So what does this mean for the industry, university students and employers?

The PR industry is huge, and contributes around £7.5bn to the UK economy every year. It is a highly trained specialised industry and with the recent rise in tuition fees there is a danger of the size of the industry shrinking and contributing less. The apprentice scheme will hopefully ensure a steady stream of high calibre professionals for the industry, and will show the advantages of vocational education. This will in turn create a more diverse industry, offering the career path and its benefits to those whom may not have heard of it, but still hold a unique and special set of skills applicable to PR.

As my director at Wildwood PR, Jeff Hayward, relates, there are companies out there with an open mind: “I think the scheme is fantastic.” Comments Jeff. “As an organization we have always been the recipients of the benefits of graduate employees, and our staff have always brought professionalism, independence and organizational skills they have learnt at University to the workplace. However, in recent economic times we have felt the strain of the diminishing employment market and truly believe all companies should be open to hiring apprenticeship-trained PR employees. Not only will it bring a strong diversity and creativity to our industry, but if those individuals have the will and determination to complete an apprenticeship programme, they will also bring that dedication to the office environment. A degree does not define a persons skills, just enhances them, and this can just as easily be bought out and developed through an apprenticeship scheme. As an employer I am more than willing to consider and hire apprenticeship trained candidates alongside graduates.”

It is no secret that the employability of graduates is suffering. Partly down to the economy and partly down to the lack of practical skills they possess. I personally believe that strong work experience is more powerful than a degree; something a lot of graduates do not have. Degree content is over saturated with theory, with no strong emphasis on the practical advantages of learning. Although this may be acceptable in certain circumstances, for example a History or English degree, it is certainly not acceptable for PR. You simply cannot teach the day-to-day responsibilities of a PR practitioner, because no day is the same and depending on internal and external influences, a new problem will be thrown at you everyday.

So how do University students feel about the apprenticeship? As a student currently in my third year of studying Public Relations and Marketing at Leeds Metropolitan University with my third year of growing debt, it definitely was a mixed bag of emotions. For me, I was quite annoyed this was not available three years ago. Have a similar learning experience without the huge black cloud of debt hanging over my head once I have finished? Sounds perfect.

On-the-job training or practical experience is not offered during learning hours of most University courses and although encouraged – is very much down to the student to obtain. The new apprenticeship scheme is set to offer more practical content, with on the job training provided as well as work experience and qualifications. During my time at University I have been able to obtain a strong catalogue of work experience for my CV but for others however, work experience was not a first priority (sometimes due to full time job commitments or money issues) and had more practical teaching been encouraged and available at University, we may have more employable graduates.

Unfortunately the benefits of a PR degree are not readily available to those deciding what to study at University, and its not really taught in schools. (I studied Media Studies at A Level and never heard the term once.) With the rise in tuition fees and the constant talk about the dire state of the economy, University is becoming a less desirable option and going into full time work seems the most sensible decision to make. An apprenticeship scheme offers young people the motivation to continue their learning into a specialized subject and learn more about Public Relations, without having to burn a huge hole in their pocket.

Don’t get me wrong, University has taught me a lot; mainly how to cook something other than beans on toast and work a washing machine without turning all my clothes bright pink, but also the art of being professional, independent, how to make things happen and go out and get what I want. It is also some of the best years of your life, and it is a shame that many will miss out on that due to the rise in tuition fees. But that’s the great thing about the apprentice scheme; it offers those who want to learn a second chance.

Seeing as we are almost at the end of January, and Christmas is nothing more than a blur of already faded memories, I thought I would write a little post about 2012 so far.

January is generally a miserable time of year – Christmas has passed, the weather seems to have got colder, and the sky greyer; or maybe it is because there are no longer twinkly fairy lights sparkling on the houses? In any case it is the month that boasts the most miserable day of the year – January 19th.

However, somehow throughout this month of misery, Wildwood has managed to have a pretty cracking first month. Aside from running around like people possessed, especially for the team off to Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) next week, 2012 has really started with a bang.

The great news is that in the first month of the year, we have won three clients. We haven’t just been sifting through the mass of emails received over the holiday break; but we have also been busily pitching for two new clients (both of which we won!), and being taken on for the second year running by a third project client – all very exciting…

InstallerLive, the national plumbing, heating and renewables show at the NEC Birmingham on the 14th – 16th October 2012, has appointed us to handle the PR for their 2012 show, after a successful event in 2011.

Our new clients include: the Brighton Centre, one of the largest purpose-built conference and exhibition centres in the South of England and Nvelope, a nattily-named company, providing cladding support systems that are safe, economic and effective.

