Corporate Excellence 2019

68 CORPORATE VISION / Global Excellence 2019 , CORPORATE VISION / Issue 6 2019 37 Mar19568 Delivering Swift Results Speed is a dynamic and innovative PR and communications agency. Having awarded the firm ‘Leading Full-Service PR & Communications Agency’ in our 2019 Corporate Excellence Awards, we invitedManaging Director Kelly Pepworth to tell us more about the agency and the secrets behind its success. Thanks to a 20-year legacy in PR and mul- ti-channel communi- cations, Speed offers its clients significant experience and industry expertise, helping them grow by ensuring their brand messages land in the right places in the right ways. Kelly explores the importance of her agency’s work in today’s market. “At Speed, we understand that messages and stories have the power to connect brands, busi- nesses, communities and people in extraordinary ways. In an age where earned reputation and trust are more crucial than ever, we use strategic insight, creativity, media intelligence and digital savvy to help businesses and brands achieve their growth objectives, build reputation and enhance the way customers engage with them. “Our specialists cover a range of business and consumer sectors across the UK and internationally. Headquartered in Bristol, we offer all the capabilities of a large Lon- don agency, without the capital’s high overheads.” Constantly evolving its services to respond to the rapidly changing way consumer and business customers engage with brands has helped Speed achieve the success it has today. That, and cli- ent retention. The company takes great pride building relationships with clients that last for many years, as Kelly highlights. “Our client retention rate is four times the industry average. And nine out of ten new clients come to us on the recommendation of current ones. They are market leaders, challenger brands and innovative start-ups across B2C and B2B. They include major names like Nestlé, EUKANUBA, DS Smith and Ultimate Finance,; and in the last year, new clients such as Brita and illy.” These results would be impossi- ble to achieve without a talented team. The whole business is built on the success, development and wellbeing of its people, says Kelly. “They’re central to everything we do, and all efforts are made to create an environment that allows them to be as brilliant as they can be. This spans everything from a company funded health cash plan,flexible annual leave and gifted holidays between Christmas and New Year, to a comprehen- sive CPD programme and ear- ly-finish Fridays in the summer.” As she looks to the future Kelly foresees even greater success for Speed, with many new devel- opments in the pipeline for this proactive and driven company. “We will be building on our new charity partnership, working with Ablaze, a charity that builds com- munication skills and confidence in young people from disadvantaged backgrounds across the West. ”We have just become one of only 900 UK businesses to sign up to the ‘Time to Change’ employer pledge, which is a public commit- ment to address the stigma sur- rounding mental health and ensure we have a work environment and culture with wellbeing at its heart. “We’ve also built an online tool designed to measure the corre- lation between communications activity and business success. Proving the measurable impact of communicationsagainst busi- ness priorities has always been difficult in our industry, but with the technological capabilities we have now, we’re addressing that challenge directly. ”Ultimately Speed is redefining PR, using creativity, media intelli- gence, social savvy and insight to help brands engage and tell their story in the most compelling way. “We aim to combine business brains and creative muscle to create brilliant content and expe- riences across multiple channels that deliver measurable impact for our clients. “Every business, brand and person has a story to tell. It is our mission to help them tell it and to get their voice heard by harnessing the power of great communication.” Name: Kelly Pepworth, MD, Speed Address: Speed, 1-6 Brighton Mews, Bristol, BS8 2NW Telephone: +44 (0) 117 973 3300 Web Address: www.speedcommunications.com