“So what will you actually be doing?” My father asked, with a critical look on his face. It’s not his fault, he’s a mechanic you see and sometimes he finds it difficult to appreciate written work, especially if you can’t see the results immediately. 

It was even tougher to explain to my Nan, who abruptly announced, “What’s PR then? I thought you were going to be a news reader like on the telly.” Hmm, this was never going to be easy. 

 I’m sure I’m not alone in this scenario or be the first to say it, but trying to explain what PR is can be tricky, especially to an 81-year-old lady who is from another world entirely. 

So I tried to explain it in a way she’d understand, ‘Well Nan I write news stories directed at newspapers but they don’t necessarily have to use it.’ No luck with that so I continued, ‘well it’s a bit like advertising, because it publicises companies but unlike advertising you don’t have to pay to use the space.’ If I sat with her all night I’m sure she still wouldn’t understand, fortunately my father did after we discussed it over dinner.

The Unsworth Sugden team are a whole lot more helpful and so far I’ve had a look inside the company toolbox, (as I’ve carefully explained to my mechanic of a father).

And at the moment I’m perfecting changing the tyres to keep the vehicle moving (writing press releases) before I can move onto tuning up the engine  – aka suggesting new ideas to clients. And I’m pleased to be in the surroundings of a dedicated team that I don’t have to use constant metaphorical descriptions with all the time. 

The team made me feel right at home from the word go and I was especially pleased when I met Bethan, who did exactly the same university course as me- phew! I wasn’t the only journo who now practices the dark arts. I can now safely report that PR is not nearly half as evil as my lecturers lead me to believe.

During my time studying broadcast journalism I read articles on the internet like “Why PR gives you cancer,” and other blogs designed to scare you away from the industry. But I couldn’t be moved in my ambition and so I immersed myself in all things PR -which I believe made a real difference to my success in getting the job.

With youth/graduate unemployment at it’s highest ever level, I do realise that I’m lucky to have a job in one of the most competitive industries, although I cannot deny I tried my hardest to get it.

It’s never been easier to promote yourself online and because I tackled some of the big sites like twitter and youtube this enabled me to do my own PR and I was now evidently creative to the company. It turns out that my youtube channel worked wonders on the chairman of the company, Steve Sugden, who agreed with Director of PR Hannah Elwell that I would be a suitable candidate, judging by my work. 

My advice to unemployed graduates would be to become the person you want to be and to showcase your talent in as many ways as possible, shout from the rooftops if you need to - and you might just get noticed…

The region’s first certified PassivHaus office at client Raynsway Properties’ Watermead Business Park in Syston was given the seal of approval by Business Secretary Vince Cable MP last night after he visited the recently completed project.

Dr Cable praised the ‘extraordinary building’ as he was given a tour around the 6,000 sq ft premises by representatives from key partners Raynsway, Interserve, CPMG Architects and environmental building consultants CPW, during which he was able to learn more about sustainable development and more specifically about the principles of PassivHaus.

He congratulated everyone involved in the project and spoke of the need to look at similar schemes for industrial and commercial buildings across the country, saying that “energy efficiency needs to be a key consideration in the construction of any new build offices and commercial premises”.

The £1.5m state of the art facility pushes the boundary of environmentally friendly design and is now home to around 50 employees from Interserve - one of the world’s foremost support services and construction companies.

Vince Cable is given a tour around the new PassivHaus office at the Watermead Business Park in Leicester

Tom Watkinson from Raynsway Properties (right) speaks in more details to Vince Cable MP about PassivHaus

The new PassivHaus office at Watermead Business Park

Amey Rayns

As Monday 9am approached I felt quite nervous to say the least as although I have recently finished university I don’t have a lot of experience within an office environment and a PR department and I didn’t really know what to expect. But as soon as I walked in and Hannah introduced me to everyone and gave me a guided tour I quickly settled in.

I thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of my week, from learning how to write press releases to doing the tea and coffee rounds. Although I studied marketing and advertising within my business management degree, I had no real understanding of PR before this week or how important it is. I definitely do now; in fact it has really made me wish I’d taken a different degree!

The most interesting part I think was the extent to which the PR department deals with property, I have always been thoroughly interested in property and researching and writing press releases surrounding current developments has been wonderful. I wrote blog posts, compiled documents of journalism information, investigated how social networking can be used to benefit clients, created contact lists and updated AVE information.

The team at Unsworth Sugden is so nice, and everyone is so helpful and inviting. It is a brilliantly motivating working environment!

I will take a lot away from my week at Unsworth Sugden. My confidence in my ability to speak with clients, colleagues and multi task has improved and my writing skills now for press releases compared to only a few days ago are worlds apart.

I have really enjoyed my week at Unsworth Sugden and want to say a huge thank you to Hannah and her team for being so lovely and teaching me such a lot!

My work experience in the PR department at Unsworth Sugden did not get off to the best start; I got spectacularly lost on Tuesday morning, resulting in me walking over the New Walk bridge about four times before I finally realised where I actually needed to go. Thankfully, the rest of the week went brilliantly.

