York’s communications team has been named the talk of the town after winning an award.

RED, an internal communication agency, won the top award at an event organised by the Institute of Internal Communication (IoIC) in Birmingham.

RED’s Director Andy Douse said:

“Winning this award blew us away because it celebrated the ‘best of the best’ during the evening.

“We won with our friends at Anchor, England’s largest provider of specialist housing and care for people in later life, for their employee magazine called Arch. Not bad, as we created the first edition of Arch with Anchor’s Internal Communication team at the start of the first lockdown.

“This meant that we – like so many others – had to adapt to a whole new way of working very quickly. Our team wrote and designed the magazine virtually while everyone was working remotely for the first time (and, for some of us, while homeschooling).

“Amazingly, last month’s awards ceremony was the first time we got to meet Anchor’s fabulous team in person. It was great to finally connect, especially in such happy circumstances.”

The IoIC awards recognise and celebrate the work which internal communication professionals and agencies do to drive success in a variety of organisations.

RED’s top award, the Tom Dawson Trophy, celebrates the winner on the night from all categories. 

RED, based at the York Eco Business Centre in Clifton Moor, is an internal communication agency that specialises in helping clients with campaigns, strategy, wellbeing and hybrid working. 

The company works for major organisations in the renewable energy, utility, pharmacy, travel and transport industries to local authorities, community organisations and charities.

Andy added: “The last two years have changed our industry forever. One key trend is companies focusing on the wellbeing of their employees.

“Meanwhile, much of our work now helps clients to navigate the latest ways of communicating with a workforce that’s shifted to a mix of home and office-based working. 

“Research shows that people want – and expect – a better work-life balance through flexible and hybrid working. And we talk the talk; it’s something we’ve adopted at RED too.

“Offering hybrid working isn’t just important for attracting the right staff, it’s also vital for keeping them. And good internal communication is an essential part of that.”