Episodes
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Hosted by Fiona Scott, today’s podcast welcomes Morgan Thomas, who Fiona met at Swindon Town Football club. Fiona approached Morgan and asked if she’d be comfortable enough to share her story on the PR not BS podcast.
Morgan Thomas shares her experience of being a thirty-year-old trans woman in modern society. She tells us that she works as a DJ, Event Organiser and works as part of the Swindon Culture Collective. Morgan joins Fiona to share with listeners the challenges of being a trans woman today.
Fiona starts her chat with Morgan by asking about her childhood. Morgan shares that she always knew she felt ‘different’ but only became aware of this confidently at around 26, 27 years old. She states it’s “not something you really think about because the only way to get support medically for being trans, is to begin by doing introspective reflection for the psych evaluation”, which ultimately talks about your childhood.
She states “upon introspection, it was always a thing going back as far as 11, early teens. There’s a period when you black it out, but it always resurfaces.”
Fiona then goes on to ask if Morgan was fearful to face this truth as an adult. Morgan shares that it was ‘frightening because there’s different problems for trans men and trans women. With trans women are more publicly vilified whereas trans men are essentially erased and put to the side. Both for the same reason because some people believe it is not an ‘actual thing.’ She shares that although she’d never been introduced to the idea of being trans by family, friends or school, it still happened organically.
Fiona then goes on to ask Morgan if she feels happy, which receives an immediate laughing response. Morgan shares that the short answer is ‘no’ because it’s difficult right now because of the ‘current state of the country and the way things are legislated.’ She also shares how the question is interesting because you wouldn’t ask a cis woman if they’re happy because it’s based on the assumption that being trans is a choice and not something you can’t control.
Fiona asks Morgan if these are questions, she gets asked every day and Morgan says ‘yes, the different places you work can have different cultural environments. She shares that her current workplace is very good, but she’s worked in other places before where it’s not as easy. She goes on to say that she ‘feels lucky not to have experienced much explicit negative, targeted harassment but that it’s still there as an underlying thing, passively.’
Fiona then asks Morgan why she takes the risk to be out there ‘publicly’ and to share her story on social media. Morgan says it’s her ‘basic human right and the only other option is to stay in your house forever. It’s just human rights and it’s heavy talk... I honestly would rather go outside and one day have it end badly or have a bad experience but at least I’m me and not hiding in my house forever because that’s not living.
She goes on to highlight how insane a question that really is, but it demonstrates the way the topic is slanted. She thinks it’s a different topic to get around. The bottom line is to take a populist approach and appeal to common ground things like medication, gender affirming surgeries on the NHS, things that ‘any woman’ might need.The needs she has for HRT are the same as cis women who need HRT for menopause. We should live and let live. Do we all have the things we need? What is the government doing?
Fiona then goes on to ask about different projects Morgan is involved in. North Star New Wave Sound Collective, which is a loose organisation of rappers, DJs, photographers, visual artists who launch and make free music events in a mean well space.
Fiona asks Morgan how this came about and she says it “came out of necessity.” After coming out of higher education, Morgan sought more opportunities to stretch her creative muscles and wanted to find somewhere to do performances when someone mentioned the Brunel Shopping Centre.
Morgan has received grants from the arts council to support her endeavours and continues to apply for further funding to support her creative aspirations in the local community. She discusses with Fiona her plans for growing in the music industry and for becoming more visible online.
You can connect with Morgan via her Instagram handle @denim_morgan or via
@northstarnewwavesc for more information.
To get in touch with Fiona and the Scott Media team, visit www.scottmedia.uk.
Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe
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Hosted by Fiona Scott, today’s podcast welcomes Andrew Wilkinson, co-director of Secure Safety Solutions which provides health and safety, fire safety and compliance support, advice and services to businesses.
Andrew joins Fiona to share with PR not BS listeners the importance of running a Health and Safety business and sheds light on his passion for protecting people.
Fiona starts her chat with Andrew by asking about his journey into the world of health and safety.
“I don’t think anyone chooses to go into the world of health and safety. You usually just fall into it,” he says.
Andrew started at Heathrow as security manager. What started as project work turned into loving this area of his work and he fell in love with it. The kinds of issues he dealt with at Heathrow and the vast opportunities and experiences he had whilst being there. He explained how Heathrow is a little like a city with the public, high risk areas like the runway and heavy machinery. “No day was the same,” he recalls.
SME businesses tend to be a little uneducated around the risks they have in their workplace and Andrew tells listeners about how every organisation has risks and responsibilities to keep people safe, regardless of home, on or off-site working.
“Regardless of the size of your organisation, the same rules apply, the same legislation applies. It’s just how it applies that’s the difference,” he says. “We help to translate how that legislation applies.”
Andrew shares his insight into where to start with health and safety when it comes to a small business, like Fionas, and step by step measures to help provide safe policy and making sure small business owners understand the environment they are working in and all risks that can pose.
“If it’s not specific to your business, it’s not worth the paper it’s printed on.”
Andrew also chats about his mission to provide tailored solutions that not only meet standards but also nurture a culture of wellbeing within organisations. He dives into how his approach to businesses is different from other health and safety advisors and his holistic overview of his work.
“It’s about progression not perfection!”
He also shares how when providing training, he is often met with challenging conversations. People questioning the role of a health and safety advisor, often seen as someone barking orders and dictating decisions. However, Andrew sees his role as more about making people aware of the risks of their decisions and advising them on next steps.
