Media interest in auction clocks and model trains

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Sometimes I’m sometimes pleasantly surprised by the response to the stories I distribute for a client.

This year I’ve produced a number of press releases for Chilcotts Auctioneers, one about Moorcroft pottery, one about an extensive model train collection, the other about another collection, this time of clocks and barometers.

  • As well as receiving local coverage, the Moorcroft pottery story was picked up by the Stoke Sentinel – the pottery coming from that region originally.
  • The BBC ran the clocks and barometers story, online in the Devon section of the news site, as well as a broadcast mention in the Sunday Spotlight programme.
  • The model railway collection garnered the interest of online specialist title, Rail Advent (which has over 2 million page views per month).

Best performer in the Moorcroft auction lots was the giant ginger jar seen in the photo, which fetched £2,000. Amongst the clocks and barometers, the antique railway clocks from South West train stations mentioned in the press release performed well. The model railway items all met or exceeded their estimates.

For me, it is always a pleasure to research the history behind the items that Chilcotts are auctioning – and even more of a pleasure to know that my work helps the auctions to be successful!

 

 

Luxurious ‘potting shed’ for primary school

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Supporting the local school

Another lovely gesture by Otter Garden Centres in Ottery St Mary, with the donation of a ‘potting shed’ to local school, Ottery Primary.

The idea grew from discussions held during Otter’s 60 Good Deeds campaign, celebrating the company’s 60th anniversary in 2024. Otter first helped the school by replacing the wood on raised beds, providing a new pond liner, and installing a roof for the forest school firepit area, making outdoor learning possible all year round.

Otter MD Jacqui Taylor, a former pupil of the school, then offered something rather special – a dedicated indoor space – a rather grand potting shed. It’s a high-quality Malvern building, with large windows to let in plenty of light and double doors leading to a veranda. It’s also heated, meaning children can sow seeds and pot up vegetables on cold days, and have a chance to warm up between gardening sessions.

Jacqui is genuinely passionate about helping young people to enjoy activities that involve planting, growing and getting muddy!

I went along to take some PR photos of the ‘handover’ and chat to Assistant Headteacher Dan Western about what the donation meant to the school. “We’re so grateful to Otter Garden Centres and Jacqui for their generous support. The potting shed and the other improvements will help us weave nature, planting and growing into the curriculum, giving our young students a real appreciation of the world around them.”

The photography session reminded me (once again) of the old adage, never work with animals or children, as one young lad was looking everywhere except at the camera. Classic.

Primary School students enjoy new gardening adventures thanks to Otter Garden Centres | The Exeter Daily

Ottery pupils dig into learning thanks to generous gift from garden centre | Devon Live

Well done to Jacqui and the team for your continuing generosity to the local community.

New entrance

I also created some PR around the new entrance and layout to the Ottery Garden Centre, which now has a much more appealing and logical layout for customers.

Otter Garden Centres, Ottery St Mary, new building opened | Sidmouth Herald

Fresh look and feel inside legendary Devon garden centre | Devon Live

Cutting the ribbon for a new look in Otter shopping | The Exeter Daily

Vision Excels at FMB Awards

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Great news recently for ad hoc client Vision, who I provided support for with their entry into the Federation of Master Builders’ (FMB) Awards 2025.

Founder Ross Pollard messaged me with a video of him and Site Manager Christian Dally going up to collect the award for Large-Scale Renovation Project!

The (now) award-winning project is a luxury upgrade to a 1930s family home overlooking the Exe Estuary. Works included updating an indoor swimming pool and adding a steam room; creating a bespoke cinema room; converting an attic space to guest accommodation; designing a new bathroom; updating bedrooms; and landscaping the extensive gardens. New technologies and solutions have been utilised including a system controlling lighting, heating and blinds for the entire home via an app, custom-made bedroom storage and an innovative irrigation system for the flower beds utilising rainwater harvesting.

The judges said that the transformation delivers “comfort, style, and cutting-edge automation, redefining modern family living in a timeless setting”.

I’ve been to the project in question a couple of times, most recently to look at the landscaping which wasn’t complete when I last visited. I am in awe of the work that’s been carried out, the innovative approaches and beautiful finishing. In all, this is a truly stunning project, with so much care taken in all aspects of the renovation.

