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Stripe Communications has announced the appointment of Morna McLelland to the Board of Directors following ongoing growth of the consultancy in 2008.

Morna will assume responsibility for managing the Edinburgh operation and a 12 strong team of consultants.

In addition, Jackie Shuttleworth is set to join the team as Senior Account Manager from her role as Media and Communications Manager at BAA Edinburgh Airport.

Juliet Simpson, Managing Director, Stripe, said, “Since joining Stripe earlier this year Morna has proven to be instrumental in the continued growth and success of our business and we’re thrilled to be recognising her contribution. Our people are at the very heart of our business and with Jackie joining us, we’re confident these appointments put us in great stead for 2009.”

Both Morna and Jackie are senior specialists in their field. Morna has over 11 years public relations experience, through both consultancy and in-house roles in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, most recently with the Glenmorangie Company and prior to that with Weber Shandwick. Jackie has over six years experience in public relations, broadcast journalism and research. Before joining BAA Edinburgh Airport, Jackie was a broadcast journalist at Radio Forth responsible for the day-to-day running of the newsroom.

Edinburgh’s Winter Festivals (EWF), part of the City of Edinburgh Council, has awarded Stripe Communications the contract to provide PR and communications support for Edinburgh’s Christmas and Edinburgh’s Hogmanay. This decision follows a tender process involving eight Scottish agencies.

Stripe will become a key part of the marketing effort for both festivals over the entire festive season. The focus of the brief will be to develop a communications strategy raising awareness of Edinburgh on a global scale, promoting the multitude of Christmas and Hogmanay events, driving attendance and working with EWF’s sponsors and partners. As well as bringing colour and sparkle to the city, these festivals generate huge economic impact, with over £136m of economic benefit being derived since the formation of the EWF team in 2004.

Edinburgh’s Christmas and Edinburgh’s Hogmanay have been operating since 1999 and 1993 respectively and this year the multitude of events are expected to attract over 500,000 visitors to Edinburgh City Centre.

The work will start immediately with Morna McLelland, Associate Director of Stripe heading up the PR team, working with John-Paul Murphy and the corporate communications department at City of Edinburgh Council.

John-Paul Murphy, Marketing & Communications Manager for the Festivals said: “I was delighted with the many high-quality tenders we received, which made this a tough decision and certainly demonstrates the fantastic expertise within the PR business in Scotland. However, Stripe’s strategic approach and creativity shone through and I’m pleased to be putting their talent to good use for Edinburgh.”