So the New Year really has brought us New Starts and the ‘misery month’ of January has in fact been anything but – so instead of the much-talked about Blue Month / Blue Monday, I think we’ll just carry on as we are – it certainly seems to work for us!

Lauren

I heard it reported on three separate broadcast channels, when the news broke, that is was the former: “Gary Dobson and David Norris have been found guilty of murdering the black teenager Stephen Lawrence.”

Forgive my entry-level understanding (or lack thereof) and inquisition of linguistic deconstruction but is it important where the word black appears? Can ‘black’, in the first instance, be read a disclaimer? A rationalisation as to why he was murdered?

Doesn’t ‘black’, in the second instance, better convey the absurdity and mindlessness of Stephen’s death? A murdered teenager is sad; because he is black, senseless. Does framing him as black first affect how we read that statement?

At the crux of what we do in PR are our words, our press releases, our features, our stories, our messages. In the age of web 2.0, of Twitter, Facebook statuses and, so called, ‘democratised’ free speech, a culture of throwaway comments, noise and what-I-had-for-breakfast tweets has come to dilute the importance of words.

This is why, I think – when we in PR have to be ever mindful and reactive to social media trends – we have to keep the importance of words at the forefront of what we do; to be aware of the signifiers and the signified in our work, with attention to detail now being more important than ever.

If a typo in ‘expansive’ causes a service to become ‘expensive’ then every other word in the 750 word feature you wrote is worthless. The devil, as they say, is in the detail. This point is brilliantly highlighted in Curb Your Enthusiasm when Larry submits an obituary for a family member, the typo causes havoc (I can’t go into the detail of what it was here but that’s what YouTube is for).

It is the same with buzz words, there are always buzz words and with a plethora of vacuous adjectives that have become trendy (random currently doing the rounds), it’s important which we use, if any. Recently, I wrote about a product that, in my words, was quirky. I’m not sure what quirky means. The more I thought about it, I decided that quirky was the sense of humour possessed by an IT guy with sweaty palms and thick rimmed glasses who has that poster by his desk saying, “You don’t have to be mad to work here…but it helps.”

Working quickly and efficiently is so important, especially given copy deadlines, but effective communication still wins out as the priority. A wiser man than I (of which there is no shortage) once wrote, “There is nothing outside the text”, if this is true then our words are our best asset.

Or, perhaps, as another man – again far wiser than I – once said, “it’s only words and words are all I have to take your heart away.”

Ash

There is a myth that having a PR agency based inLondonis somewhere better than being outside but after my experience here at Wildwood I would certainly disagree. Being based near Horsham we have the perfect train and road links to get anywhere in the country and with Gatwick Airport just round the corner we can be anywhere in Europe at the drop of a hat. And, anyway, who needs to stand on a cramped tube, look at a landscape of towering buildings and coffee shops to be good at PR, not Wildwood. We have wide open spaces and can breathe in fresh air to really let our creative juices flow.

This comes after a day when everything went my way. I found a parking space at Three Bridges station, my train toLondonwas on time and I had the perfect connections on the way back. When I’m next standing on East Croydon station, shivering and waiting for a train which should have arrived 10 minutes ago my perspective might change but right now there is no where more perfect than the Sussex countryside for a PR agency.

Ruth

So, here we are, in January 2012! As you may or may not know, as the first month in the Roman calendar, January is named after the God Janus, which, translated from Latin means door.

Oddly enough, as well as signifying the obvious (new beginnings, new openings and new starts), long long ago (auld lang syne) Britain would start the New Year with ‘the first footing’. This was a rather strange custom whereby as soon as January began people would hide behind their doors and wait for a ‘dark haired person’ to arrive.

The mysterious visitor would (all in the aid of counteracting any superstitions) carry a piece of coal, bread, some money and greenery to ensure that everyone had the essential ingredients to guarantee a long and happy life.

Now, although I failed to wait behind my door for a dark and mysterious stranger, and despite the fact I was not given coal, bread, money or greenery, I am confident that I will also be a recipient of a prosperous 2012. Why so sure you ask?

Well, in one word: Wildwood.

As the New Year begins, so do I as the newest member of the Wildwood team. Originally trained in Journalism and previously a Publisher for a legal company, (to summarise) I am a budding writer who is certainly looking forward to all the challenges that PR, its clients and the workload brings.

As I am writing, it is now my second day in the Wildwood office in Faygate. The sun, like the sheep in the neighbouring field is out and as I sit at my new shiny, desk everything seems particularly, well, idyllic. The other staff members have certainly taken me under their wing and I have every confidence that my time at Wildwood will be prosperous.