With some harrowing case studies discussed, Fiona and Andrew discuss the importance of personal responsibility and discussions of liability many businesses need to be aware of. That a lot of business owners get the brunt of it when often, middle management and managers have significant personal responsibility. Ultimately, Andrew shares his role in making sure people know their liability within health and safety in the workplace.
Andrew doesn’t see himself as a businessman, much to Fiona’s surprise. Andrew shares how he fell into the trap of following his passion and realising other factors of owning business were taking over. That he’s striving for that balance of passion and business acumen.
Andrew goes personal and talks about the triumphs and challenges of working and family life, discussing how his wife, Kim, joining the business was life-changing but how they also make an effort not to become ships in the night and balance work responsibility with being a father and husband.
Fiona doesn’t miss out on the important questions and asks Andrew about his relationship with marketing and PR. Andrew shares the importance of in-person networking and the impact it had on his business when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
He also shares the journey of meeting Fi and realising PR is a good option for him. Before social media and targeting on LI and broad content in-person networking. How Andrew met Fi, he saw the value in PT and in-person networking and has always done it and relationship building – especially in the pandemic.
“I was seeing other people’s coverage and started thinking ‘I can do that!’”
2026-27 looks fruitful for Andrew and Kim, with their first charity of the year collaboration with local Swindon charity, Wiltshire Treehouse. Additionally, their plans for the future include looking for businesses wanting to grow, businesses who care and are not seeking health and safety support reactively.
Listeners can tune in to hear all about Andrew’s world of health and safety, not the BS!
To contact Andrew at Secure Safety Solutions, visit:
LinkedIn at Secure Safety Solutions
Email: [email protected].uk
Website: https://securesafetysolutions.co.uk/
To get in touch with Fiona and the Scott Media team, visit www.scottmedia.uk
Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe
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Hosted by Lauren Roberts, today’s podcast welcomes Sally Holland, partner at PPS Chartered Accountancy as she discusses all things accountancy and PR.
Sally joins Lauren to share with PR Not BS listeners the ins and outs of running an accountancy firm in their town of Swindon, Wiltshire. Plus, she dispels the myths and fables around what people think accountants to and shares the reality.
“People often think it’s this grey-haired old man telling them what to do with their business. It’s not that!” says Sally.
Lauren kicks off her chat with Sally by diving into her journey to becoming a partner at PPS and what it means to have worked for an organisation for 25 years.
Sally shares with Lauren how her business has changed in the last 25 years and how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the accountancy firm. She discusses the integration of hybrid working and their unique business-focused mindset. She also discusses how working with owner-managed businesses means creating important and personable connections with clients.
“Often owner-managed businesses work alone,” she says. “[By visiting businesses] it gives them someone to bounce ideas off of.”
Community is at the heart of everything PPS does, Sally discusses how supporting local charities is essential to their ethos and shares the ins and outs of their tri-annual ‘PPS Charity Breakfasts’ which highlights networking, speakers and a local charity which deserves a spotlight.
When it comes to networking, Sally is a professional! Being the president of the BNI White Horse, she has been facilitating networking and business connections in her local area for years. Sally speaks candidly about the nerve-wrecking experience of starting networking and her journey to becoming president of a networking event.
As many business owners know, particularly women, the work-life balance between family and work can be challenging. Lauren and Sally speak about motherhood and how Sally approaches this and how she balances work, parenthood, and her own wellbeing.
Sally talks about her involvement in the world of PR, and how she honestly doesn’t know much about it. She shares how through PR professional support, she’s been able to take steps she wouldn’t have known to take and are hopefully taking leaps in the right direction to sharing PPS with more people.
Sally discusses what the future holds for her and PPS Chartered Accountancy and reaching more clients across the South West and the UK. She also shares that their next charity breakfast is coming up this June 2026.
As Sally dispels the rumours around accountancy, listeners can expect to hear the reality of being an accountant, not the BS!
Tune in now to hear all the details.
To contact Sally at PPS Chartered Accountants, visit their website: https://www.ppsacc.co.uk/
To get in touch with Fiona and the Scott Media team, visit www.scottmedia.uk
Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe
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Hosted by Fiona Scott, today’s podcast welcomes Sean Harper, co-founder of Just For Fun Holiday Club which provides childcare services through their clubs across the Swindon, Wiltshire area.
Sean joins Fiona to share with PR Not BS listeners on the ins and outs of running a holiday club business and shines a light on how he fell into becoming a business owner.
Fiona kicks off her chat with Sean by asking about Just For Fun and his experience of co-founding a business for 9 years.
“Year on year we’ve just got bigger and, hopefully, better,” Sean said.
Sean begins his conversation with Fiona by talking about his career history and experience working in the education and childcare sector and how Just For Fun emerged as a business venture in his late 20s/early 30s. Sean looks fondly back at the first ever Just For Fun holiday club.
“I always say that summer was the best summer since we started because we were naïve to what was to come. It was easy and free flowing.”
Knowing their first club was a success, Just For Fun ventured into wrap-around care and more holiday clubs at multiple sites across Swindon. Sean chats about the day-to-day life of managing a holiday club and how Swindon’s Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme has changed how he approaches inclusion at his clubs.
Sean delves into how his passion for working with children and young people developed over time, discussing how his upbringing and personality informed his choice to enter into this field.
“Being a role model felt like a natural step for me and I moved into education at 20 or 21.”
