Newcastle-under-Lyme College (NULC) has been recognised as having the UK’s top performing college marketing team at a national awards ceremony.
The college collected the 'silver' award in the highly coveted ‘Marketing Team of the Year’ category in the prestigious HEIST Awards for education marketing, beating entries from over 20 other colleges and universities and making them the highest-placed entry from the further education sector.
HEIST is a leader in marketing services within the education sector and its internationally recognised awards have been running since 1988. The awards are judged by a panel of marketing professionals from the private, public and agency sectors, to celebrate excellence in education marketing.
The team also picked up a ‘highly commended’ award in the ‘Best Community Engagement Campaign’ category, for its hugely successful marketing campaign to publicise the move to the College's new £60 million campus.
Head of Communications Rachel Till said: "We have won awards in the past for our prospectuses but the team of the year category is so highly contested we are absolutely thrilled to have won SILVER in this category.
“We are delighted to have been recognised for our professionalism and, in these challenging economic times, the return on investment that we provide.”
She added: “In my career I have worked across the private and public sector and I can honestly say the team here are the most ambitious, creative and resilient group of professionals I have ever worked with. I can’t thank them enough for their efforts and the success they have achieved for the college.”
The judges were impressed by the marketing team’s successes in the past year, which included driving a 16% increase in enrolments, a 35% increase in membership of the NULC Business Club for local employers, a 60% increase in commercial income from the College’s hair and beauty salons and a 30% increase in web traffic. The team’s public relations activities achieved over £75,000 worth of press coverage during the last year.
Furthermore the team launched the new Gordon Banks Sports Centre, engaging a large number of community and professional teams who now use the centre, and generating over 300 centre members.
For further information about Newcastle-under-Lyme College visit www.nulc.ac.uk or call 01782 254254.
*##Picture caption (L-R|):
- Rupert Grose - CEO Euro RSCG Riley Group
- Jim Tudor - Managing Director Euro RSCG Heist
- Charlotte Grice - Senior Marketing & PR Officer at Newcastle-under-Lyme College
- Rachel Till - Head of Corporate Communications at Newcastle-under-Lyme College
- Simon Callow – Actor and theatre director*
