WALES' meat promotion body scooped four awards at the recent 2019 CIPR Cymru Wales PRide Awards ceremony in Cardiff for its work promoting Welsh lamb and Welsh beef.

Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) welcomed the industry recognition of its innovative campaigns in the UK market, and pledged to build on this work as agriculture enters a crucial period of change and uncertainty.

More than 220 industry professionals gathered at the Exchange Hotel in Cardiff for the nation’s annual public relations showpiece, hosted by BBC Wales presenter Jason Mohammad.

The gala evening saw leading organisations and communications teams celebrate the best of the industry, with HCC receiving a gold for Best Use of Influencer Relations and silver for Best Event, Best Use of Social Media and Best Publication.

Rhys Llywelyn, market development manager at Hybu Cig Cymru, said: “As the nature of marketing and communications has changed over recent years with the growth of digital and social media, we’ve sought to ensure a balance between traditional forms of engagement along with spearheading a more digitally-targeted approach to our work.

“We have plans to build on this work over the next few months. It’s a difficult time for agriculture, as Brexit combines with other factors to produce uncertainty and price volatility for farmers.

“HCC can’t influence the political picture, but we will do what we can to ensure we tell the positive story of quality and sustainability which is at the heart of our beef and lamb industries.

"We’re also determined to do this in the most cost-effective way possible, to maximise the impact of our advertising spend in our vital domestic market.”

The CIPR PRide event is the UK’s most prestigious nationwide awards scheme, recognising excellence in public relations and communications across Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and six English regions.