Three-year-old London firm John Doe is the latest British import to open a New York office.
The move follows its win of North American PR duties for Italian coffee brand illy caffe, which previously worked with Bratskeir & Company and 360 PR.
Rana Reeves, founder of JD, has set up the Big Apple operation, which is led by new hire Adam Thomas, former global head of PR for British luxury mobile phone marketer Vertu.
In addition to illy, the firm will tackle projects for W Hotels, Pernod Ricard and production company In-House Series. The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a pro bono client handled out of New York.
“It was important for us to have an office in New York to realize our ambition of truly maximizing global culture for brands,” said Reeves, who was previously at Shine Communications and Jackie Cooper PR in the U.K.
In the U.K., the firm has handled Sony PlayStation, O2, General Motors and adidas.
Additional U.S. staff include director Pete Chipchase (The Red Consultantcy) and global publicity director Meena Khera, who ran her own London shop.
Earlier this month, London-based Diffusion established a New York beachhead with four staffers. That came a month after London’s 12-year-old Frank PR also opened a New York operation.