As it was my first time working at a PR agency, I was slightly nervous. I had worked with press releases before, whilst completing placements at newspapers; but I was well aware that there was a lot more to Public Relations than simply writing these. Luckily, Hannah Elwell and her team were lovely, and I immediately felt welcomed.

After a talk about my interests and why I’d chosen to apply for work experience here, Hannah gave me a guided tour around the company’s office. The quirky building is inhabited by some very interesting people and I immediately looked forward to having them as colleagues for my few days there.

An enlightening experience, my work placement has allowed me to grasp an idea of how a successful PR department is run. The staff work hard on a daily basis and so I pushed myself to try to achieve good results in the tasks I was set. In the time I spent at Unsworth Sugden, I wrote press releases, an advertorial, blog posts, an e-bulletin, researched companies, learnt about AVEs and analysed how the PR department use photography to further enhance their work.

I feel my communications, analysis and research skills have all been vastly improved, which is fantastic; but most importantly, I have thoroughly enjoyed every task I have been given. Whilst working in the PR department, I have been set specific briefs, but in order to create these, I have been allowed free rein to explore different styles of writing.  The work I have completed has allowed me to be creative and imaginative, which is what I love most about writing.

I have loved my time here at Unsworth Sugden and wish to thank everyone for all their support and guidance.

Dessa Rebecca Hadfield

Pupils from St Botolph’s Church of England Primary School in Shepshed took part in a literacy competition supported by client, Newby Castleman this month. Pupils from Years 4 and 5 entered a contest to help stimulate creative thinking and writing, based on a fictional scenario where a character finds a large seed sitting in a jar labelled “This seed should never be planted”. Pupils were then encouraged to explain what happened when the character planted the seed. The three top entrants received book vouchers and Newby Castleman also donated tickets for the class to see the stage adaptation of the children’s book Mr Stink, written by David Walliams, that was recently held at Leicester’s Curve Theatre.

Annalise Lovett Partner at Newby Castleman with the winners

The PR team is looking for a new Account Exec/Assistant - http://www.unsworthsugden.co.uk/careers.php! 

If you’re keen to get started in a career in PR get in touch with Hannah on hannah@unsworthsugden.co.uk now!

The Unsworth Sugden PR team has been helping Pure Gym with its publicity prior to the launch of its new branch in Leicester today.

The old Sturgis Land Rover garage on Walnut Street has been transformed into new premises for the state of the art, 24 hour, low cost, no contract gym with more than 200 pieces of the latest exercise equipment.

The fully air conditioned gym also offers its members over 40 free classes including spinning, circuits and legs, bums and tums. Members will receive a free exercise induction and access to a dedicated member’s area on the website complete with online training and nutritional advice.  A personal training service will also be available.

As well as securing coverage in the Leicester Mercury, other local media and some trade titles in the build up to its launch we also invited Gemma Collins, features writer at the Mercury, down to have a look round and try out some of the state of the art equipment for herself. You can read her brilliant write-up HERE.

For more info about Pure Gym’s new Leicester branch you can visit the website at www.puregym.com, visit the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pure-Gym-Leicester/192480670786826 or Twitter at @puregym.  

Pure Gym in Leicester - open now!

It’s not just about writing press releases in the Unsworth Sugden PR office, as Hannah and Tom found when they went to visit client Barratt Mercia’s new Discovery House at the Bluebell development in Nuneaton last week. They took classes from two local primary schools on a tour of the property, with activities and quizzes throughout the day. The children were also treated to a fun but informative talk by presenter Hannah Patterson which they all loved.

Whilst many people sit back and watch this year’s Wimbledon Championships whilst tucking into their strawberries and cream, the Unsworth Sugden PR team has been busy serving up some great coverage for client Schlüter-Systems after the leading supplier of tile solutions installed several of its market leading products at the world famous Number One Court.

Many of the hospitality suites surrounding the 11,429 capacity court at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, which plays host to many of the world’s best tennis players during the two-week Grand Slam tournament, now feature amongst other products the famous orange Schlüter-DITRA matting, the world’s leading uncoupling membrane which neutralises cracks and prevents movements from the screed being transferred to the tiled surface of the various hospitality areas and terraces.

After commissioning some tennis themed PR photography shots and issuing a press release, we received coverage in both the local media such as this fab piece in the Leicester Mercury and this article in Midlands Business Insider; plus many of the building and tiling trade titles including Tilezine and Building Talk.

Schlüter-Systems' Stuart Ross with the Schlüter-DITRA matting

A major part of our role in the PR department is responding quickly and efficiently to enquiries from journalists, whether from trade magazines, your local daily paper, regional weeklies and even freelancers working for the nationals.

It’s particularly important to reply promptly when the request goes out to a whole host of other PR agencies and market experts, as in most cases the quicker you can reply with the correct information in the desired format, the more chance there is of it being included.

So when award winning property journalist Graham Norwood came looking for the top 20 new build developments in any commuter area outside of London, the Unsworth Sugden PR team swung into action.

Not only were we able to supply brief details of developments from a number of our clients, we were also able to supply additional information that was requested including the nearest mainline station and the annual standard class season ticket price.

This swift response proved a success as developments for two clients were then featured in THIS PIECE by Graham in yesterday’s Sunday Telegraph.

A quick response saw us secure client coverage ahead of others