Yes, my door has been opened wide and the opportunities this successful PR company brings certainly fills me with cheer. Happy New Year everyone, I hope yours starts just as well as mine.

Rachael

Each year companies gather outside of the office comfort zone to embark on an evening that could result in chaos. I have heard many a story of staff party mistakes after one too many glasses of Mulled Wine, however luckily for us, our staff party ran rather smoothly; with none of the team getting so drunk they had to be put to bed!

Our very kind Directors put us up in a cottage for the evening, where we rushed to as soon as the clock hit 5pm last Friday. And when we arrived we all ‘ood’ and ‘aaad’ at our gorgeous home for the evening that got us in the Christmas spirit immediately!

After spending a couple of hours making ourselves look respectable we headed across to the Mannings Heath Golf Club to start our festivities. When we arrived we were taken to the ‘snug’ for a private champagne reception (That’s just how we roll!). After an hour or so in the snug and quite a few glasses of champagne later we made our way up to dinner.

Dinner was beautiful, especially the dessert a mix of chocolate and sponge and raspberry compote, not entirely sure what it was called. And then the music started. I would like to just take a moment to thank the woman who started off the dancing on her own, for providing the rest of us with entertainment whilst we slowly plucked up the courage (had a few more drinks) to get up there ourselves.

It didn’t take us long to get on the dancefloor. Tanya was up there ushering the rest of us up, and when Mambo number 5 came on that was it! Worryingly I do remember busting some moves to Petre Andre’s ‘Mysterious Girl’.

Suffice to say the evening ended in high spirits and sore feet by most of the women.

Merry Christmas!

Lauren

Who wants the hassle of London commuting, expensive rents, pollution, grime and crime, when you can get excellent and diverse PR experience at an award-winning agency in the heart of the beautiful, sunny Sussex countryside?

West Sussex-based Wildwood Public Relations is seeking to recruit an industrial placement student to work on its range of business to business and business to consumer clients.

We’re the built environment specialists with an approach that’s seen us go from strength to strength in recent years. Our clients feature extensively in the fast-growing home automation sector, many of them providing the glitzy home cinema and hi-tech multi-room audio systems for properties and mega-yachts belonging to TV stars, Premiership footballers and Russian billionaires amongst others.  We also represent clients at the cutting edge of green technology for residential and commercial buildings alongside less glamorous, but equally challenging clients, covering everything from roof slates to car dealerships.

The successful candidate will become an Account Executive, working as an integral part of our 10-strong team, where you’ll be expected to share in the creativity, energy, enthusiasm and above all, enjoyment we all have for our work.

What you’re learning on the course, you’ll have the chance to put into practice. Responsibilities include

• Liaising directly with the media and clients, and building strong long term relationships
• Drafting and issuing press releases
• Generating media coverage
• Monitoring forward features
• Co-ordinating client reports
• Events organisation / management
• General administrative support

We’ll provide you with all the help you need to develop plus give you access to our staff training programme, giving you the chance to put your initiative, talent and skills to good use.

If you’re a good communicator, well-organised, able to multi-task and keen to find out what PR is really all about from The Sunday Times and Grand Designs to Housing Association Building & Maintenance and H&V News, and then we’d like to hear from you. Ideally, we’re looking for someone to start work from June 2012 onwards, but it could be earlier to suit your needs.

You will earn a basic salary of £14,500 and will be entitled to 20 days paid holiday. Interns get plenty of opportunities to shine and also benefit from our ongoing staff training and mentoring programme. Please send your CV and a covering letter to Jeff Hayward, email jeff.hayward@wildwoodpr.co.uk. Own car essential.

For more information, visit www.wildwoodpr.co.uk.

Closing date for applications: Friday 24 February 2012

So we were having a chat in the office this afternoon about fantasy letters to Santa.  We thought we’d share them with you for amusement (many of these gifts are not available in the shops – whatever the state of the British high street!).  Hope you enjoy our musings…now, back to that press release…

Dear Santa (and these are in no particular order…),

Wildwood would like for Christmas…..

For Christmas this year, Jeff would like an automatic inbox reviewer to sift through all the emails that land in his inbox when he’s out at a meeting – dealing with them before he returns to the office. And if such a gift could be bundled with a rich tea biscuit dispenser that automatically delivers three biscuits to his desk each afternoon with a cup of tea – that would be heaven!

Leah would like a Lie Detector, so that she can get lots of juicy gossip from journalists and competitors. This would help her to make our clients the best- not that they aren’t already…!