Sean speaks about always working in this sector and having a full-time job alongside his business. He speaks candidly about his realisation that running both was having a detrimental impact on his life. Therefore, Sean details leaving his job to focus on Just For Fun full time, but he felt stuck.
“There was no clear direction [for the business] for how to market and who we needed to reach out to,” he said. “We just got through every month but we didn’t really know what we were doing and we reached out to you.”
After noticing where he needed help, Sean contacted Scott Media for support and advice. Sean shares the importance of PR and being active on social media. He also speaks about how his focus on PR has fuelled him to keep developing.
“It enabled me to look at people to connect with I had never thought of. I always thought it would be parents, but I didn’t think to reach out to companies,” he said “PR opened my eyes to opportunities of where we could take the business and expand relationships.”
Sean comments on how he thrives on ‘the chase’ in business, as he’s got a hunger to develop which pushes him forward.
“I am not a good businessman! The decisions I make are more emotionally led than financially led.”
“I think you absolutely are,” said Fiona. “Good businesspeople always know that they have something to learn, once you think you’ve become perfect, that’s the day you stop.”
Sean discusses what the future holds for him and his business. That his next steps towards merchandising and commitment to PR will be his focus.
“If you see someone with your logo on, you’re not just a quick one or two year business, you’ve been around for a while and seeing kids with a t-shirt, jumper, or bottle - they’ve bought into our brand.”
Whilst Sean divulges how he doesn’t know what the future holds, listeners can expect to her the reality of running a holiday club, not the BS!
Tune in now to hear all the details.
To contact Just For Fun, visit their website: www.justforfunholidayclub.co.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justforfunholidayclub.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justforfunholidayclub.com
To get in touch with Fiona and the Scott Media team, visit www.scottmedia.uk
Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe
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Hosted by Lauren Roberts, today’s podcast welcomes Rachel Bedgood, founder of CBS, trusted screening experts who help organisations stay compliant and reduce risks through screening processes.
Rachel joins Lauren to share with PR Not BS listeners the ins and outs of running a background screening business and shines a light on this, often presumed boring, industry.
Lauren kicks off her chat with Rachel by asking her about the journey to become a business owner and the story behind how background screening came into her life.
“It was luck more than judgement,” said Rachel. “My partner said at the time that it’s a myth that working for someone else provides job security.”
Rachel shares how her business came from her paying £50 a week for a little office in her village in the South Wales Valleys, to becoming a successful UK and international business in Mountain Ash.
Listeners will get to hear from Rachel about the range of businesses she works with and how the appetite for background screening has expanded over the past two decades CBS has been operating. She guides Lauren through the details of how and why businesses across the UK are raving about CBS’s services.
Rachel shares how the background screening landscape has changed since she started and how her business has taken on challenges and changes with gusto. From the slower and paper-based systems of the 2000s to the faster and digital world of now. Rachel discusses the pivotal role of technology in her business.
Rachel also delves into the emotional complexities her business encounters on a daily basis and how there is a lot of shame, hiding, and embarrassment around background screening checks. She speaks about her experience of working with people to reduce stigma and provide support when it comes to sensitive information.
Rachel discusses the importance of her staff and how the impact her industry has on people’s lives is never lost on her or her employees.
“There are people behind our service who really care,” she said. “In our DBS department, there are people who know that the faster they process a document, a foster carer will be able to take a child into their home.”
Rachel dives into what 2026 is going to look like for CBS and reflects on the employment expansions in the past year and the upcoming months, commenting: “Oh, we’re very ambitious!”
She also chats about her ethos of ‘giving back’ and the charitable focus of her staff and herself by sharing the details of her charity events and the impact it has on her outlook as a business owner and the people in her local area.
“Businesses that are doing well should be giving back!”
As always with PR Not BS, Lauren asks the important question of why visibility is important to Rachel and CBS.
“Our industry is so white collar and lots don’t want to talk about it,” she said. “They err on the side of caution as if it’s a subject that shouldn’t be discussed in a promotional context.”
“We want to talk about CBS. One, because we think we’re brilliant and our customer service is brilliant and two because we love what we do and our teams are brilliant.”
Tune in now to get all the details of Rachel’s professional journey and see the reality of building a background checks company, not the BS!
To contact Rachel Bedgood at CBS, visit: https://cbscreening.co.uk/
To get in touch with Lauren and the Scott Media team, visit www.scottmedia.uk
Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe
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Hosted by Fiona Scott, today’s podcast welcomes Kevin Griffiths, co-director of The Care Show.
Having met Kevin 7 to 8 years ago, Fiona found he was enthusiastic about business, networking and food. Fiona then introduced him to her VA, Hannah and now, together, Kevin and Hannah run The Care Show.
The event is Swindon’s Health & Social Care Expo where care industry professionals, suppliers, and service providers gather to share their insights and expertise bringing information and knowledge to businesses and members of the public.
“The Care Show is about helping people who provide care, need care, want care and are interested in it, no matter what part of the business world you hold,” Kevin said.
Kevin dives into the journey of stepping into this new role of co-director of The Care Show with Hannah, and what this new business venture means for himself and the local community.
He shares the past success and future hopes for The Care Show and how they’re stepping into networking and charity events. Kevin shares their ethos of giving back and how the focus is accessibility.
“Care is a very loose term and it covers a plethora of things,” he says. “It’s not just dumping an old person in a care home because that’s the first thing that comes to people’s minds.”
Kevin discusses the need for a collation of information around care and it not being on the internet and how having one place that a person can come to and ask about care options is essential.
