Welcome to our review of PR Pitches and mergers & acquisitions in the UK PR scene with Andrew Bloch. Here, we discuss the biggest pitch wins and mergers & acquisitions that the PR sector has seen in the last month

Andrew is the lead consultant - PR, Social, Content and Influencer at the new business consultancy firm AAR and a partner at PCB Partners, where he advises on buying and selling marketing services agencies.

Andrew also runs the advisory firm Andrew Bloch & Associates.

Before we start, 2 plugs:

Our next PR Masterclass: The Intersection of PR and GEO - Wednesday 25th February is proving massively popular. So if you do want to come - get your ticket quick is my advice. As ever with our PR Masterclass series, it's a hybrid event so both face to face and vital tickets are available. Take a look at the full programme and some of the finest past delegate testimonials you are ever likely to see on PRmasterclasses.com

Andrew summarises the PR pitch market in January:

“For agencies 2025 was tougher than expected for many.  Lots of uncertainty.  Economic pressures. Squeeze on margins. Less retainers. Slow decision making.  Clients will continue to be pragmatic.  Agencies will have to learn to operate with less predictability. They will need resilience and will need to hustle.  Most importantly they will need to innovate. Standing still not an option.  Lots of opportunities to embrace AI, innovate and expand in terms of service areas, drive organic growth.  The growth is there for those able to get ahead of it.”

Andrew on the PR M&A market:

“On the M&A side we will continue to see continued consolidation from the holding cos as they adapt, cut costs and make themselves fit for purpose.  The M&A market remains very strong with lots of strategic deal making to allow firms to adapt and shift to client demands and tech disruption. Deals are taking slightly longer but they’re happening.  The market is strong.  Supported by PE money, hungry US acquirers and a booming independent sector looking to scale in terms of capabilities and geographies. Especially around AI, data, influencer.  Corporate, healthcare and consumer remain in strong demand.”

January’s PR Wins

Wingstop appoint Smarts

McDonalds appoints Freuds and Flint Global - Freuds for corporate.  Flint Global for govt relations.

Hello Fresh Group appoints Ready10 and Golin 

Government Media and Creative Services roster - Agencies including 23Red, AMV BBDO, Accenture, Freud Communications, Lucky Generals,  Havas UK, M&C Saatchi and VCCP.

UK Finance - Lansons 

Animal Friends Pet Insurance appoint Havas Red

MyFitnessPal appoint Kindred

Coca-Cola appoint Brandnation

HSS ProService appoint Brandnation

Andrex appoint W

Spurs appoint Shook

Madri Exceptional appoint Tin Man

Kelloggs Crunchy Nut appoint Tin Man

Great British Energy - Nuclear (GBE-N) appoint Grayling

New Balance appoint Exposure

Marriott International appoint W

M&A

Pretty Green acquires PinPoint Media

Jack Morton merges with Impact XM

FGS Global acquires Memetica

Paritee acquire Truth Consulting

Radio News Hub complete Management Buyout from AFO Group - led by Directors Stephanie Otty and Jamie Fletcher.  Followed on from Markettiers MBO at the end of last year.

Strata acquire Wonderland

Ruder Finn acquire Missouri Creative

Welcome to the News Review on the PRmoment podcast. This week I'm joined by Angie Moxham, founder of Fourth Angel.

In the PR News Review we look at the biggest news stories of the week from a PR perspective and this week we’re talking about Fake experts and SEO masquerading as PR firms, Brand Beckham takes a "don't explain, but you can complain approach" and The relaunch of Davos.

