Prospect Shopping Centre has appointed an award-winning marketing and events agency to raise its profile as part of its 40th birthday celebrations and in the build up to the UK City of Culture 2017 year.

The announcement of the new partnership between the centre – which attracts an average of 625,000 visitors per month – and Mercury Design and Marketing follows a competitive tender and pitch between leading local agencies.

Mercury – the agency behind HullBID Fashion Week 2013, which was awarded the prestigious Silver award in the Best Event in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire category of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) awards – has a proven track record in retail and destination marketing.

Kelly Taylor, director at the East Yorkshire-based agency which also has offices in Leeds and London, says the team took a creative approach to developing campaign ideas that would maximise the opportunities surrounding the shopping centre’s 40th birthday celebrations, community engagement work and planned cultural events in the build up to 2017.

Lee Appleton, centre manager, said: “We are delighted to be starting an exciting new partnership with Mercury, further building on the positive work we have done to engage shoppers and the wider community.

“Our 40th birthday, coupled with year on year footfall growth presents an opportunity for us to maximise the profile of the centre within the local community and develop an exciting events programme that will attract new audiences.”

Kelly, who has twice been named a finalist herself in the CIPR Awards Outstanding Young Communicator category, said: “Prospect Shopping Centre is a high profile shopping destination in the city, which presents my team with an opportunity to showcase their creative skills and develop what we hope will go on to become award-winning campaigns in their own right.

“Work is already well underway to plan events that will mark the centre’s 40th birthday, as well as a range of other initiatives that will take place over the course of the year. We are providing everything from marketing and events support, through to social media campaigns, public relations, website development and community engagement work.”

Pictured: Lee Appleton (Centre Manager, Prospect Shopping Centre) and Kelly Taylor (Director, Mercury Design and Marketing)

Prospect shopping Centre website: http://www.prospectshoppingcentre.co.uk/