FORMER Yorkshire Forward senior press officer Barry White has been appointed as a full-time consultant to Harrogate-based Appeal PR Mr White, who joined the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Development Agency in 2003 following almost six years heading up the Ulster Unionist Party's operation in Westminster, will establish a government relations element to Appeal's portfolio.

He will also service the growing corporate client base of the £290,000 turnover firm.

The five-person team of business media relations experts already represents corporate clients such as DLA Piper, Lloyds TSB Corporate and McInnesCorporateFinance and, more recently, won competitive pitches on a mixture of national, regional and trade media relations accounts, including Leeds Manufacturing Initiative, Castle Vale Properties, Credential Environmental and the Opera House Casino in Scarborough.

Paul Snape, managing director of Appeal, which was set up in 1999, believes the appointment will allow the company to tap into potentially exciting new streams of business.

He said: "The past two years have been firstly about cementing our place in the regional and national communications market and then, quite literally, to broaden our 'Appeal' to potential new clients. We believe Barry's particular range of skills and experiences will help us to do just that."

Mr White said: "From speaking to journalists, I know of the high regard in which Paul and his team are held and I am genuinely very excited by the challenge that he has offered me.

"I believe there is a gap in the market here in the north for an agency that can offer organisations sensible advice on communicating with government alongside the other audiences that it must reach. I hope my arrival can assist Appeal in filling this void."

Updated: 10:49 Thursday, January 26, 2006