The Care Show’s expo attracts businesses which specialise in a variety of care aspects for example: care homes, mental health, fostering, adoption, self-care, wills and probate, financial services, nutrition, and youth support.
Fiona shares how she underestimated the wide range of businesses which could attend The Care Show. Kevin and Hannah are both systematically underestimated and in January 2026 they successfully pull their first show together and did it extremely well.
Kevin reflects on his personal relationship with care provision both for himself and family members, sharing how different care is now than it was decades ago. He reflects on how people need to take responsibility to protect themselves and plan their future.
“If you haven’t got the plans in place you will have, what they used to call in the old days, ‘a pauper’s funeral’, because you aren’t going to get anything from the state,” he said. “We need to make a difference now.”
He speaks about people’s reluctance to ask for advice around care and how if he can bring one person who is worried or embarrassed of coming to the expo, and they get to ask questions, they have done what they set out to do.
The pair talk about the future of social care in this current political climate and how care isn’t discussed and undervalued in society. Kevin discusses how The Care Show aims to change that narrative and takes care and those who provide care more seriously and sets to bring care into people’s lives and makes it more successful and cohesive to support them as early as possible.
“Sometimes you have to stop and say, ‘hang on, why is this happening?’… and step outside of the bubble and see things with a new pair of eyes. That’s when you can come to the care show and ask people for advice,” he said.
Kevin concludes by chatting about how the conversations at The Care Show bring peace of mind to many and businesses are not there to gain clients but ease their worries.
The Care Show’s next event is on Saturday 10th October 2026, 9:30am to 2pm at DoubleTree by Hilton in Swindon.
To contact The Care Show, visit www.thecareshow.co.uk
To get in touch with Fiona visit www.scottmedia.uk
Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe
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Hosted by Lauren Roberts, today’s podcast welcomes Ashlea Fisher, founder of iRecruit4.
Recruitment business based in Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, iRecruit4 supplies businesses with their recruitment needs all across the M4 corridor servicing Basingstoke, Andover, Swindon, all the way down to Bath and Bristol. Specialising in the blue collar industry and temp contracts, Ashlea dives listeners into the world of recruitment.
Firstly, Ashlea shares her journey into the industry. From starting as a fledgling recruitment officer provided with no training to a thriving, successful and envied recruitment manager.
Commenting on how recruitment is such a diverse industry, where you work with a variety of people and you get to work with all types of people in the business, from business owners all the way to the factory workers.
Ashlea tells all about the trials of tribulations of working for other companies, sharing the people who’ve inspired her along the way. She also delves into the circumstances which led her to start up her own business. Going from strength to strength as she climbed the corporate ladder of recruitment, Ashlea found herself in a situation where she had to start her own business and has thrived ever since. Particularly crediting Megan, her ‘right arm’, for supporting her from the very start.
“It was a case of now or never,” said Ashlea. “[I said to her] I’m just going to jump into my own business.”
Ashlea discusses her personal and professional growth whilst starting IRecruit4 and the heavy job of supporting people into employment. Divulging how the ethos of her business centres around putting people first as she highlights the importance of building relationships with businesses caveating that whilst iRecruit4’s fees are higher; they provide loyalty and quality to clients.
“A lot of these people are living paycheck to paycheck Lauren,” she says. “These are people’s livelihoods.”
Ashlea touches on her need to work within a community and how her active decision to engage with charities has been a priority from the start. She shares her goal to collaborate with her community, calling iRecruit4’s charity work “We Share Because We Care” where a percentage of their invoice value goes to a charity of the client’s choice. She stresses how this initiative is about working together to support those in need.
In her conversation with Lauren, Ashlea expresses the role and importance of PR in her business. Sharing how she doesn’t have the relationships in the local area and getting to know people and their community stories makes a massive difference, how going to networking events and sharing your stories and your business is essential, especially when you don’t have the longevity in the area. People feel like they know you when you walk through the door.
“One of the things we’ve learnt in recruitment is that ‘people buy from people’ and it’s important to let our personalities shine and you want to be trusted and working on your PR is great for that,” she said.
Ashlea also plunges into the world of AI in recruitment and how it’s impacting the sector along with iRecruit4’s responses to try and put people first. Supporting clients through interview and CV skills.
“You have to be very careful in our industry because our industry is very people focused and what you don’t want is to lose that personal touch,” she said.
To contact Ashlea Fisher, visit IRecruit4’s website: www.irecruit4.co.uk or email her [email protected].uk
To get in touch with Lauren and the Scott Media team, visit www.scottmedia.uk
Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe
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My guest today is Rod Hebden, and you’re in for a real journey of discovery! In our conversation we cover everything from science, art, creativity and surprisingly, politics.
Rod runs his own business Consulting New Elements and as part of that he runs the Festival Tomorrow and has also set up the Swindon Culture Collective.
The Swindon Culture Collective is a two year project set up to support arts and the cultural sector in Swindon. It’s not about setting up something completely new, but more about pulling together the organisations and people who are already in Swindon. The collective will be just that – it’s about helping the different people and groups to collaborate, communicate and coordinate what they’re doing in a far better way.
We talk about how Swindon sometimes has a perception as being somewhere ‘ordinary’ whereas in fact it’s a place where we have a lot of things going on but often people, including Swindonians don’t know about them. You may be surprised when you hear about all of the nationally significant things that are based in Swindon.
