COMMUNICATIONS consultancy Deep South Media has two new joint managing directors.

Andrew Diprose and Ron Wain were previously operations and commercial directors respectively at the firm.

Former Daily Echo editor Gareth Weeks, who founded the company, becomes executive chairman, having been managing director since 1998.

The company specialises in PR news content, press office services, stakeholder engagement, media interview training and publications design.

Andrew Diprose set up the company’s PR arm in Dorset in 2005 and Ron Wain did the same in Hampshire the following year. The PR division now has 35 clients.

Gareth said: “DSM has grown organically thanks to Andrew and Ron’s business acumen and hard graft, delivering trusted and affordable support to clients with exacting standards here in Dorset.”

He added: “With a strong pipeline of work, we are about to embark on another recruitment drive and the aim is to at least double staff numbers over the next few years, positioning DSM as the go-to experts for multi-media content in southern England.

“Interestingly, we are also seeing an increasing number of marketing companies utilising our services under ‘white label’ agreements because they don’t have in-house expertise to do what our team does.”

Andrew Diprose, 52, was previously business editor at the Daily Echo Bournemouth, going on to become corporate affairs spokesman for Newsquest. Ron Wain, 46, was business editor and deputy news editor at the Southern Daily Echo.