North East healthcare communications specialist Onyx has entered into a partnership with Jeff Winton Associates (JWA), to support the international expansion of clients in Europe and America.
As part of the agreement, the agencies will combine Onyx Health’s understanding of the UK, European and Middle East healthcare industry with JWA’s in-depth knowledge of the markets in the USA, Canada, Latin America, and Asia. The agencies intend that the partnership will help clients of Onyx make in-roads into the US market, while clients of JWA can plan a move into Europe.
It comes off the back of a long-running business partnership between Onyx’s Managing Director Karen Winterhalter and JWA’s Chief Executive Officer Jeff Winton, who met in the sector of global healthcare PR in the 1990s and have maintained their connection.
Jeff Winton has more than 40 years of experience in global corporate communications, and co-founded JWA with COO Jim Modica, who has held senior leadership roles with global giants Johnson & Johnson, and Pfizer. Karen Winterhalter (pictured) has worked for some of the biggest agencies in the PR business over the course of more than 30 years, having been global client lead at Ketchum and European Director at Weber Shandwick, founding Onyx in 2009.
Their respective agencies are already collaborating on a number of PR projects for SME pharma and medtech companies looking at international expansion.
Winterhalter said: “Jeff is a renowned figure in the world of corporate communications, with a wealth of experience in the global pharmaceutical industry. I am delighted to be working with him again after all these years. The unique combination of our many decades of experience in global communications will help our clients break into the US market with a trusted partner.”
Jeff Winton added: “They say PR is all about knowing the value of good relationships, and that’s certainly true with Karen and me, after 20 years we’re still doing business together. I’ve always enjoyed working with Karen; we have shared many laughs together over the years.
“Working with people you have the same shared vision to do the best job for our clients makes it all worthwhile. I am confident this will be the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership between our agencies.”
