Former Central News presenter Arti Halai has teamed up with one of Birmingham’s top PR specialists to launch a new communications consultancy.
Ms Halai, who left ITV last year when the broadcaster made a swathe of redundancies across its East and West Midland regional news programmes, is teaming up with former Seal Communications PR guru Steve Dann.
The pair have launched Fleet Street Consulting, which will offer a range of training, business mentoring, and strategic communications services to companies.
The new consultancy is trading from offices in Fleet Street in Birmingham and has already secured contracts with a number of leading organisations including Birmingham Development Company, the Thomson Foundation and law firm Hawkins Hatton.
For Arti, the launch of the new company also coincides with the publication of her first book “Positivity,” which has been published by the HotHive in Evesham.
“I have known Steve for some years and we decided there was an opportunity to launch a business that would work with corporate firms, SMEs and the agency marketplace to help them harness the power of communications,” said Ms Halai.
“As well as mentoring individuals and teams to improve performance through enhanced communication we will also be launching our new open courses in the New Year, around media handling skills, presentation training and PR training.”
Steve Dann, a former journalist, has spent more than 25 years in PR consultancy and developed Birmingham-based Seal into one of the region’s leading integrated marketing communications agencies.
He joined the agency as an account manager in 1983 and progressed rapidly through the ranks to become managing director.
Mr Dann later led a successful management buy-out of the business and went on to grow the company organically and through a number of strategic acquisitions before selling the firm in 2005.
As well as working as a presenter on Central News, Ms Halai has worked in both radio and television for some of the country’s largest organisations including ITV1 Central where she became known as the one of the faces of Central News.
She has also worked for the BBC, ITN News Channel, Carlton, LWT, Mirror Group and Sunrise Radio.
Ms Halai regularly attends as a presenter at live events around the West Midlands.
Mr Dann said: “Through our combined experience we are confident we can add value to an organisation’s communications activities, whether it is through mentoring and coaching teams or through one of our training programmes.”
“We will also review existing communications strategies and provide creative in-put to both in-house teams and agency led PR programmes.”
Ms Halai’s move is reminiscent of another former Central news presenter Llewella Bailey who has also set up her own media training consultancy and is also working with advertising and PR agency Ward Lovett as a media consultant.