Rod has a passion for bringing together science and art. He did a science degree, an engineering PhD, a master’s degree in science communication and then worked in museums where he was doing education in science. But as he says, he was working in a museum – the arts and cultural sector and this is where his interest in the interaction between science and arts grew. As you’ll hear, he is adamant that both arts and science are creative - unlike what you are often told in school.
He believes that children need to be exposed to arts and sciences to become interested in them and at present without access to higher education, Swindon young people are not always exposed to those opportunities, which is why he is working with the Festival Tomorrow and the Swindon Culture collective.
To contact Rod:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roderickhebden/
LinkedIn Swindon Culture Collective: https://www.linkedin.com/company/swindon-culture-collective/posts/?feedView=all
Website: https://www.festivaloftomorrow.com/
If you would like to contact me, you can visit www.Scottmedia.uk or join my free Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe
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Hosted by Lauren Roberts, today’s podcast welcomes Anita Jaynes, founder of The Business Exchange magazines which distributes its two editions, Swindon and Wiltshire and Bath and Somerset.
Anita joins Lauren to catch up PR Not BS listeners on her business since her last appearance in 2021.
Five years on Anita shares how her businesses have developed over half a decade and kicks off this episode by sharing about the expansion of her online magazine, networking events and the introduction of The Business Exchange Awards.
Anita shares how the media landscape has changed in the last 5 years and how content marketing is king and stresses the importance of having your business move through the times to stay profitable and relevant. Anita exemplifies this with her introduction of The Business Exchange VIP membership and how the subscription changed the game for the magazine, enabling her to tell the stories which are integral to the business community.
Anita discusses her growth and journey of starting The Business Exchange Show and Magazines and her focus of supporting SMEs in the region. She talks about what it takes to create two quarterly magazines and how she juggles the world of everyday life with this mammoth job.
“I don’t think people realise how labour intensive a media business is,” said Anita. “You’re only as good as your last magazine.”
2026 marks 13 years of ‘The Business Exchange: Swindon and Wiltshire’ and 10 years of ‘The Business Exchange: Bath and Somerset’.
Anita dives into her relationship with the charity sector in the South West and shares South West has a vast wealth of charities and has heard how businesses are struggling to connect with the sector in an affordable way. Therefore, she created free and cheap events to do just that. What started off as listening, became a thriving annual event which draws over 700 people to the region.
She shares her tips for business leaders and how her successful media business lies with her attention to detail, by listening and looking after people and their stories, something Anita believes has somewhat been lost.
“We’re Bath, Somerset, Swindon, and Wiltshire’s only dedicated business to business magazine and online outlet,” she said. “It’s sad.”
Her goal is to bring eyes to these counties and bring them together. To bring sustainable business and collaboration within the South West, particularly with the vastness of Wiltshire and its many small businesses.
Anita discusses how the relationship with the media has changed through time and how the personal, not the artificial, wins out for businesses who want coverage.
In their third year, The Business Exchange Awards for Bath, Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire are launching on 13th April 2026. Ready for businesses across these regions to be in the running for this award which puts community and collaboration first.
Tune in now to get all the details of Anita’s professional media journey and see the reality of building a magazine company, not the BS!
To contact Anita Jaynes at The Business Exchange:
Email: [email protected].uk
To get in touch with Lauren and the Scott Media team, visit www.scottmedia.uk
Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe
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Fiona’s guest today is Tamsin Welton, the new homes sales manager McFarlane Sales and Lettings.
In this episode of ‘PR not BS’ podcast Tamsin dives into her journey to becoming an estate agent and how being a good estate agent is not about the numbers.
Fiona first met Tamsin when she joined a local networking group, Professional Connections of Wiltshire, a couple years ago.
After becoming a networking friend and colleague, Fiona invited Tamsin onto the podcast to discuss the ins and outs of being an estate agent and what it means to Tamsin. As well as the role PR and networking plays in her role and industry.
Tamsin started working in the estate agent sector over 30 years ago and started working for new home sites in Swindon, working with apartment blocks and new developments. Tamsin travelled to North Devon to Westward Ho, working at the county’s beautiful coastline. She then moved to South Africa and worked on selling homes in the region and was involved in the selling and designing of homes before travelling back to the UK and settling back in Swindon.
After moving back to Swindon Tamsin worked freelance for two years before becoming employed with an estate agency before landing her current position at McFarlane Sales and Lettings, Swindon’s local independent estate agents, where she is thriving.
Tamsin dives into the reasons she returned to being an employed estate agent and the hands-on and personal way McFarlane approaches their work. In her extensive experience of different estate agencies, this one is an outlier in how they treat their agents and clients.
“You are a person, not a number,” Tamsin says.
Tamsin shares her experiences of working at a poor estate agency in the past and gives insights into how some estate agencies work to create ‘productive’ environments at the expense of employees and clients.
Her work at McFarlane couldn’t be more different and it’s about spending time with clients and not being chastised for investing in them and guiding people through a complicated process of owning or renting a home. Tamsin shares a personal experience about how being a good estate agent and going the extra mile brings new returns.
Tamsin dives into the world of networking and it pays off in the long term. She shares how investing in long term relationships and processes is something estate agents are used to. One referral can pay for the whole year's networking. Estate agents and business professionals should and are in it for the long game.
Tamsin discusses McFarlane’s interaction with many aspects of PR, including their apprenticeship scheme and charity work with Race for Life and Macmillan Coffee Mornings.
“It seems like a company prepared to give back and prepared to talk about it and it inspires others to do the same,” said Fiona.
