Unsworth Sugden Group

Unsworth Sugden has a fantastic reputation of allowing students and young people to come and do some work experience with them, to see if the metaphorical PR shoe fits. I certainly know this to be true; I was fortunate enough to be able to come and do a week’s work experience with USG last July.

In the last year, I have graduated with a 2:1 in American Studies degree and am continuing my University of Leicester journey with a Master’s Degree in Media and Public Relations (due for completion in September 2013), and thought it was about time that I gained some more work experience.

There wasn’t even a question of which company I would email! Director of PR, Hannah Elwell, was kind enough to agree for me to come and do two weeks with the PR team almost a year after my first visit.

Like with anything in life, doing things the second-time around is much less nerve-wracking and you can enjoy the experience a lot more. It was so lovely walking in on the Monday morning to be greeted by people I already knew.

Like with any work experience student, I was invited to a meeting with Hannah where we both laid out our expectations and what projects I would endeavour to achieve by the end of the two weeks. The tasks set challenged my previous knowledge and experience that I gained whilst being here last year.

I was given a lot more responsibility, which I was able to match with the theoretical knowledge I have gained from my MA. My academic research skills certainly came in handy; I was charged with researching various media lists (Contacts and places to send press releases to) for clients, as well as researching arguments as to why clients should make the leap and put themselves on social media websites. This was really an opportunity to put theory into practise!

Other assignments included taking company news and press releases and condensing them into an informal style for a client’s internal newsletter, as well as developing and enhancing staff databases, both paper and electronic. I even had the chance to be responsible for a client’s monthly Advertising Value Equivalency (AVE) analysis; I felt quite proud seeing the research I had done be printed and bound and be ready to give to the client in a forthcoming meeting!

By far, the biggest challenge was getting out of the office and into the field – literally. Hannah was kind enough to invite me to sit on client meetings and to attend a site visit to Whittleford Park where we learnt about its history as the Midland’s centre of coal mining and brick making, and its place in the local community, where a client’s development is currently being built.

Overall the two weeks I have spent with USG have far surpassed my expectation; which was elevated anyway! Every member of staff, especially the PR team have been so kind, enthusiastic and were always ready to answer any questions I had or to teach me something I didn’t know. The USG PR den (informally known as ‘the cave’) is a wonderful environment to work in, and I would highly recommend it to others who want to get a taster of what real public relations involves!

Well, needless to say, what a great opportunity for me to be involved with! If I’m honest, from what I’ve experienced with other work experience opportunities, I thought I was going to be a typical “tea girl” and be running errands for people. When in fact, I was being asked if I wanted a tea from another member of the team! Unsworth Sugden really knew how to make me feel part of the PR office.

With applying to university in November, it really got me thinking about my future. I knew I wanted to go into business/marketing. When I was looking at Unsworth Sugden’s website, there was no doubt I had to contact, as they look at PR, advertising, and marketing and digital media. With PR in mind, I thought I should get some work experience just to get a feel of this field.

After landing this work experience opportunity, I was constantly looking at Unsworth Sugden’s blog and seeing how other people’s work experience went. Now it is my turn to tell you my story…

After being greeted by Hannah, who organised this whole week, she took me to my desk where I was told to settle in. A list of jobs to do was given to me to make sure I was not bored through the week. From writing posts for Unsworth Sugden’s blog to making contact lists of different media companies, it gave me a variety of tasks that gave me an insight into the world of print media marketing and will be helpful to me in the future. I was then introduced to the whole team in the building – and I was not expecting quite as many people as there were!

I’d like to give a special mention to Dave who helped me a lot whilst Hannah was not there and also to Sarah, Kayleigh and Sophie for their help too! Thank you to Unsworth Sugden for this huge opportunity, and I wish each and every one of them the best of luck for the future.

Abby Law

Studying Modern Languages at Durham- and especially after a year working abroad, I started to become interested in working in communications. The opportunity for a week’s work experience with Unsworth Sugden was something I was looking forward to, having relatively no prior knowledge about what working in PR involves, a week in the department has given me a fantastic all round basis.

After answering all my questions and introducing me to everyone, director of PR Hannah Elwell gave me a handbook and a varied list of tasks to complete during my time here, all of which gave me a chance to further my knowledge of the field. Some of this was research and analysis based- presentations on the need for Twitter and social media in public relations and an audit of the Unsworth Sugden website, some of it was administrative- using software to collect press cuttings of clients, and updating the client database, and some was more creative- turning press releases into blogs for the website.

The work was interesting and presented me with new challenges (understanding the phone being top of the list!) One of the things I was most surprised to learn was that so often the pieces we read in newspapers come directly from press releases. I’m interested in journalism so seeing the other side of the process shed new light on it for me. Sitting in on meetings gave me an insight into the importance of strong relationships with clients, and how much has to be invested in them.

I’m so grateful for having had the chance to see what public relations is really all about. Huge thanks to the PR team who have been altogether friendly, helpful, and encouraging, chatting to me about their work and how good PR is important for companies, and making the large office a really pleasant place to work- window or no window. Thanks especially to Hannah for organising my placement, overseeing my work, and being so welcoming as well as a mine of PR knowledge.

