Ten-year ‘marriage’ over at Donovan Boyd PR

Auckland’s PR community has experienced a divorce.

Liane Donovan has resigned from the company she started with business partner John Boyd 10 years ago.

Mr Boyd has bought her shares in the business and Ms Donovan has left to start her own PR company.

He told NBR ONLINE that they both had different ideas and priorities for their business and felt it best they went their separate ways.

“Sometimes change is good for business. It gives us the opportunity to refocus and look at various ways of growing it.

"It’s like a re-fresh and it has re-energised me in where I want to take the business,” he said.

Donovan Boyd PR, which has six staff, will change its name. Clients include HRV, Mazda New Zealand, Canon, Sony Mobile and CallPlus.

Mr Boyd said the pair formed the business 10 years ago “after a long lunch”.

He had sold his shares in Crossman, which became Porter Novelli, and had been working at Hill & Knowlton as managing director.

Ms Donovan had worked with him at Crossman and was head of the agency PPR (Professional Public Relations).

“Rather than work for overseas-owned companies, we thought we would do our own thing,” Mr Boyd said.

So they set up an office in Queen St and began attracting clients straight away.

Now, with the business to himself, Mr Boyd is looking to expand operations. But it will mean fresh working arrangements.

“Ten years as business partner with Jackie Crossman at CrossmanPorterNovelli ,10 years with Liane at DonovanBoyd and married to the same woman for 27 years – for the first time in 20 years I will be a one-woman man,” he quipped.

Ms Donovan confirmed today that she would be starting up Donovan PR.

“We had a great 10 years. It was time for a change. He has his clients, I have mine. It just came to an end, really. It’s not unusual,” she said.

Ms Donovan said she, too, wanted a change of direction and was really excited at starting a new business.

“I do corporate and marketing communications – a lot in FMCG, tourism. John and I always complemented each other with our skills. We won’t really be in competition with each other,” she said.