The client’s testimonial referred to Vision as a “group of passionate professionals dedicated to bringing our vision to life. Their decades of industry experience shone through in every detail, from innovative design to meticulous execution” and described the finish project as “nothing short of spectacular – a beautifully renovated space, both inside and out, that has exceeded our expectations”

This event was the FMB Awards South – other regional events are taking place, and all winners from the local ceremonies, including Vision, will go on to compete as finalists for a national award in their category.

Congratulations to Ross and the team and good luck at the nationals!

Local PR

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I’ve had a bit of a lull on the local news stories recently, to the extent that when I sent out a press release the journalist immediately emailed back that he’d thought I was either dead or had left the country. Thanks Lewis!

So I’ve enjoyed having two fresh topics to write about, one for Otter Garden Centres, the other for Chilcott Auctioneers.

Otter’s was about a lovely gesture they made to revitalise the flower beds at the local community hospital in Ottery St Mary, in a response to a request from nursing staff. Brothers Kevin and Neil from OGC (centre in the pic) went along to do the work – I’ve known them both for many years, they are always happy to help out! They removed dead plants and brambles, replacing them with cottage garden plants chosen to make the borders a riot of colour and life, such as lavenders, verbenas, dahlias, salvias and gaillardia.

Interesting from my pov I had my first ever appointment at the hospital a month or so ago. It was all very impressive, and I’m so glad the hospital wasn’t closed – which it was under threat of not so long ago.

Read more HERE.

The other was for Chilcotts Auctioneers, another long-term client. I love writing for them, as there is always something interesting to research. For this, I looked into the life of Captain John Campbell OBE, a naval hero who had gathered a really fascinating collection of artwork together over many decades (his first purchase in 1962). Works by artists such as Edward Seago and Marcel Dyf plus bronze sculptures of African wildlife and vintage/contemporary glass. Besides the artwork, Campbell himself was a fascinating individual to look into; he became a specialist hydrographic surveyor, travelling to places like Antarctica. In the Falklands war he oversaw the conversion of a survey vessel into a hospital ship to take injured soldiers to Ecuador.

More on this story HERE. As well as local press, the story has featured in Antiques Trade Gazette, and I hope will be picked up elsewhere, watch this space!

Three people with a mound of chocolate Easter eggs donated to Exeter Foodbank

‘Fresh’ eggs for Foodbank

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With Easter just around the corner, an idea popped into my mind for a nice bit of PR for my Straight Marketing client, The Fresh Accountancy Company.

The word Fresh married nicely with the word egg – leading to Easter eggs. How about donating Easter eggs?

I’ve donated to Exeter Foodbank via networking groups before, so they seemed a good charity to approach. I wasn’t sure if they’d jump at the idea of an Easter egg donation, as they tend to supply practical foods like pasta and tinned products. But I was wrong. Operations Manager Teresa Pollard was delighted with the idea. Fresh founder, Tom Baker, generously offered to buy 100 eggs.

These were duly ordered and arrived at Fresh’s offices in Clyst St Mary. Teresa asked if we could deliver them nearer to Easter – meaning the Fresh team had to fight off any chocolate cravings! On April 9, I met Dave and Ben from Fresh just across the road from the Foodbank in Cowick Street, Exeter. We piled the eggs into two Foodbank trollies and negotiated a hairy road crossing, not losing any eggs on the way.

Teresa was so pleased with the donation and told us about the way the Foodbank operates; for example that people can’t just walk in, they have to have vouchers from organisations like Citizens Advice and children’s centres.

She said: “The truth is foodbanks shouldn’t be needed, but while they are, it’s important to make sure that the people we serve are treated with dignity and supported beyond the provision of food. The Exeter community is so supportive of our Foodbank and we are always amazed by the generosity of donations from individuals, schools and colleges, stores, and the local business community, including Fresh.”

Thanks to Dave and Ben for helping with the delivery, and Tom for agreeing to the donation.

 

The Wilds book cover

Book PR – The Wilds

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I’m excited to be working with author Sarah Pearse again, this time for The Wilds, the third book in her trilogy featuring Detective Elin Warner.

I first supported Sarah with PR for the publication of the paperback of her second novel, The Retreat in 2023. Book PR was a new specialism for me, but I quickly got going and we had lots of coverage in the local press and glossies, including Devon Life Magazine. We also ran competitions with Visit South Devon and Torquay magazine The Beach Hut.

The Wilds storyline is set in two locations, the Devon coast and Portugal’s remote National Park, Peneda-Gerês. Central to the plot is the disappearance of Kier, who escaped her hometown and twin to live her life on the road. But why did she leave, and what happened to her? The theme of coercive control runs through the book, highlighting the issues of gaslighting and trauma.

