Spark comes to Europe (as SPR Europe)

Nice little article in PR Week UK about the best thing to hit London since meat pies!

US agency kicks off Europe bid with London office
Aug. 1, 2007
http://www.prweek.com/uk/search/article/674693/

San Francisco tech firm Spark PR opened a London office this week as a base for expanding its European operations.

Senior director Rachel Bremer has relocated from San Francisco and is curren­tly looking to recruit a full team for Spark’s new Conduit Street office, which will be called SPR Europe.

The US-headquartered independent agency has res­ponded to a demand for pan-European PR services from its client base, which includes both tech start-ups and large venture capital companies.

‘It seems like there is a need for good PR firms with really solid tech experience in London,’ Bremer said.

She described the comp­any’s London move as in ‘phase one’. She is currently the sole employee, working with her San Francisco coll­eagues on UK accounts.

The agency’s profile in Europe has grown steadily since its 1999 founding, and clients now includes FON, the global WiFi network, and Viagogo, the second-hand ticketing website. Its venture capital roster includes Index Ventures.

New SPR Europe acc­ounts include Moo, a UK-based web start-up that all­ows users to load digital photos and turn them into professionally printed stic­kers and greeting cards, and Openads, an open source advertising programme.

This month high-tech firm Schwartz Communications, which operates out of San Francisco and Massachusetts, also announced its intention to open a London base in October to complement its Stockholm office.