Episodes
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A pair of young PR stars are guests on this week’s Beyond the Noise podcast, discussing AI, office attendance, navigating LinkedIn and more.
Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest communications and PR issues. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or listen on your favourite platform.
This week, we hear from Chris Maho, account manager at The Romans, and Holly Ryan, account director at WA Communications – both of whom were shortlisted as People Stars in PRWeek’s People and Places Awards last month.
In conversation with PRWeek UK deputy news editor Evie Barrett, the pair speak about targeting Gen Z as a demographic, whether they think comms has an ageism problem, and using social media to boost your professional profile.
Elsewhere, they address the stereotypes that young comms professionals dislike phone calls, and that social events in PR are becoming less alcohol-centric.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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What were the biggest lessons and talking points from Cannes Lions 2026? PRWeek’s latest podcast takes a look.
Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest communications and PR issues. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or listen on your favourite platform.
Joining this episode are PRWeek trio Danny Rogers (editor-in-chief), John Harrington (UK editor) and Siobhan Holt (deputy editor).
They discuss the big trends from the PR Lions in particular this year, and discuss why ‘The KitKat Heist’ by VML and Burson won the prestigious Grand Prix in the category.
The journalists talk about some of their favourite winners and what they tell us about campaigns today – including trends with purpose, humour and AI.
They also ask why smaller UK independents were largely absent from the awards in 2026, despite many still attending the event on the French Riviera.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Missing episodes?
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We put more of your confessions under the spotlight in the latest episode of PRWeek’s ‘Am I the PR A***hole?’ (AITPRA) podcast.
In each episode of AITPRA, PRWeek will read out your anonymous confessions and our judges – Lynn Advisory founder Shayoni Lynn and Hoffman Agency UK co-MD Richard Fogg – will decide whether an ethical line has been crossed.
Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or listen on your favourite platform.
This week’s confessions include:
Making a colleague cry (and being pulled up) after giving honest feedback.Making a group of pensioners sit in a cordoned-off area for hours for a PR stunt.Purposely avoiding work but getting promoted anyway.The episode is hosted by PRWeek UK editor John Harrington.
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Lord Heseltine tells the story of the birth of the European Space Agency. Why post-Apollo, when the US was spending £1.2 billion a year on space, the whole of Europe was spending just £200 million. Why the birth of ESA was driven by the self-interest of three major countries. Why the US general with a $29 billion budget for the Star Wars project wanted to invest in Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. Why, the idea that Britain could compete alone with the technologies that were accumulated and available to the American capitalist system was “simply laughable”. Why “being European is not selling out British interests”. And why Margaret Thatcher told him: “If you want to get on and put your budget into this, you can, but you're not getting any of mine."
Join Alice and Lord Heseltine as they pick apart the negotiating contrivances and the wheeling and dealing to circumnavigate “turkeys not voting for Christmas” that ultimately put European space on the map.
Contributors:
Alice Bunn, President of UKspace
Dr Alice Bunn OBE FIMechE FRAeS CEng | LinkedIn
UKspace: Overview | LinkedIn
Lord Heseltine, Member of the House of Lords
Key topics covered:
Creation of the European Space Agency (ESA)US "Star Wars" program and brain drainGeopolitical case for European R&D collaborationImpact of Brexit on science and technologyHosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In a Cannes Lions special, PRWeek’s Beyond the Noise speaks to communications professionals from Edelman, Burson and Smarts about this year’s Festival.
Ahead of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, which starts on Monday (22 June), PRWeek UK spoke to Edelman’s international chief creative officer, international, Kate Stanners, alongside Burson’s chief strategy officer, Eleanor Sullivan, and Smarts’ brand futures director, Natalie Moores.
Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest communications and PR issues. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or listen in the browser above or on your favourite platform.
The trio discuss what they are looking forward to at this year’s event, whether purpose-led campaigns will win big this year, and the impact of AI technology. They also offer advice on how to get the most out of the festival from a business perspective.
Asked whether the festival may look a bit extravagant in 2026, especially given industry consolidation and cost-cutting, alongside the ongoing geopolitical strife, the professionals share their thoughts.
As part of the episode, the three comms pros debate earned creativity within the PR Lions, and if the lines between PR and advertising have blurred.
Stanners, who spent two decades at advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi before joining Edelman last year, dismissed the idea of a turf war between PR and advertising agencies.
“There is a school of thought where advertising agencies are saying: ‘Watch out, PR companies, we know how to do it,’” she said. “I think, interestingly, it’s the wrong discussion to have. This is about recognising the power of a very different media landscape.”
