McMillan appointed director at Midas amid string of promotions and hires

Hannah McMillan has been promoted to director at Midas amid a string of promotions and new hires at the communications agency.

McMillan has worked with Midas for six years, and will continue her work with blue chip cultural organisations and publishers including BookTrust and the Waterstones Children’s Laureate, the Times & Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival, Windham-Campbell Prizes, Penguin Random House Children’s and Quarto Kids in her new role. 

Ashley Baugh is promoted to associate director. She joined from The Bookseller’s events and marketing team eight years ago and her key clients include the London Book Fair, the Booksellers Association (Books Are My Bag), the Wolfson History Prize, AwesomeBooks and the Sharjah International Book Fair. Her remit will be to head Midas’ digital marketing, website design, social media and influencer services, and lead on Midas’ events and branding, including the new #MidasMeets social campaign.

Ben McCluskey, who joined Midas in 2018, is now senior account manager, working with key retainer clients including Audible, London Book Fair and the Wolfson History Prize.

Gabriella Drinkald is promoted to account manager. Having joined Midas in 2020 from theatre agency Kate Morley PR, she supports publicity campaigns for clients including Audible, The Novelry, The Essex Book Festival and the Waterstones Children Laureate.

In addition to these promotions, Midas has expanded its digital offering with the hiring of digital account manager Ann Amarawansa, who will support Ashley Baugh on the agency’s social and digital campaigns. Amarawansa previously worked in communications and content management for brands including Twitter, Design & Art Direction, and Huckletree.

Midas’ arts and books offering has also been bolstered by the addition of senior account executive Kat Daly, who has previously worked at Words + Pixels and Pelham Communications, and will support on publicity campaigns for clients including The Box Plymouth, Art X Lagos and Artes Mundi.

Jason Bartholomew, c.e.o. at Midas, said: “While 2021 was a challenging year for the cultural sector, the entire Midas team has done incredible work amplifying the voices of our clients and showcasing the amazing work they do across publishing, arts and culture. To reach new audiences and secure such extensive and prominent coverage in a year dominated by unprecedented crisis is a remarkable feat, and testament to the team’s passion and dedication on behalf of our clients. I am so proud to see the team’s work recognised by the industry with five fabulous PPC shortlist nominations.

“With this in mind, we are delighted to recognise the hard work of Hannah, Ashley, Ben and Gaby over the past year, and offer a warm welcome to Ann and Kat, who bring their impressive expertise, enthusiasm and creativity to the team. This year looks to be a big year for Midas, with the in-person return of The London Book Fair, The Wolfson History Prize’s 50th Anniversary, the announcement of the 12th Waterstones Children’s Laureate and Windham-Campbell Prizes’ 10th anniversary, and we would not be able to deliver the impactful campaigns we are known for without our excellent team.”