Our last work experience candidate, James Ellison has sent us this report on Twitter.  Thanks James!  For more insight follow James @jelly_son.

Established in 2006, Twitter is the latest social networking phenomenon where members are able to upload messages visible to anyone visiting the site. Its popularity has snowballed to over half a billion active users worldwide including famous personalities and an array of clubs, companies and organisations. Twitter activity is public by default – allowing and encouraging a truly uninhibited network of communication.

Communication takes the form of ‘tweets’, short messages of up to 140 characters which can be openly shared with anyone viewing Twitter or ‘tweeted’ to another user as a direct message. Unlike other social networking sites such as Facebook, people can share their news, views and feelings not just with networks of friends but with anyone viewing Twitter. Whilst members are able to adjust their privacy settings, the prevailing trend is towards open activity.

The range and abundance of individuals and organisations regularly posting Tweets allows its users to follow up-to-the-second news on anything of interest by simply following the activity of the people and organisations with news that matters to them.  With members able to search tweets by subject, ‘follow’ the activity of other users and browse trending themes in recent tweets, Twitter provides a world of easy-to-access information.

It is virtually an internet within a single site and in some ways more. The ease of tweeting compared with website creation encourages wider and more frequent contribution than the World Wide Web and Twitter’s inter-connected members to know far more about each other.

This broad new network has enormous implications for how information is communicated. Whereas mass media has traditionally been top-down from the broadcaster and publisher to the populace. Twitter is a channel for bottom-up communication from individual people and groups to the wider world. It is global newspaper where anyone with internet access can be a reporter or commentator with new editions every second.

The stream of information is accelerated and less distorted. This is not just granary bread for hungry, curious minds but enables businesses to better know their markets and customers. It is also a barometer of public opinion allowing organisations to more effectively manage their image.

Twitter also provides businesses with an additional means of promoting themselves and their products as well as networking with clients and key contacts and establishing new connections.

It could also have implications for politics. Politics in a representative democracy such as Britain relies on communication between the governed and the government. This has long been dominated by the media; with journalists reporting political developments how they deem appropriate and purporting to represent popular opinion. Whilst professional journalism will remain a potent in some ways important channel; Twitter provides politicians with a more direct snapshot of public opinion. it is also an additional route through which politicians may bypass media distortion and communicate directly with the public. Furthermore, Twitter provides a significant additional media channel for scrutiny which could benefit political transparency.

The word ‘Twitter’ is defined ‘a short burst of inconsequential information’, yet Twitter has rapidly become a vast web of enormous possibilities.

James Ellison

As a secret admirer of Alastair Campbell I have always been interested in working in PR but had no first-hand experience. After a scattergun of enquiries with other agencies met with silence I was delighted to be offered a week’s experience with Unsworth Sugden.

James Ellison

From Monday morning I was made to feel thoroughly welcome as Director of PR Hannah showed me around the building which looked small from the outside but was a Tardis-like warren of stairs, offices and friendly faces.

I settled down at my desk in the PR office where I instantly felt part of the friendly hard-working team. I was enthused to be given a broad array of work that would be genuinely useful to the company. I was given a plethora of tasks for the week including brochure copy for a client and contributing to the company blog. It was great to be kept busy both with my own tasks and to help the team out by, amongst other things, searching for press cuttings and doing my share of answering the ever-ringing phone. I was able to openly engage with the team about their work and get a real feel for work in Public Relations.

One of my highlights of the week was presenting my thoughts on the company website to a selection of the team. It was great to have the chance to offer my opinions and to discuss ideas.

At the start of the week I only knew PR in theory. ‘I’m here to learn.’ I told Mike, the Creative Director, ‘You fool!’ he joked, but actually I have learnt plenty and had a great experience into the bargain. I want to thank everyone at Unsworth Sugden for a great experience especially Dave, Sarah, Sophie and Kayleigh and of course Hannah who gave me the opportunity and was so encouraging of my work.

Rachel Pulham

Come Monday morning I found myself strangely calm due to the reassuring comments on this blog so I shall now attempt to present future interns with that same level of reassurance!

As another one of those ambivalent English students who has no definitive idea of their future careers I really wanted the opportunity to dip my toes into as many industries as possible. Due to Unsworth Sugden’s varied work in PR, Advertising, Marketing and Web Design it was an obvious choice!

Upon arrival, Hannah the Director of PR warmly welcomed me to the company and as a previous Southampton University English student herself we had lots to talk about! I was given a varied list of tasks for the week, fortunately enough to keep me busy. I was then given a tour of the company and introduced to the seemingly exhaustive list of names and friendly faces.

Once I settled down at my desk to work I was thrilled to see that my tasks were indeed real jobs for the company. Hannah had made every effort for me to feel that I was being useful and was truly part of the PR department. A small sampler of my jobs included; shopping for promotional products; researching events for advertisement opportunities; compiling media directories; creating  presentations and writing blog posts. My fellow colleagues were continuously helpful yet not overbearing and luckily very patient over my constant mispronunciation of the company name. (A note for future interns – practice beforehand!)