• Concerns Over Fake PR Experts and SEO Firms Ben Smith introduced the first main topic of the news review, which was coverage by The Press Gazette concerning "fake PR experts" which Ben Smith and Angie Moxham agreed seemed to be predominantly problematic SEO firms. Ben Smith noted that Google updates have increased the influence of "journalistic earned media coverage," creating an incentive for SEO and digital PR firms to masquerade as public relations firms. 
• Ben Smith and Angie Moxham discussed how the rise of media databases played a role in these "spray and prey press release distribution" techniques 
• Angie Moxham asserted the continuing importance of strategic, face-to-face consultancy and good old-fashioned practices, such as "picking up the phone to a good journalist." 
• Brand Beckham Ben Smith then introduced the second story concerning Brand Beckham, which they described as taking a "don't explain but you can complain approach".
• Analysis of Davos and Political Reputational Risks Ben Smith introduced the final topic, the "relaunch of Davos," noting that attendance, previously often regarded as a reputational risk, seemed to have changed in the past 12 months, with Donald Trump's presence contributing to its renewed power status. 
• Angie Moxham agreed that wherever Donald Trump goes, people follow, which has "rebooted" the event. 
• They also discussed how Keir Starmer's decision not to attend Davos, due to a trip to China, backfired, suggesting that their diary management might not have been optimal in the "grand scheme of the chess playing of politics".

Ben Smith introduced Sam Corry, CEO of Taylor Herring, discussing the agency's history, evolution from media focus to consumer PR with an "entertain or die" mantra, and its recent internal shifts following the departure of founders Kath and James Herring after 24 years. Corry emphasized that Taylor Herring’s current strategy focuses on integrated, long-term brand building, and announced the launch of "Cited," a proprietary GEO tool developed with Publicis Group's Performix to leverage extensive consumer data and provide measurable ROI for clients. Corry also highlighted the rapid growth of St. Mark Studios, Taylor Herring's standalone brand experience agency, and stressed the industry's need for data tools to demonstrate measurable results.

Ben Smith welcomed Angie Moxham and Mark Borkowski to the weekly PR news review on the PRmoment Podcast.

On this week's show our panel discuss Farage and Jenrick, Grok's explicit AI images and alleged Wikipedia edits by Portland.

Mark Borkowski criticised the Reform party's recruitment of Robert Jenrick as a "massive PR own goal," which Angie Moxham agreed was simply to get headlines.

"Why oh why are they (Reform) taking on these lame ducks, these Tory party failures that were kicked out by the electorate."

"The public will remember Robert Jenrick dissing every aspect of Reform, and particularly Nigel Farage. Now they are buddies. They are in the same swill pit"

Regarding X's delayed restriction on explicit AI images, Mark Borkowski suggested the initial delay was due to arrogance that generated bad PR, while Angie Moxham notes the controversy secured more headlines for Grok and its image tool.

What does this story say about the society we now live in: where criticism of an AI tool generating explicit images of women, got derailed to become a (false) debate about free speech?

Finally, Mark and Angie discuss Portland's alleged "black hat" Wikipedia editing in an investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

This week we’re chatting to Nicky Regazzoni, co-founder & co-CEO of The PR Network and  Lesley Singleton, founder & CEO, Playtime PR about how to lead a virtual agency business.

The virtual or in the office debate has become the ultimate PR conversation starter, up there with AVEs and timesheets. Everyone’s got an opinion and the truth is there are some virtual agencies, some hybrid (3 or 4 days in the office seems like the norm atm) and some always in the office.

Employers, employees and clients just need to find what works for them and the world will continue to turn.

Both The PR Network and Playtime PR have run very successfully for many years with virtual teams.

On this show we talk today about what good virtual agency leadership looks like.

Nicky Regazzoni and Lesley Singleton identify that virtual leadership requires an emphasis on clear vision, intentional culture, trust, a "virtual open door policy," and clear, regular communication to compensate for the absence of physical presence and informal interactions.

Lesley and Nicky discuss talent acquisition through flexible working models, client/employee relationships, and the management of large-scale virtual operations, noting that while no single right answer exists for running a virtual business, it necessitates highly organised systems and a continuous execution of strategies.

Ben Smith welcomed Angie Moxham and Mark Borkowski to this week's PRmoment podcast News Review to discuss major PR stories, including "brand America" and Donald Trump's communication style, which Borkowski described as entering a dystopian age, with Moxham adding that America views life through a "Hollywood lens." 

