PRmoment founder Ben Smith is interviewed by Eilizabeth Giles about the speaker line up for PR Masterclass series The Agency Growth Forum and why it has become a bit of a personal challenge.

What PR Masterclass: The Agency Growth Forum covers in one day is incredible. You get to hear the real experts talk about how to overcome the key challenges that PR firm owners are having right now when it comes to growth.

As always with our PR Masterclass series, there are absolutely no sponsors. We don't believe in charging delegates for a ticket and then filling the program with sponsored slots.

When, Where: Wednesday 26th November 2025

Virtual tickets from £230 +VAT. Face-to-face from £460 +VAT, buy your ticket before 10/10/25 to get these early bird rates.

Here’s a run down of what Ben and Elizabeth talk about on the show:

Why did we choose Rachel Bell to speak at the Agency Growth Forum?

Let's just run through Rachel's PR agency CV:

Founder, Shine
Co founder, Mischief 
Co founder, The Academy 
Co founder, John Doe
Co founder, Adhuro
Non executive chair, Cavendish 

Enough said?

Why did we choose Jonny Bentwood to speak at the Agency Growth Forum?

There's an interesting global community of about 8-10 PR firm data geeks who are at the arrowhead PR and technology. Jonny's at the tip of that arrow.

No PR Agency Growth Forum event would be complete without an analysis of PR's GEO opportunity and here Jonny will update us with the latest thinking.

Why did we choose Rachael Marshall to speak at the Agency Growth Forum?

Her firm Magic Digits has circa 30 PR agency clients and so there's no-one better to give a third party insight into the financial trends and challenges of running a PR firm today.

In house panel: What do clients want?

Bieneosa Ebite, GSK, head of communications and government affairs, inclusion
Clara Biu, Allwyn UK, head of consumer communications
Charlotte West, Lenovo, vice president, global corporate communications

Why did we choose Rachel Friend to speak at the Agency Growth Forum?

Rachel’s had success at PR firms who are part of the holding groups and she's also had success at PR firms who are independent.

So she knows how to run PR agency businesses. Rachel's going to talk to us about how to re-energise your PR businesses and get your momentum back.

Why did we choose Jo Carr to speak at the Agency Growth Forum?

For about the last 10 years PR firms have, in the main, worked hard to improve their employer brand and to become better employers.

Jo was at the start of this trend. She understood that in a consultancy business where creativity and customer service are absolutely vital, happy employees are always going to mean happy clients.

• Why did we choose Paul Nolan to speak at the Agency Growth Forum?

As this is the Agency Growth Forum, I didn't just want a PR AI expert, I wanted the PR leader who was furthest along the road integrating AI into their agency. 

That's why Paul's speaking

• Why did we choose Jackie Elliot  to speak at the Agency Growth Forum?

If you know, you know.

• Independent PR agency panel: The growth challenge

This panel will give an insight into the growth challenges for independent agencies at the moment.

• Why did we choose Lee Beattie to speak at the Agency Growth Forum?

Lee is going to talk about how Joe Doe has had success in developing a culture where young people can thrive.