Lauren wouldn’t mind a Cloning Machine for Christmas this year – so that her clone could do her training and run the Lifestyle Renault Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon in February. Her clone could also fill in for her if she needs a lie-in to recover from the Christmas celebrations.

This year, Ally would love a boiling tap installed at her desk, so that she can have an endless supply of peppermint tea. With a hot cuppa on tap she can deal with as many features, press releases and case studies that you can throw at her! What a fantastic way to remain calm and refreshed throughout 2012.

Tanya wouldn’t mind travelling in style, and would really like a Jaunting Belt from The Tomorrow People (remember that TV show?). No more of that time-consuming driving nonsense…. she’ll be able to snap her fingers and will be at her destination instantly.  Bet she still leaves the office later than planned though…!

For Christmas, Becky would like a Soda Stream so that she can have plenty of caffeine filled goodness without having to leave the comfort of the office. Not only will it keep her awake longer, but she’ll work like the clappers! Failing that, Bernard’s watch wouldn’t go a miss….

This year for Christmas, Ruth would love a set of wings. Then she could fly around organising all her case studies and get to lots of photo shoots, even in the most remote areas of the world. At least then she wouldn’t get stuck in traffic jams!

This year, Shereen would like to find a Wildwood Chef under the Christmas tree. That way bacon butties would be on hand as soon as she steps into the office each morning.

On the top of John’s Christmas list this year is a top of the range espresso maker.  A connoisseur of coffee, the strength of the brew matters to John.  The stronger, the better and he’s happy – and of course, his writing and afternoon meetings will whizz along …

Ash would like to wake up on Christmas morning with Audrey Tautou, have Pierre Koffman cook his lunch, attend an Operation Ivy reunion show in the evening, drink some Margaux 82 before bed and world peace. If that’s too greedy, world peace can wait another year.

And as for Valerie, who runs our Accounts Department – she’d love something BIG… as Val says – A BIG desk for my ever growing job…A BIG mug so that my lovely cuppa lasts twice as long… BIG calculators with BIG numbers for my poor old eyes….but please could I also have something small…like a BIG DIAMOND!

Becky

Marmite cleverly manages to trade on this love/hate relationship. Somehow the idea of a load of it spread all over the road is funny – even with all the disruption it caused. Cue lots of jokes and Marmite trending on Twitter. For Unilever (the makers of Marmite) the M1 story was perfect timing as it buried the news about a strike at their plant over the company’s plans to shut their final salary pension scheme. Strikes are not good for the share price so there would have been a few sighs of relief at Marmite HQ.

The oysters story was not so funny. What was needed was a reassuring PR message from someone in the industry to calm the nerves of nervous diners. But what did we get from the Shellfish Association of Great Britain: “Just because we know about norovirus does not mean that we should be frightened by it.” Really? A few days of sickness and vomiting isn’t exactly a walk in the park and to know that three quarters of all oysters in theUKare infected is a tough message to spin.

Crisis management is the ultimate test for any PR Pro – but I’d like to see a graph of oyster sales over the coming months – it will probably look something like the North Face of the Eiger – and not in a good way. I’m sticking to Marmite, for now – pun intended.

John

In February 2012 five members from the Wildwood PR team will be running a half marathon to raise money for the Pickering Cancer drop-in centre, for their client Lifestyle Europe.

On Sunday 26th February 2012, I will be joining my colleagues at the start line amongst famous and practiced runners such as Liz Yelling, in an attempt to make it round the 13 mile course. I am not a runner; in fact I find it difficult to run for the bus, so for me this will be an interesting day! Luckily several of the team at Wildwood frequently go running and are on hand to give us tips and training advice.

The race is a “testing, single-lap course through some of Kent’s finest countryside.” ‘Testing’ sounds pretty worrying to me, and I’m a little unsure what I was thinking when I said I would take part. I need to take drastic action to make sure that I make it to the finish line, so we have been training on our lunch breaks to help us get up to speed.

Today was my third training session, which probably should be about my 8th, and I finally think I have been motivated. Leah and I set off for an easy walk/run down a country lane, trying to mix up our training sessions, as the last two involved running round in circles. This time we ventured through the West Sussex countryside; over fields, through mud, scarcely making it past some rather perplexed horses staring us down, and some friendly gentlemen in the middle of a shoot. We did get a little bit lost and at one stage thought we may have to ring the office and get picked up, but managed to somehow navigate our way back.

So we are well on our way to making it round the Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon before they start packing everything up…hopefully. Come back to keep up to date on our training adventures.

Lauren