In the discussion, Stanners argued that audience behaviour increasingly favours earned communications over traditional advertising.
“Ninety-nine per cent of people would like to skip the ads if they could, so that tells us a huge amount,” she said. “People are significantly more likely to trust work that comes in an earned space, which also tells us a huge amount.”
PR retains a unique advantage in creating earned impact, added Stanners. “It is a battleground, probably, for all sorts of businesses to be playing in. But a truly earned piece of work plays slightly differently.”
The three professionals assess the festival’s updated guidelines, introduced following controversies at last year’s awards, and whether they will prove effective.
And the panel members share their own experiences at Cannes and outline the criteria they use to evaluate what makes a standout PR campaign.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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‘If you’re talking about brand reputation, this World Cup is probably the most important comms and strategy campaign for nations and for an organisation (FIFA) that we’ve ever seen… and it’s fraught with dangers,’ says MSQ Sport & Entertainment’s co-founder Steve Martin, on a World Cup Special podcast by PRWeek.
Speaking on the latest episode of Beyond the Noise, MSQ Sport & Entertainment co-founder Steve Martin, the most influential Sports Agency professional in PRWeek’s 2026 Power Book, argues that “PR is having an extraordinary renaissance” with this World Cup, bearing in mind both the amount of earned-media-led brand campaigns and the level of reputation management required in what is proving a highly politicised tournament.
Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest communications and PR issues. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or listen on your favourite platform.
In this episode, Martin was joined by fellow sports comms expert Sarah Hartwell, executive director for sports entertainment consultancy 50 Sport, who is also a proud Canadian.
Hosted by PRWeek editor-in-chief Danny Rogers, Martin and Hartwell discuss successful brand campaigns from Nike, Adidas, Irn-Bru, Duracell, Lego, Burberry and others.
They also talk about some of the damaging stories that are impacting the reputation of FIFA and the United States, as well as the opportunities for fellow host nations Canada and Mexico.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In a Pride Month special, PRWeek UK speaks to two prominent LGBTQ+ PR professionals on the comms industry’s progress, as well as analysing what ‘corporate pride’ looks like in 2026.
Christina Peach, director at FleishmanHillard and head of comms for London Pride 2026, is our guest on this week’s podcast, alongside Josh Wheeler, founder of Be Broadcast PR and head of comms at InterComms, the network for LGBTQ+ PR professionals.
Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest communications and PR issues. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or on your favourite platform.
The guests dissect the finding that the majority of LGBTQ+ comms professionals do not feel there are visible or vocal role models within the industry, and about half believe LGBTQ+ practitioners become less open about their identity as they become more senior.
Speaking to PRWeek deputy news editor Evie Barrett, Peach and Wheeler also discuss the effects of big businesses scaling back their DEI initiatives, giving examples of organisations that they believe engage authentically with Pride Month.
The guests offer tips to employers on being more inclusive, as well as advice to PR professionals struggling to be open about their identity in the workplace.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Why do people in the space sector think they have a comms problem and yet the public at large think space is sexy? Should we stop evangelising about the technology that gets stuff into space rather than the core marketing message? After all, KFC is about the chicken not the trucks that deliver it.
What are the leadership opportunities in the UK from launch in Scotland and what is the “environmental conscience” behind that endeavour? And how did we end up with kids in St Austell working on global lunar space missions on the back of a famous “failure”?
Join Alice, Jess Ratty from Halo Global and John Harrington UK editor of PR Week, as they confront the introspection of space and figure out better ways of confounding British understatement and amazing a world of would-be investors.
Contributors:
Alice Bunn, President of UKspace
Dr Alice Bunn OBE FIMechE FRAeS CEng | LinkedIn
UKspace: Overview | LinkedIn
Jess Ratty, Founder and Leader, Halo Global
Jess Ratty | LinkedIn
John Harrington, UK Editor, PR Week
John Harrington | LinkedIn
PR Week UK
Key topics covered:
CommunicationsMarketingLeadership opportunitiesSaxa Vord launchEnvironmentSpaceport CornwallVirgin Orbit’s “Start me Up” missionHosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Nils Leonard, co-founder of renowned ad agency Uncommon, is a guest on this week’s PRWeek Beyond the Noise podcast episode – speaking alongside Randy Manicks, managing partner of the firm’s PR arm.
The Uncommon leaders discuss how the firm’s PR, Culture & Influence practice – which launched in February – has performed so far.