For me, this time round there’s another layer to the PR, as Sarah has teamed up with a domestic abuse charity. Still early days, but I’m busy working on collaborative PR opportunities, as well as securing local PR and organising events.

The Wilds is published on July 16th and is available to pre-order from all good booksellers!

 

Quiet summer? Not here!

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The summer months, particularly August, were once a slightly quieter time workwise  – but this year it has been rather the reverse! Every client has been busy which, in the light of the economy and energy crisis, is a good thing.

  • Coldharbour Field Kitchen which opened in June is going great guns. They benefitted from the heatwave with lots of customers taking advantage of the decking and enjoying the stunning sunsets across East Devon (I was one of them!).
  • World Extreme Medicine has continued to send convoys to Ukraine with medical supplies thought the Medics4Ukraine initiative – the fifth convoy recently went and the sixth is due in late September. Meanwhile I’ve organised a photographic competition for them, a feature with Reader’s Digest – and together with Sharon from If Media we’ll shortly be ramping up PR for the upcoming conference in November.
  • The Family Law Company has continued to achieve success in national awards, which is a personal satisfaction for me as I work on the nominations for them. Lots of press releases and blog writing over the summer too. And a networking event to look forward to in October.
  • Very excitingly I’ve recently been working with Chilcotts Auctioneers to promote the sale of the Lawson Rudge Studio. More of that soon, but Lawson is a renowned ceramicist who was at the Royal College of Art with David Hockney. I interviewed him last week for a Devon Life feature, what a wonderful and varied life he has had. His flat cows are a favourite of mine and I might well make a bid for one in the November 5th sale!
  • Meanwhile I’ve been beavering away for Optix Solutions with a variety of news stories which have had some good local and national traction. They’ve recently rebranded and their website is looking really smart.

I head off for my own summer holiday tomorrow, just one week on the beautiful island of Corfu. This really will be a time to recharge my batteries – I won’t be answering emails for a whole week!

Samples of coverage:

Coldharbour Field Kitchen launch

Medics4Ukraine

World Extreme Medicine in Beer

Grace Bradley wins Legal Aid Family Solicitor (P53)

Optix clocks off at 3pm

Extreme PR?

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I’m delighted to add two new clients to my portfolio – the fabulous Optix Solutions and the amazing World Extreme Medicine.

I’ve known the team at Optix for some years, and I’ve been chatting to MD Rob Stevens about providing a PR service since before the pandemic. Of course it all went on hold when Covid hit, but Rob came back to me this year when Optix began to rise like the proverbial phoenix, with an impressive growth of around 43% in the past 12 months. Much of this it attributable to the implementation of a Shadow Board – and I’m pleased that this was the first piece of PR I managed for them. You can read about it here. We’ve much more in the pipeline, as they have many interesting stories to tell.

Next up, World Extreme Medicine. WEM is the leading provider of education, conferences, consultancy and medical cover in the specialist field of extreme medicine – in locations such as polar terrain, jungles, oceans – and space. Plus increasingly humanitarian situations such as war zones and environmental catastrophes. WEM is just about to take a fourth convoy to Ukraine, both to train medics on the frontline and provide much needed medical supplies. I was approached by their brand strategist Bruce on LinkedIn – he still won’t tell me how he came across me! After a few Zoom meetings I met with Bruce and WEM founder Mark Hannaford in Exeter and I was delighted to be offered the account. I’ve brought fellow PR guru Sharon Goble in for this account. Her sharp end news skills are a real bonus. Our first pieces of work are around the Ukraine convoy and to promote a photography competition on the theme ‘Extreme is Everywhere’ – which has master photographer Perou on board as one of the judges.

It’s always a thrill to secure a new client, and both Optix and WEM fit perfectly with my own ethos of transparency and trust. Exciting times!

Influencers!

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I sit firmly on the fence as far as influencers are concerned. One of my clients receives so many requests for collaborations (ie freebies) that if they accepted them all they’d go out of business! Invariably these influencers have no prior relationship with the client, they are simply looking for a good deal.

That said, sometimes there is a genuine relationship to be had. Aided by my savvy associates, I always take each approach on its own merits.

But still, the boot was well and truly on the other foot recently when The Recycled Candle Company teamed up with national charity Missing People to create a beautiful limited edition candle ‘Home Sweet Home’.

