Friday, January 5 2018: Wilson Hartnell (WH), one of Ireland’s leading public relations and communications firms, has appointed Amy Pilgrim and Sarah O’Connor to its board, effective January 1 2018.

Amy Pilgrim

Since re-joining WH in 2015, Amy Pilgrim has ably led the strong growth of the Healthcare Practice. A key driver of this success has been the application of specialist industry knowledge to secure a broad range of clients across the healthcare spectrum, which includes government agencies, pharmaceutical companies, consumer healthcare goods, medical devices, industry groups, insurers, and sporting organisations. This expertise is coupled with a strong focus on creativity, led by cultural insights and ideas that connect a brand, or organisation with its target audience.

Amy is the lead representative for Ireland on the Ogilvy EMEA Health and Wellness Practice where she shares and accesses global best practice thinking in this identified growth area.

Sarah O’Connor

Sarah O’Connor joined Wilson Hartnell in October 2015 to lead the agency’s award-winning sport sponsorship and marketing team, which has successfully connected brands to sport for over 40 years. Sarah’s unique industry expertise garnered from more than eight years working at the heart of Irish Sport, has allowed the practice to continue to evolve and thrive.

WH’s sports business has experienced strong growth over the last two years and Sarah and the team have continued to excel expanding the agency’s track record of client wins at the European Sponsorship Awards and the PR Awards for Excellence, resulting in invitations to speak at Global and European sport sponsorship conferences including IEG in Chicago.

Sarah’s appointment to the WH Board is reflective of both the strategic importance of the firm’s sports practice to the agency and the unique skills Sarah brings as a qualified solicitor, her prior board experience having served as a Director and Chairman of Boardmatch Ireland and a Member of the National Sports Campus Authority.

Commenting on the appointments, Wilson Hartnell Chief Executive, Brian Bell said: “The appointments of Amy and Sarah will greatly strengthen our board at a time when our industry is undergoing rapid change and presenting us with many exciting new opportunities. Our agency enjoyed strong growth in 2017 and we are anticipating further growth in 2018.”