The trio discuss the societal impact of the political narrative, with Moxham expressing concern about younger generations being constantly fed a frightening news narrative and a loss of faith in leadership.

Borkowski and Moxham also discuss media coverage of Storm Goretti, the unprofessional performance of the English cricket team, and the implications of sports sponsorship for reputation with the rise of darts. 

The show concludes by paying tribute to the wonderful Bieneosa Ebite - one of UK PR’s most important role models, who we sadly lost before Christmas.

Elizabeth Giles and Ben Smith discuss the upcoming PRmoment Awards, noting the final entry deadline is January 23rd, and that the awards night is scheduled for April in both London and Manchester. Ben Smith explained the robust and transparent judging process, which includes individual prescoring based on criteria like objectives, strategy, and results, available in the entry pack, and highlighted new categories, including Pro Bono Campaign of the Year and GEO Campaign of the Year. 

Ben Smith also provided tips for a successful entry, such as aligning with the judging criteria, avoiding grammatical errors, and including budget details for ROI context, and emphasized the benefits of entering, including independent recognition, quantitative data feedback on performance against peers, and enhanced SEO/LLM (GEO) visibility for winners.

Details

• PRmoment Awards Deadline
  Elizabeth Giles welcomed listeners to the special podcast celebrating the PRmoment awards, noting the final entry deadline is on Friday, January 23rd.
  
  
• Judging Process and Criteria
  Ben Smith described the judging process for the PRmoment Awards as robust and transparent, with criteria available on page 21 of the entry pack, which is free to download from the PRmoment Awards microsite (00:01) (00:04). The campaign awards criteria include objectives (10 points), strategy (10 points), creativity (10 points, or 20 for the best use of creativity category), implementation (activation), and results and evaluation (10 points) (00:02). A final criterion is "why your entry should win," which offers entrants an opportunity to emphasize the merits of their work (00:03). The process involves individual prescoring by judges, followed by a cumulative leaderboard and a virtual meeting to discuss the winners (00:04).
• Awards Categories
  Ben Smith mentioned that PRmoment keeps their award categories relatively tight, with about 30 categories, unlike some other awards that may have around 60. The categories are refreshed annually and include campaign awards across different sectors, such as B2B and automotive, and disciplines like best content, best creativity, and best influencer partnerships (00:06). They highlighted two new additions for the current year: the Pro Bono Campaign of the Year, recognizing great work by PR firms, and the GEO Campaign of the Year, reflecting the importance of large language models as stakeholders in public relations (00:07).
• Tips for a successful entry
  Ben Smith provides some tips for entrants.

This week we’re chatting to co founder of Signal AI David Benigson on the PRmoment podcast

From media monitoring start-up, to $165m investment via 6 funding rounds: Signal AI founder David Benigson talks to PRmoment founder Ben Smith through its journey.

In September 2025, Signal AI raised $165 million in a growth equity round led by Battery Ventures. This investment will support global expansion, product development, and strategic acquisitions. Signal AI has 220 employees and apparently 40% of the fortune 500 are clients.

According to a report in City AM Signal AI reported £23 million in revenue in the year to March 2024.

Before the Battery Ventures investment, the company had previously raised around $100 million investment from previous funding rounds including Aberdeen, Hearst, and Guardian Media Group Ventures.

A quick plug for the PRmoment Awards, the final entry deadline is Friday 23 January. Don’t miss the opportunity to shout about the work you and your team have done over the last 12 months and get an independent endorsement from the PRmoment Awards jury.

Here’s a summary of what PRmoment founder Ben Smith and David discussed on the show:

David Benigson recounted the founding of Signal AI a decade ago in London with the initial goal of using AI to help business leaders understand real-time information for better decision-making in reputation tracking and media intelligence. Signal AI, which has scaled globally and now serves over 800 organizations by processing data from over 225 markets in 75 languages, evolved from discriminative AI expertise to integrating generative AI to create a conversational layer for clients. David Benigson and Ben Smith discussed Signal AI's six funding rounds, including a recent $165 million round, which allowed the company to reach an inflection point of profitability and self-sustainability, and David Benigson also detailed the shift in corporate communications toward data-driven practices, focusing on advanced monitoring, measurement, and "decision intelligence" for strategic risk management.

