We may not have seen much of the sun this month but the PR team’s organising skills have shone through, arranging a host of summer events for our clients. From hog roasts, to face painters and bouncy castles, there’s nothing we can’t find to make a family funday a Summer success!

Our monthly snap shot is of Barbara Goodwin, Sales Director for Harron Homes at the launch event of a new show house at the Chamberlain Place Development in Uttoxetter.

The face painter was a hit with the children at the Harron Homes event.

Three days on and the media interest has kept on building for our client, Westleigh Developments. The PR team’s Dave Toyn lept into action yesterday afternoon when BBC East Midlands contacted us, eager to cover the Belgrave housing scheme story.

The Westleigh news feature aired this morning on BBC East Midlands breakfast show. You can take a look for yourselves by clicking the following link: bbc-tv1-east-midlands-300710-0628

The first phase of work has begun on a £15m project for our client Westleigh Developments, causing a media flurry on announcement. Along with Westleigh, the redevelopment of the former British Union Shoe Machinery (BUSM) works on Ross Walk, Belgrave, is the result of a collaborative partnership between Leicester City Council, the Homes and Communities Agency, and two housing associations based in Leicester and Nottingham.

Featured in today’s Leicester Mercury, the low cost housing scheme for an initial 119 new properties, was herald for bringing affordable homes to the Belgrave Community, something that was in great demand.

BBC Radio Leicester also featured the story last night, which you listen to by clicking on the following link: bbc-radio-leicester-270710-1742

Westleighs Chris Beighton with land owner, Mandeep Singh, representitives of the LHA-ASRA and NCHA and Leicester City Council's Director of Planning, Andrew Smith.

Four weeks ago I got a phone call from PR Director, Hannah Elwell, to say that I had been selected as the new PR Assistant at Unsworth Sugden. Naturally I was thrilled to hear that my PR career would begin at the established Leicester agency after completing my MA degree in Public Relations at De Montfort University. I can’t quite believe how quickly time has passed. As PR Assistant, no two days are ever the same, with tasks varying from sourcing bouncy castles and face painters for company events to liaising with trade and consumer magazines. My position within the department means that I am involved with practically every client. This gives me an all round view of the client base and target media, an advantage that makes my job role feel very valued. I gain great satisfaction out of supporting Hannah and the Account Executives in their client preparations.

The PR department along with the rest of the staff have been extremely welcoming and I already feel very much part of the Unsworth Sugden team.

As up and coming pop sensation Hannah B prepares for the gig of her life, supporting James Morrison at the Tigers Stadium’s first ever concert tonight, she managed to squeeze in a quick interview with Heart FM.  Take a listen here… Heart FM East Midlands 7am 15.07.10 

It’s been great fun helping publicise Hannah’s music and everyone at Unsworth Sugden wishes her the very best of luck tonight!

After training for what seemed like an eternity, Marina and I finally took part in the 10km Race for Life at Leicester’s Western Park last Saturday, the 10th July.  During what has been the hottest day of the year to date, we set about running the some 6.2 miles along the bumpy course with the other 1,500 brave souls who were all running/walking/crawling to raise money for the very worthwhile charity, Cancer Research. After 58 minutes I made it to the finish line with Marina hot on my heels - both of us smashing our personal best times. It was a great day fuelled with emotion as it’s humbling to see just how many people have been affected by cancer in some way or another. We’ve received a lot of support from friends, family and work colleagues and between us we’ve raised over £700 - something we’re both very proud of. Question is - who will be joining us next year?!

Post event sweats...

Last week the new coalition government announced its Emergency Budget and when the Leicester Mercury revealed it was looking for comments and reaction from the local business community, the PR team leapt into action.

After a few quick phonecalls we were able to set up a telephone interview between the newspaper and the managing director of client Westleigh Developments, Chris Beighton.

This resulted in a small opinion piece in the following morning’s paper, but as the interview went so well Chris was interviewed again later that week for a much larger article. After liaising with the paper we were delighted to read Chris’ Business Interview, which appeared in this Tuesday’s Business supplement.

 It just goes to show how a quick reaction can achieve some brilliant PR coverage.