1 May

Rachel Bell
Founder, Brand Spanking

Previously, founder of Shine Communications (now The Academy Media Group, of which she is Chair), John Doe Group and Mischief PR (now part of MHP Group)

How to build and develop your agency business

• How to set and structure a 3-5 year business plan focused on growth

• How to track against the business plan in monthly cycle, with shared responsibility

• How to align annual planning to business plan and speed up growth

• Creating a high-energy culture where everyone thinks and acts like business owners

15 May

Sheeraz Gulsher
Co-founder, People Like Us and Braver

How to improve the diversity, inclusion and retention of PR teams

• How to rethink the recruitment process

• The policies and processes required to support everyone in the business

• The critical importance of pay and progression and why transparency matters

• How to be intentional around retention and to provide meaningful, non-traditional career support

29 May

Kat McGettigan
Founder, Fine Lines

Former roles include UK Head of Consumer at M&C Saatchi PR and Global Head of Growth at Grayling

How to lead a pitch more effectively

• How to properly qualify your leads and fully commit

• How to create a positive culture within your pitch team

• How you can decrease ghosting and build chemistry

• Why if you lose, it's rarely procurement's fault!

12 June

Adrian Talbot
CFO, Miroma Group

Formerly CFO of Hotwire

The financial controls you need in a modern PR firm

• What are the key financial KPIs in a PR agency?

• What processes can you implement to improve your agency's profitability?

• How to analyse, understand and respond to your costs and revenue pipelines

• Why you must respond quickly to decreases in revenue

• Think about change as an opportunity to improve your agency - don't go on the defensive

26 June

Frankie Cory
ex Co-CEO of W Communications

Formerly MD of Frank, ex-CEO of Citizen Relations and Mischief PR

How do you build a great agency team?

• Why the best agency teams are built on collaboration

• How to help your talent grow

• Why you must focus on your teams' as individuals, not on what you want as a leader

• The need for supportive leadership

• It's vital that your teams know and recognise the commercial needs of the business

11 July

Bruce McLachlan
Director, Consumer Communications, International, Amazon

Formerly MD, Fever PR

What is the contribution of comms in the modern corporate world?

• An exploration of the changing role of in-house communications within complex businesses

• The implications for agency partners and how agencies can evolve to best support clients

17 July

Sian O’Keefe
Vice President of Corporate Affairs, Mars Wrigley Europe, CIS and Turkey

Holly Clarke
Regional senior manager - consumer PR, Mars Wrigley

What does a great agency: client partnership look like?

• How can an agency embed itself within the client team?

• What clients want: Be proactive, not reactive.

• The need for critical thinking

• Have you thought about what AI means for your clients: What efficiencies should the client expect?

• Measurement: Can the agency offer unbiased communication measurement and what metrics do they need from the client to make that happen?