It’s my twice yearly chat with W Communications founder and CEO Warren Johnson and today it’s our 2025 PR Agency Review of the Year.

Warren founded W Communications in 2009. It now has global revenues of £25 m and a headcount of 200, with 140 in London and 60 across the rest of the world.

Over the next half hour or so Warren and I will discuss the ups and downs of PR agency life over the last 12 months.

Before that, the breaking news is that the PRmoment Awards final entry deadline is Friday 23 January. Don’t miss the opportunity to create proof points of the quality of your agency’s work.

Also, check out the speaker programme for our latest PR Masterclass: The Intersection of PR and GEO. It’s another stellar line-up.

Summary

Warren Johnson rated the PR agency market happiness index for Q1 as "three out of five" due to economic unease, but Q2 improved for W Communications due to diversification and a trend towards "silliness and frivolousness," while they rated Q4 as challenging due to "speurious pitches" and negative sentiment following a "disastrous budget." 

The discussion also highlighted the strength of corporate and B2B sectors, the volatility of consumer PR, the necessity of innovation and entrepreneurial agency behavior, and the positive impact of fractional hiring which benefits agencies by providing "phenomenally experienced ex clients." 

Warren predicts that 2026 will be "a real game of two halves," favouring innovative agencies, and expressed skepticism about AI's current efficiency in PR, suggesting it will allow experienced humans to do "even more work" while acting as a "real time bomb" by hindering junior development.

Details

• PR Agency Happiness Index (Q1 and Q2) Ben Smith asked Warren Johnson for a hypothetical happiness index of the PR agency market at large, starting with Q1, which Johnson rated as "three out of five," characterizing it as uneasy and jittery due to negative sentiment in the wider economy. Ben Smith recalled starting 2025 positively, though political and geopolitical uncertainty soon challenged that outlook. Warren Johnson suggested that this constant disruption has become the "new normal". For Q2, Johnson noted that W Communications felt "quite good" due to heavy diversification, including spinning off their restaurant business, Chomp, and growing their influencer business, which was showing better monetisation. This period also coincided with a push in pop culture toward "silliness and frivolousness" to escape depressing global issues.
• Sectoral Performance and Innovation The discussion shifted to the performance of corporate, consumer, and B2B PR sectors in H1. Warren Johnson highlighted that corporate shops are having a moment, with some valuations moving them toward management consultancy models. B2B is thriving, supported by the ascendancy of LinkedIn and technology powered by AI. Consumer PR, however, is more volatile, experiencing good highs but also lows around the budget. Johnson stated that innovation is critical, as they experienced their best trading quarter ever in Q3, driven by diversification into specialized services like influencer and experiential marketing. They emphasized that agencies must be entrepreneurial and reward innovation, suggesting that clients post-COVID have increased their appetite to buy more from agencies.
• PR Agency Happiness Index (Q3 and Q4) and Economic Climate W Communications experienced their best trading quarter ever in Q3, predominantly driven by consumer work and specialized services due to extensive innovation. Warren Johnson noted that things started to slow down approaching the budget. Q4 was generally challenging due to "speurious pitches."

In the fifth episode of the season, Dean Connelly, founder of Latte Recruitment and Elizabeth Giles are joined by Emma Ewing, founder of Big Fish Training about resilience over the holidays. 

Ewing, who has previously worked with PRmoment on resilience has a unique insight as she brings her resilience expertise but also her vast knowledge of the PR sector, having provided coaching and training to PR leaders. 

This podcast runs through tips and advice for staying resilient during the hardest times of the year: December and January.

Many thanks to our podcast sponsors the PRCA