Tune in now to get all the details of Tamsin’s professional journey and get the reality of PR. With no BS!
To contact Tamsin at McFarlane.
Website: mcfarlaneproperty.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcfarlaneproperty
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mcfarlanes
If you would like to contact me, you can visit www.scottmedia.uk or join my free Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe
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Lauren’s guest today is Dave Southby, the founder and managing director of Southby & Co Financial Planning.
Now in his fifth year of business having started in business alone, there are now a team of six. The team includes another financial advisor and an office manager, and having already moved offices to accommodate the team, they are now on the hunt for a larger home for the business as the team has grown yet again.
Since being joined by a team, Dave rebranded the business which reflects that it isn’t just him, so now the business is known as Southby & Co Financial Planning. He talks about how life has changed since the expansion.
Dave explains that the job of a financial advisor involves far more than most people imagine the role to include. He also dismisses the false belief that you have to be wealthy to work with a financial advisor.
Working and living in the area where he grew up, giving back to the community is something that is very important to Dave. The business has already won two business awards – the Positive Business Award at The Business Exchange Awards and the St James’s Place Responsible Business of Year Award. To be able to support local projects, and local charities is a huge passion of his.
Networking has always been something that Dave finds an important part of growing his business which is also part of his PR strategy. Now that he has a team around him, it means he has the luxury of sending other team members to events, so he can work on other things.
This year he aims to enter more awards, hopefully find a new office - the forever home for Southby & Co, and there are also new partnerships and ideas coming up – including something he’s keeping close to his chest for now!
To contact Dave:
Website: https://www.southbyfp.co.uk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/southby.dave/
If you would like to contact me, you can visit www.Scottmedia.uk or join my free Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe
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My guest today is someone I hadn’t met until this podcast: Matthew Stafford who like me is an entrepreneur.
Matthew is the founder of a business called 9 Others, which is a global network of entrepreneurs. Along with his co-founder, Katie Lewis, they started the business in 2011 and what began small has grown into quite a large network. At the time, he and Katie were working for a government backed project to help entrepreneurial companies to raise investment, and as you’ll hear, the ‘dining’ idea came out of that.
The premise of 9 Others is a dinner which he hosts, along with 10 guests, so it is literally, him and 9 Others. Basically they invite founders of companies, entrepreneurs, people working in startups - to come to dinner. The format is that each person shares a challenge they’ve come up against, and then for a short time the rest of the group try to help out with ideas and questions. Matthew explains how this works, and that it’s based on Chatham House rules – what’s shared around the table is confidential and there is no hierarchy.
He also talks about his love of What 3 Words, explaining the concept and how that business came about, plus how Chris Sheldrick, one of the founders came to a few of the 9 Other dinners when they started.
Matthew also shares how the entrepreneurs around the table are selected and invited; with the main aim of having people who will contribute. However, as you’ll hear they are not selected by how much they’re earning or by particular business sectors.
9 Others dinners have run in 50 cities around the world, so to hear more about this fascinating idea, listen in.
To contact Matthew:
Website: https://9others.com/
Email: [email protected]
If you would like to contact me, you can visit my site: www.Scottmedia.uk or join my free Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe
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My guest today is a good business friend who I’ve met through networking - Simon Read a business broker specialising in selling accountancy firms.
He shares his journey from working in sales to becoming a business broker. He talks about the importance of networking both in person and online and the value of PR in building visibility and credibility. Simon sees networking as a good way to get out of your comfort zone, plus a place where you have the opportunity to build trust and relationships. He also explains why networking in different areas to where you live and work can be very positive. Introducing you to new people and businesses who work in a different location to yours maybe a city compared to rural, that can your eyes to new possibilities and sometimes interesting challenges.
After listening to me talk (on several occasions) about making contacts with journalists, he did just that and contacted a journalist writing in his specific industry area. Following that he has written around half a dozen articles for that journalist on a variety of accountancy subjects including selling your business and private equity. In turn this has brought him other opportunities, including speaking engagements – one at Account X, a large accountancy Expo in London, and now he can share on his website, that he is a published author and speaker.
Simon explains what is involved when it comes to selling an accountancy business. When working with clients who are selling, he has to prepare them – addressing HR issues, improving systems, and ensuring positive financial trends on growth can be evidenced. He also talks about the challenge of attracting younger buyers to look at accountancy businesses that need modernization, when the younger generations are more likely to have adopted digital technologies.
He gives some useful tips about how to prepare your business a good time ahead of when you might actually consider selling.
To contact Simon:
Website: www.accountantsforsale.co.uk
Email: [email protected].uk
If you would like to contact me, you can visit www.Scottmedia.uk or join my free Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe
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Lauren’s guest is someone that we are well acquainted with at Scott Media, Jo Smyth, who runs her own PR business - Word Worker. Jo collaborates closely with Scott Media with a couple of mutual clients, and she also does Scott Media’s PR.
She loves being able to collaborate with another PR company especially when you work in a similar area and it’s not seen as competition at all.
Fiona and Jo have known each other for years, and have a great deal in common, apart from both being in PR. They both worked for the Swindon Advertiser as journalists; they share the same birthday and even the same date for their wedding anniversaries! However, when it came to their careers, although starting out in a similar way, they then followed slightly different paths, before both ending up working in PR.
Jo talks about how she was brought up with newspapers in her household and then studying history she gained some very transferable skills. She followed her passion and went into journalism, having several different jobs, which she loved. After her second baby though she started freelancing, which she also loved; writing for many women’s and parenting magazines. After that she worked in different PR jobs, where she found having been a journalist benefitted her in the different roles she held, because she knew what journalists would be looking for; what was newsworthy and what was not.
