News & Views

For all the talk about the recession’s impact on PR spend, how we manage the proliferation of social media, and how we get our discipline taken seriously at board level, there remains a bigger threat to our profession in my opinion.

That is the ability, or lack thereof, to explain exactly what it is we do. It’s an age old problem for PR professionals when friends and family ask what our job is. In fact it can be a question we dread. (more…)

Posted by
Andrew Taylor

So this is Labour’s ‘new generation’. Out of the chaos of the General Election, the Labour leadership race and then the Miliband brothers’ crisis, what next for Labour?

The last six months have brought a series of crises for the party, and how they plan, communicate and set their strategy for this next Parliament will be critical.

Looking back over the last period, you could ask what was their plan for the last election? Did they have one? Maybe they did but it just wasn’t very clear. (more…)

Posted by
Paul Tustin

Brian Colquhoun, regional director for Yorkshire Bank, writes for Freshfield on the importance of connecting with customers.

A report this week by the CBI and PricewaterhouseCoopers says more than a third of UK banks increased business volumes over the last three months, compared with just nine per cent who saw volumes fall.

That’s the strongest growth in the banking sector since June 2007 and an encouraging sign for the economy as a whole. (more…)

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admin

Freshfield has delivered an important event to share best practice in raising the participation age of young people in education and training across Greater Manchester, following the completion of Phase 1 of the RPA trials.

Working with Clive Gee, sub-group chair of The Greater Manchester 14-19 Network, Freshfield developed a strategy and timeline to bring the event together, communicating key achievements from the first phase of the trials.  

Freshfield’s events team organised and managed the event and workshops ensuring key stakeholders across Greater Manchester attended and made an important input to Phase 2 of the trials. Our team also designed all support materials for the event and workshops.

Over 100 people attended the event, from all local authorities in the Greater Manchester area, highlighting key achievements and what the next steps were for the trials.

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admin

I attended an excellent event hosted by Michael Taylor and his Insider team this week on the business of media.

Not only was it enlightening to see first hand the enormous progress and potential of MediaCityUK, but the session threw up a number of talking points, most notably changes in what media we use to consume information. We all have different views on this, backed up by conflicting stats.

Speaker Ed Shedd (great name) from Deloitte surprised the audience with extracts from his research which confirmed TV and print still dominant in terms of media use compared to its digital counterparts. (more…)

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admin

Nick Clegg hasn’t had an easy time of it in Liverpool this week. The first Liberal Democrat party conference since the election is providing a great platform for party activists who were less than impressed when Clegg agreed a coalition with David Cameron. One suspects he’ll be glad when the week is over.

The city of Liverpool itself is enjoying its role in the spotlight though. The nation’s press corps has set up camp on the waterfront and the amount of PR exposure the city is receiving, as well as the £10million boost the conference is supposed to have brought with it, means there’s no chance of Liverpool relinquishing its place as a destination of choice for party conference organisers. (more…)

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admin

Freshfield has delivered a powerful media relations campaign to support the Lancashire Sports Partnership’s 2010 SPAR Lancashire Youth Games, which attracted a record number of participants.

The Games took place between December 2009 and August 2010, during which Freshfield provided a full-time media relations function to raise awarness of the district heats and finals.

588 primary schools and 37 special schools from across the county competed in sports, including gymnastics, tag rugby, netball, girl’s football, tennis and swimming as well a dedicated Disability Youth Games event. (more…)

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admin

Freshfield has featured again in North West Business Insider magazine’s annual guide to the top PR agencies in the region. Freshfield was ranked 19^th in the region and number one in Lancashire. 

Simon Turner, managing director, commented: “The North West PR industry is very strong and as a growing agency, it is pleasing to feature well. Our focus is to continue doing good work with good business partners.”

Posted by
Simon Turner

My old mate Adam Clyne, with who I shared some brief amusing moments during our early careers working in Manchester, is someone who has always talked sense. So I read with interest his latest blog on PR Week online. Adam is commercial director at TVC Group in London.  I share his latest thoughts. Take note.

For a long time I’ve been reading PR Week blogs. And in truth, some of them are making me nervous. Why?

I think the industry is in danger of becoming too focused on digital and social media – and runs the risk of ignoring more tried and tested media outlets that clients still need. Don’t get me wrong. I love social media and what it can achieve. And it is right that the industry is talking about these new innovations in the media landscape. Social media is a really important part of the PR mix. But it is just that…Part of the mix. It isn’t right for every brand or every campaign.

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admin

Well, the dust has settled and the figures are in. The Farnborough International Airshow 2010 – the world’s largest trade event for the aerospace sector – saw $47 billion of business announced, 120,000 trade visitors and 108,000 public visitors.

The aerospace industry needs a showcase like this to demonstrate the giant leaps it is making in environmental and commercial fields on behalf of UK plc.

Boeing boasts the Dreamliner is its most fuel-efficient airliner, and the world’s first major airliner to use composite materials for the majority of its construction. Airbus also reports that the A380 is actually one of the quietest long-range aircraft in the world, despite its size, and has a very low fuel consumption. Plus, because of its sheer size, it can potentially carry more passengers and thus carry out less journeys. (more…)

Posted by
Ben Hewes