This week on The PRmoment podcast I’m catching up with Rebecca Blinston-Jones, UK managing director of MWWPR.

MWWPR is a US-owned, mid-sized PR firm with revenues of $40-50m that employs around 250 people.

In the UK it has revenues of £1.7m and employs around 20 people.

Here is a taster of what Rebecca and I discussed: 

• How her formative years at Text 100 played a huge part in Rebecca’s career 1.05 mins
• How Rebecca met her husband at Text 100 1.40 mins
• How Rebecca used to sign clients on the back of napkins during her time at Mantra PR 
• How Mantra survived the dot.com crash and was then sold to Lowry Group and merged into Speed Communications. 4.30 mins
• How Rebecca met and worked for Patrick Herridge at Mantra Communication, then they worked together at Parys Communications and then at MWWPR 6 mins
• How Rebecca had equity in both Mantra and Parys - and why the trend of owners offering equity in exchange for fees is less popular than in the past 7 mins
• Why Rebecca likes working for businesses when they are “early stage”  8.15 mins
• The current “micro” acquisition trend in the UK PR market 10 mins
• How PR firms are purchasing non-PR businesses 10.40 mins
• The rise of independent mid-sized PR firms in London 11.40 mins
• How in the US agencies have started setting up in tier 2 and tier 3 cities to address the cost of living in US big cities 13 mins
• Why many mid-sized firms from the US have a “small” brand in London but big ambitions 14  mins
• Rebecca talks about MWWPR acquisition plans 14.30 mins
• The challenges of finding the right people for a senior team in London 20 mins
• The risk of senior recruits going wrong 21.30 mins
• Why Rebecca decided she wanted to become UK MD of MWWPR 25 mins
• Why there needs to be equal childcare responsibility between a husband and wife 27 mins
• Rebecca tells us about MWWPR’s growth plans for the UK business 30.30 mins