She also talks, as Fiona often does, about the importance of good photos. If you don’t have photos to go with a press release, then that won’t get used. Jo gets very frustrated when people don’t invest in professional photography. Although these days fewer local newspapers have photographers, so it tends to be use generated content i.e. pictures from readers. She says that’s fine for some stories, but if you want your business to be taken seriously and you want to look professional – use professional photos.
Jo also talks about AI, which she considers a useful tool, and does use it herself for ideas, for re-phrasing things, but only as tool rather than an end in itself. She makes the point that it’s fine getting help to write a press release etc, but you still need a good PR person to get that story in front of the right journalist and get it published.
You can contact Jo here:
Website: https://wordworker.co.uk/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josmythpr/
If you would like to contact me, you can visit my www.Scottmedia.uk or join my free Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe
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Today I’m my own guest! As you know, my main aim in business is to help people and their business or organisation to become more visible. I’m going to share some PR tips, insights and trends ready for 2026, that I hope will help you to plan and prepare your storytelling for the new year.
To start, I’m going to give you some general advice around understanding the value of PR, especially at a time when businesses are having a tough time. Because of this many people want to know how you can prove that PR is worth the spend.
PR is not sales! It's all about visibility, and that visibility will lead to sales in the long term. Becoming visible in business doesn’t happen overnight.
I also talk about in more depth:
*Owning your story and personal branding, and in 2026 it’s not going to be enough to only rely on traditional media. You have to become proactive and engage with other people, such as podcasters, guest blogs, influencers etc.
*Hyper-local and niche networks. This is all about tighter communities and looking at and engaging with hyper local media outlets, Facebook groups etc.
*Reputation management. It’s far easier to take care of your reputation than do damage control at a later stage. A lot of small business owners, things going wrong are usually around social media chatter and/or staff issues.
*Trends in media and storytelling. Look out for stories around climate, stress, adaptation, resilience and sustainability.
*Embracing AI and its impact on PR. Don’t stick your head in the sand! Find ways to be positive about AI.
You can still book your place on my No BS Media Summit. To find more information and costs, follow the link to buy your tickets: https://scottmedia.uk/product/the-no-bs-media-summit-2026/
If you’d like to talk to me about how I can help with your PR, then please contact Hannah on: [email protected].uk
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My guest today is both client and friend, Janet Shreeve. We’ve both got exciting news to share about a new venture we’re working on together. Firstly though, Janet talks about Shreeve Care Services and how 2025 is ending for her.
Janet shares the highs and lows of her business, starting with an experience that makes everything feel worthwhile. She shares the story of a lady in her late 80s whom she is working with, who out of the blue had a conversation with her in Italian. As a fluent speaker herself, Janet loved being able to talk to this lady, who hadn’t spoken Italian for over 30 years!
Janet also talks about the advisory services that she offers, which has been a large part of her work this year, which she is looking forward to continuing in 2026. This service is something that has come about partly due to the fact that social care has been so badly funded for so long, and people just don’t know what choices they have with care – or what funding is out there. Sadly, many people seem to think that these options cost too much, but by collaborating with other organisations and advising clients about options, people can be supported in the way that they need, often remaining in their own homes. She is passionate about people understanding that they have choices!
She also talks about the new project that we – including my step-daughter Lauren have set up together. Completely unexpectedly by all of us, we have set up ‘Enlightening Escapes’ - to provide a variety of retreats. The retreats are all going to be, as the title suggests, escapes to do something different and have a bit of fun. They’re hard to organise on your own, so it will be great for us working together. She talks about some of the retreats we have coming up in the new year.
We also talk about the budget and the massive omission that was social care which unsurprisingly Janet finds very depressing. However, she shares how she is working in different ways to support people in the care industry – looking at different ways to make things more efficient and cost effective. One being where she works with Agora Staff, and the other a new part of the business, called Care Assist.
To contact Janet:
Website: https://shreevecareservices.co.uk/
Email: [email protected].uk
Phone: 07827324590
If you would like to contact me, you can visit www.Scottmedia.uk , https://enlighteningescapes.co.uk/ or join my free Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe
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One of my TV guilty pleasures to watch is Master Chef and today I’m thrilled to meet one of this years’ finalists – Sam Kaeokon.
Sam has lived in Swindon for just over 10 years, and coming from Thailand, unsurprisingly he loves to cook Thai food! He talks about how he learnt to cook after watching his grandma in the kitchen prepare Thai cuisine. After moving to the UK, he found that although there was some Thai food available, it wasn’t the particular type that he enjoyed, so he taught himself to cook, by watching YouTube, reading cook books, looking online – any and every way he could to spend time cooking.
As well as loving cooking, Sam also shares what it is that he loves about living in Swindon – which includes, as much as the town itself, the places that are around the area too.
Master Chef is a huge TV hit, and Sam explains what it was like to be involved in the competition – from the point where he decided to apply to the final weeks. He talks about how nerve-racking it is when you first arrive, as you don’t know anyone, and you meet the judges, the camera crews and everyone who works behind the scenes. Plus you also have to learn how to use the equipment too. He was so nervous and filled with so many different emotions, he didn’t even remember his interview. However, once he got cooking things were fun.
The hardest part for Sam was the time-lag between filming and the airing for the programme, and having to remain quiet about the outcome!