Leonard discusses how he caused a stir in the PR industry by setting out his ambition to “carve out a new space in a tired category” with the launch of Uncommon’s PR offer.
Speaking with PRWeek UK deputy news editor Evie Barrett, he explains how he believes traditional PR agencies could improve their offer, and reveals the types of briefs that Uncommon’s PR division has worked on so far.
Meanwhile, Manicks, a former managing director at comms agency John Doe, dissects the difference between working at a traditional PR firm versus a creative agency that has expanded into PR.
Elsewhere, the pair argue that more PR agencies should be boosting their own profile with independent projects alongside launching client work.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In each episode of the new podcast series Am I the PR A***hole? (AITPRA), PRWeek will read out your anonymous PR confessions and our judges – Lynn Advisory founder Shayoni Lynn and Hoffman Agency UK co-MD Richard Fogg – will decide whether an ethical line has been crossed. Confessions can be submitted via this link.
This week’s confessions include:
Purposely uploading unflattering images to a press portalPitching the same ‘exclusive’ to two rival newspapersAsking juniors to sort travel adminAnd finally… booking a destructive thrash techno band for a credit card launch.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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How should public affairs and political comms in the UK navigate political upheaval? PRWeek’s latest podcast takes a look.
This week’s episode of Beyond the Noise features Damion Potter, executive chairman, public affairs in the UK, at H/Advisors; Emily Fermor, partner at Hanbury Strategy and chair of the PRCA Public Affairs Professional Board; and Fraser Raleigh, MD, public affairs and government relations, at SEC Newgate.
Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest issues affecting communications and PR. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or listen on your favourite platform.
As Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer faces his first proper challenge as Labour leader since coming to office, our guests discuss how their workload has changed since the crisis began following the elections on 7 May.
They talk about what clients have been looking for specifically in this period of uncertainty and how they know which politicians, spads and civil servants to target in particular.
Speaking to PRWeek UK editor John Harrington, they discuss whether they think the expected leadership challengers are likely to be more or less amenable to businesses and lobbying should they come to power. How the Starmer government has differed from expectations from a public affairs perspective, and how this has changed over time, is also examined.
The guests also give their perspective on how they think the political crisis might end – and whether Starmer will last the distance.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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What does PRWeek’s UK Top 150 Consultancies project tell us about the agency world in 2026 and beyond? PRWeek’s latest podcast takes a look.
Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest issues affecting communications and PR. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or listen on your favourite platform.
This week, PRWeek journalists Danny Rogers (editor-in-chief), John Harrington (UK editor) and Siobhan Holt (deputy editor) delve into some of the main findings from PRWeek’s flagship UK Top 150 Consultancies project, which went live this week.
They look at how agencies are increasingly having to run to stand still, especially given the pressure on margins, despite the agency sector overall being in growth.
The trio discuss what agency leaders are saying about trading in 2025 and so far this year, and look at trends across different sectors, including consumer, health and tech PR.
The journalists also discuss trends such as the apparent deprioritisation of media relations and the growing importance of AI, and look at changes in headcount, redundancies and more.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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PRWeek speaks to Sarah Lester, editor at Manchester Evening News (MEN), for the Future of the Media series.
Among other things, Lester discusses what stories work, and how that has shifted PR and media relations; the rise of fake ‘experts’; whether press releases are getting worse; the advantage of video content and social media channels for news; how MEN journalists use AI; misinformation in the media and how to stop it; the future of the media and how she feels about the publishing industry.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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PRWeek speaks to Adam Leyland, editor-in-chief at The Grocer, for the Future of the Media series.
Among other things, Leyland discusses PR and media relations; the grocery trade title's social media strategy; how journalists use AI; and how PR can help with the UK's HFSS (high in fat, salt, or sugar) legislation.
Stay tuned for more interviews with editors, as part of the Future of the Media, which will be published on the podcast feed soon.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The Apprentice contestant and PR specialist Lawrence Rosenberg and Andrew Bloch, the PR adviser to Lord Alan Sugar, are guests on this week’s PRWeek Beyond the Noise podcast episode.
Lawrence Rosenberg discusses his background in communications and public affairs, as well as his experiences on the BBC reality show The Apprentice.
On the show, the public affairs professional was looking to impress Lord Sugar and secure his mentorship, as well as a £250,000 investment in his business plan. He reached the final five candidates of the show.
Andrew Bloch, PR adviser to Lord Alan Sugar, co-founded and led Frank PR as managing partner for 20 years before stepping back in 2020 to launch Andrew Bloch & Associates. He also works as an adviser to several firms in the PR and communications industry.
Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest communications and PR issues. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or on your favourite platform.
Rosenberg talks about what influenced him to take part in The Apprentice, what comms skills he used to maximise the opportunity, and chats about what PR skills have come in useful after appearing in the show.
Bloch explains how he first met Sugar, how he got involved in The Apprentice, and shares his insights from over the past 20 years.
Rosenberg responds to the criticism he received for his business plan, which was to launch a PR firm using AI technology. He also explains his future plans after the show.
Bloch shares his view on Rosenberg’s business plan, and discusses how he is assisting the show’s winner, Karishma Vijay.
Other topics discussed include reality TV stars becoming influencers and the biggest comms lessons Rosenberg has taken away from the experience. Bloch offers his advice to Rosenberg on how to monopolise on the comms and PR opportunities.
Joining Rosenberg and Bloch on this episode is PRWeek UK deputy editor Siobhan Holt.
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How can PR overcome its ageism problem? That’s the topic of PRWeek’s latest podcast.
Joining us this week is Madeleine Weightman, co-founder of The Work Crowd, which co-produced a recent studyshowing that comms is among the most-affected industries when it comes to age discrimination.
Our other guest is Ginny Paton, founder and MD of Ready or Not and president of Women in PR, which has also looked at the issues.
Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest issues affecting communications and PR. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or listen in the browser above or on your favourite platform.
Speaking to PRWeek UK editor John Harrington, our guests discuss the main findings of the report, which was produced with Hanson Search and surveyed more than 200 senior industry leaders.
They look at some of the stereotypes about older workers in comms and discuss why they persist, and why our industry doesn’t appear to value experience more.
The guests discuss why ageism can affect women more than men. They offer advice for employers, and to employees who may have been affected.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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What’s the secret to launching a comms agency in today’s market? PRWeek’s latest podcast takes a closer look.
This week’s Beyond the Noise episode features the founders of two new agencies: Gerry Wisniewski (pictured left), founder and managing director of Catchfire, and Fenella Grey (pictured right), co-founder of Hello Tomorrow.
Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest issues affecting communications and PR. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or listen on your favourite platform.
Speaking to PRWeek reporter Elizabeth Wiredu, Grey and Wisniewski discuss the origins of their agencies and the biggest early-stage challenges, including recruitment, AI and cash flow.
They also cover the importance of networking, growth targets and plans, as well as their views on building an independent agency versus the traditional large agency model.
Finally, the duo offer their top tips for aspiring agency founders.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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PRWeek speaks to Natalie Evans, managing director of web editorial at LADbible, for the Future of the Media series.
Among other things, Evans discusses what makes a good story for LADbible in 2026; becoming less reliant on Meta and Google’s algorithms; how LADbible is shedding its old stereotypes; co-creating content with brands; use of AI; and other advice for PR professionals.
Stay tuned for more interviews with editors, as part of the Future of the Media, which will be published on the podcast feed soon.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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How do we solve population pressure and climate crisis in space? How has GPS allowed us to provide 12% more food globally? How did the UK become a global leader in small satellite manufacture after the British Government said, “there’s no future for the UK satellite industry”? How did Elon Musk turn reusable rockets from science fiction to science fact in less than 20 years? What else are “Elon and Jeff” going to allow us to do? And why is SpaceX still “the elephant in the room”?
Join Alice as she talks to Will Whitehorn, chair of giant space tech investor Seraphim and former president of Virgin Galactic, and they discuss the implications of “The Elon Musk show” and its legacy, “the beginnings of a competitive space industry of scale”.
Contributors:
Alice Bunn, President of UKspace
Dr Alice Bunn OBE FIMechE FRAeS CEng | LinkedIn
UKspace: Overview | LinkedIn
Will Whitehorn OBE, Seraphim Space Investment Trust
Will Whitehorn OBE | LinkedIn
Key topics covered:
UK satellite manufactureUK universitiesSpaceX valuationReuseable rocketsAgricultural managementPopulation pressureClimate crisisSolar powerData centres in spaceIndustrialising in spaceHosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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PRWeek speaks to Christian May, editor-in-chief City A.M., for the Future of the Media series.
Among other things, May discusses what stories work best for City AM and how that has changed; the rise of legal threats against media; print’s return; blurring lines between journalist and influencer; fake AI ‘experts’; whether press releases are getting worse; and the use of video, audio and AI.
The journalist also offers advice for anyone working in comms.
Stay tuned for more interviews with editors, as part of the Future of the Media, which will be published on the podcast feed over the coming weeks.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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