Troncossi Public Relations has announced the appointment of and as consultants.

Ms Baker, who is from England, and Mr. Ferguson, who is from Canada, joined Troncossi on January 5 and December 15 respectively.

Managing Director Elizabeth Tee said: "I am delighted to welcome Amanda and Erin to Troncossi. I am confident that their strong PR skills and journalist contacts will be invaluable to our clients as we assist them in developing their image and positioning in the various markets in which they operate, both in Bermuda and internationally. Amanda and Erin's appointments reflect our clients' growing requirements for proactive public relations campaigns as a cost effective and influential part of the communications mix."

The pair will be responsible for advising on communication challenges, managing potential media crises, monitoring the media, writing Press releases, newsletters and positioning statements, and liasing with the media as well as with clients.

Before moving to Bermuda, Ms Baker was a public relations manager for Storage Tek ? one of the world's leading data storage companies ? for two-and-a-half years and worked in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

During that time Ms Baker was responsible for managing the PR and analyst relations activity; raising the profile of the company with target business media through a Press outreach programme; advising the management team on internal and external communications activities, consulting the company's marketing communications teams in 16 countries, including its US-based headquarters, creating business and product messaging at corporate and regional level; establishing and training a team of regional spokespeople, writing think pieces, articles and case studies for international use, and heading video production activities.

Ms Baker was also the customer reference programme manager for networking giant 3Com Europe in Europe, Middle East and Africa for three years, before joining Storage Tek.

She was also a communications executive for Megatec Pty, a leading technology distributor, in Australia.

She has also completed a Chartered Institute of Marketing (Advanced) course at Newbury College in the UK.

Before moving to Bermuda Ms Ferguson was public relations co-ordinator for the Nova Scotia Special Olympics in Halifax. She was responsible for co-ordinating events, pitching stories to newspaper, radio, web and television media, handling media enquiries, drafting copy and managing design for brochures, newsletters and the website.

Ms Ferguson was also a junior account manager at Harbinger Communications Inc., one of Toronto's leading PR consultancies where she managed the Lipton Onion soup mix account and was responsible for increasing the audience reach by more than one million people.

During her degree, Ms. Ferguson was contracted as a special events co-ordinator at Skills Canada Nova Scotia and a public relations assistant for the Centre for Women in Business.

Ms Ferguson graduated with a Bachelor of Public Relations degree from Mount Saint Vincent University in Canada. In her free time, she is a volunteer at the National Youth Library on the island.

Troncossi, a full service public relations consultancy for corporate and private clients, has on its client list Argus Insurance Company, Bank of Bermuda, Bermuda Cablevision, Bermuda Department of E-commerce, Bermuda Festival, Bermuda Hospitals Board, Bermuda Hospitals Charitable Trust, Emerald Financial, Friends of the College Library, Fulcrum, Institute of Directors and People's Pharmacy.

has been appointed acting general manager of Bermuda Bakery Ltd.

Mr. Vauhkonen, the company's financial controller, replaced John Massa, who stepped down due for health reasons at the end of last year.

"Mr. Vauhkonen has contributed to both the strategic direction and day-to-day operations of the company," said James Pearman, the chairman of Bermuda Bakery's board of directors. "His industry knowledge, financial acumen, and administrative ability will assist the company as it continues its restructuring."

Mr. Vauhkonen has 15 years of bakery and manufacturing experience. He holds a Bachelor of Business Science, a Master of Business Science (Finance), and is a Certified Management Accountant.