Soon enough my brief but busy time at Unsworth Sugden was over. I’ve a learnt about what the role of a PR agency is and how Unsworth Sugden is specifically designed to meet every customer’s needs regardless of size. Even more surprisingly for such a trim office is the copious amounts of cake, doughnuts and brownies everyone consumes!

If you are looking for experience in a lively yet productive agency then Unsworth Sugden is the place for you. I’d like to thank everyone for having me but specifically Hannah, Dave, Kayleigh, Sarah and Sophie in PR for being so welcoming!

Kathryn Murrell

‘They’ say that the ultimate goal of working is to actually enjoy yourself when at work; if you can work hard to achieve set goals, to better yourself and to work in a cohesive team,  then you’re golden. Well, I can honestly say that I think I’ve achieved that goal this week!

Having just finished my Undergraduate American Studies degree at the University of Leicester, and starting my Masters degree in PR in October, I wanted to gain some experience in the world of PR before I really get my teeth stuck into the job market.

I honestly couldn’t have come to a better place to attain some experience and comprehension into what a job in PR truthfully involves. From the first day, I was treated like one of the team. I had a list of goals I was expected to achieve by the end of the week (Everything from creating a database of the contact details of editors and reporters who work on national newspaper’s property sections, to writing up press releases and making them into entries on the company’s blog, to creating a presentation on the usefulness of Twitter for PR agencies and their clients, to attending a photo-shoot at Newby Castleman of their employees who have just received a promotion).

The work was challenging, yet it wasn’t too much to handle at all. I was encouraged to work at my own pace and to not get too caught up about feeling like I had to finish all the tasks that were listed.

Even though some of these tasks were rather daunting, the team made me feel completely at ease. The open plan office we work in has a relaxed atmosphere, even though each member of the team is working hard (And often multi-tasking). Even to the attitude of ‘We’re all equal here, we don’t have a receptionist, we all answer the phone and get coffee’, the whole working environment at Unsworth Sugden was a joy to work in.

I was made to feel completely comfortable in the working environment; surprisingly I didn’t feel like the irritating ‘new girl’. I had no hesitations of asking both really basic and complex questions, to get a better handle on what my job role involved.

The night before I started the work experience I did feel a little apprehensive, as I knew Unsworth Sugden was a small, intimate, close-knit company, and I thought this would make it hard to fit in. In fact, the opposite is true. Sharing an office with Hannah, Sophie, Kayleigh and Dave was a pleasure.

Having done quite a few internships previously, I can only say this has been the best of the bunch. The work ethic of the people who work at Unsworth Sugden, was a strong yet reassuring one. Absolutely massive thanks, well, really to everyone.  Although the biggest thank you goes to Hannah, the main person who oversaw my progress during the week, and also shares my love of the BBC drama Torchwood!

On my first day at Unsworth Sugden, Director of PR, Hannah
Elwell asked me what I understood about public relations.  After my long answer she stated “a simple way
to put that across is building a company’s reputation”, which was a much easier
answer!  After working a week with the PR
team I realised their job is not quite as simple as the definition!

After researching a selection of their clients, looking at a
number of press releases and how they are created I have easily gained more
interest in the field then when I began.  

In my one week placement I did a number of jobs to help the
team out, this included creating website blogs, presentations and even sharing
my own thoughts on social networking. 

I realised a lot of effort is put into representing clients
and creating press releases, nevertheless the outcome is always pleasing and it
is true to say that no two days are ever the same.

I am very thankful to everyone making me feel a part of the
team and my interest in Public Relations has certainly grown.

Issy Dunmore

I MUST admit I never anticipated finding writing about property interesting when choosing to study as a print journalist at Nottingham Trent University.

But since undergoing a two-week work placement at Unsworth Sugden, I have been doing just that.

On my first meeting with Hannah, director of PR, I had to confess I wasn’t really sure exactly what PR entailed. So it was reassuring to hear her reply, “That is a very good question, and one I think many people don’t know the answer to.”

By speaking to some of the agency’s happy buyers and researching their clients developments it has given me a taste of the kind of work that goes on in a PR office.

As a trainee journalist, I am constantly told you need to have a good basing in everything, and after going to planning committee meetings while working at a local weekly paper outside of term time, I liked writing about NIMBY issues but never really considered the hard work PR teams put into representing their clients and getting their stories in the news.

By just watching what goes in to issuing a single press release, it is far from a simple click of the mouse, but I can see the end result is a satisfying one.

PR has always intrigued me and was something I wanted to consider and explore.

These two weeks have given me a glimpse of that and I’m very grateful to the agency for having me.

During my time here everyone has been so welcoming and helpful - despite how busy they are.

I have enjoyed getting my teeth into drafting a few press releases, creating some website blogs and giving my thoughts on how social media is shaping the future of PR and the media in general. While it may only have been a short few weeks, already I can understand why the world of PR is so attractive and I want to thank everyone at Unsworth Sugden for taking me onboard.

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!