THERE are two words Roz Edwards hates to hear: No comment.
“That’s like throwing down a challenge to any journalist,” says Roz, a public relations and marketing expert who has helped scores of local companies get their message across to customers, suppliers and competitors in a wide range of industry sectors.
Roz, who runs LAP Public Relations and Marketing, understand why companies may be tempted to pull up the drawbridge when the media takes an interest in matters they would prefer to keep to themselves.
But it’s a temptation they should resist if ever incidents such as industrial disputes, customer complaints or a major crisis turn the media spotlight on them.
“It is important to say something as soon as you can,” says Roz. “But equally, companies need to take the time to prepare. If it’s a situation that is developing, you should always keep the media informed.”
Unfortunately – even in the age of Facebook, blogs and instant opinions – many companies are not prepared when events make them the focus of intense media interest.
“I don’t think enough organisations are aware of the dangers of not being prepared,” says Roz, who has helped firms with media crisis management training as a media communications tutor.
“Larger organisations particularly need a crisis PR strategy in place. You never know when something is going to happen and you need to know how to deal with whatever occurs.”
Bosses who think they know better than their PR advisers also need to re-think. “There’s no point asking the experts for advice then ignoring it,” says Roz. “I don’t think PR is heard at a high level in many companies. PR should have a place at the boardroom table.”
Roz, who grew up at Hade Edge and has retained a love for the countryside surrounding Huddersfield, knows as much about the realities of PR and marketing as anyone – despite having found her way into the industry in a roundabout way.
“I started my career working for the Midland Bank straight from school,” she says. “I worked at the bank in Holmfirth before doing relief work in London, which was very exciting for an 18-year-old. I also worked in Newcastle when the bank was installing a new computer centre and then worked at Huddersfield.”
She left the bank in 1981 to work as a supervisor of 16 and 18-year-olds studying office administration on a Youth Opportunities Scheme before a change of tack led to her becoming marketing assistant and PA to the chairman of a textile company supplying products to clothing manufacturers in the UK and 12 other countries..
“My job involved monitoring sales and assisting with the introduction of new products and product development. I also organised fashion shows and conferences and went to London to meet buyers from stores like Marks & Spencer and Bhs,” says Roz.
“While doing that, I was introduced to public relations and took training courses in PR.
“The point came where I decided to leave the firm and set up on my own.
“I didn’t have a single client to start with, so I put my name down with a recruitment agency. They said they had a client who was interested in using my services in marketing and he became my first client.”
As the business developed, Roz joined what is now the Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce and was invited to write profile pieces for its monthly publication.
From a standing start in 1985 her client list grew and has included well-known local companies such as Hanson Transport, Heywood Williams, Eastwood and Partners, Briton Engineering and Structherm Ltd as well as businesses in Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, London, Scotland, Birmingham, Middlesbrough, the Lake District and abroad.
Her PR successes included getting Briton Engineering’s ski slope surface featured on TV’s Blue Peter and co-ordinating the BWD Rensburg Share Race, a long-running competition designed to introduce sixth formers at Yorkshire schools to the workings of the stock market.
“I don’t think it worried me that I was in business for myself,” she recalls. “I just got on with it. I suppose there was always the thought that if it didn’t work out I could always go back to working for someone else!
“Employing other people is much more of a consideration because of the responsibility for others that it brings. I’m lucky in working with some really talented people, helping to develop ideas and creating really good design work.”
Away from work, Roz enjoys music and the countryside, walking her black labrador around the Holme Valley and continues the outdoor theme by listing ski-ing, sailing and travelling among her interests.
She has sailed from Antigua to Grenada and taken part in the 1995 Royal Air Force Yacht Club Trade Winds Rally, sailing 600 miles in the Pacific.
Communication is important in business, says Roz. Lack of communication – between businesses, their customers, suppliers and the public or between managers and workforce – can prove costly.
“Companies need to communicate about who they are, their strengths and achievements, what they have to offer, new products, new services, the benefits that this brings to others and about the people who work for them,” she says, “It’s all about building a brand, improving reputation, strengthening your position and adding value to your own concern.”
“In a recession, it is even more essential to concentrate on PR. Some firms see PR budgets as flexible compared with their fixed costs, so it is often the first budget to be cut in difficult economic times.
“But that’s precisely the time you need to be seen to be head and shoulders above your competitors.”
Talking to her clients, Roz detects a more upbeat mood among local companies. “People are more confident about their companies’ prospects, but they are being realistic about this recession and are making themselves as efficient as they can.”
And you can quote her on that.
Work: PR and marketing
Sites: New North Road, Huddersfield
Phone: 01484 426000
Email: roz@lap-pr.com
