This week on the PRmoment Podcast, in the latest of our life stories series, I’m pleased to welcome MD of Nelson Bostock Nick Clark.   

Nelson Bostock is one of those firms that everyone’s heard of, but it probably punches below its weight in terms of it’s profile in the PR industry.   

For those of you that don’t know, Nelson Bostock was founded in 1987 by Martin Bostock and Roger Nelson. The founders of the business have left the firm and it’s now part of Unlimited Group which is owned by the private equity firm DBay.   

Unlimited Group has a turnover of over £70m and consists of digital agency TMW, research firm Walnut as well as Health Unlimited (previously Red Door), consumer agency Fever and Nelson Bostock.   

Nelson Bostock has a turnover of approximately £5.3m and has 65 employees.   

Here is a flavour of what we discussed:   

[00:02:01] How Nick has worked for Nelson Bostock for (almost) 21 years.    

[00:02:16] Whether it's a good thing to be in one job for that long.    

[00:04:24] Nick identifies the different phases of his career.    

[00:04:41] How the randomness of Nick’s brother sharing a flat with the ex-CEO of Nelson Bostock Group Lee Nugent lead to Nick working in PR.   

[00:06:13] How as the MD Nick divides his time between client work, the day-to-day management of the business and long-term strategy.    

[00:08:33] How Nick made the jump from being a good PR person, to a senior director in the business.   

[00:10:30] Nick describes how CEOs have a battle to understand how best to spend their time.    

[00:11:08] Why we all need to give ourselves more time to think.    

[00:12:36] Why do internal candidates tend to get the biggest jobs at PR firms?    

[00:14:39] How did Nelson Bostock grow at 25% last year?    

[00:17:14] How Nelson Bostock uses media relations as a bridge into more integrated work.    

[00:18:35] Why having strong media relations at the heart of an agency gives your a competitive advantage across other types of marketing agencies.   

[00:24:59] Nick talks us through Nelson Bostock’s acquisition strategy.    

[00:25:57] Why mid-sized firms are more likely to buy an integrated offer.    

[00:29:20] Why the nuanced and complicated sales cycle of B2B markets means specialised agencies are still in demand.    

[00:30:51] How B2B buyers are buying marketing services.   

[00:32:44] How Leigh Nugent, Roger Nelson and Martin Bostock were unofficial mentors in Nick's career.   

[00:34:58]  Nelson Bostock is owned by DBay: how has Nick found it different working for a private equity firm?   

[00:37:17] What Nick has learnt about buying companies and the complexities of integrating them.   

[00:39:36] Nick talks us through the challenges and benefits of flexible working, particularly as an MD.