SINGAPORE — Klareco has expanded its leadership team with the hires of regional PR veterans Yvonne Koh and Prisita Menon, two years after the firm's high-profile restructuring.

Koh and Menon join Klareco as senior directors, supporting CEO Ang Shih-Huei and MD Mark Worthington. Ang told the Holmes Report that the hires reflect the 30% growth the 50-person firm has recorded since it relaunched under new ownership in the wake of Bell Pottinger's 2017 collapse.

"Our ambition was to create a successful and strong Asia powerhouse," said Ang. "We inherited a distressed asset. Today, we have successfully turned around this business."

Koh, previously PayPal Asia-Pacific communications head, arrives from Singapore consultancy Gloo PR, where she spent less than a year as GM. Her technology and corporate experience also includes senior roles at MSL in Singapore and the US.

Menon, meanwhile, was most recently the head of Cognito Singapore, where she spent more than four years developing specific expertise in financial and corporate services. 

Both of the senior hires, said Worthington, would help Klareco's focus on financial, corporate and government/public affairs. In addition, they will expand the firm's regional leadership team for its five offices across Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia and Hong Kong.

"These two new hires represent what Klareco is embarking on as a new step, as a strong and healthy business in Asia," said Ang. "We’d like to see Klareco as a stage on which industry leaders can realise their growth potential with us — we’re much more of an entrepreneurial platform. The next stage for us is to grow this business, both in Singapore and in the region."

In addition to public sector clients such as the Health Promotion Board and Singapore Tourism Board, Klareco's clients are also understand to include such names as Axiata, Radisson Hotel Group, AXA XL and PayPal. According to both founders, the firm has had particular success helping corporates navigate the collision between traditional and digital business models.