The wonderful Missing People team were keen to get influencers on board, so I put aside my prejudices and made a list. To be honest, I didn’t think we’d get very far. I thought they’d all be terribly busy with other important things. So I was surprised and delighted that of the 12 influencers that I contacted, 7 of them got back to me PDQ with wonderfully positive responses. They all agreed to do posts and stories in return for a gifted candle, no fees, no strings. And that’s exactly what they did, perfectly timed to pique the interest of anyone thinking about a Mother’s Day gift.

What’s nice is that they are all very different – from mummy bloggers, eco instagrammers and interior/gay gurus (gotta love HouseHomo) to local influencer, Exploring Exeter’s Steph Darkes.

So that taught me, then! A huge and heartfelt thank you to them all for getting behind this wonderful cause.

Other PR iniatives so far include supplying mini candles for the Six Degrees networking event, and securing a feature spot in several Mother’s Day online gift guides, for example Sunset Desires as well as local press coverage such as Devon Live.

The campaign is running all year, so I’ll be seeking out other opportunities, too.

You can find out more and even purchase a candle if you’re so inclined on The Recycled Candle Company’s website. I bought one for myself, and the fragrance (unlit) is making my lounge smell totally delicious.

2022 update

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I can’t believe we’re in the middle of February already and I haven’t written a 2022 update – to be fair, the year took off at breakneck speed, and then I snuck off for a birthday week away in Cornwall. Excuses, excuses.

The Recycled Candle Company

As usual, the boys were incredibly busy in the run up to Christmas fulfilling wholesale orders, online orders and running a stall at Exeter’s Christmas Market. Somewhere amongst all that they finally received their Green Apple Awards trophy and the news that they were the sole winners of the Sustainable Development award. Brilliant. Some lovely PR gained in national publications too, including Metro. And we’re about to launch a limited edition candle in a charity collaboration with Missing People. With influencers on board to help, I can’t wait.

Express & Echo |Metro

The Outdoors Group

Opening a new Forest School at Escot Estate. Here I hold my hand up, as this came from my suggestion! Can’t think of a better location, tucked away in part of Black Aller Woods. As well as the Forest School there’s a second site adjacent where the group will run its amazing Transitional Learning Programme giving respite to those struggling in mainstream schools.

Devon Live |East Devon News

Chilcotts Auctioneers

Two interesting stories for this client. Firstly, a collection of antique silver spoons called ‘The Charles C Brian Collection’ which included rare early West Country spoons, some dating back to the late 16th century. The initial estimate of £20,000 to £30,000 was exceeded and the collection achieved an impressive £43,000. There was a secondary story about a missing Plymouth spoon, which was fun to research, too.

Antiques Trade Gazette | Plymouth Herald | Devon Daily

The second story focused on five watercolours by a local artist, Alfred Leyman. These depicted scenes from the Honiton area. Such was the interest that the paintings, estimated at between £200 and £400, actually sold for an average of £1114 and one reaching £1650.

Midweek Herald  | Western Morning News

Otter Garden Centres

Another pair! This time PR for the wonderful fundraising total for Hospiscare raised at the Ottery branch, which topped £14,700 – amazing considering the continuing impact of the pandemic on stores having to close.

Sidmouth Herald | East Devon News

This was closely followed by a story about nightly visits by an actual otter to the Koi carp pond, which was entertaining…

Sidmouth Herald | East Devon News

Exeter Living Awards

They came round very quickly! I put two clients in for awards, Connaught@Christmas for the Event category and SunGift for the Sustainable category. Both are finalists, and will find out if they’ve been successful on March 17th. I wonder if anyone will notice if I wear the same dress as I did last September?

Copywriting

I’ve also been busy writing brochure copy for Burrington Estates, for upcoming residential and commercial developments in the region. At the same time, something completely different with my work for Brigstock Skin & Laser and Communitas Clinics, creating content for their websites. I have two features to write for Devon Life, one about a Flower Farm, the other for Sidmouth’s new Jazz & Blues Festival.

Name-dropping

Oh, and with my agency work for Diespeker & Co in London we’re collaborating with Angela Scanlon…..

That’s a snapshot 2022 update so far this year, by no means exhaustive. And I’ll just add that this year is my 30th year being self-employed after being made redundant by HTV in 1992. I’ve pledged to do 30 things to mark this auspicious milestone, so watch this space for updates.