Sam also talks about how being on the show has made him reassess his life – although he still wants to work in care – probably alongside cooking too.
A very modest man, Sam is proud of what he has achieved, and underlines that it’s not about winning but the journey. He loves caring for people, and he also puts care into cooking!
To contact Sam:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samkaeokon/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573564905057
Tiktok: tiktok.com/@sammikaeokon
If you would like to contact me, you can visit my www.Scottmedia.uk or join my free Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe -
My guest today is business friend Debbie Gilbert, who runs a marketing agency, the networking company called Businesswomen UnLtd and also runs events including The Best Businesswomen Awards and the Best SME Awards. She is also about to launch a brand new app called Leanier.
Debbie tells how she began her own business at a time before the internet was so big, and when websites were just emerging and social media didn’t even exist. She fell into her business due to a number of difficult family events that coincided when she moved home to Hertfordshire, having left her job. She soon found herself taking on work to support herself and her family making use of her previous skills in marketing.
We talk about the challenges that women face, but men do not. Debbie first began to think about this when she entered for her first business award, and she realised that out of the 25 winners, there were only 3 women on stage! She shares her reasons why she thinks this is – one being because women are working for themselves, for flexibility to work around families. It was following this revelation that she created the Best Businesswomen Awards in 2015 – which are running 11 years later.
Debbie also talks about how she doesn’t feel women are taken seriously in business and it becomes more noticeable when it comes to venture capital and funding. You may be surprised when you hear the small amount that goes to female businesses – still in 2025.
Debbie’s three top tips for all business owners for 2026:
You need to get AI fit.Connect with human beings.If you haven’t yet, enter some awards.To contact Debbie:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debgilbert/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/debbiejanegilbert/
If you would like to contact me, you can visit my www.Scottmedia.uk or join my free Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe
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My guest today is a returning guest, Liz Perkins. Liz is the night news editor on the Sunday Telegraph and the Telegraph, plus she also writes freelance stories across the national papers too. She is incredibly busy and always on the go!
She talks about a recent appearance on Crime, on CBS network talking about a crime story she followed years ago. The story was about a murderer in Swansea, who was suddenly placed on release warrant, and allowed to wander around where he pleased. Unsurprisingly his family wanted to know how he was there.
Liz is from South Wales and is known there for her story exposing sexism and misogyny in the Welsh Rugby Union and she has also written a lot of stories about domestic abuse too. She writes about a wide variety of subjects because many different people get in contact with her with stories they want to share. She also gets invited to interviews all over the world, from General Petraeus, who was in charge of the US Army to UK TV presenter Jeff Brazier.
She shares some of the favourite people she’s interviewed, from those who are nationally known, to people she met at my No BS Media Summit earlier this year. Liz is always on the lookout for potential stories. Taking part in my summit was the first time she had done something like that, and found it amazing that the attendees had the opportunities to meet national news editors and journalists - something that is incredibly rare. Following the summit, Liz has written the stories of several people who attended, and still has stories where she is waiting for a chance to submit them to the right place.
The types of stories Liz says she is interested in are the ones about the person – not their product or service. People are interested in how people have got where they are and their backstory - that’s her passion.
Always a busy person, Liz talks about the exciting places she’ll be visiting in the future, including Australia and Saudi Arabia. She is a very sought after journalist, who is always on the move, and always looking for the next story.
Liz will be joining me soon on a webinar on 19th November. To book on visit https://scottmedia.uk/product/want-to-be-in-the-national-news-in-2026/
To contact Liz:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-perkins-7b667b75/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/journoliz/
X: https://x.com/lizperkinsmedia
If you would like to contact me, you can visit my www.Scottmedia.uk or join my free Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe
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I’ve known today's guest for many years, and the first thing I asked Gareth Davis to talk about was his memory of first meeting the Scott family.
Gareth first met my son David when he was at Westlea Primary School in Swindon. David was about five or six when he joined Gareth’s martial arts class and Gareth talks about how martial arts can help people/children to learn and move at their own pace. Plus the skills they learn can be transferred into other aspects of their lives, giving them confidence.
He shares his story of how he became a black belt at the age of eight after finding a passion for the discipline. He talks about how hard he trained and how he knew it was what he wanted to do from an early age – even when talking to the schools’ careers teacher when he was older. He left school with all A and B grades at GCSE level, but didn’t want to go on to do more schooling. Although his parents did persuade him – for all of six weeks. After working as a teacher, he set up his own business when he was 20, when he took over his old instructor’s business when the latter moved to the US.
We talk about how Gareth managed to build up good relationships with local Swindon schools, which grew particularly when opportunities for private providers to run afterschool clubs and activities came along and how he used PR in his business.
Gareth shares three fantastic top tips for starting a business which in brief are:
having a passion for what you do; understanding what you need to make the business grow do right by people.Then after 15 years of doing the thing that was his passion, Gareth made a huge change to his life and moved to the US. He shares the fascinating and brave story of how he moved to the US to be with his girlfriend/ now wife just as Covid was taking over the world. He had to make a quick decision, otherwise they wouldn’t have seen each other for two years! Since living in Las Vegas, he has re-trained to work in residential real estate.
If you want to know more about how that move went and how things are going, you need to listen to the podcast – where you’ll hear the 5 things about Las Vegas that are better than the UK, and the things that Gareth misses about the UK!
To contact Gareth:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_garethdavis_/
If you would like to contact me, you can visit my www.Scottmedia.uk or join my free Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe - Show more
