PR, influence and activation agency, Special PR, has welcomed three new joiners in their Auckland office.

Kat Day has joined the team as Creative Lead for PR. In the role, she will work with the PR team to create campaigns for clients including Jaguar Land Rover, Jetstar, Tourism Fiji and Forsyth Barr, as well as adding PR firepower to Special Group-wide clients including Contac Energy, NZTE and Lion New Zealand. She brings over 20 years' experience to the role, most recently with Mango Communications, where she was Group Business Director. Prior to moving to Auckland, she held senior roles with London agencies Taylor Herring, Mischief and Good Relations.

Natalie Chandler has been appointed Account Director. She is welcomed to the team from Pead, where she managed a wide range of PR campaigns and communications strategies for brands including BMW, MINI, Villa Maria, Tronque and Jeuneora. Before moving to New Zealand in 2020, Natalie worked in Australia managing lifestyle and travel clients, and prior to that held in-house roles in the UK at ASDA and Porsche.

Sophie Harsent has taken on the role of Account Manager, joining from boutique agency, Someday Studios, where she launched multiple Kiwi start-ups and developed strategic communication campaigns for likes of AWWA, Abel Odor and Goju. She will help drive activity across a variety of Special PR’s clients, including Contact, Jaguar Land Rover and Tourism Fiji.

ON Kat's appointment, Kelly Grindle, Head of PR & Influence at Special PR, said: “We’re so lucky to have someone of Kat’s stature choose Special PR. She brings a wealth of experience to the role, having worked on some of the UK’s most talked about creative PR activations. I don’t think we could have found a better person to supercharge our creative output.”

Sarah Prigg, who has recently been promoted to Senior Account Director, said it's an exciting time to be at Special PR: “We’re thrilled that Natalie and Sophie have joined Special PR to further propel our creative work and support our growing client portfolio. Bringing a broad range of skills and expertise, both Natalie and Sophie have a wealth of knowledge that we’ll be tapping into for all of our clients.”