Five new appointments have been made at award-winning Otley-based corporate communications agency Words & Pictures, taking the team to around 40.

Gemma Casey, Lucy Bates and Chris Duffin have joined the company’s education division, with James O’Shaughnessy and Claire Smith joining the commercial and projects tram.

Gemma has been appointed a business development manager (education) and will organsie an industry-first roadshow for Specsavers to raise awareness of optometry as a career choice.

Chris Duffin has joined as business development manager-designate with a remit to develop creative solutions for companies seeking to communicate more effectively with young people.

Lucy Bates is a graduate trainee from Manchester University.

James O’Shaughnessy has been appointed senior client manager to work with key commercial clients, including Asda and P&G in the UK and Geneva. His previous roles have been with William Hill and with an in-house agency at Asda.

Claire Smith has been appointed commercial client manager having previously worked in advertising and publishing agencies. She will look after a number of key clients including Honda, Yorkshire Water and Chubb.

The expansion follows W&P’s latest awards success which saw the firm collect ten awards in the Communicators in Business awards, including the “Agency of the Year” title for the third successive year. It takes the firm’s tally of awards to 90.