What are the biggest opportunities for PR to influence AI search results? PRWeek’s latest Beyond the Noise podcast delves into the topic.

Our guests this week are Ashley Wallace Jones, vice president of integrated marketing at PAN Communications; and Paul Stollery, co-founder and creative director at Hard Numbers.

Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest issues affecting communications and PR. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or listen on your favourite platform.

On this week’s episode, the guests discuss Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) – the next iteration of SEO, hailed by some as a “goldmine” for PR.

Interviewed by PRWeek UK’s deputy news editor Evie Barrett, the pair share their predictions for AI-search optimisation’s impact on the PR industry in years to come, and how those who haven’t yet started working in GEO can begin to do so.

They also discuss PR’s use of AI more broadly, explaining how the industry could currently be in an “AI hype cycle”.

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PRWeek’s latest Beyond the Noise podcast looks at the global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market and the big trends comms professionals should know about.

Our guests both work in M&A for major consultancies: Oliver Mann, a partner in Kekst CNC’s London office, and Finlay Donaldson, associate partner at H/Advisors Maitland. They join PRWeek journalists Siobhan Holt and John Harrington this week.

Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest issues affecting communications and PR. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or on your favourite platform.

Our guests examine how the global M&A market has changed throughout 2025, especially in response to President Trump’s tariffs and other geopolitical shifts.

They discuss how important M&A work is at their agencies, how this has changed over the past couple of years, and whether they plan to add extra services to serve clients who are looking at deals.

PR’s relationship with investor relations and the appetite for stock market flotations and private equity sales are also put under the microscope. And the comms professionals offer their predictions for M&A for the rest of the year.

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How can PR pros work better with journalists? PRWeek’s latest Beyond the Noise podcast episode finds out.

Our guest this week is Steph Spyro, deputy political editor and environment editor at the Daily Express, who joins PRWeek’s John Harrington (UK editor) and Evie Barrett (deputy news editor).

Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest issues affecting communications and PR. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or listen on your favourite platform.

On this week’s podcast, the journalists discuss how their roles have changed in recent years, including the decline of print and the impact of artificial intelligence.

They talk about what they like, and don’t like, about how comms pros handle media relations in 2025. Topics covered include how they like to be contacted; the importance of speedy responses and subject-area expertise; the use of embargoes; and how AI is being used.

The trio offer their top tips for PR professionals to work well with journalists. They also give predictions for the future of the media.

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Esteemed entertainment PR figures Alan Edwards and Richard Dawes are the guests on this week’s Beyond the Noise podcast.

This week, PRWeek sits down with Alan Edwards, founder of Outside Organisation – who has handled PR for David Bowie, Prince, Michael Jackson and The Spice Girls – as well as Richard Dawes, managing director and co-founder of DawBell, who works with artists such as Oasis, Dua Lipa and Elton John.

Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest issues affecting communications and PR. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or listen in the browser above or on your favourite platform.

Speaking to PRWeek UK editor-in-chief Danny Rogers and deputy news editor Evie Barrett, the duo discuss 2025’s live music boom – covering highlights such as the Oasis reunion tour and Glastonbury.

They weigh up the comms opportunities and risks of music festivals, discussing the plethora of crises that have hit the headlines in recent weeks, and give their take on whether controversy can be considered a positive opportunity from a PR perspective in the current climate.

Other topics discussed include the mounting pressure on musicians to take political and environmental stances, and how brands can authentically form partnerships with artists at live music events.

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Sarah Waddington, the new chief executive of the PRCA, discusses her plans for the trade body in the latest episode of PRWeek’s Beyond the Noise podcast. Waddington speaks to PRWeek UK editor John Harrington after moving to the chief executive role earlier this month, following six months as interim CEO.

Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest issues affecting communications and PR. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or listen on your favourite platform.

Waddington talks about the background to her involvement in the PRCA and how the trade body has fared in the recent “challenging market”. This includes how membership has shifted, with agencies that left in 2022 returning to the fold.

The CEO discusses her plans for the organisation, including introducing a professional management standards scheme, ‘pushing out’ more beyond London, producing an updated Public Affairs Code, and promoting DEI in the industry.

She discusses plans to help members adapt further to the AI age – and reveals whether she’s an AI pessimist or optimist. Waddington also gives her take on the general state of client/agency relationships and how the PRCA could help. And she updates on how members are coping with fees.

As PRWeek earlier reported, Waddington said the PRCA is conducting a review of its global operations that could result in partnerships with other professional associations or a withdrawal from some regions. She also gave details of recent redundancies at the trade body.

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Ahead of the UEFA women’s Euros final between England and Spain, PRWeek speaks to Lisa Parfitt, former managing director of Engine Sport, who is now co-founder of The Space Between, a creative marketing agency specialising in sport and entertainment. Parfitt is also a director at Women in Football, an organisation that is driving gender equality in the game.

Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest issues affecting communications and PR. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or listen in the browser above or on your favourite platform.

Speaking to PRWeek UK deputy editor Siobhan Holt, Parfitt chats about the brand campaigns that have stood out to her during this year’s tournament. She also offers her analysis of the trends, such as purpose-led work. 

Separately, she discusses online hate in sport and how organisations such as Women in Football and The FA are challenging discrimination, as well as sharing her views on the future of anti-racism gestures like taking a knee before matches.

In the episode, Parfitt explains how an evolving media strategy can build consistent momentum between tournaments, as well as which of the Lionesses could be ‘influencers to watch’, and what the lessons are for comms professionals looking ahead to tournaments such the men’s FIFA World Cup 2026. 

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Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest issues affecting communications and PR. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or listen on your favourite platform.

Our guest is Jack Storry, head of corporate at Boldspace and author of the first Reputation Hits and Misses of the Week column – PRWeek’s new series examining who has handled their reputation adeptly or poorly in the past seven days.

Speaking to PRWeek UK editor John Harrington and deputy news editor Evie Barrett, Storry looks at how the Co-op has handled the aftermath of the recent damaging cyber-attack. In particular, he commends the comms of Co-op chief executive Shirine Khoury-Haq, who appeared on the BBC Breakfast sofa last week.

Separately, the trio discuss how the Coca-Cola Company deftly swerved a potential clash with President Trump.

Less positively, they also look at the comms handling of last week’s widely reported story about a girl being excluded from her school’s ‘Culture Day’ for wearing a Union Jack dress and wanting to speak about her pride at being British.

Meanwhile, we ask whether data company Astronomer got its comms right after its CEO and chief people officer were caught together on ‘kiss cam’ at a Coldplay concert – a major talking point in recent days.

We also ask: are brands ever right to ‘newsjack’ such incidents?

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PRWeek’s first Transparency Report has got a lot of people talking this week. The report gives a star rating to every agency in the PRWeek UK Top 150 based on the level of disclosure about parental leave policies, whether they are living wage employers, and also gender and ethnicity pay gaps.

Joining the podcast are Katie Eborall, head of north for Grayling, and a member of the Women in PR committee; and Sheeraz Gulsher, co-founder of People Like Us, the networking and campaign group for minority ethnic marcomms and media professionals that works with PRWeek on the Pay Gap Report.

Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest issues affecting communications and PR. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or listen in the browser above or on your favourite platform.

Speaking to PRWeek UK editor John Harrington, the guests discuss whether they are surprised at the results of the Transparency Report, which saw 25 agencies receive the top four-star rating and 30 receive zero stars.

They talk about why it’s important to be transparent as a comms business, with a focus on business success - research by PRWeek found the 25 four-star agencies strongly outperformed the Top 150 as a whole in the 2024 calendar year.

The duo also speak about the reputational issues for agencies that choose not to disclose the information.

Separately, our guests dig into some of the findings around parental leave policies and Living Wage payments and ask: is the sector doing enough?

This autumn will see the sixth iteration of the Pay Gaps Report from PRWeek and People Like Us. Click here for more information and to take part.

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What’s it like making the move from agency-side to an in-house role? That’s the topic of PRWeek’s latest Beyond the Noise podcast episode.

This week, we hear from two leading in-house communications professionals about their experiences moving from agency to in-house roles.

Our guests are Alice Jenkins-Bruce, director of communications and content at Sky, and Lindsay Landi, head of PR and communications at Samsung UK.

Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest issues affecting communications and PR. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or listen in the browser above or on your favourite platform.

Speaking to PRWeek’s reporter, Elizabeth Wiredu, and UK editor John Harrington, Jenkins-Bruce and Landi explain why they switched to in-house roles, what surprised them most about the transition, and how they now approach client relationships and pitches.

They also discuss whether they approach measurement and ROI differently, the skills and perspectives they have gained and developed by working in-house, and what advice they would offer to someone considering the transition.

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Transparency - around salaries and parental leave policies at PR agencies - is the theme of PRWeek’s latest podcast.

PRWeek UK editor John Harrington and deputy editor Siobhan Holt are joined by Elena Lewis, data editor at PRWeek and sister title Campaign, to look at the big trends based on recent research.

Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest issues affecting comms and PR. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or listen on your favourite platform.

The team discusses a new study by PRWeek that found only around one in four of the UK’s biggest PR agencies post salaries on their job ads.

They look at separate, newly-released research by PRWeek, as part of the UK Top 150 Consultancies project, into the proportion of agencies that have disclosed whether they pay the Living Wage or the London Living Wage.

The Top 150 questionnaire also asked agencies to declare their parental leave policies - the trio discuss how many did, and examine some of the big trends in the policies.

On the topic of transparency, UK PR agencies can submit their data for the upcoming Pay Gaps Report from PRWeek and People Like Us - click here for more information.

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