LONDON--Sparkpr has named  Toby Walsh as MD of its  London office as it looks to expand its presence in the city’s Tech City area.

Walsh succeeds Nadia Kelly, the former Ask communications director who joined Sparkpr a year ago. Previously, the office was led by Twitter European comms head Rachel Bremer.

Walsh departed his role as associate director at Waggener-Edstrom earlier this year. He has also worked at Nelson Bostock, Inferno, Marlin PR and Brands2Life – where he spent the first six years of his career.

“We continue to be bullish across all our locations but London is becoming an increasingly interesting market for us – it has world-class universities, attracts significant investment, has a thriving technology scene and serves as a hub for the wider European market,” said Alan Soucy, Sparkpr CEO. 

“The London office will be key to extending reach for our clients as well as winning business from European start-ups and brands with global aspirations.”

Based in San Francisco and with locations in Los Angeles, London, New York and Cape Town, Sparkpr was named 2012 North American Technology Agency of the Year by the Holmes Report.

“As well as having a highly credible position right at the epicentre of the global technology industry, Sparkpr has intimate relationships with many of the world’s most successful venture capitalists,” added Walsh. “Clients benefit from deep technology expertise while staff get to work with the most disruptive businesses in the industry.”

Sparkpr’s UK clients include BrightEdge, Etsy, Moo.com, ShowCaster, Torch Partners, Vidyo and YapStone.