Southard Freeman Communications is an award-winning PR agency with offices in New York and New Jersey.

The deal provides Playtime’s clients with access to Southard Freeman’s expert PR services in the USA. Similarly, clients of Southard Freeman will be able to tap into Playtime’s services in the UK and Europe.

The two agencies already share a number client brands in the toy space, including Thames & Kosmos and Sensible Object. By working together, the agencies are confident they can better serve them and future clients with needs in both Europe and the US and by providing deeper local market insight.

Lesley Singleton, founder and managing director of Playtime PR, commented: “This is a really exciting next step for Playtime. Our intention is to build a network of agency alliances in various territories to strengthen our offering. We’ve certainly found the perfect US partner in Southard Freeman – the team has an enviable heritage in toy PR and beyond. It’s very much our intention to run regular transatlantic team sessions to breathe deeper life into ideas on both sides of the pond, giving clients stronger insight and culturally tailored campaign ideas.”

Bill Southard, co-founder and CEO of Southard Freeman, added: “We have long admired the work that Lesley and her team have executed on behalf of their impressive portfolio of clients and are thrilled to formalise our partnership. Our clients are increasingly looking for support across the globe and we could not have partnered with a more professional, experienced and dedicated company than Playtime. Bruce and I look forward to much success and a long-term partnership that will not only benefit our two respective firms, but our clients as well.”