Tributes paid to leading Harrogate PR professional Di Burton who founded Cicada Communications

passed away earlier this month.

In a tribute posted online, staff at Cicada said: “If you met Di, you were unlikely to forget her. Assertive and inquisitive by nature, her infectious personality always left a lasting impression.

“She will be remembered as one of Harrogate’s best-known and most respected business figures and one of the country’s leading PR (public relations) practitioners.

“Launching a successful business is far from easy but Di turned Cicada into a thriving PR consultancy that helped a wide range of companies to manage their reputation, raise their profile and boost their bottom line.

“All of us who worked with her benefitted from her enthusiastic leadership and mentoring.

“As Di’s husband Andy eloquently puts it: “Di was one of those people for whom tomorrow could not come quickly enough. Much of her mind was always in the future; there was always so much more to accomplish.”

In 2015, Cicada was acquired by its current management team, as Ms Burton retired, although she continued to work beyond this point, passing on her experience by training the next generation of PR professionals.

In an online tribute, Ian Briggs, a director at Aberfield Communications, said: “As a young business journalist at The Yorkshire Post in the early 2000s, Di was one of the first PR people I got to know properly.“I would summarise Di as a tour de force. Always happy to help and make introductions, passionate, forthright and knowledgeable, she built an extremely dedicated team and a first rate client list. As our industry continues to evolve, true personalities are harder to find. Di was certainly one of them and she will be missed by many.”

In 2022, Cicada celebrated its 35th anniversary. Di is survived by her husband Andy, her children Sarah and Rupert and grandchildren. Her funeral takes place at All Saints Church, Ripley, near Harrogate at 2.30pm on 30 January 2023.

The family has requested no flowers at the funeral, but instead for donations to either Harrogate’s Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre or Yorkshire Air Ambulance.