PLMR Group Media Snapshot: March 2024

March was a busy month as we hopped, skipped and bounced our way towards the Easter bank holidays and into Spring. In the lead up, the UK celebrated many special events from World Book Day, and International Women’s Day, to St Davids Day, St Patrick’s Day, and Ramadan.

We also saw Cambridge beat Oxford in the 2024 men’s and women’s Boat Races, giving Cambridge their first consecutive men’s victory and their seventh consecutive women’s victory. In space, SpaceX successfully launched the first Starship rocket, the most powerful rocket ever built.

Meanwhile, the team at PLMR also had a jam-packed month, onboarding a host of new clients, supporting current clients with events in Parliament and planning the next PLMR Insights event series (watch this space…).

We similarly continued to secure a range of impactful and significant coverage for our clients. From ferrets and castles to charities and everything in between, we achieved an array of strategic national, broadcast, trade and regional coverage – so without further ado, take a look below at our media highlights for March 2024.

The Sunday Times: I built my business on one brilliant idea – and locked up a new market

Client: The Key Safe Company

Team: PLMR Advent

Sector: Security/Manufacturing

PLMR Advent began working for The Key Safe Company, a key storage solutions organisation, in October 2023 and recognised immediately that the business had many good stories to tell.

One of those was around the story of the entrepreneur behind the company – David Ogden – who spotted a gap in the market and has turned it into a hugely successful Midlands business.

Over several months, we pitched David’s story to the Sunday Times for a ‘How I Made It’ feature and guided the client throughout the process. This culminated in an excellent piece of coverage which appeared in The Times online in March.

Travel and Tour World: Warwick Conferences wins venue of the year award

Client: Warwick Conferences

Team: PLMR Education and PLMR Advent

Sector: Education and Hospitality

Warwick Conferences, part of the University of Warwick, is one of the leading event spaces in the West Midlands, playing host to a wide array of events, including the British Transplant Games and the Corporate Games.

As part of PLMR’s long-term relationship with the University, we have been working with the Conferences team to position it as the destination of choice for corporate, sporting or artistic events and conferences. In March, this included sharing Warwick Conference’s brilliant win as Business Events Venue of the Year at the West Midlands Tourism Awards.

Our consultants helped amplify this achievement, securing coverage in key publications for the client, including Warwickshire World and notably, the global hospitality trade outlet Travel and Tour World.

Caring Times: ‘Championing female leadership’

Client: Aria Care

Team: PR and Corporate Communications

Sector: Health and Social Care

PLMR supported Aria Care to promote their work as a care provider championing female leadership in the sector.

After designing bespoke social media and blog content to showcase their senior female leaders, PLMR prepared a targeted media pitch aimed at high-profile trade outlets. Our outreach resulted in an opportunity for these senior leaders to share their insights, experience, and expertise with an article in a leading sector publication – Caring Times.

Aria Care’s female senior team discussed their lessons for creating a working environment which is conducive to empowering women to progress in their careers.

Women account for 70% of the global health and social care workforce, but there is only 25% female representation in senior positions. Aria Care is leading the way in rectifying this inequality, and we are proud to support them in making their message heard and sharing their vital expertise with the wider social care sector.

East Anglican Daily Times: Four Suffolk charities honoured at High Sheriff Awards 2024

Client: Suffolk Community Foundation

Team: PLMR Genesis

Sector: Charity

Suffolk Community Foundation is a charity that distributes grants from donors to lots of small, grassroots charities and community groups. PLMR Genisis supported their annual review event, which included the High Sheriff Awards, with event management and PR.

More than 250 people attended and the PLMR team managed the event end-to-end, from the venue logistics, check-in process, name badges, running order, refreshments, AV liaison, branding, speaker briefings and the slide deck.

As a charity, we provided pro bono PR support using our local media contacts and relationships to secure coverage on BBC Suffolk, in the East Anglican Daily Times and on the up-and-coming radio station Suffolk Sound which dedicated most of the breakfast show on the event – profiling the High Sheriff award winning charities, speaking to the CEO, trustees and the High Sheriff himself.

East Anglian Daily Times

Devon Live: Suki the Devon ferret defies age in style

Client: Eden Hotel Collection

Team: PLMR Advent

Sector: Hospitality

As part of PLMR Advent’s work to support and promote the Eden Hotel Collection, the team led an exciting story for one of its venues, Bovey Castle.

Suki, a female silver ferret, is preparing for a major milestone on the grounds of Bovey Castle, where she has lived for the past six years greeting families. She is in the running to become the oldest of its kind as Bovey Castle gears up to mark her 15th birthday this summer. Ferrets normally live for around six years but can live up to ten years if in good health, according to the RSPCA so this is a significant achievement.

The PLMR team spotted this unique story and using our media contacts, grabbed the attention of national titles such as The Sun and The Daily Star, as well as regional titles including Devon Live and BBC Radio Devon.

In other news...

Contributing to a Public Accounts Committee Inquiry: NHS Supply Chain and efficiencies in procurement

Client: The Medical Technology Group

Team: PLMR Healthcomms

Sector: Health

In January, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, the select committee responsible for overseeing government expenditures and ensuring they are effective and honest, released an inquiry on the NHS Supply Chain, the organisation responsible for managing the sourcing, delivery and supply of healthcare products and services to the NHS.

The Medical Technology Group (MTG) is a UK coalition of industry, patient groups and charities working together to improve patient access to medical technologies. PLMR Healthcomms supported the Group with their response to the Committee’s Inquiry, speaking to the impact on the procurement of medical devices on patient access, the involvement of patients in decision making and the need for more holistic procurement mechanisms.

On Wednesday 24th March, the Public Accounts Committee published its inquiry report, in which a recommendation from the Medical Technology Group was cited for consideration within NHS Supply Chain’s ability to balance financial cost with good outcomes for patients – the MTG will now await the Government’s response to the Report, due within two months.

We’ll be back next month with PLMR Group’s latest media hits, but in the meantime you can read more about PLMR’s award-winning PR services over on our case studies page.

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