B-Hive winners unveiled
The winners of Birmingham’s graduate creative talent competition, B-Hive have been announced at an awards evening attended by the region’s top agencies.

In its first year, B-Hive is the brainchild of marketing recruitment consultancy Pitch Consultants who hosted the evening with support from Marketing Birmingham and creative agencies across the region.

The initiative aims to showcase the best of Birmingham’s public relations and design graduates from the University of Birmingham, Aston University, Birmingham City University and Matthew Boulton College.

Katherine White, from the University of Birmingham, was named as the overall winner of the PR category while Glenn Tucker from Birmingham City University won the design title (work pictured in gallery).

Both White and Tucker received membership to Midland marketing communications network PACE as well as support from Birmingham Future’s mentoring scheme. Along with a selection of highly commended entrants, the winners were awarded a series of work placements at the agencies represented in judging panels. All the winners will also receive a one-day bespoke training course with Graduate Advantage.
The task presented to the entrants was to support the expansion of Birmingham’s Live and Learn campaign focusing on graduate retention. The Public Relations brief asked entrants to devise a six month PR plan that should include a promotional stunt, while those entering the Design category were asked to create either an outdoor media and press element or a viral campaign/game.
Ollie Purdom, director of Pitch Consultants, said: “It was great to that see how many talented students Birmingham produces as the standard and diversity of the entries we received was second to none, which made judging a difficult process for our panels.
“B-Hive offered a great opportunity for the next generation of Birmingham’s creative talent to showcase their efforts and also offered a fantastic platform for the cream of the city’s marketing agencies to come together and celebrate this city’s young talent.”
Dave Hodgson, marketing director for Marketing Birmingham, added: “My sincerest congratulations go to Katherine and Glenn as their entries stood out as two of the most creative and interesting responses to the brief set.
“We all look forward to hearing how the winners and those highly commended in each category get on in their respective work placements and wish them all the very best of luck in their chosen creative career paths in Birmingham.”