 new or significantly modified regulations in the next three years.
Hotwire has considerable complementary experience working with technology companies offering financial products and services, including existing clients Mosaic Software, ILOG and ClarityBlue. Brendon Craigie said: "Hotwire is committed to an industry-specialised approach to PR. We have extensive experience working for leading companies in the banking and finance sector already, leading us to recognise a gap in the market for a specialised service. We have been encouraged by the interest we have already received and are confident that we can bring something new and exciting to companies working in this area."
Hotwire’s banking and finance practice builds upon the company’s existing structure, which includes five other industry-specific practices. Each practice group provides companies with PR teams that have detailed knowledge of their specialist area.
Hotwire’s co-founder and managing partner of client service Kristin Syltevik said: “Establishing the banking and finance is a milestone for Hotwire as we look to take our successful practice and project-based billing approach to clients outside the technology arena. We have carried out research into a number of different non-technology sectors and banking and finance is the best fit in terms of our existing experience, the size of the sector and interest in our model of working.”
About Hotwire Hotwire is a European technology public relations consultancy established to provide the technology industry with progressive PR services.
Since its foundation, Hotwire has won a number of prestigious awards across Europe. The accolades include the French Public Relations Top Com d’Or Trophée in the Corporate Business category. Hotwire has also been recognised by the International Public Relations Association when it was awarded Best Business-to-Business Campaign in 2003 for its work with Scottish telecoms company THUS.
Hotwire is headquartered in London with offices in Paris and Frankfurt. The company has six client practice areas: applications & services, consumer technology, digital media, enterprise & electronics, telecommunications, and banking & finance.
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Banking & Finance 
